Most Popular
-
1
40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
-
2
N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
-
3
Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
-
4
Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
-
5
Govt. asks hospitals to mitigate impact of medical professors' absence
-
6
S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
-
7
Doggy patrol team on the move to protect their cities
-
8
Sales of eco-friendly cars top 100,000 in Q1 in S. Korea
-
9
S. Korea's working-age population to dip nearly 10m by 2044 amid low births
-
10
[Herald Interview] Director of 'Goodbye Earth' aimed to ask how we would face apocalypse
-
[Newsmaker] Dashed dreams: Young Koreans' leveraged investments backfire
When stock and crypto markets were hot and borrowing costs were cheap, many younger South Koreans, who typically had strong risk appetite but little capital to invest, dabbled in leveraged investing, known as “bittoo” in Korean. Many of these young investors had dreamed of getting rich quick and retiring young to become a new member of “FIRE tribe” -- the acronym standing for financially independent, retire early. But many are now suffering, as markets have tanked and int
Oct. 25, 2022
-
Eximbank kicks off annual development cooperation workshop
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) kicked off its 26th Economic Development Cooperation Fund Annual Workshop on Tuesday, in which 14 government officials from 14 different developing countries are participating. The EDCF Annual Workshop is hosted by Eximbank to introduce development officers from developing countries to Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund. The fund was created in 1987 as part of the South Korean government’s official development assistance initiativ
Oct. 25, 2022
-
Inflation expectations inch up in October amid interest rate hikes: Bank of Korea survey
South Korea's inflation expectations edged up on-month in October amid the Bank of Korea's aggressive rate hikes to bring price growth under control, a central bank survey showed Tuesday. Ordinary people expected consumer prices will grow 4.3 percent over the next one year, up 0.1 percentage point from 4.2 percent polled the previous month, according to the poll conducted by the BOK. This represented the first on-month rise in three months. Those polled cited possibly rising public fee
Oct. 25, 2022
-
Korea readies emergency liquidity to contain ‘Legoland Crisis’
South Korea’s economic policy chiefs, led by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, said Sunday the government would expand liquidity facilities to buy corporate bonds and commercial paper to stop a recent credit default from spilling over into the wider financial market. “The government will earmark 50 trillion won ($34 billion), at the least, to avoid a liquidity crunch,” Choo said, noting the fund will be used starting Monday to calm growing worries over the corporate debt markets.
Oct. 23, 2022
-
66% of job seekers end search amid lack of entry-level jobs: survey
Nearly 7 out of 10 four-year college graduates have practically given up searching for jobs, showed a survey result published Sunday by the Federation of Korean Industries. According to the survey of 2,469 job-seeking graduates and undergraduates by the lobby group, 65.8 percent of respondents had just about stopped job searching, with 31.8 percent only habitually looking for employment, 26.7 percent rarely partaking in job searching and 7.3 percent taking a break. Meanwhile, 66.3 percent of res
Oct. 23, 2022
-
Policymakers to hold emergency meeting on money market jitters
South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho plans to hold an emergency meeting with the country's central bank chief and top financial regulators on Sunday to discuss ways to rein in market jitters stemming from a default on debt linked to the construction of the Legoland theme park. The session will be held amid increased volatility in the money market following a default on municipal government-guaranteed debt worth 205 billion won ($143 million) raised to fund the construction of Legoland Kor
Oct. 23, 2022
-
Public firms to sell assets worth W20tr by 2027: lawmaker
SEJONG -- South Korea’s public firms are poised to sell off assets, including real estate and stocks -- worth more than 20 trillion won ($14 billion) -- over the next five years, state data showed Friday. According to the combined innovation plan, which was handed over to Rep. Koh Yong-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the nation’s 350 state-run firms were planning to dispose of assets worth 22.5 trillion won by 2027. Assets to go up for s
Oct. 21, 2022
-
Exports down 5.5% in first 20 days of October
South Korea's exports slipped 5.5 percent from the previous year in the first 20 days of October, data showed Friday, hinting that monthly outbound shipments could decrease on-year for the first time in two years. The country's outbound shipments stood at $32.4 billion in the Oct. 1-20 period, compared with $34.29 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports, on the other hand, moved up 1.9 percent on-year to $37.35 billion during the cited peri
Oct. 21, 2022
-
Producer prices bounce higher in September amid inflation woes
South Korea's producer prices bounced back in September following the first downturn in about two years a month earlier, as high energy and farming bills drove up costs, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, inched up 0.2 percent in September from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, the index jumped 8 percent. The on-month rise came after the index dropped 0.4 percent in
Oct. 21, 2022
-
S. Korea needs to brace for even stronger US dollar: ex-IMF economist
The US dollar is expected to continue to gain strength against other currencies for the time being, a former economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday, warning emerging markets such as South Korea need to brace for more economic jitters. "The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates much more aggressively than other central banks," Kenneth Rogoff, a professor at Harvard University, said during an online seminar hosted by the Seoul-based Institute for Global Econ
Oct. 20, 2022
-
S. Korea seeks reform of shipbuilding industry's labor structure
South Korea plans to seek a structural change in the labor market of its shipbuilding industry, the finance ministry said Wednesday, amid growing criticism over shipbuilders taking advantage of subcontractors. "Recently, the overall conditions for our shipbuilding industry have been improving, with the number of orders rising following the recovery of the global shipbuilding market, coupled with higher prices," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said during a meeting with economy-related m
Oct. 19, 2022
-
Korea’s employment performance falls short of OECD average: FKI
South Korea has been outpaced by most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding key labor-related indicators, a local business lobby found Tuesday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, Korea ranked 29th for its employment rate among 37 OECD members in 2021, a drastic fall from the 23rd position it had maintained between 2016 and 2000. Though Korea saw its ranking for men’s employment rate climb from 20th in 2000 to 12th in 2016, it slid t
Oct. 18, 2022
-
Korea’s employment performance falls short of OECD average: FKI
South Korea has been outpaced by most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding key labor-related indicators, a local business lobby found Tuesday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, Korea ranked 29th for its employment rate among 37 OECD members in 2021, a drastic fall from the 23rd position it had maintained between 2016 and 2000. Though Korea saw its ranking for men’s employment rate climb from 20th in 2000 to 12th in 2016, it slid t
Oct. 18, 2022
-
Growth in container rates for US west coast edges down in Sept.
SEJONG -- Shipping costs for container cargo bound for the west coast of the United States inched down in September from a month earlier amid mounting worries over a US economic downturn, government data showed Monday. The average freight rate for a 40-foot container from Asia's fourth-largest economy to the US west coast fell 0.4 percent on-year to 13.88 million won ($960,000), according to the data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS). From a year earlier, however, the rate rose 19.1 perc
Oct. 17, 2022
-
S. Korea eyes W1.5t investment by revamping regulations
South Korea plans to overhaul a set of business regulations as part of efforts to bolster investment, the finance ministry said Monday, amid growing fears over an economic slump. The decision was made during a meeting of economy-related ministries presided over by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea plans to overhaul 24 business-linked regulations, which is expected to help the country raise investment worth 1.5 trillion won ($1.03 billio
Oct. 17, 2022
-
[Breaking] Fire at Kakao data center causes servers to go down
A fire Saturday at a Kakao data center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, has led to a server outage affecting the KakaoTalk messenger app, along with other apps such as Kakao T, Kakao Map, Kakao Metro, Kakao Webtoon, Kakao Bank, Kakao-owned portal Daum and music streaming service Melon. The internet connection for the apps has been unavailable since 3:30 p.m. "There has been a fire at SK C&C data center since 3:30 p.m. Work has begun to put down the fire, but we are uncertain when the fir
Oct. 15, 2022
-
Job growth slows in Sept. amid recession worries
South Korea posted 19 straight months of job gains in September, although the employment growth has cooled amid worries over a recession prompted by soaring interest rates and slowing exports. According to Statistics Korea data released Friday, the number of the employed rose to 28.38 million last month, up 707,000 from the same month a year ago -- the largest annual gain since 1999 in the month of September. But the monthly increase has been declining since May, when 935,000 jobs were added. A
Oct. 14, 2022
-
IMF chief downplays possibility in Korea’s financial crisis
SEJONG -- The chief of the International Monetary Fund on Friday dismissed the possibility that South Korea would face a financial crisis, seemingly suggesting that the current economic situation of the nation is different from the 1997 or 2008 crises. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the remarks of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came during a meeting with Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho in Washington. Georgieva picked the nat
Oct. 14, 2022
-
Finance minister calls on World Bank to expand ties with Korea
SEJONG -- South Korea’s top economic policymaker on Thursday called for close collaboration between the Korean government and the World Bank Group to address major global issues, such as tackling climate change. In his meeting with WB Group President David Malpass in Washington, DC, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho stressed the role of World Bank's local liaison office at the Free Economic Zone in Incheon’s Songdo-dong, to bolster the bilateral coordination.
Oct. 13, 2022
-
BOK's big-step rate hike coincides with gov't view: finance minister
WASHINGTON/SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the central bank's decision to take another big-step rate hike was necessary to cope with inflation and the strong US dollar. On the previous day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in line with efforts to bring inflation under control. It is the first time in about 10 years that the rate has risen to the 3 percent range. "There are absolutely no difference
Oct. 13, 2022