South Korea’s economic growth will slow down in the upcoming years, weighed down by the global slowdown amid weak demand and ongoing trade conflicts, according to Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday.Despite the downward pressure, most local nonfinancial companies here are likely to see stable corporate earnings next year on the back of strong macroeconomic conditions, the credit ratings agency said.“While South Korea’s exports are exposed to the US-China trade tensions v

Economy Nov. 13, 2018

For South Korean financial companies looking out for new growth momentum, the “New Southern Policy” -- the key foreign economic policy of the Moon Jae-in administration -- came as a timely opportunity to create synergy with the fast-growing Southeast Asian market.The overseas net profit of domestic financial companies last year totaled $934 million, up 42 percent from a year earlier and exceeding 1 trillion won in Korean currency for the first time, the Financial Supervisory Service

Market Oct. 15, 2018

President Moon Jae-in on Saturday started his nine-day tour to five European states to attend a series of international meetings and bilateral summits with key countries, according to presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.Moon departed from Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Saturday morning, headed for Paris. He will then move on to Italy, Vatican, Belgium, and Denmark.During the nine-day trip, the president is slated to sit in bilateral summits in France, Italy and Denmark, as well as with the European

Politics Oct. 13, 2018

Economy Oct. 5, 2018

South Korea has seen one of the fastest expansion paces for its household debt against its gross domestic product this year, despite a series of policy actions focused on lending restrictions, data showed Wednesday.According to data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements, Seoul’s household debt was equal to 95.2 percent of its GDP as of end-March this year, up 2.3 percentage points from a year prior.This growth rate marked the third fastest among 43 key economies across the wor

Economy Oct. 3, 2018

The number of jobless people last month reached its highest level since 1999, while the government’s unemployment allowance payments also hit a record high, government data showed Sunday.According to data compiled by the Korea Employment Information Service, the monthly average number of South Koreans without a job -- referring to those who have been out of job for four weeks or longer -- stood at 1.13 million as of end-August this year, up 45,000 from a year earlier and marking the highes

Economy Sept. 30, 2018

THE SHAPE OF HIS HEART -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju, along with South Korean officials, pose for cameras with the so-called “finger heart” gesture against the backdrop of Cheonji Lake on top of Mount Paekdu on Sept. 20. The related photos, describing the last day of the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last week, were released by Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday. (Cheong Wa Dae)

North Korea Sept. 23, 2018

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday left for New York on a five-day trip to attend the 73rd United Nations General Assembly and to meet with US counterpart Donald Trump over peninsular developments, including the latest inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang.Moon left the country via Seoul Air Base on Sunday afternoon, and is set to land in New York on Sunday late afternoon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.  President Moon Jae-in and First Lade Kim Jung-sook on Sunday board the plane headed for New York,

Politics Sept. 23, 2018

A record-high number of job-seekers have given up on finding a job, amid a feeble employment market and slowing economic growth, government data showed Sunday.The monthly average number of “discouraged job-seekers” -- referring to those with no signs of job seeking for at least four weeks over the past year -- stood at 510,000 as of end-August, up 5.4 percent from the same period last year, according to Statistics Korea. This was also the highest figure since the government started c

Economy Sept. 23, 2018

The uncertainty concerning South Korea’s economic growth and economic policies reached the highest level in 15 months, global data showed Sunday.According to the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, Asia’s fourth-largest economy recorded 155.15 in July, the highest since 165.4 in April last year.The global index, conducted on 20 key economies across the world, also reached the highest since March last year, standing at 227.77, data showed. The index, developed by three US-based ec

Economy Sept. 23, 2018

A senior lawmaker of the main opposition party faced seizure over charges of accessing and leaking confidential government data on the state budget, prosecutorial officials said Friday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office seized and searched the office of Rep. Shim Jae-cheol, a fifth-term lawmaker of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, whose aides are suspected of leaking information from the government’s digital budget accounting system.“Please gather immediately a

Market Sept. 21, 2018

Once considered an underdeveloped area on the outskirts of the crowded, boisterous main area of Hongdae, Mangwon is enjoying its day in the sun as a fashionable area of northwestern Seoul, with trendy eateries and also a grasp of local life.At the core of the Mangwon vogue was the neighborhood’s traditional market, long appreciated by residents.Having started off as a cluster of small stores in the 1970s in the backstreets of the neighborhood, the Mangwon Traditional Market gained its current st

Social Affairs Sept. 20, 2018

Fired up by the thawing peninsular mood built on the latest inter-Korean summit, banks here have buckled down on establishing business in the North in the near future, their initial focus fixed on the resumption of the Kaesong industrial park and Kumgangsan tours.Steering the move are the state-run banks that strive to win an upper hand in infrastructure financing, as well as Woori Bank and NH NongHyup Bank, which had operated businesses in the joint operations zones in the past.On Wednesday and

Market Sept. 20, 2018

The confirmation hearing held Wednesday for Sung Yun-mo, the nominee for minister of trade, industry and energy, pivoted mostly on the government’s plan to phase out nuclear energy and the potential impact of that plan on the nation’s electricity rates.While Sung and the ruling Democratic Party advocated major changes to the current energy-supply paradigm, the largely conservative opposition camp accused the nominee of flip-flopping from his earlier support for nuclear power.“T

Economy Sept. 19, 2018

Starting next year, expressway rest stops will have drive-through stores, as well as mobile preorder and pickup services, as part of the government’s plan to support small businesses and revitalize regional economies.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Expressway Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a mid- and long-term innovation plan for expressway service facilities, in a bid to foster the rest areas into business hubs for young entrepreneurs by 2022.Under a road map to cr

Economy Sept. 18, 2018