Most Popular
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[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
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Iran’s president found dead at helicopter crash site
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‘Kim desperately wanted to denuclearize,’ Moon writes in memoirs
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Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
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Seoul rolls out W250b package in bid to lure foreign talent
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N. Korea slams US subcritical nuclear test, vows measures to bolster nuclear deterrence
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Korea set to finalize medical school expansion plans
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Korea's increasing US investment mutually beneficial: report
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Seoul City to open 'hotel' on river bridge
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Korean builders nervous about possible setbacks in Middle East
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Korea to allow international flights without landing
With the COVID-19 pandemic weighing on the airline industry, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government would help local airliners launch international flights without landing. “To support the ailing airline industry and fuel the mood for spending, we have decided to pursue adoption of a new type of traveling -- international flights without landing,” Hong, who doubles as deputy prime minister said in a meeting of economic-related ministers. The special flight
Nov. 19, 2020
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FSC to ease regulations on 5 innovative financial services
South Korea’s top financial regulator said Thursday it has decided to relax regulations on five promising services proposed by local companies in continued efforts to spur innovation in the finance sector. The move is part of the government‘s “regulatory sandbox” policy, which took effect in April last year. Under the regulatory program, the financial authorities suspend legal and regulatory requirements imposed on local financial companies, including both traditio
Nov. 19, 2020
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S. Korea's net foreign assets touch new high in Q3
South Korea's net overseas assets hit an all-time high in the third quarter, mainly due to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's external financial assets came to $1.81 trillion at the end of September, up $66 billion from a quarter earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Net international investment position came to $553.1 billion as of the end of September, down $100 million from a year earlier, the data showed. The positio
Nov. 19, 2020
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Savings banks' 9-month profit grows on interest income
South Korean savings banks reported 9 percent growth in their combined net profit for the first nine months of this year, supported by a modest rise in interest income, data showed Thursday. The combined net income of the 79 savings banks stood at 1.02 trillion won ($918 million) for the January-September period, compared with a profit of 935.7 billion won a year ago, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 8.9 percent on-year to 4.8 trillio
Nov. 19, 2020
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Households' wage income dips for 2nd quarter in Q3 amid pandemic
South Korean households saw their income earned through wages decline for the second straight quarter in the third quarter as the new coronavirus outbreak dealt a blow to the job market, data showed Thursday. The average household earned 5.31 million won ($4,774) per month in the July-September period, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. But hit by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, household income earned through wages declined 1.1 percen
Nov. 19, 2020
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Seoul to supply more public homes to tackle rental home shortage
South Korea will supply 114,000 public 'jeonse' houses by 2022 to help tackle a shortage of the two-year contract-based rental homes, the transport ministry said Thursday. The government plans to purchase existing homes to convert them into public jeonse houses mainly for the underprivileged who have difficulties in finding such homes, as higher demand has pushed up jeonse prices amid low rates and a recently passed related bill, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a stat
Nov. 19, 2020
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Won sinks after verbal warning against rapid gains
The South Korean currency dropped against the US dollar Thursday after currency authorities warned that they are ready to take actions at any time to curb the won's sharp gains. The local currency ended at 1,115.6 won to the greenback, down 11.8 won from the previous session, when the won rose to a 29-month high of 1,103.8 to the dollar. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that FX authorities are closely monitoring the market, warning that excessive currency volatility is not
Nov. 19, 2020
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Listed firms' earnings rebound in Q3
Listed companies in South Korea posted improved earnings in the third quarter from a quarter ago, possibly signaling a rebound from the previous pandemic-hit quarters this year, data showed Wednesday. In the July-September period, the combined net profit of 590 out of 655 firms that are listed on the main KOSPI bourse and close their books on Dec. 31 came to 25.6 trillion won ($23.2 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 81.3 percent from three months ago, according to the data compiled by
Nov. 18, 2020
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Residents' FX deposits hit record high in Oct.
Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose to a record high in October as exporters raised dollar holdings amid the country's improving exports, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $93.32 billion as of end-October, up $7.87 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The tally rebounded from September, when the FX deposits declined for the first time si
Nov. 18, 2020
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No. of holding companies in S. Korea declines in 2020
The number of holding companies in South Korea declined this year from a year earlier due largely to a fall in mid-sized holding firms, the country's antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said a total of 167 holding companies were registered with the country's antitrust regulator as of end-September, down from 173 the previous year. The registered holding companies consist of 157 general holding firms and 10 financial ones. A fall in the number of small an
Nov. 18, 2020
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Big firms' investments gain 10% despite weaker sales
Capital spending by large South Korean firms rose more than 10 percent in the first nine months of the year despite lower sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Combined investments by 362 big businesses in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 63.2 trillion won ($57.1 billion) in the January-September period, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The solid increase came as their total sales fell 4.5 percent on-year
Nov. 18, 2020
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[Contribution] NTS strives to broaden access to tax statistics
On Sept. 24, the National Tax Service held an opening ceremony at its Seoul Regional Office for the Seoul branch of NTS Data Lab. This is the first offshoot of the NTS Data Lab, which has been in operation in the city of Sejong since 2018. The NTS Data Lab is a secured facility whose main purpose is to promote research that may inform tax policies. It gives researchers access to microdata that had been used to compile national tax statistics for further analysis. Most of the data held by NTS
Nov. 17, 2020
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Korean economy maintaining recovery momentum amid pandemic: finance minister
The South Korean economy is maintaining its recovery momentum amid the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, the country's chief economic policymaker said Tuesday. During a conference call with global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's (S&P) earlier in the day, Hong discussed the country's overall economic situation and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Every year, delegations from key global credit rating agencies visit South Kor
Nov. 17, 2020
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[News Focus] Korea 6th highest in household debt in OECD
SEJONG -- South Korean households saw their collective debt reach 191 percent of their net disposal income as of 2019, up from the ratio of 184 percent posted a year earlier, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed. As a result, Korea placed at sixth on the list of OECD countries in the household debt-disposal income ratio last year, up from No. 8 in 2018. The France-based organization compared the latest available data for 33 of its total 37 members. The ex
Nov. 17, 2020
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Fitch holds negative outlook on Hyundai Motor amid pandemic
Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it holds a negative outlook on two South Korean carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. -- due to uncertainties over the COVID-19 pandemic and hefty quality-related expenses. Fitch holds the BBB+ rating for the two Korean carmakers with negative outlook despite their "resilient performance" since the start of the pandemic this year. Hyundai and Kia's operations and profitability have been resilient so far, and Fitch expects
Nov. 17, 2020
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Half of people in S. Korea's rural areas aged 65 and older in 2019
Nearly half of the population in South Korea's farming areas was aged 65 and older last year as younger people flocked to cities for education and jobs, data showed Tuesday. The portion of those aged 65 and above accounted for 46.6 percent of the total population residing in rural areas last year, sharply up from 4.9 percent in 1970, according to Statistics Korea. The number of people engaged in the farming industry came to 2.25 million in 2019, down 84.4 percent from 14.42 million in 1970. S
Nov. 17, 2020
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S. Korea, Cambodia to hold 4th round of FTA talks
South Korea will hold the fourth round of free trade talks with Cambodia this week as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio in Southeast Asia, the trade ministry said Tuesday. The three-day virtual meetings, slated to start Wednesday, will focus on general rules, origin of country, customs clearance, market access and other issues. The two sides have held three rounds of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) this year with a goal to finalize a draft by year-end. T
Nov. 17, 2020
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Service output in major cities, provinces dips in Q3 on virus fallout
Combined service output in major cities and provinces declined 1.7 percent on-year in the third quarter as the new coronavirus outbreak hit the service sector involving face-to-face contact, data showed Tuesday. Service output in six cities and nine provinces retreated in the July-September period, with Incheon, west of Seoul, suffering the biggest on-year fall with an 11.6 percent decline, according to the data from Statistics Korea. "Service output contracted on-year in the third quarte
Nov. 17, 2020
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No. of multiple home owners grows by more than 90,000 over past year
The number of multiple home owners in South Korea grew by more than 90,000 over the past year, data showed Tuesday, amid the government's efforts to curb rising home prices. The number of multiple home owners reached 2.28 million as of Nov. 1, 2019, up 92,000 from 2.19 million in the same period of last year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally picked up from a rise of 73,000 posted in the one-year period that ended on Nov. 1, 2018. The portion of people who have more than two houses acc
Nov. 17, 2020
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S. Korea likely to give conditional OK to Delivery Hero's acquisition of Woowa
SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator is likely to give conditional approval to a $4 billion deal by Germany's Delivery Hero to acquire the nation's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers, Delivery Hero officials said Monday. Delivery Hero officials in South Korea said the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) informed them that it would grant permission for the deal on the condition that the German firm sells its food delivery affiliate here, Yogiyo. Officials at the KFTC were not
Nov. 16, 2020