Most big name companies reduced the size of their workforce last year, affecting contracted workers the most, corporate analysis showed Tuesday. Eighty-seven listed firms affiliated with the top 10 business groups were surveyed by conglomerate tracker FnGuide, with additional information provided by the Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer system (DART) service under the Financial Supervisory S...

South Korean exports by "new growth" businesses rose an average of 5 percent annually in the past four years, a local trade report said Monday. Exports by companies whose businesses range from robotics, semiconductors, next-generation displays and bio health to aerospace jumped to $76.7 billion in 2016 from $63.2 billion in 2012, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said in a recent ...

A potential trade tussle between the US and China will have the South Korean economy suffer a decline in its growth rate due to its higher trade dependency on the neighbor, a report said Monday. "Having subsided after the global financial crisis, trade protectionism is once again gaining momentum, raising concerns over the negative impact on the highly trade-dependent Korean economy," the report...

Cautious optimism on a rebound in the Korean economy seems still shrouded by lingering downside risks at home and abroad. The Bank of Korea’s recent revision of its growth outlook for this year to 2.6 percent from the previous forecast of 2.5 percent bolstered the view that Asia’s fourth-largest economy may be bottoming out to enter the recovery stage. The central bank’s revised growth projecti...

The Bank of Korea will move its headquarters to a building in central Seoul and its office in the Gangnam district of Seoul late next month as its headquarters will undergo a three-year renovation project, bank officials said Monday. The renovation project, which will be completed by the first half of 2020 and include the reconstruction of the main annex building, aims to bolster the headquarter...

The number of unpaid male workers employed at their family businesses rose sharply in recent months, government data showed Monday, as more people are trying to cope with the protracted economic slump. "The surge in the number appears to be linked to a growing number of self-employed people," a Statistics Korea official said. The number jumped 11.7 percent, or 16,000, to 150,000 in the first th...

South Korea ranked 24th among 28 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries in terms of the state growth sustainability index, a local think tank said Sunday. The Hyundai Research Institute has developed its own index to measure each state's sustainable growth levels. South Korea scored 0.443, or 81.7 percent of the average of 0.542 for the 28 OECD member state...

The transaction volume of houses valued at 3 billion ($2.63 million) or more surged by seven times in just three years, data showed Sunday. Last year, 229 deals involving high-end real estate were posted on Onnara, a state-run web portal devoted to the real estate market, according to data compiled by the private market watcher Budongsan Info. The figure stood at 30 in 2013 and 123 in 2015. Out...

The South Korean government’s tax revenue grew faster than the gross domestic product’s annual increase in the country last year, data showed Sunday. The annual tax revenue amounted to 318.1 trillion won ($278.5 billion) last year, of which 242.6 trillion won was collected by the central government and the remaining 75.5 trillion won by the local governments, according to data from the Finance M...

The average daily sales volume of mini gold bars, which weigh between 10 to 100 grams, skyrocketed fourfold in April, amid escalating geopolitical uncertainties that turned investors’ attention to safe haven assets. Some 400 mini bars were traded a day, 300 more than usual, data by Korea Gold Exchange showed Sunday. “Starting early last week, we have been seeing a growing demand for mini gold b...

South Korea's export prices fell 1.4 percent in March from a month earlier due mainly to the strengthening won, central bank data showed Friday. The dollar came to an average of 1,134.77 won in March, down 0.9 percent from a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. For exporters, the won's gain means decreased income as dollar-denominated earnings from their overseas businesses fal...

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday revised up the nation’s economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from the previous January projection of 2.5 percent, citing improved exports and a turnaround in facility investment. It is the first time that the Bank of Korea has raised the nation’s growth forecast in three years since April 2014, when it revised it up to 4 percent from 3.8 percent. In an ...

The following is the first in a series of articles breaking down the presidential candidates’ major economic pledges in a simulated question-and-answer format by gathering their answers from official websites, media interviews, public speeches, books and more. The first installment delves into proposals on chaebol reform. -- Ed. The upcoming May 9 presidential election is unusual in the sense th...

South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly last month on the back of increased employment in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 4.2 percent last month, edging down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the rate ...

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it will deal with mounting household debt in a stable way through strengthening risk management capabilities, as the debt delivers a blow to Asia's fourth-largest economy amid higher interest rates. "The issue of household debt is closely linked with the finance sector and the real economy," said Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn in a meeting in Seoul...