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Govt. to bolster safety monitoring of products on overseas shopping platforms
South Korea's standard agency said Wednesday it plans to enhance safety surveillance of products sold on overseas shopping platforms amid soaring direct purchases made by local consumers. Under the plan, the country will monitor the safety of 1,000 products sold on major overseas platforms this year, sharply up from the 400 evaluated in 2024, according to the Korean Agency for Technology and Standard. "If a test shows a certain product is hazardous, the government will take precautionary measure
Jan. 15, 2025 -
S. Korea's employment growth slows to 3-yr low in 2024
South Korea's on-year employment growth slowed significantly in 2024 as the number of new hires fell in the manufacturing and retail sectors, and among young people, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people increased 159,000, or 0.6 percent, from a year earlier to 28.58 million in 2024, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Job creation had been more robust in the immediate post-pandemic period, with 816,000 new positions added in 2022, the largest on-year growth since
Jan. 15, 2025 -
S. Korea's ICT exports jump 24% in Dec. on robust chip demand
South Korea's exports of information and communication technology products jumped 24 percent in December from a year earlier, helped by robust sales of semiconductors, government data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $22.66 billion last month, compared with $18.25 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Science and ICT said in a press release. The country's ICT imports in December stood at $13.32 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $9.33 billion in the sector. By p
Jan. 14, 2025 -
Govt. adopts rules for stable supply of key resources
South Korea has approved an enforcement decree to strengthen the country's preparedness for supply disruptions of key resources, the industry ministry said Tuesday. The enforcement decree on the Special Act on National Resources Security was passed during a Cabinet meeting held on the day, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The decree is designed to provide detailed measures for the act, which aims to enhance stability in the supply of critical commodities, including oil, n
Jan. 14, 2025 -
Seoul to set up export strategies for all possible scenarios under Trump
South Korea will set up tailored strategies for different scenarios in the wake of potential changes in the US trade policy following the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump next week, the industry ministry said Tuesday. "If the United States introduces detailed trade protectionism measures, significant impacts on South Korea's exports will be inevitable," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a policy report. "There are also concerns protectionist measures could spread amo
Jan. 14, 2025 -
Insurers' risk-based capital ratio up in Q3
Insurance firms in South Korea saw their risk-based capital ratio rise in the third quarter of last year, data showed Tuesday. The risk-based capital ratio of local insurance firms stood at 218.3 percent as of end-September, up 1 percentage point from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The RBC ratio is derived from the actual solvency capital divided by the minimum solvency capital required. It measures an insurer's ability to absorb losses and pa
Jan. 14, 2025 -
Seoul shares fall over 1% on foreign selling, US rate cut woes
South Korean stocks fell more than 1 percent Monday on losses in big-cap tech shares as investors doubted there will be future rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, given strong data on the US economy. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 26.22 points, or 1.04 percent, to close at 2,489.56, extending the losing streak to a second session. Trade volume was moderate at 569.34 million shares worth 8.89 trillion won ($6.04 billion), with los
Jan. 13, 2025 -
Cost of eating out continues to climb in Korea
The cost for dining out increased by at least 3 percent for a third straight year in 2024 in South Korea, higher than the inflation of the overall consumer index, government data showed Monday. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index specifically for dining out was 121.01 for 2024, up 3.1 percent from 117.38 in the previous year. It was substantially smaller than the 7.7 percent and 6 percent increase recorded in 2022 and 2023, respectively, from the previous years, but it was st
Jan. 13, 2025 -
Can NPS put out fire in FX market?
Outlook mixed as Korea's pension giant weighs on foreign exchange hedging As South Korea’s currency market grapples with heavy fluctuations, attention is turning to whether the nation's sovereign wealth fund, the National Pension Service, can help stabilize the won by bolstering its foreign exchange hedging strategies. The Korean won had a rough year-end as the country struggled with ongoing political turmoil, involving impeachments and protests. The won’s value plunged to 1,486.7 per dollar dur
Jan. 13, 2025 -
Seoul shares open lower on tech losses
South Korean stocks opened lower Monday due to losses in semiconductor and auto shares on profit taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.96 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,507.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Foreign and institutional investors sold shares, offsetting retail buying. On Friday, US shares plunged as a better-than-expected jobs report dashed hope for further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq compo
Jan. 13, 2025 -
Exports increase 3.8% in Jan. 1-10 period
South Korea's exports increased 3.8 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of this month on strong shipments of chips, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments reached $16 billion in the Jan. 1-10 period, compared with $15.4 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 2.6 percent on-year to $19 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $3 billion. Exports of semiconductors surged 23.8 percent on-year to $3.18 billi
Jan. 13, 2025 -
Small business owners in their 50s, 60s owe over 737tr won in debt
Loans taken by small business owners in their 50s and 60s take up roughly 65 percent of all debt taken on by smaller entrepreneurs in the country, government data showed Sunday. A total of 3.37 million sole proprietors in the country took out 1,125.3 trillion won ($763 billion) in loans from financial institutions as of November 2024, according to Financial Supervisory Service data submitted to Rep. Lee Kang-ill of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Of those entrepreneurs in debt, 2.
Jan. 12, 2025 -
Weakening of Korean won puts inflationary pressure on economy: BOK
The recent weakness of the Korean won is expected to put more inflationary pressure on South Korea's economy, driving up consumer prices, a central bank report showed Sunday. The Bank of Korea assessed the sharp fall in the local currency likely pushed up the consumer price index for last month by 0.05 to 0.1 percentage point, according to its report submitted to Rep. Lim Kwang-hyun of the main opposition Democratic Party. In December, consumer prices grew 1.9 percent from the same month last ye
Jan. 12, 2025 -
S. Korea's air passenger traffic surges nearly 20 pct in 2024 on overseas travel
South Korea's air passenger traffic jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, nearly reaching the pre-pandemic level on increased overseas travel, data showed Sunday. The number of airline passengers at South Korean airports came to more than 120 million, up 19.5 percent from about 100.5 million tallied in 2023, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number represents 97.3 percent of the record 123.36 million posted in 2019. The number had dipped to
Jan. 12, 2025 -
Acting president urges heightened vigilance despite easing volatility in market
Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday urged continued vigilance despite slight easing of volatility in the country's financial and foreign exchange markets. "Although volatility in the financial and foreign exchange markets has recently shown signs of easing, the situation remains uncertain given both domestic and external risks," Choi said during an economic meeting attended by the Bank of Korea governor and the heads of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service
Jan. 10, 2025