Financial regulator vows to lower barrier for third stock exchange

South Korea's chief financial regulator pledged Thursday to ease regulations on the third stock exchange for start-ups to vitalize the tepid market and strengthen the nation's three-pronged bourse system through competition.Currently, the benchmark KOSPI market serves as the top-tier platform for large-cap players while the secondary KOSDAQ market is mostly for mid-sized tech-savvy ventures. The third KONEX market was opened in June 2013 for start-ups so that they can raise capital more easily."

March 19, 2015

Korean won surges vs dollar on Fed's dovish stance

The South Korean won leaped against the U.S. dollar Thursday afternoon as the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at raising borrowing costs at a slower pace than forecast.The local currency was quoted at 1,114.90 per dollar as of 1:20 p.m., up 15 won from the previous session's end.On Wednesday, the Fed left room for a rate increase this year by dropping the word "patient" from its formal statement released after its two-day policy review meeting.But Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the growth in the world'

March 19, 2015

Tax earnings rise in January from property transactions, import duties

Tax earnings for January rose by around 400 billion won (US$354.2 million) compared to the year before mainly due to a rise in property transactions and more import duties, the finance ministry said Thursday.The total amount collected in the one-month period reached 25.7 trillion won, equal to 11.6 percent of the 221.1 trillion won the government is set to collect this year, the latest Monthly Public Finance report said.Taxes on income, including transfer taxes on housing transactions, import du

March 19, 2015

S. Korea seeks '2nd Middle East boom' through strengthened ties with resource-rich countries

South Korea will seek a "second Middle East boom" by strengthening economic cooperation with countries that are preparing for the post-oil era, the government said Thursday.In a national trade and investment promotion meeting, chaired by the President Park Geun-hye, policymakers stressed the considerable potential for local companies to tap large scale development projects in resource-rich countries that are scrambling to build up their economic and social infrastructure before their energy rese

March 19, 2015

S. Korea to boost exports through new manufacturing boom

South Korea will aim to nearly double its exports over the next decade through a second manufacturing boom that infuses production with advanced technology, the trade ministry said Thursday.The measures approved at the trade-investment promotion committee meeting in Seoul include a 1 trillion won ($885 million) state-private joint fund to research and develop new advanced manufacturing technologies and equipment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.The government plan envisions "smar

March 19, 2015

Producer prices down for 7th straight month in Feb.

South Korea's producer prices fell for the seventh straight month in February as global oil prices continued to weaken, central bank data showed Thursday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, reached 101.97 in February, tumbling 3.6 percent from the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The February result was largely attributed to a sharp drop in oil prices.Prices of coal and petroleum products fell 35.4 percent on-year in F

March 19, 2015

U.S. Fed opens way for interest rate hike

The U.S. Federal Reserve opened the way for a possible rate hike by removing a key indicator of its intention to keep the near-zero rates from a forward guidance statement Wednesday, but cautioned against expecting an early hike.The Fed said in a statement after a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that the committee reaffirmed its view that the current 0 to 0.25 percent target range for the federal funds rate remains appropriate in order to support continued progress toward maximum em

March 19, 2015

S. Korea's trade with Japan down for 3 straight years in 2014

South Korea's trade with Japan declined for the third straight year in 2014, affected by the falling Japanese yen, which hurt Korean products' price competitiveness there and led to less demand, a report showed Wednesday.  According to the report by the Korea International Trade Association, the bilateral trade between South Korea and Japan came to $85.95 billion last year, down 9.2 percent from a year earlier.   Last year, South Korea's exports to Japan fell 7.2 percent on-year to $32.18 billio

March 18, 2015

Biz community calls for easing tax audit burden

The South Korean business community on Tuesday called for easing the tax audit burden and more deductions for corporate entertainment outlays to better reflect the rise in overall expenses.  In a meeting with National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Hwan-soo in Seoul, companies belonging to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said there is a pressing need for the government to buoy corporate investments and fine-tune the way it conducts audits to not interfere with legitimate business activi

March 17, 2015

S. Korean companies moving to create won-yuan swap market

South Korean companies are moving to set up their own Chinese yuan swap market that can boost bilateral transactions by reducing currency exchange risks, business sources said Tuesday.  Sources said the move by such big names as Samsung Electronics Co. and POSCO is all part of the growing need to rely less on the U.S. dollar as a medium of transaction. China is South Korea's No. 1 export market, far surpassing the United States.  Tech giant Samsung started a direct monthly settlement worth $1-2

March 17, 2015

Without Samsung, refiners, corporate earnings up in 2014

South Korean companies' earnings for 2014 dropped sharply on weak domestic demand and the strong local currency, but their bottom lines were found to have actually improved when tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. and oil refiners were excluded from calculations, data showed on Tuesday.  According to the data compiled by Woori Finance Research Institute, a local research firm, the combined sales of 1,235 manufacturers traded on the main bourse and the secondary stock market slipped 1.6 percent on

March 17, 2015

Home buyers remain cautious over record-low interest rate

Property market experts say South Korean homeowners are holding off from selling their homes after the Bank of Korea’s surprise interest rate cut to 1.75 percent last week, while potential buyers are also cautious. “The rate cut is definitely a favorable factor to the market but property owners are hesitating to sell their homes, concerned that prices might rise further. Home buyers, on the other hand, hover in indecision as prices have increased recently,” said Kim Kyung-sook, CEO of a real est

March 16, 2015

S. Korea's farm exports drop 8 pct in Feb.

South Korea's exports of agricultural products dropped 8 percent from a year earlier in February as shipments of both fresh foodstuff and processed goods dwindled, the government said Monday.  Outbound shipments of farmed goods amounted to $420.1 million last month, compared with $456.5 million in the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.  The drop was mostly attributed to large falls in shipments to Japan and the United States.  In the case of J

March 16, 2015

S. Korean economic growth lags behind G-20 average in 2014

The South Korean economy grew at a slower pace than the economies of the Group of 20 countries on average in 2014 for the fourth year in a row, data showed Sunday.  The real gross domestic product of the G-20 nations grew 3.4 percent in 2014, a notch higher than South Korea's 3.3 percent, according to the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  South Korea's real GDP growth rate dropped to 3.7 percent to sink below the G-20 figure of 4.1 percent in 2011, and

March 15, 2015

S. Korea logs 37th straight month of trade surplus in February

South Korea posted a trade surplus for the 37th month in a row in February, mainly due to the sharp drop in imports that outpaced the decline in exports, customs data showed Sunday.  According to the Korea Customs Service, the country's trade surplus topped $7.7 billion last month, up from $5.36 billion tallied for the previous month and $850 million a year earlier.  Exports backtracked 3.3 percent on-year to $41.5 billion, while imports nosedived 19.7 percent to $33.79 billion. Export, import a

March 15, 2015

S. Korea's elderly in poverty highest among OECD nations: report

The poverty rate of South Korea's elderly was by far the highest among advanced countries, while the net pension replacement rate for the population was one of the lowest, a report showed Sunday.  According to the report from the government-funded Korea Labor Institute, South Korea's poverty rate among elderly citizens was 48.6 percent in 2011, the highest among all 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.   The poverty rate refers to the rate of households that e

March 15, 2015

S. Korean listed firms' profitability drops last year

The profitability of South Korean listed firms declined last year as they have been struggling to secure revenue amid a protracted economic slump, industry data showed Sunday.  The country's top 100 firms by asset value posted a combined 867.6 trillion won ($768.6 billion) in sales in 2014, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data complied by Chaebul.com, a Seoul-based market research firm.  Their operating profit contracted 15.2 percent on-year to 45.6 trillion won from 53.8

March 15, 2015

Korea, Australia team up to tackle business regulations

The Korean and Australian governments met Friday in Seoul to discuss repealing business regulations to boost their economies and economic ties.The Australian Embassy hosted the Best Practice Regulation Workshop, a public forum, to exchange ideas on business regulations. The participants, including Australian Ambassador to Korea Bill Paterson, Korean and Australian government officials and a panel of experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, shared ideas on each gove

March 13, 2015