Most Popular
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Suneung for all: Opportunity, redemption and the right to dream
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[Herald Interview] 'Korea, don't repeat Hong Kong's mistakes on foreign caregivers'
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[KH Explains] Why Yoon golfing is so controversial
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Samsung stocks fall to 4-year low
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Govt. cracks down on wedding industry
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Korean model admits drug use, seeks help from embassy in Manila: report
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NewJeans sets 14-day deadline for Ador to meet demands, including return of Min Hee-jin
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Will Samsung team up with foundry rival TSMC?
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Korea to take action if currency falls more
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Dow partners with Delian Group to develop sustainable solutions for circularity in automotive market products
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Service-led jobs should revive consumption: BOK chief
South Korea’s central bank chief said sluggish private consumption should be boosted by job growth in the service sector, cautioning against optimism from rebounding exports.“To revive consumption, people’s income should be increased through job creation. And such job creation should be led by the service industry rather than the manufacturing sector,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said at a meeting with economists, professors and financial industry executives. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sp
April 5, 2017
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Korea's Q1 GDP growth may accelerate
South Korea's economic growth for the first quarter of this year is expected to be faster than the fourth quarter of last year, fueled by robust exports, according to estimates by foreign investment banks Wednesday. Although the nation's industrial output fell in February, foreign banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Citibank, expected production to bounce back, helped by strong exports on improved global demand. (Yonhap)The estimates, compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance, came
April 5, 2017
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Korea's current account surplus increases to $8.4b in Feb
South Korea's current account surplus rose in February from a year earlier due to an increased surplus in the goods account, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's current account surplus reached $8.4 billion in February, compared with a surplus of $7.62 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.(Yonhap)The figure represents a surplus for 60 months in a row. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.The BOK said the goods ac
April 5, 2017
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Korea's FX reserves up in March
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March from a month earlier due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the US greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of March, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $375.3 billion, up 1.39 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.(Yonhap)Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as Internat
April 5, 2017
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[Monitor] Korea's consumer prices surge 2.2%
South Korea’s consumer prices increased 2.2 percent last month, the fastest hike in nearly five years in March on a sharp rise in gas prices, Statistics Korea said Tuesday.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 1.7 percent compared with last year.
April 4, 2017
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Korea's trade dependence hits 10 year low
South Korea's reliance on trade fell to an all-time low in a decade last year, data showed Tuesday, but there are lingering concerns that Asia's fourth-largest economy remains vulnerable to external factors.The proportion of South Korea's trade to its gross national income (GNI) -- a gauge of a country's trade dependence -- stood at 80.8 percent at the end of last year, down 5.9 percentage points from 2015, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The ratio jumped to 104.5 percen
April 4, 2017
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Korea’s debt-to-GDP ratio continues to rise in 2016
South Korea’s national debt in proportion to gross domestic product continued to increase to 38.3 percent in 2016, due to increased fiscal expenditure to prop up the sluggish economy, government data showed Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea’s national debt hit a record high of 627.1 trillion won ($560 billion) last year, up by 35.7 trillion won from a year earlier. Most of the annual gain in national debt, or 31.8 trillion won, was from the issuance of Treasury bon
April 4, 2017
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Korea, Kenya discuss closer economic collaboration
South Korea and Kenya have discussed ways to step up their collaboration on a range of economic issues, including investment and trade, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.In the fourth round of the joint South Korea-Kenya economic committee held in Nairobi on Monday, South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho and Kenya's Political and Diplomatic Secretary Tom Amolo discussed economic cooperation issues before adopting an "Agreed Minutes," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
April 4, 2017
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Analysis shows women executives very rare at top 10 conglomerates
Women account for only 2.4 percent of executives at South Korea's top 10 conglomerates, with Samsung Group showing the highest number while Hyundai Motor Group has the least, a corporate watcher's analysis showed Tuesday.Chaebul.com, which follows the activities of leading business groups, counted 5,590 executives at the top 10 listed conglomerates based on their financial reports for 2016. Among them, 134 were registered or unregistered women executives.(Yonhap)Hyundai Motor Group fared the wor
April 4, 2017
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Average sales price of apartments in Seoul tops W600m
The average sales price of apartments in Seoul has surpassed the 600 million won ($537,000) mark for the first time, data showed Tuesday, due to reconstruction projects in the affluent Gangnam Ward in the southern part of the capital city.The average sales price of apartments came to 600.17 million won as of Tuesday, up 1.56 million won from a month earlier, according to data compiled by KB Kookmin Bank, a flagship unit of South Korea's leading banking giant KB Financial Group Inc.(Yonhap)The ba
April 4, 2017
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Korea's consumer prices growth hits almost 5-yr high in March
South Korea's consumer prices shot up at the fastest clip in nearly five years in March on a sharp rise in gas prices, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index gained 2.2 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 1.9 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.(Yonhap)The March number marked the highest on-year gain since June 2012.From a month earlier, the index stayed unchanged at 102.79 in March, with it set at
April 4, 2017
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Foreign capital flowing into Korean markets rapidly
A rapid flow of foreign capital into local stock and bond markets is raising concerns about the possibility of increasing volatility in Korea’s financial markets.So far this year, foreign investors have bought a net of nearly 14 trillion won ($12.6 billion) in Korean financial assets -- 5.9 trillion won in equities and 8 trillion won in bonds, according to data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Financial Supervisory Service.(Yonhap)This pace of foreign capital inflow is the faste
April 3, 2017
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Die-hard shoppers growing as new group of important consumers
South Koreans are spending less as their income and living expenses move in opposite directions, while the country's economy has yet to pick up beyond doubt, but one segment of consumer groups seems unbothered, or uncaring at least. Retail data analyzed on Sunday showed that sales of items that would normally be the first to be dropped from the shopping list when pinched for money are showing growth, often in double digits.(Yonhap)Ahn, a 36-year-old who describes himself as an ordinary salary wo
April 3, 2017
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[Graphic News] K-Food popular in ethnic markets in US
South Korea‘s food exports to the United States are expected to reach $1 billion for the first time this year, owing to their brisk advances into ethnic markets, the Korea Agro-fisheries and Food Trade Corp.’s branch said. Most notable among the top 30 export items are ramen, ginseng, mixed seasonings and gochujang, or red pepper paste. Ramen posted $6.84 million during the first two months this year, up 14.3 percent on-year; ginseng $3.3 million, up 67 percent; gochujang $1.8 million, up 33.8 p
April 2, 2017
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Seoul raises trade concerns at WTO over Beijing's apparent retaliation
South Korea's commerce ministry said Sunday that it has raised trade concerns at a WTO committee over China's apparent retaliatory steps against Seoul's decision to deploy a US missile defense system within the year.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has raised "specific trade concerns" in the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) committee meeting held in Geneva from April 28-30, over three cases of what it claims are Chinese trade barriers. (Yonhap)In October last year, China
April 2, 2017
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Koreans' overseas spending hits record high in 2016
South Koreans spent a record high overseas last year as more people opted to go on overseas trips, data from the central bank showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, South Koreans spent 28.93 trillion won ($25.9 billion) overseas last year, up 8.3 percent, or 2.23 trillion won, from the previous year. (Yonhap)The 2016 tally marks the highest since the central bank began to compile related data in 1970.South Koreans' overseas spending has been on a sharp rise, reaching
April 2, 2017
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Korea economy likely set to turn around
With a recent upturn in exports and production and a slight rebound in private consumption, hopes for an economic recovery are rising in South Korea despite lingering uncertainties at home and abroad, local experts said Sunday.Improved economic data show Asia's fourth-largest economy may be entering into a recovery cycle amid eased political risks following the arrest of former president Park Geun-hye and the fixed schedule for the presidential election next month. (Yonhap)South Korea's producti
April 2, 2017
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Top 30 groups cut some 20,000 jobs in 2016
South Korea's top 30 business groups cut nearly 20,000 jobs in 2016 amid the country's prolonged economic slowdown, a corporate tracker said Sunday.According to CEO Score, 253 affiliates of the leading conglomerates, known here as chaebol, had a combined workforce of 930,124 as of the end of last year, down 19,903, or 2.1 percent, from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The figure covers only the groups' units that have published business reports for fiscal 2016.Samsung Group, South Korea's top family-cont
April 2, 2017
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South Korea's exports rose for the fifth straight month
South Korea's exports rose for the fifth straight month in March on the back of brisk sales of chips, displays and cosmetics, the trade ministry said Saturday.Outbound shipments came to US$48.9 billion last month, up 13.7 from $43 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The country's exports have been on a steady rise since November on an uptick in oil prices. Last month marked the first time sinc December 2011 that exports have risen for five cons
April 1, 2017
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BOK money museum offers foreign language service for visitors
South Korea's central bank said Friday it will offer English and two other language service for visitors to its money museum.The Bank of Korea Money Museum said the service, set to begin on Saturday, will be available at 2 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday.(Yonhap)English service will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while Chinese and Japanese service will be provided on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.The BOK said about 230,000 South Koreans and foreigners visited the museum
March 31, 2017