Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong on Tuesday set out on his second trip to Washington, DC in a week to meet with government officials and lawmakers to get Seoul exempted from proposed steel product tariffs announced by the United States. His trip comes as US President Donald Trump is set to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports this week, a move certain to affect Korean steel producers....

A looming global trade war is feared to deal a blow to corporate Korea as Asia's fourth-largest economy banks heavily on exports for its economic growth, analysts said Tuesday. The world's three major economic powerhouses are locking horns with one another after US President Donald Trump has threatened high tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. China, the world's second-largest economy, is ...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday he's "not backing down" from his plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The action is expected to come this week, with Trump earlier announcing plans to introduce a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. The new duties would hurt Korea, the No. 3 exporter of steel products to the US last year, after Canad...

Industrial restructuring has been going adrift under President Moon Jae-in’s administration, deepening concerns about the weakening of the country’s economic fundamentals. In December, the administration announced a new direction for corporate restructuring, which focused on ensuring a balance between financial logic and industrial consequences and considering the effects on regional economies a...

US beef imports shot up significantly last year, beating Australian meat to regain its No. 1 status in the Korean market for the first time in 14 years, industry data showed Monday. Korea imported 177,000 tons of US beef last year, up 13.5 percent from 156,000 tons tallied in 2016, according to the figures provided by the Korea Rural Economic Institute. Beef imports from Australia decreased 3.9...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump has so far made no indication he will exempt certain countries from tariffs on steel imports, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Sunday. Trump is expected to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports this week, a move certain to affect South Korean steel producers. On Thursday, he said he would introduce a tariff of 25 percent on steel and 10 percen...

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, a veteran monetary policy expert with a career spanning 41 years at the central bank, is widely seen as an advocate of the bank's independence who has promoted better communication with the market. The reappointment of Lee, 66, comes at a critical time for the South Korean economy, which has been grappling with mounting household debt and weak consumption. It is ...

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Thursday he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports next week, a move that could affect South Korean steelmakers. Speaking at a meeting with business executives at the White House, Trump also said he plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports of aluminum and keep the two measures in place indefinitely. "We'll be signing it in. And yo...

SEJONG -- Korea's industrial output increased in January from a month earlier on a rise in production in the automaking and chipmaking sectors, government data showed Friday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 1 percent on-month in January, following an adjusted 0.5 percent on-month decline in the previous month, according to the data by Statistics Korea...

Korea's exports moved up 4 percent on-year in February, with its growth slowing mainly due to fewer working days caused by the Lunar New Year holiday, government data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments reached $44.88 billion in the one-month period, up from $43.16 billion a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Exports rose for the 16th consecu...

Writers, consultants and public speakers, among others, will have to pay more taxes for their work starting from April, according to revised tax laws. Currently, a 4.4 percent withholding tax is applied to fees for speeches, consulting and contribution articles. The rate will rise to 6.6 percent starting from April 1, and further go up to 8.8 percent in 2019. In addition, only 70 percent of fee...

Trade Ministry seeks to augment trade negotiating organization, Finance Ministry remains cautious citing budget

South Korea's central bank is expected to raise its key interest rate in May or July in an effort to cope with rising US rates, analysts said Wednesday. In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea held the base rate steady at 1.5 percent, maintaining its wait-and-see stance. In November last year, the bank jacked up the borrowing cost for the first time in more than...

A global automaker’s move that could potentially lead to a withdrawal of business here, key rates pressures, and increasing trade pressure from the United States -- these are the three major US-related hurdles weighing upon South Korea’s economy this year. In the industrial sector, GM Korea’s decision to shut down its Gunsan plant after 22 years of operation is increasingly imposing strain upon ...

South Korea's central bank on Tuesday kept its key rate unchanged for the second month in a row as Asia's fourth-largest economy experiences slow growth momentum. In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to hold the key rate steady at 1.50 percent, maintaining its wait-and-see stance. In November last year, South Korea's central bank adjusted up the key ra...