Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Stock market stabilization fund to be launched to ease downswings
Financial authorities plan to launch a stock market stabilization fund as part of efforts to counter downswings amid growing worries over global financial tightening and slowing economic growth, industry sources said Tuesday. Consultations are ongoing among relevant agencies with an aim to complete preparations for the launch of the around 10 trillion-won ($7 billion) fund within this month, according to the sources. The move comes as stock markets here have nose-dived this year on worries over
Oct. 4, 2022
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4 in 10 households projected to be single-person by 2040
Four out of 10 households in South Korea are projected to be single-person by 2040, with the portion of families of four or more – once the most common form of family here – shrinking to 10 percent, a report showed Monday. According to a report compiled by KB Financial Group, the number of single-person households was 7.1 million, or 33.4 percent of the total, last year. And the figure is expected to reach some 9 million by 2040, taking up 37.9 percent of the total households here.
Oct. 3, 2022
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Fiscal chief pins hopes on Korea’s entry to World Government Bond Index
SEJONG -- The nation’s top economic policymaker on Friday welcomed South Korea’s potential entry to the World Government Bond Index, predicting that if attained, it would foster a better environment for attracting foreign investment. The remarks from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho came a day after London-based stock index provider FTSE Russell included Korea on the watch list for the WGBI -- a step that comes before a country’s endorsement as a regula
Sept. 30, 2022
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Yoon says govt. will take necessary steps against financial volatility
President Yoon Suk-yeol said Friday the government will take necessary and timely steps to protect the people against increasing financial volatility. Yoon made the remark while presiding over a macrofinancial meeting with government and business officials, citing an "unprecedentedly strong dollar" and the US Federal Open Market Committee's decision last week to raise the interest rate. "The level of shock from the crisis that began from external factors will depend on how we
Sept. 30, 2022
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Korea's top 100 property owners have 20,000 homes: data
SEJONG -- South Korea's top 100 multiple home owners hold more than 20,000 housing units collectively, worth more than 2.5 trillion won ($1.7 billion) combined, an opposition party lawmaker said Thursday, citing state data. This indicates that an individual was owning 206 units, worth 25.2 billion won, on the average, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the Democratic Party of Korea, quoting Statistics Korea data. The number of homes owned by the top 100 individuals increased by 20 percent in fou
Sept. 29, 2022
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Tax revenue up W41tr through August
South Korea's tax revenue increased 41 trillion won ($28.8 billion) in the first eight months of this year compared with a year earlier as the collection of corporate and income taxes rose, the finance ministry said Thursday. Tax revenue amounted to 289.3 trillion won in the January-August period, compared with 248.2 trillion won the previous year, according to the ministry. In August alone, the government collected 28.3 trillion won in tax revenue, up 3.7 trillion won from a year ago. Sout
Sept. 29, 2022
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European biz advocacy group calls for clarity, flexibility in S. Korea's EV regulations
The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) on Wednesday called for South Korea to consider revising regulations on electric vehicles and several other key sectors to provide more procedural clarity and flexibility in line with international standards. The ECCK made the recommendations to the South Korean government in its latest annual white paper for this year, which contains a total of 96 comments on the regulatory issues across 18 industries, including automotive, energy and environment
Sept. 28, 2022
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S. Korea's global digital competitiveness ranking climbs to 8th spot: IMD
South Korea's global ranking in terms of digital technology competitiveness climbed to No. 8 this year, the science ministry said Wednesday, citing the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). According to the ministry, South Korea climbed four notches from last year's 12th spot in the 2022 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking report. The country ranked 19th in 2017 and later reached the 14th and 10th spots in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The IMD, a Switzerland-ba
Sept. 28, 2022
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Sales of top 500 firms jump 39% over 10 years
Sales of South Korea's top 500 firms have soared nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years with the information technology and electronics sector taking up the biggest share, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined top line of the leading businesses stood at 3,286 trillion won ($2.3 trillion) in 2021, up 39 percent from a decade earlier, according to CEO Score. The IT, electronics and electric industry accounted for the largest percentage of the total at 17.3 percent last year, up 3
Sept. 28, 2022
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Inflation expectations fall for second consecutive month in Sept.: BOK data
South Korea's inflation expectations declined for a second straight month in September amid falling oil prices, a central bank survey showed Monday. Ordinary people expected consumer prices will grow 4.2 percent over the next year, down 0.1 percentage point from 4.3 percent of the previous month, according to the poll conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The inflation expectations index has shown a gradual decline since July, when the monthly figure peaked at an all-time high of 4.7 percen
Sept. 27, 2022
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Korea to rank 12th among G-20 nations in 2022 growth: OECD
SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast Monday that South Korea will rank 12th among members of the Group of 20 for 2022 gross domestic product growth, hinting that the nation will see weakened momentum for economic growth. In its Interim Economic Outlook, the France-based OECD predicted that Korea will post a 2.8 percent growth this year. This is lower than the organization’s forecast for other G-20 members, including 4.1 percent growth in Australia,
Sept. 26, 2022
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Inflation to stay in 5-6% range for considerable period of time: BOK chief
South Korea's consumer inflation is likely to stay in the 5-6 percent range for a considerable period of time amid high energy and food prices and the local currency's sharp weakness against the US dollar, the chief of the country's central bank said Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to see slowing growth momentum into next year due to China's slowdown and heightened external conditions, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told a parliamentary committee me
Sept. 26, 2022
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Govt. asks food industry to minimize price hikes
A South Korean vice finance minister on Friday asked the food industry to minimize raising food prices as the country is grappling with high inflation. The government also plans to expand the supply of agricultural products, including napa cabbage and white radish, in a bid to better deal with high demand for kimchi-making events ahead of the winter season, according to First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun. "In light of the stabilizing trends of grain prices, we are asking (the food sect
Sept. 23, 2022
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NPS, BOK to sign currency swap deal as Korean won tumbles
South Korea's pension operator and the central bank are taking steps for a currency swap agreement as the Korean won tumbled to its lowest level against the US dollar in 13 years on Thursday. The National Pension Service will borrow the greenback it needs to invest overseas from the Bank of Korea, instead of buying it from the foreign currency market, and loan Korean won to the bank in return. The last currency swap deal between the two was dissolved in 2008 as the BOK demanded an end, citing a
Sept. 22, 2022
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Won dips below 1,400 mark for 1st time in over 13 years after Fed's rate hike
The South Korean currency on Thursday sank below the 1,400 mark against the US dollar for the first time in more than 13 years during its intraday trading following the Federal Reserve's rate hike. The Korean currency was trading at 1,403.80 won against the dollar as of 9:07 a.m., down 9.60 won from the previous session. The won fell to as low as 1,404.70 at one point. The won had fallen through the 1,400 mark for the first time since March 31, 2009, when the local currency hit 1,422 won per the
Sept. 22, 2022
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Finance minister declines to comment on possibility of currency swap deal with US
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Wednesday that a currency swap agreement with the United Sates would "definitely" help stabilize the foreign exchange market but declined to comment on the possibility of such a deal. He made the remarks after a local media outlet reported that a US$60 billion currency swap agreement with the US is expected to be announced as early as this week. The Bank of Korea denied the report as "different from the facts." "A currenc
Sept. 21, 2022
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Trade deficit casts clouds on markets, growth
SEJONG -- South Korea is likely to record a trade deficit for the sixth consecutive month, as the nation suffered a trade deficit of $4.1 billion for the first 20 days of September, down 8.7 percent on-year, state data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation posted $32.9 billion in exports while imports increased 6.1 percent on-year to $37 billion over the corresponding period. It would be the first time in 25 years for Asia's fourth-largest econom
Sept. 21, 2022
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ADB cuts Korea’s 2023 growth outlook to 2.3%
The Asian Development Bank lowered South Korea’s growth outlook for next year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.3 percent in its updated outlook published Wednesday, while keeping its forecast for this year at 2.6 percent. It also maintained Korea’s inflation outlook at 4.5 percent for this year, and 3 percent for 2023. “(Korea’s) private consumption is expected to slow in the second half of the 2022 as stimulus from the economy’s reopening fades and interest rate increa
Sept. 21, 2022
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Financial firms continue to close offline offices amid increased use of mobile services
The number of offline offices run by financial firms in South Korea declined more than 1,000 over the past year as the use of mobile services spiked amid their fast transition to digitalization, data showed Tuesday. Local financial companies, including banks and insurers, had run a total of 15,924 offline offices in South Korea as of end-March, down 1,037 from the same month a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Of them, the number of insurers' offlin
Sept. 20, 2022
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OECD cuts S. Korea’s 2023 growth outlook to 2.2%
SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday predicted that the gross domestic product growth of South Korea would stay in the low 2 percent range next year. In particular, the Paris-based OECD forecast that the nation’s exports and private consumption would post slower-than-expected growth in 2023. In the 2022 OECD Economic Survey of Korea, the organization revised its outlook on the 2023 GDP growth of Korea to 2.2 percent, from its suggestion of 2.5 per
Sept. 19, 2022