NPS expands investment in domestic-oriented firms

South Korea's top pension operator has expanded its investment in domestic-oriented companies in the second half of 2015, data showed Sunday, amid the prolonged slump in the global economy that has cast clouds over exporters.The National Pension Service has increased stake investments in 133 firms in the second half, with 18 of them being food and beverage producers, the data compiled by market tracker FnGuide showed. The data only includes companies where the NPS holds a 5 percent or higher sta

Nov. 15, 2015

Foreign ownership of Seoul land inches up

Foreign ownership of land in Seoul has inched up from a year earlier on the back of increased ownership of Chinese nationals, data showed Friday.According to the data by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the amount of land owned by foreign investors and companies in the South Korean capital city came to 2.74 million square meters as of the end of September, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier.The estimated value of the land owned by foreigners amounted to 10.01 trillion won ($8.59 billion), the

Nov. 13, 2015

Korea's rice production hits 6-year high in 2015

South Korea's rice production hit a six-year high in 2015 caused by greater yield per cultivated land, government data showed Friday.According to the data from Statistics Korea, South Korea produced a total of 4.32 million tons of rice this year, up 2 percent from 4.24 million tons a year earlier. This marked the third straight year of growth in rice output. The growth came in spite of a 2-percent drop in the country's rice-growing area from a year earlier. "Lack of serious typhoons and pest dam

Nov. 13, 2015

Timely passage of 2015 budget can prop up GDP growth: finance minister

The timely passage of the 2015 national budget can help push up growth in the new year by creating more jobs for young people and by supporting the underprivileged, South Korea's top economic policymaker said Friday.Chairing the fiscal strategy policy meeting in Seoul, Choi Kyung-hwan said the 387 trillion won ($333 billion) budget plan being reviewed by the National Assembly outlines comprehensive measures to help young people find work, support next generation growth industries, and assist sma

Nov. 13, 2015

Will Korea close in on Japan?

A growth outlook report recently released by the International Monetary Fund forecast Korea’s nominal per capita gross domestic product would reach $36,750 in 2020, up 31.4 percent from last year’s $27,970, while the figure for Japan would increase just 6 percent from $36,222 to $38,174 over the same period. In terms of purchasing power parity, Korea’s per capita GDP was projected to amount to $41,966 by 2018, surpassing Japan’s $41,428.The weaker yen, which results in reducing Japan’s GDP estim

Nov. 13, 2015

South China Sea 'code of conduct' unlikely in upcoming ASEAN summits: Rice

Claimants to the South China Sea are unlikely to come up with a code of conduct for the disputed waters when they hold regional summits next week, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Thursday.Rice made the remark during a White House briefing previewing President Barack Obama's trip to Turkey for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies, to the Philippines for a Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and to Malaysia for the East Asia Summit."Obviously, this will be a central issu

Nov. 13, 2015

Full text of BOK's statement on monetary policy decision for Nov.

Following is a translation of the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision for November. The central bank's monetary policy committee voted Thursday to freeze the base rate at 1.5 percent.The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 1.50% for the intermeeting period.Based on currently available information the Board considers that the trend of economic recovery in the US has been sustained, and that the modest

Nov. 12, 2015

BOK freezes key rate at record low of 1.5% in Nov.

South Korea's central bank froze its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 1.5 percent for November on Thursday, as it continues to gauge the impact of its previous rate cuts amid recovering local demand and a looming U.S. rate hike.This marks the fifth consecutive month the Bank of Korea (BOK) has kept the policy rate unchanged at the current level since it slashed the rate by a quarter percentage point in June to 1.5 percent.For the past year, the central bank has cut a total of 1 percent

Nov. 12, 2015

Korea's ICT exports backtrack in Oct. on weak global demand

South Korea's exports of information communication technology products backtracked in October, due to weak global demand, government data showed Thursday.Outbound shipments of ICT products hit US$16.04 billion last month, down 1.6 percent from $16.29 billion tallied the year before, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It said while exports fell compared to the previous year, the total actually represents a monthly high for 2015. The previous record was $15.9

Nov. 12, 2015

Korea's home rental deals surge 16.7% in Oct.

South Korea's home rental transactions surged 16.7 percent on-month in October mainly due to a seasonal increase in demand, the government said Thursday.In the one-month period, the number of home rental transactions reached 122,617 units, up from 105,038 units in September, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. Compared with a year earlier, monthly transactions fell 6.8 percent from 131,595 units.Data showed that in the 10 months of this year, transaction numbers edged up 0.3

Nov. 12, 2015

Exports by venture firms surge

Exports by South Korean venture firms increased this year on the back of strong sales of semiconductors and electronic parts in Vietnam and the United States, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments by such firms reached $12.63 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 4.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. In the same period, South Korea's overall exports fell 6.6 percent on-year to $396.86 billion. Their strong perform

Nov. 12, 2015

Gov't to support K-Sale Day event aimed at fueling consumption

The government said Thursday that it will lend support to this year's K-Sale Day retail event that aims to fuel consumer spending critical for maintaining the country's growth momentum.In a gathering in Seoul, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy signed an agreement with seven local retail organizations, including the Federation of Distribution Industry, pledging support to the 26 day-long shopping season.The event, which will kick off on Nov. 20 and runs through Dec. 15, has been arranged

Nov. 12, 2015

Gov't to give SMEs more trade insurance discount to boost exports

The government said Wednesday that it will provide more trade insurance discounts to small and medium enterprises to help stimulate the country's falling exports.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the insurance discount rate for SMEs will be raised from the current 30 percent to 50 percent. This, it said translates into some 17.5 billion won ($15.2 million) worth of indirect assistance being given to exporters on an annual basis.The announcement made at a meeting of trade-related mi

Nov. 11, 2015

Korea's M2 money supply jumps at fastest pace in 5 years in Sept.

South Korea's M2 money supply grew at the fastest pace in five years in September due largely to ample liquidity amid a low interest rate trend, the central bank said Wednesday.The M2 reached 2,230 trillion won ($1.92 trillion) last month, marking a 9.4 percent growth from the same month last year and slightly speeding up from a 9.2 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The September growth is the fastest pace since June 2010, when the figure hit 9.7 percent.

Nov. 11, 2015

Korea's jobless rate dips to 3.1% in October

South Korea's jobless rate fell in October as more people were hired in the manufacturing, and facility management and business support service sectors, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.1 percent last month, down from 3.2 percent in September. The jobless rate was also down 0.1 percentage point on-year, the first time since November 2013 that the number fell from a year earlier.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for O

Nov. 11, 2015

Report warns of risks of China dependency

Concern continues to mount over Korea’s growing trade dependence on China amid the nation’s prolonged export slump, hit by the slowdown of its trading partner’s economic growth, the Finance Ministry reported Tuesday.In its Recent Economic Trends in November report, the ministry said China’s slowdown was a key “external risk” undermining Korea’s economic growth.Korea has experienced a continuous slide in export volume all year. It dropped 15.8 percent on-year in October, snowballing from an 8.4 p

Nov. 10, 2015

Korea’s corporate tax posts above OECD average

A report from the National Assembly Budget Office is expected to rekindle the debate on revision of the corporate tax rate, with critics continuing to push for a hike to improve fiscal soundness.Justifying the current level, the parliamentary office ― citing data from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation ― said Korea’s corporate taxes are above the average of the 34 OECD member nations.“Korea’s corporate taxes amounted to 3.4 percent of its gross domestic product in 2013,” s

Nov. 10, 2015

Korean economic growth projected at 2.5%

Korea’s economic growth is expected to slow to around an annual 2.5 percent over the next two years, according to a global credit rating agency.Moody’s Investors Service said that the slowdown will occur as Korea is affected by sluggish growth in countries such as China and the emerging markets. The forecast was included in the Global Macro Outlook 2015-17 issued by Moody’s today. Along with Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom are also expected to grow by around 2.5 percent, the repo

Nov. 10, 2015