Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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[News Focus] 1 in 7 Koreans de facto jobless since March
SEJONG -- The novel coronavirus has created a tough job market in which more than 4 million South Koreans have been unemployed or underemployed for a third consecutive month. According to Statistics Korea, the “extended-based” jobless rate under the Supplementary Index III for Employment stayed above 14 percent over the past three months -- 14.4 percent in March, 14.9 percent in April and 14.5 percent in May. This is an unprecedented high, indicating that 1 out of 7 Koreans has b
June 18, 2020
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ADB expects S. Koran economy to contract 1% this year amid pandemic
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday sharply revised down its 2020 growth estimate for South Korea, along with that for the entire Asian region, expecting Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1 percent from a year earlier. The revision marks a turnaround from a 1.3 percent on-year growth forecast in April. Last year, the Korean economy expanded 2 percent. "In a regular supplement to its annual flagship economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook 2020 released in April,
June 18, 2020
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Trading soars with 22 nations that participated in Korean War
South Korea's trading volume with 21 countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War soared in the past 60 years on its economic growth and increased establishment of diplomatic ties with them, a local business lobby said Thursday. The trading volume with the 21 nations reached $314.6 billion in 2019, a dramatic hike from $200 million worth of trade with 12 participating nations in 1960, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said in a statement. "South Korea needs to expand fr
June 18, 2020
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S. Korea to levy tax on cryptocurrency: finance minister
South Korea plans to impose tax on cryptocurrency, the country's finance minister said Wednesday, adding that his ministry will announce the details next month. The government "has continued to realign its tax system to reflect changes in market conditions, but it is especially working to refine its list of taxable items and types of tax this year," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while speaking before the parliamentary finance committee. In the past years, cryptocurrencies, such
June 17, 2020
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S. Korea rolls out stricter regulations to cool heated housing market
South Korea on Wednesday unveiled stricter regulations to curb rising housing prices, including tighter loan rules and an expanded range of areas that are subject to special restrictions. Through the Moon Jae-in administration’s 21st set of housing price regulations, the government expanded its special regulations and monitoring zone to most areas west of Seoul and to certain other key cities as well, it said in a briefing of related ministries. Cities adjacent to Seoul including Inch
June 17, 2020
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NK demolition to have limited impact on financial market: officials
North Korea’s recent demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong will have a limited impact on the domestic financial market, South Korea’s fiscal and monetary authorities said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea held a meeting Wednesday morning under the chairmanship of Deputy Gov. Yoon Myun-shik to review the global financial market’s response to the North Korean action and the impact on the domestic market. At around 2:50 p.m. on the previous day, North Korea dem
June 17, 2020
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S. Korea to further tighten lending rules, expand regulated areas to curb rising home prices
South Korea said Wednesday that it will further tighten lending rules and designate more areas subject to tighter regulations in an effort to stem a further rise in housing prices. The government also warned that it will take additional stronger steps to curb speculative demand, if needed. The government rolled out its toughest measures yet to stem rising housing prices in greater Seoul and some unregulated areas, as a series of steps, including tax hikes and loan regulations, failed to put a
June 17, 2020
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S. Korea to brace for growing inter-Korean tension
South Korea will take steps to minimize negative economic fallout caused by North Korea's explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office, the country's finance minister said Tuesday. In the afternoon, North Korea blew up the office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean cooperative industrial zone in the North's city near the border, after cutting off all communication lines with South Korea. Pyongyang blamed the South for the deadlock in inter-Korean relations on June 13. Finance M
June 16, 2020
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S. Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbs 5 spots to 23rd
South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbed five spots this year, buoyed by improvement in government, business and infrastructure efficiencies amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an annual global competitiveness report. The report by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, which was released here by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy on Tuesday, showed that the nation ranked No. 23 out of 63 countries and saw the faste
June 16, 2020
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S. Korea to reinforce rules against real estate speculation
South Korea is about to unveil additional regulations to curb housing prices, mainly by deterring the rampant practice of speculative buying made possible by the country’s unique jeonse lease system, officials said Tuesday. The government will hold a ministerial meeting Wednesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, where the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is to report a new set of real estate policies. After the suggested pol
June 16, 2020
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Top investment banks upgrade Korea’s growth forecasts
Major foreign investment banks and institutions have revised their economic growth outlook for South Korea, data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign investment banks -- Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, HSBC, Nomura and UBS -- forecast that the local economy will contract by 0.4 percent this year on average, slightly improved from the minus 0.9 percent growth estimated in late Apr
June 16, 2020
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FX deposits hit 26-month high in May amid pandemic-caused uncertainties
Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to the highest amount in over two years last month, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid pandemic-triggered uncertainties that apparently prompted local businesses to stockpile hard currency. Foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $80.92 billion as of end-May, up $2.74 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since March 2018, when foreign curr
June 16, 2020
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Korean economy tipped to shrink 0.4% in 2020 on virus: IBs
Major foreign investment banks (IBs) and economic institutes have forecast South Korea's economy to shrink in 2020 due to the fallout of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, a report showed on Tuesday. According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign IBs and economic think tanks predicted that South Korea's economy may contract 0.4 percent this year, up from a contraction of 0.9 percent that they predicted in late April. Nomura raised its forecast t
June 16, 2020
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S. Korea vows financial support to boost overseas infrastructure orders
The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Monday vowed maximum efforts to help domestic businesses win overseas orders, seeking economic revitalization amid the prolonged COVID-19 fallout. South Korea’s preemptive policy move reflected its expectations that key economies will soon expand infrastructure businesses in order to recover from the epidemic crisis. “The government has selected 30 key projects totaling $100 billion, focusing on those that are likely to be successfully com
June 15, 2020
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S. Korea, Cambodia to launch free trade talks in July
South Korea is seeking to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Cambodia next month, hoping to increase its economic influence in Southeast Asia, according to top officials Monday. The announcement comes as Korea has been expanding its economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, amid predictions by experts that the novel coronavirus pandemic will likely accelerate rising trade protectionism, coupled with the diversification of global supply chains fro
June 15, 2020
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BOK launches legal team to research digital currency
The Bank of Korea on Monday officially launched a legal team to help smooth the launch of a central bank digital currency and cryptocurrencies rolled out by central banks. The formation of the six-member panel -- comprising external legal experts, lawyers and BOK officials -- was a follow-up to the central bank’s announcement in April, when it said it would carry out a 22-month pilot program until December 2021 to examine how to operate a CBDC system. The BOK had maintained a luk
June 15, 2020
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[News Focus] Korea facing significant household debt risks: OECD data
SEJONG -- The level of household debt in South Korea remains high, according to the latest research from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Korea’s 184 percent ratio of household debt to disposable income in 2019 placed the country eighth from the top, meaning debt levels were higher only in seven countries. Data was available for only 33 of the OECD’s 37 member nations, and was compiled in 2018. The figure means that a Korean household with disposable inco
June 15, 2020
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S. Korea to set up W300b fund for auto subcontractors
South Korea will set up a fund of 300 billion won ($248.6 million) to provide more liquidity to automobile subcontractors that have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, a top financial regulator said Monday. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said the fund will be jointly set up with carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Co. Hyundai Motor plans to chip in 10 billion won to the fund, and the government has been in talks with other carmakers, Eun said. The fund will provide g
June 15, 2020
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S. Korea to help companies win more overseas orders
SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will spare no efforts to help companies win overseas orders this year, as part of its efforts to revive economic growth amid the coronavirus pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said such efforts would help companies clinch overseas orders worth $30 billion this year The government will set up total funds of 3.7 trillion won ($3.07 billion) to aid local firms in winning overseas orders, Hong said. Hong said South Korea pla
June 15, 2020
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New jobless people hits record high in May amid COVID-19 outbreak
The number of people who are in search of jobs hit a record high in May as the new coronavirus outbreak hammered the job market, data showed Sunday. The number of jobless people who had been seeking to find jobs for less than three months reached 735,000 in May, up 107,000 from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally marked the largest figure for the month of May since the agency began to compile data in June 1999. The monthly growth also marked the largest since January
June 14, 2020