Most Popular
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Ship linked to NK arms shipments to Russia is moored in China: State Dept.
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Korea's consumer sentiment soars to 5-month high in July
South Korea's consumer sentiment continued to improve this month from a month earlier, reaching the second-highest point since the country reported its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus six months earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's composite consumer sentiment index came to 84.2 in July, up 2.4 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since 96.9 posted February. South Korea reported its
July 29, 2020
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Older Koreans hope to work until age 73: survey
Nearly 67 percent of South Koreans between the ages of 55 and 79 want to keep working, a survey showed Tuesday. Their preferred retirement age is 73 on average. According to a survey conducted by Statistics Korea, some 9.62 million respondents, or 67 percent of the 14.27 million citizens surveyed, said they want to keep working, up 2.5 percentage point from the previous year. They hoped to earn a monthly wage between 1.5 million won ($1,270) and 2 million won. Nearly 60 percent of the
July 28, 2020
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(Edited) #Virus brings 69% surge in payouts for jobless in Korea
Virus brings 69% surge in payouts for jobless in Korea Deck: Benefit recipients up 58,000 in Seoul in 6 months [News Focus] By Kim Yon-se SEJONG -- The tally of recipients of unemployment benefits surged by 69 percent for the first six months of the year, when the novel coronavirus hit the nation. In June, the government provided benefits to 718,921 people who lost their jobs, according to the Korea Employment Information Service. This marked an increase of more than 290,000, compared to 42
July 28, 2020
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S. Korea's trade terms sharply up in June
South Korea's terms of trade sharply improved from a year earlier in June with its import prices falling at a faster rate than export prices, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's terms of trade index for products came to 98.03 last month, up 9 percent from 94.32 in the same month last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how the country's exports are doing
July 28, 2020
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S. Korea's July exports tipped to drop 9% amid pandemic: poll
South Korea's exports are expected to fall 9 percent on-year in July, possibly extending a slump to the fifth consecutive month, a poll showed Tuesday, but their pace of decline is predicted to slow on the back of economic reopenings. The country's outbound shipments are estimated at $41.8 billion this month, compared with $46.14 billion from a year earlier, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was conducted on nine local brokerage h
July 28, 2020
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Delayed tax payments soar in H1 amid COVID-19 impact
Delayed tax payments during the first half of this year surged by 28 times from a year earlier, reflecting the cash-strapped reality of local taxpayers amid the COVID-19 pandemic fallout, government data showed Sunday. The number of people who have applied for their due tax payments to be put off came to 5.79 million as of end-June, which was 28.1 times higher than 206,054 cases observed a year earlier, according to data submitted by the National Tax Service to the parliamentary finance comm
July 26, 2020
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Only one-third of disabled people in S. Korea had jobs in 2019
SEJONG -- Only one-third of people with disabilities had jobs last year, data showed Friday, underscoring the employment challenges facing disabled people. The employment rate of disabled people stood at 34.9 percent in 2019, compared with the rate of 60.9 percent for the total population, according to the data from Statistics Korea. By age, the employment rate of disabled people from 15 and 29 stood at 30.6 percent while that for people aged 30 to 39 stood at 53.4 percent. As of 2018, 2.
July 24, 2020
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Top bankers call for level playing field with IT firms
Top executives of South Korea’s five major banking giants on Thursday requested authorities to maintain fair regulatory standards amid the fast rise of tech-driven financial services that are relatively loosely regulated. Chairmen from KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Woori Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and NH Financial Group participated in a meeting with Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo to discuss response measures to counter the new coronavirus
July 23, 2020
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S. Korea’s economy contracts 2.9% in Q2, worst since Asian financial crisis
South Korea saw its economy shrink dramatically in the second quarter, marking its worst growth in more than two decades, feeling the impact from COVID-19 fallout, central bank data showed Thursday. The chief fiscal policymaker, however, claimed that the country’s economic graph will rebound in the third quarter on the back of expansionary fiscal spending and new growth engines. The country’s real gross domestic product for April-June fell 2.9 percent from a year earlier, accordi
July 23, 2020
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(Edited)1 in 5 NK defectors see household debt top 100m won
1 in 5 NK defectors see household debt top 100m won Deck: Outstanding debt doubles in a year among defectors in 50s [News Focus] By Kim Yon-se SEJONG -- The burden of financial liabilities held by North Korean refugees was found to have aggravated, while their employment conditions were worse than the average of ordinary South Koreans, state data showed. According to Statistics Korea and the Korea Hana Foundation, the defectors from the North saw their outstanding debt per household reach an
July 23, 2020
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S. Korea pushes privately funded infrastructure projects worth W30tr
South Korea will push ahead with privately financed infrastructure projects worth more than 30 trillion won ($25.1 billion) this year, as part of its efforts to revive the coronavirus-battered economy, the Finance Ministry said Thursday. The projects include construction of highways as well as sewage systems, worth 4.5 trillion won and 2.3 trillion won, respectively, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a meeting with economy-related ministers. The authorities
July 23, 2020
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Number of beef cattle in S. Korea hits new high in Q2
SEJONG -- The number of beef cattle in South Korea hit a record high in the second quarter of the year amid rising beef prices, government data showed Thursday. There were 3.33 million beef cattle, including Korean-bread cattle known as "hanwoo," in the country as of June 1, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. It marks the largest-ever tally since the statistical agency began tracking related data in 1986. The s
July 23, 2020
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S. Korea's economy shrinks 2.9% in Q2, worst since 1997 financial crisis
South Korea's economy contracted at a sharper rate than what had been expected in the second quarter, delivering the worst performance in over two decades, as the pandemic hammered outbound shipments and private spending in Asia's fourth-largest economy, central bank data showed Thursday. In the April-June period, the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 2.9 percent from the same period last year, marking the slowest growth since a 3.8 percent on-year contraction in the last thre
July 23, 2020
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S. Korea revises tax rules to respond to post-coronavirus economy
South Korea on Wednesday unveiled a set of revised taxation rules aimed at better dealing with the widening economic gap and altered tax realities under the COVID-19 context. Its measures will focus on alleviating the tax burden for struggling small businesses, enhancing income tax-paying duties of the affluent group and supporting retail investors. “Adding to its previous measures to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, (the government) has come up with tax law revision bills to fundamenta
July 22, 2020
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SME exports dip 13.4% in Q2 on coronavirus
Exports by South Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sank at a double-digit rate in the second quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday. Local SMEs' overseas shipments came to $22.5 billion in the April-June period, down 13.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, marking a sharp turnaround from the 2 percent on-year increase in their exports in the first quarter, which were worth $24.2 bil
July 22, 2020
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More young people preparing for job exams in May amid pandemic
SEJONG -- The number of young South Koreans preparing for job exams rose in May this year, data showed Wednesday, as job markets are hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The data released by Statistics Korea showed that 804,000, or 17 percent, of 4.73 million economically inactive youths aged 15-29 prepared for exams in May to land jobs, up 1.7 percentage points from the same period last year. Among the 804,000 people, 28.3 percent were preparing for state exams to become low-ranking public
July 22, 2020
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Financial app users outpace e-commerce, game apps: data
The number of people using financial mobile apps, including for banking and stock trading, has surpassed users of apps for online shopping and games, industry data showed Wednesday. According to the data by mobile big data platform IGAWorks, a total of 31.16 million people with Android devices used financial applications in June, compared with 23.63 million people using e-commerce apps and 19.84 million mobile game users. "The number of financial app users greatly increased following the
July 22, 2020
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Buoyed by oil prices, producer prices see first growth in 5 months
Buoyed by the recovery of global oil prices, South Korea’s producer price index rose 0.5 percent on-month in June, ending a monthslong slide, the nation’s central bank said Tuesday. The producer price index for all commodities and services here inched up 0.5 percent on-month to 102.52, data released by the Bank of Korea showed. It had remained flat in May after extending a decline in the February-April period, weighed down by the coronavirus pandemic. “The recovery of global
July 21, 2020
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Growth of S. Korea's total assets slows in 2019
South Korea's overall wealth grew at a slightly slower pace than a year before in 2019, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid a prolonged decline in exports that also kept its economy growing at the slowest pace in a decade. The country's national assets came to 16,621.5 trillion won ($13.84 trillion) as of the end of last year, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the national balance sheet from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rise marks a slowdown from an 8.2 percent on-year incre
July 21, 2020
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S. Korea to expand FTA network to overcome virus pandemic
South Korea said Tuesday it will speed up efforts to expand its free trade agreement (FTA) networks to overcome the economic jitters sparked by the new coronavirus pandemic. "South Korea will not only focus on opening markets but seek to build a sustainable partnership with developing nations on the back of FTAs," Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo said during a conference with business organizations and companies held in Seoul. The remark came amid concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic is
July 21, 2020