The number of self-employed South Koreans who run businesses without any employees is the fourth-largest among the world’s major nations, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Sunday. According to the OECD’s Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2017 report, the number of self-employed workers in Korea was 3.98 million, the fourth-highest among all 35 OECD m...

The number of local subsidiaries established abroad by South Korea's 30 biggest business groups rose gradually in recent years, a report said Sunday, as they actively made inroads into overseas markets to survive the keen competition. The figure surged to 3,332 last year from 2,650 in 2013 and 3,053 in 2015, according to market researcher Chaebol.com. Chaebol refers to South Korea's major busine...

South Korea and the United States agreed Wednesday to begin a process to amend their free trade agreement at Washington's request, Seoul's trade ministry said. The agreement was reached during talks in Washington led by South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the ministry said in a statement. "The two sides shared an understanding of the need to...

Driven by high demand for overseas products during the long Chuseok holiday, the import prices of certain food items soared, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. According to KCS’ data, import prices of seafood and livestock products, such as US beef, saw a significant spike compared to last year, with the prices of some food items increasing by more than 100 percent. In part...

Data released last week pointed to the deepening sluggishness of the Korean economy, strengthening the case for readjusting the new administration’s policy focused on expanding welfare benefits and guaranteeing higher wages and a more secure job status for employees. Retail sales and facility investment fell 1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, from a month earlier in August, according to th...

South Korea’s hope upon this year’s 10-day Chuseok holiday was that the long break would boost consumption and revive the domestic market momentum, but external risks mean that the nation’s economic prospects for the last quarter of the year remain murky. The foreseeable challenges include the ongoing dissent between Korea and the US over their bilateral trade deal, the imminent expiration of th...

More than 10 million South Koreans swiped their credit cards in foreign countries in 2016 on a sharp rise in overseas travelers, a report showed Monday. A total of 10.79 million people made overseas purchases worth 16.35 trillion won through credit cards in 2016, up from 9.19 million a year ago, according to the report by Rep. Park Kwang-on from the ruling Democratic Party. The number of overse...

South Korea’s central bank suggested that a key interest rate hike is plausible in the near future in step with economic recovery, even if the inflation rate continues to remain slow. “We may consider some adjustment (in the interest rate) without being restrained by (slow) inflation, as long as economic recovery holds out in the midterm flow,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday during a...

South Korea's exports soared 35 percent to reach an all-time high in September thanks to strong demand for semiconductors and displays, government data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments came to $55.1 billion for the month, up from $40.8 billion tallied a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea Customs Service. The September figure ma...

South Korea's bourse struggled ahead of this year's long Chuseok holiday as tensions between the United States and North Korea reached new heights causing jitters among investors, observers here said Saturday. According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the country's KOSPI lost ground for seven straight sessions from Sept. 19 through Wednesday of this week. This is the longest losing streak for the m...

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said Friday he expects exports and other economic data for next month to deteriorate due to the 10-day Chuseok holiday. Kim made the remarks during a meeting with religious leaders earlier in the day. This year's Chuseok, or autumn harvest celebration, which falls next Wednesday, will be longest in decades because of its nearness to two other national holidays. Th...

South Korea's financial authorities said Friday they will ban all forms of initial coin offerings, joining a wave of global regulations against the popular fundraising scheme with cryptocurrencies. The decision came after a meeting of senior officials from relevant ministries, led by the Financial Services Commission, the regulator said in a statement. Initial coin offerings allow start-ups or ...

Retail sales in South Korea increased 4.3 percent in August from a year earlier, driven by strong sales posted by online malls and convenience stores, government data showed Friday. Sales of 13 major online stores and marketplaces jumped 13.1 percent on-year last month as more people bought airline tickets and travel packages, as well as clothing and fashion items via the Internet, according to ...

South Korea's current account surplus widened last month from a year earlier thanks to brisk semiconductor exports, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account surplus reached $6.06 billion in August, compared with a surplus of $5.03 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The figure represents a surplus for 66 months in a row. The cu...

One in 5 new businesses that opened last year were owned by young people (classified as those in their late teens, 20s, 30s), data by the National Tax Service showed. The most preferred establishments were mail-order businesses, restaurants and commodities brokerages. A majority, or 56.7 percent, of the young and new business owners were men. But there were more women among new business owners ...