Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Job market dropouts surge amid COVID-19 slump
Amid the prolonged economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea has seen a surge in its number of those dropping out of the job market altogether, government data showed Sunday. As these people are not subject to the government’s unemployment allowances and other benefits, there have been growing calls that the current job indexes and related subsidy system should be revised in light of the market reality. According to data from Statistics Korea, the number of those not inte
April 19, 2020
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[News Focus] Sagging economy seemingly put in backyard in election
SEJONG -- Wednesay’s election de facto provided both the first and last opportunity for a large portion of voters in a fury to officially tackle the Moon Jae-in administration’s economic policies and judge its midterm performance via the ballot. But the majority of effective ballots chose the ruling party in the 2020 general election. This means opponents of President Moon’s state affairs in the economic sector will have to wait two more years until March 9, 2022, which is th
April 19, 2020
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Korea to extend repayment deadline for poor nations
South Korea will allow certain coronavirus-hit countries to postpone repayment of their debts until the end of this year, Seoul officials said. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday in a World Bank Development Committee videoconference that Korea would extend the repayment deadline for members of the Industrial Development Agency and for the world’s least developed countries, at the suggestion of the World Bank, to give them some financial breathing room. “South Korea support
April 18, 2020
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‘BOK’s latest loan program to help brokerages avoid worst-case scenario’
South Korea’s central bank’s unprecedented decision to extend loans to brokerages and other nonbanking institutions will help them avoid the worst amid an economic crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus, experts said Friday. The Bank of Korea announced Thursday that it planned to launch a special loan program worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion), which would allow local banks, brokerages and insurers to borrow funds for up to six months against collateral from the central bank
April 17, 2020
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S. Korea, China vow to broaden economic exchanges despite pandemic
South Korea and China agreed Friday to expand joint efforts to tackle the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic and maintain the global supply chain. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo held a videoconference with his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan to discuss ways to expand their economic ties amid the challenging business environment sparked by the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, South Korea said its carmakers were able to promptl
April 17, 2020
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Coronavirus batters S. Korea's demand, employment, exports: finance ministry
The coronavirus pandemic has battered South Korea's domestic demand, job market and exports, with uncertainties from the highly contagious virus still expanding, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly report, called Green Book, the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a bleaker picture of the economic impact from the virus pandemic compared with its March report. "With domestic consumption continuing to shrink, employment indices sharply declined and uncertainties surrounding
April 17, 2020
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S. Korea reports 1st job loss since 2009 over coronavirus pandemic
South Korea reported its first on-year job loss since 2009 in March as the coronavirus pandemic began inflicting damage on the job market, data showed Friday. The nation lost about 195,000 jobs last month, marking the sharpest monthly decline since May 2009, when it lost some 240,000 jobs, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point on-year, but the number of employed people fell to 26.6 million in March, according to the data compi
April 17, 2020
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BOK to extend loans to brokerages in unprecedented move
South Korea’s central bank has decided to launch a new loan program for brokerages, temporarily broadening its range of collateral to corporate bonds, officials said Thursday. The move aims to provide cushion for the local market, which has been struggling to deal with the economic fallout of the new coronavirus. Under the program worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion), local brokerages and nonbanking financial institutions including brokerages and insurers will be allowed to borrow funds
April 16, 2020
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S. Korea's economy shows 'deepening contraction' over coronavirus pandemic: KDI
The South Korean economy shows signs of a "deepening contraction" as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures have halted global businesses and ravaged consumer demand, a state-run think tank said Thursday. "The Korean economy is showing a deepening contraction and mounting uncertainties as COVID-19 spreads," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication. South Korea's overall industrial output contracted the
April 16, 2020
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BOK names 3 candidates for new members of its rate setting body
The Bank of Korea said Thursday that South Korea's former top envoy to the US and two others have been named as candidates for new members of its monetary policy board. The three are Cho Yoon-je, who served as the South Korean ambassador to the United States between 2017 and 2019; Suh Young-kyung, head of the Sustainable Growth Initiative; and Joo Sang-yong, an economics professor at Konkuk University. Suh served as the first female BOK deputy governor for three years until 2015 before headi
April 16, 2020
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Moon’s economic policy to gain momentum on ruling party’s victory
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s landslide victory in the latest national assembly elections is expected to work as a catalyst for President Moon Jae-in’s economic policy agenda -- including more emergency cash handouts and housing market regulations. Thursday’s preliminary election results allowed the Democratic Party and its satellite Platform Party to secure 180 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, which is likely to expand the scope of the government's e
April 16, 2020
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Extra budget bill of W7.6tr proposed to aid virus-hit households
The government on Thursday unveiled a second extra budget bill worth 7.6 trillion won ($6.2 billion) to provide emergency relief to households amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount will be provided entirely by slashing other expenditure and readjusting government funds, without issuing additional bonds, officials said. “In order to finance the 9.7 trillion won required to pay out the emergency disaster relief funds, (the government) has drafted a 7.6 trillion
April 16, 2020
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S. Korea issues English brochure on ‘flattening the curve’
The South Korean government has issued a new brochure in English to share with the rest of the world its experiences of responding to the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. The 90-page policy report -- titled “Flattening the curve on COVID-19” -- is the second on the topic that the country has published since receiving a request from the World Bank in late March. The latest brochure was drafted jointly by the Finance Ministry, the ICT Ministry, th
April 16, 2020
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[Contribution] Country ownership in times of international assistance
The concept of “country ownership” is a key attribute of all investments and projects that multilateral and international organizations have incorporated into their objectives and constitutions. The concept emerged as a dominant way of thinking in the late 1990s, when the focus of the international aid architecture began to shift from donor-driven decision-making toward empowering recipient countries, building their capacities and greater partnership. In 2019, the Independent Evalua
April 16, 2020
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Global economy to face biggest setback since Great Depression: IMF
The COVID-19 pandemic will lead to an extensive slump in the global economy, much more than that of the Great Depression in 1930, according to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday. However, South Korea is likely to suffer fewer economic damages, due to its extensive quarantine measures and preemptive policy actions to counter the blow of the pandemic. In its revised World Economic Outlook report, the IMF forecast that the global economy this year will contract 3 percent on-year. The upda
April 14, 2020
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Export prices sink to lowest level since 2016
South Korea’s export prices fell in March, as the fallout of the new coronavirus continued to rattle domestic and global markets, central bank data showed Tuesday. While global oil prices largely weighed upon the figure, the uptrend in the semiconductor business partly countered the downside effects. The export prices index in terms of local currency stood at 96.59 last month, down 1.1 percent from a month earlier and reaching the lowest since September 2016, according to preliminary
April 14, 2020
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[Economy in Pandemic] S. Korea’s shrinking job market sparks fears of recession
Slammed by the novel coronavirus, South Korea’s labor market is shrinking fast, sparking concerns over its impact on consumer spending and the possibility of a sharp recession. Total payouts for state unemployment benefits hit a record high of nearly 900 billion won ($738 million) in March, data released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor showed Monday. The figure had jumped by a whopping 40.4 percent on-year, affected by the risks stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. The number of
April 14, 2020
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BOK to deliver $2b more to banks via US currency swap this week
The Bank of Korea (BOK) will deliver an additional $2 billion to local banks this week in its third injection of US banknotes under a bilateral currency swap arrangement with the US Federal Reserve aimed at preventing a foreign exchange liquidity crunch here, the bank said Tuesday. The BOK held an online auction to provide up to $4 billion in seven-day debt and 84-day loans. Bids undershot the BOK target of $3.5 billion in 84-day loans and $500 million in seven-day loans. Successful bidders
April 14, 2020
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Domestic stock funds’ returns recover on market rebound
South Korea's domestic stock investment funds are enjoying a recovery in their returns on a recent market rebound, data showed Tuesday. Domestic equity funds with a net asset value of 1 billion won ($821,000) or more yielded an average 7.59 percent in the week ending Monday, according to the data from market tracker FnGuide. The number outperformed an average 5.5 percent return for overseas stock investment funds and 0.22 percent for local bond funds over the cited period. The average yield
April 14, 2020
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Advance payments in state contracts to be expanded to help virus-hit firms
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a revised ordinance on advance payments in state contracts to help companies damaged by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. Under the revised ordinance, the government will be allowed to make up to 80 percent of a total contract sum in an advance payment from late this month, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. Currently, the government is allowed to make up to 70 percent of a total contract sum in an advance payment, officials said.
April 14, 2020