South Korea's national tax office said Thursday its chief is attending a meeting of top tax officials from leading industrialized economies on tackling offshore tax evasion. Han Seung-hee, commissioner of the National Tax Service, is now in Oslo to participate in the 11th meeting of tax chiefs from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that kicked off in the Norwegian capital...

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's trade minister said Wednesday he believes the United States should yield more in talks over their free trade agreement in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat. In a meeting with reporters in Washington, Kim Hyun-chong said the current military tensions with Pyongyang should strengthen, not weaken, Seoul's hand in negotiations over a possible amendment to the agree...

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiments are expected to worsen in the fourth quarter due mainly to growing North Korea risks, a survey showed Thursday. The business sentiment index, compiled by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stood at 85 in the October-December period, down from 94 tallied in the third quarter, maintaining its bearish run for years. The BSI has been under th...

South Korea's consumer prices continued their sharp growth in September due to high-flying food prices, government data showed Thursday. The country's consumer price index advanced 2.1 percent this month from a year earlier, decelerating from a more than five-year high of 2.6 percent tallied in the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The index has stayed over the...

The government will buy 720,000 tons of rice harvested this year to stabilize domestic market prices amid chronic oversupply of the staple grain, the agriculture ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will buy 350,000 tons of rice for its reserve and 370,000 tons to help maintain market prices at a certain level. The government increased the amount o...

South Korea’s global ranking in the global competitiveness index remained unchanged at No. 26 this year, held back by challenges in the labor and financial sectors, according to a report by the World Economic Forum. While the macroeconomic environment rose to be the world’s second most competitive, the labor market efficiency and financial market development pillars hung at Nos. 73 and 74 among ...

South Korea's key rate is below neutral levels, a monetary board member said Wednesday, in the latest signal that the country's central bank could move to raise interest rates going forward. Shin In-seok, a member of the BOK monetary policy board, made the assessment in a meeting with reporters, noting that the BOK's monetary policy is accommodative. Earlier this month, BOK Deputy Governor Jeon...

The booming semiconductor sector has veiled the sagging vitality of other major manufacturing industries in Korea, analysts say. The high performance of two local chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix -- has helped boost the country’s exports and corporate profits as a whole. But the overreliance on them causes concerns over the potential damage the Korean economy will suffer when the b...

The Asia-Pacific region is home to more than 4 billion people, or roughly 60 percent of the entire world population, and 17 megacities. Although these economic hubs have helped lift millions of people out of poverty, the current era of rapid urbanization is leading to the depletion of natural resources, diminishing water quality, increased air pollution and adverse climate change effects, accordi...

South Korean exports are expected to remain solid in the fourth quarter despite a slowdown in the pace of growth, the country's trade promotion agency said Wednesday. The leading export index for the October-December quarter stood at 59.7, slowing down from 63.9 in the previous quarter, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said in a statement. "KOTRA's leading export index declined as Ja...

Excess funds held by South Korean households fell in the second quarter of this year from a quarter earlier on increased purchases of new houses, data showed Wednesday. Surplus funds held by households here, including nonprofit organizations, totaled 10.5 trillion won ($9.2 billion) during the April-June period, compared to 14.1 trillion won in the previous quarter, according to preliminary data...

South Korea's tax office said Wednesday that it has launched a second round of investigations on real estate speculators who are suspected of not paying their dues as part of the government's drive to curb price hikes in the local property market. The National Tax Service said it is looking into 302 people who bought and sold lucrative reconstructed apartments in the Gangnam district of Seoul, w...

South Korea's national tax office collected a record amount of penalty taxes in 2016 in close cooperation with the intelligence unit of the financial regulator, a lawmaker said Wednesday. Citing data from the National Tax Service, Rep. Park Myung-jae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said the tax service collected 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in back taxes on tips from the Financial ...

Business leaders of South Korea and Japan gathered in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss ways to step up collaboration in the technology and energy sectors, as well as in facilitating multilateral free trade with other Asian nations. About 300 businessmen from major companies attended the meeting hosted by the Korea-Japan Economic Association in downtown Seoul to share views on the next technological r...

President Moon Jae-in called Tuesday for efforts to craft a new growth strategy based on industrial innovation as one of his administration's key economic policy pillars along with income-led growth and fairness. The new innovation-led growth strategy was first introduced when the president met with US investors and business leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New ...