Fresh round of Korea-China FTA negotiations to be held next week

South Korea and China will hold what they hope will be the last round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement next week, the South Korean trade ministry said Wednesday.The talks, slated from Monday through Friday in Beijing, will be the fifth this year. The two countries had planned on four rounds of negotiations.The trade agreement talks got a hard push in July when South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on joint efforts to conclude the FTA wit

Sept. 17, 2014

Korea to enhance competitiveness of industrial complexes

The South Korean government announced plans Wednesday to transform the country’s aging industrial complexes into advanced, attractive workplaces, especially for the younger working generation.To this end, the government and private companies will together raise a total of 1.2 trillion won ($1.16 billion) to create an “industrial complex innovation fund” that will be used to improve working and living conditions at industrial complexes, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The

Sept. 17, 2014

S. Korea's economic slowdown caused by complex, structural problems: minister

South Korea's current economic slowdown is not a "temporary" phenomenon affected by cyclical factors but by more complicated and structural problems, the finance minister said Tuesday, worrying that the economy might take the road of Japan's lost decades "if not responding in a timely manner."Meeting with foreign journalists to explain Seoul's economic policy measures that his economic team has taken since mid-July, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan reaffirmed that the government will implement e

Sept. 16, 2014

KNOC to sell Canadian refining subsidiary to U.S. bank

South Korea's state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has agreed to sell its money-losing Canadian oil refining subsidiary to a New-York based commodities merchant bank later this year, its Canadian unit said Friday. Harvest Operations, KNOC's energy affiliate in Canada, said it will hand over its 100 percent stake in the North Atlantic Refining Limited (NARL) to SilverRange Financial Partners LLC for an undisclosed price. The agreement includes the Come by Chance refinery in Newfoundland, a 11

Sept. 12, 2014

Gov't considers expanding Jeju Int'l Airport

The government said Friday that it will soon launch a feasibility study on the expansion of Jeju International Airport amid a fast growing number of visitors to the southern resort island of Jeju.The move follows a recent study, published earlier in the day, that suggested the number of air passengers to and from Jeju will more than double from some 20 million in 2013 to over 44 million in 2030, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The airport, including its runway, wi

Sept. 12, 2014

BOK likely to hold rate this month

South Korea’s central bank is expected to keep the base rate on hold in September as it measures the policy effect of last month’s rate cut and watches out for risks of ballooning household debt, a poll showed Thursday.All 16 analysts surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, forecast the Bank of Korea to stand pat on the current policy rate of 2.25 percent at a board meeting on Friday.The latest result comes after the BOK cut the base rate in August for the first

Sept. 11, 2014

S. Korea's ICT exports shrink in Aug.

South Korea's exports of information-communication technology (ICT) products dropped from a year earlier last month partly on a decrease in shipments to China, the government said Thursday.Outbound shipments of ICT products came to US$14.19 billion in August, down 2.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports increased 5.9 percent on-year to $6.73 billion, causing the country's trade surplus in the sector to shrink to $7.46 billion fro

Sept. 11, 2014

Korea to increase welfare spending

The government and the ruling party are considering increasing South Korea’s welfare budget by about 10 percent to around 120 trillion won ($117 billion) next year from 106 trillion won this year.The Saenuri Party’s policy planning committee and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Wednesday the welfare budget is expected to account for over 30 percent of the total expenditure for the first time.This would also mark the first time for the country to seek a double-digit percentage increase i

Sept. 10, 2014

S. Korea-China-Japan FTA talks end with little progress

A fresh round of negotiations for a three-way free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea, China and Japan ended Friday without a clear breakthrough although the South Korean side said the talks were productive."There were active discussions on the scope of market liberalization at this round of talks under a consensus between the three countries that the proposed South Korea-China-Japan FTA should be a comprehensive free trade deal for the establishment of the framework for a regional bloc,"

Sept. 5, 2014

S. Korea, Australia agree to hasten FTA ratification

South Korea and Australia have agreed to step up efforts to expedite the domestic process for the early ratification and implementation of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.Seoul and Canberra signed the free trade deal in April, but the legislatures of both countries have yet to ratify it.The agreement came as Lee Kyung-soo, deputy minister for political affairs, held a strategic dialogue with his Australian counterpart, Gillian Bird, in Australia, the

Sept. 5, 2014

Seoul shares up 0.25% on ECB hopes, eased currency woes

South Korean stocks finished slightly higher Thursday as hopes of easing in Europe and ebbed currency woes boosted market sentiment here, analysts said. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.06 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 2,056.26. Trading volume was moderate at 372 million shares worth 4.44 trillion won ($4.36 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers, 450 to 341.“Investors are speculating that the European Central Ba

Sept. 4, 2014

Korean economy grows 0.5 pct in Q2: BOK

South Korea's economy expanded 0.5 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier but at the slowest pace in over a year, central bank data showed Thursday.Korea's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, slowed from a 0.9 percent growth logged in the previous quarter, according to the revised data by the Bank of Korea.The seasonally adjusted figure also slipped from an earlier estimate of a 0.6 percent growth made in late July.Asia's fourth-largest economy

Sept. 4, 2014

Korea to take steps to stabilize financial market

Korea is closely watching the foreign exchange market and will take active steps to stabilize the country’s financial market, a senior government official said Wednesday, adding that market stability is important in keeping the economic recovery momentum alive. “We are keeping a close eye on the foreign currency market of late,” Vice Finance Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said in a meeting with other policymakers in Seoul. “We will actively respond in a way that would stave off herd behavior prodded by

Sept. 3, 2014

Gov’t, ruling party mull 5% hike in 2015 budget

The government and the ruling party are considering a hike in the nation’s budget next year by about 5 percent, a move apparently aimed at boosting the economy, while keeping the country’s fiscal status sound. The expansion is lower than the 6 percent increase requested by government ministries and agencies. It is also much lower than the about 10 percent increase in spending that experts have expected since the government unveiled its economy stimulus measures in July.“We were briefed on the go

Aug. 31, 2014