According to data by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea, the economic growth rate has continued to decrease in the past decades throughout three different administrations, dropping significantly from around 5 percent of growth rate recorded in the 2000s. The Moon Jae-in administration has vowed to surpass the 3 percent growth rate, with experts advising strategic moves to enable new growth e...

President Moon Jae-in reiterated the need to reduce the country's working hours Monday, noting that long hours not only reduce people's quality of life but also cause unnecessary accidents. The president's remarks came in a weekly meeting with his top aides at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. "We must no longer accept a society that thinks long work hours and overwork are natural. Among c...

South Korean manufacturing companies’ investments abroad have been increasing at a rapid pace in contrast to sluggish corporate activity at home. Overseas investments by local manufacturers in the first quarter of this year jumped 115.2 percent from a year earlier to $11.4 billion, according to recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The increase rate exceede...

Following Seoul and Washington’s decision to begin talks on possibly modifying certain aspects of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, US congressmen appeared unanimous that the US president should avoid making any drastic amendments that would jeopardize bilateral relations, though the trade deal has its flaws. According to the US House of Representatives on Monday, the House Ways and Means Comm...

South Korea's household lending by banks rose at the slowest pace in five months in September, but mortgage loans continued the upside trend amid the government's toughened financial measures to cool down the real estate market, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 749.2 trillion won ($664.8 billion) as of the end of last month, according to the data ...

South Korea's unemployment rate grew by the biggest margin in August among member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, due chiefly to youth joblessness, the latest data showed Monday. The figures released by the OECD put South Korea's unemployment rate for August at 3.8 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from the previous month. While it was the first increase since ...

South Korean workers' average wage rose less than 30 percent in the 2008-2015 period, while the amount of their withholding tax jumped 60 percent, tax records showed Monday. Statistics provided by the National Tax Service to Rep. Park Myung-jae for the ongoing parliamentary inspections said an average salaried worker earned 32.6 million won ($28,913) a year in 2015, up 28.9 percent from 2008. Th...

Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon underlined that South Korea does not intervene in foreign exchange markets, seeking to ensure that the country continues to stay out of the US-designated currency manipulator list, according to ministry officials. Minister Kim met with his US counterpart Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday, on the sidelines o...

Credit and debit card spending in South Korea soared more than 30 percent over the recent extended Chuseok holiday season from a year ago, industry data showed Sunday. A daily average of 191.8 billion won ($170.1 million) worth of purchases were made through credit and debit cards during the Sept. 30-Oct. 9 holidays, up 35.8 percent from the 141.2 billion won average tallied during the Chuseok h...

South Korea is struggling to achieve its goal of 3 percent growth this year as skepticism grows over sluggish domestic demand and investment. Officials said the government is not considering stimulus measures for now, as it has already injected an extra 11 trillion won ($9.76 billion) into the economy in August. But it may come up with microeconomic measures to support vulnerable sectors if thi...

Amid Korea’s continued strive for increased transparency and regulatory business reforms, the Fair Player Club and US Embassy Seoul hosted a joint seminar on better regulatory compliance in Seoul on Thursday. The seminar invited keynote speaker Aaron Szabo, senior adviser for International Regulatory Cooperation of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, who shared the U...

South Korean stocks fell slightly Friday, pulling back from a record high, led by a sell-off by foreign and local retail investors. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.14 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 2,473.62. Trade volume was moderate at 233 million shares worth 6.7 trillion won ($5.93 billion). The KOSPI opened high...

Slightly fewer South Koreans now think that they will be better off in the future amid the sluggish pace of recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy, a survey showed Friday. According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea between Tuesday and Thursday, 22 percent of the 1,500 respondents said their livelihoods will improve within the next one year, down 2 percentage points from a month earlier. ...

South Korea's tax agency said Friday it will crack down on tax evasion by big businesses and wealthy individuals to boost its tax revenue. The National Tax Service plans to thoroughly look into possible capital outflows by high-income earners and conglomerates and check moves to pass on managerial control of firms without paying related dues, the NTS said in the documents produced for the parlia...

South Korea's trade minister said Friday that he will consider all possibilities when renegotiating the terms of the free trade agreement with the United States, so as to protect the country's interests and not give in to unilateral demands. Last week, the two nations agreed to begin the long-anticipated process of amending the FTA at Washington's request. US President Donald Trump has blamed th...