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Govt. to front-load 75% of next year's state budget in H1
The finance ministry said Tuesday that 75 percent of fiscal spending for 2025 will be allocated for implementation in the first half of the year to better support vulnerable populations. The Cabinet approved a plan to front-load 431.1 trillion won ($300.2 billion) from next year's total fiscal budget of 574.8 trillion won during the January-June period, according to the ministry. The spending will primarily focus on assisting low-income and other vulnerable groups, as well as supporting sma
Dec. 17, 2024 -
Chief financial regulators from S. Korea, Japan agree on further cooperation
Chief financial regulators from South Korea and Japan agreed on Monday to further cooperate for the stability of the financial market in the East Asian region. Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), held a meeting with Ito Hideki, commissioner of the Financial Services Agency (FSA), in Tokyo earlier in the day. They exchanged views on the global economic and financial situation, and its impact on Korean and Japanese financial institutions as well as the recent develop
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Get ready for aggressive US trade policy: ex-Trump adviser
A former top trade adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump during his first administration warned that Trump's second term would likely adopt a more “aggressive” stance on trade, urging South Korean businesses to engage proactively with US officials to navigate potential challenges. Stephen Vaughn, a lawyer and former acting US Trade Representative, spoke at a seminar, titled "Trade Regulations Under Trump's Second Term: Risk Management and Strategies for Korean Com
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Woori Financial reaches out to global investors
Woori Financial Group said Monday it has activated its emergency operation system and ramped up communications with investors as South Korea navigates deepening political turmoil. Chairman Yim Jong-yong convened an emergency meeting earlier in the day to address rising financial instability following President Yoon Suk Yeol's suspension. Yoon's suspension came after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion related to his activation of martial law on Dec. 3, intensifying marke
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Calls grow for swift passage of stalled chips, AI bills
Business leaders are calling on lawmakers to expedite the approval of bipartisan, noncontentious bills on semiconductors and artificial intelligence, amid rising concerns that political uncertainty following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment could delay enactment of critical legislation, jeopardizing industry competitiveness. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Sunday stressed the importance of passing legislation such as the Semiconductor Special Act, the AI Basic Act and the Expansion
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Impeachment rattles Kospi despite stabilization hopes
Seoul's stock market saw heightened volatility on Monday, the first trading session following President Yoon Suk Yeol's suspension over the weekend. The benchmark Kospi opened at 2,511.08, up 16.62 points from Friday's close, briefly reaching 2,515.62 in the morning before reversing. By 2:30 p.m., the Kospi was down 0.3 percent at around 2,488, driven by a heavy selloff from foreign investors, who offloaded a net 490 billion won ($341.5 million). Individual investors supported the
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Court seizures of debt-laden real estate mark 11-year high: data
In a sign the local real estate market is in distress, the number of court seizures of property due to debt delinquency has marked the highest figure since 2013, Supreme Court data showed Monday. According to the Internet Registry Office of the Supreme Court, there were 129,703 applications for auction of court-seized real estate filed this year through November. This already marks the highest figure since 148,701 in 2013. The figure for actual auctions of court-seized property marked 105,61
Dec. 16, 2024 -
S. Korea-China route container shipping costs rebound in Nov.
Container shipping costs from South Korea to China rose in November, reversing the decline recorded the previous month, the customs agency said Monday. The average shipping cost for a 40-foot container from South Korea to China climbed 14.4 percent from a month earlier to 839,000 won ($583.93) in November, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. This marks a return to the upward trend observed for eight consecutive months starting in February, temporarily disrupted by a dip in Octo
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Finance minister reassures eased uncertainties following Yoon's impeachment
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok reiterated Monday that uncertainties from the recent martial law debacle have eased following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, emphasizing the country's robust economic system. Choi made the remarks during the opening session of a regional economic forum in Seoul attended by domestic and regional experts, including representatives from the Singapore-based ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office. On Saturday, the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Govt. to expedite economic policy implementation to assist market stabilization
The government will accelerate its implementation of key economic policy measures to help normalize financial markets, which have largely stabilized following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over the weekend, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok made the remarks during an emergency meeting with Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong and other top financial officials, which has been held on a daily basis to discuss ways of minimizing econo
Dec. 16, 2024 -
S. Korean chip exports face growing competition from China, Malaysia: KOTRA
South Korea's semiconductor exports face growing threats from China, Taiwan and Malaysia amid intensifying global competition in advanced industries, an industry report showed Monday. The report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, better known as KOTRA, on the export similarity index (ESI) for semiconductors showed China as being South Korea's top competitor in the sector, with an ESI score of 72.2 in the third quarter of the year. Taiwan's ESI with South Korea in se
Dec. 16, 2024 -
Finance minister's profile rises amid leadership vacuum
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok has vowed all-out efforts to fill the leadership vacuum created by President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment. On Sunday, he held an emergency economy-related ministerial meeting, where he said, "Our economy once again faces a critical test," warning of growing internal and external uncertainties. He announced that the "2025 Economic Policy Direction" would be jointly released by relevant ministries before year-end, foc
Dec. 15, 2024 -
Political turmoil weighs more heavily on small vendors
Every year-end, the capital's popular tourist districts attract holiday crowds, with both locals and tourists drawn to the seasonal Christmas lights and year-end shopping. This year, however, underlying spending patterns may tell a different story, in particular in the week following President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 -- an unexpected event that has rattled both the nation's political realm and economic outlook. "Usually at this hour,
Dec. 15, 2024 -
Suspension of Yoon’s presidential power reduces economic uncertainty
The National Assembly's decision to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol may have cleared some economic uncertainties, though challenges surrounding slowing growth and depreciation of the Korean won linger. On Saturday, Korean lawmakers voted 204 to 85 to impeach Yoon. Market watchers expect the stock market to pick up pace as the impeachment approval clears out uncertainties. “For the capital market, the biggest enemy is uncertainties. With the impeachment providing clear prospects, the s
Dec. 14, 2024 -
Korea’s sovereign credit rating stable despite martial law chaos: rating agencies
Global credit rating agencies have assessed South Korea's sovereign credit rating as stable, despite political and economic chaos sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration, according to the Finance Ministry. Amid rising concerns about the country maintaining its high sovereign credit rating in the face of the political fiasco, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok held a videoconference with high-ranking officials from global credit ra
Dec. 13, 2024