EU FTA helps Korean exports outpace rivals: report

South Korea's free trade pact with the European Union, which went into effect in July 2011, allowed growth of local exports to the giant economic bloc, helping Asia's fourth-largest economy to outpace rivals, a report showed Sunday.According to data by the Korea International Trade Association, exports to the EU following the free trade agreement consistently did better than those of China, Japan and Taiwan, despite weak demand caused by the recent European financial crisis that hurt trade acros

June 29, 2014

Korea’s current account in black for 27th month

South Korea extended its current surplus streak for the 27th consecutive month in May as exports continued to remain solid, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus reached $9.3 billion last month, compared with $7.12 billion in April, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The May figure, without seasonal adjustments, marks the highest level since October last year when the country’s current s

June 27, 2014

Korean manufacturing sector shrinks in 2012: BOK

The portion of the manufacturing sector in South Korea’s economy slimmed down in 2012 from the previous year as demand for technology products slowed, a report showed Thursday.Output by the manufacturing sector accounted for 50.4 percent of the total economy in 2012, slipping from 51 percent in the previous year, according to the report by the Bank of Korea.The report showed shipments of mobile phones and liquid crystal displays marked double-digit falls amid a prolonged economic slump in eurozo

June 26, 2014

Korea's export expected to grow nearly 7 percent in H2: KITA

South Korea's export is expected to increase 6.8 percent in the second half of the year from a year ago to record a yearly trade surplus higher than government projection, a report showed Wednesday.According to the Institute for International Trade, run by the Korea International Trade Organization, South Korea's trade surplus is expected to come in at $18.7 billion in the second half, as its exports are forecast to reach $302.4 billion, up 6.8 percent from a year ago, with its imports rising 9.

June 25, 2014

‘Consumption sentiment not fully recovered following ferry disaster’

Consumption sentiment in South Korea has not fully recovered from a slump prompted by April’s deadly ferry accident, the finance minister said Monday. “Recently, credit card spending continues to improve week by week but it is still difficult to say that the mood has fully turned around,” Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told reporters after attending an international meeting to discuss knowledge sharing in Seoul. “We have to see major second-quarter indicators to make an exact assessment but the i

June 23, 2014

Korea’s trade terms decline in May

South Korea’s terms of trade worsened in May from a year earlier as prices for exports fell at a faster pace than those for imports, the central bank said Monday.The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods came in at 89.33 in May, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It marks the first on-year decline since January. The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. The base year is 2010, with a benchmark index of 100

June 23, 2014

Korea's economy forecast to expand: OECD data

South Korea's economy is expected to grow in the coming months, although there are still lingering uncertainties related to domestic demand and the stronger local currency, data showed Monday.According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the composite leading index of economic activity for South Korea stood at 101.01 in April, slightly down from the previous month's 101.02.This marked the 15th consecutive month that the index holds above the benchmark 100.The CLI is an

June 23, 2014

Think tanks revise down 2014 growth estimate

Private and state-run think tanks have lowered their 2014 economic growth forecasts, according to reports out Sunday, citing a protracted slump in consumption in the aftermath of a ferry disaster.The Hyundai Research Institute had earlier expected South Korea's gross domestic product to grow 4 percent in 2014.The latest HRI report lowered the outlook by 0.4 percentage point to 3.6 percent, saying the slow recovery in private consumption and construction will drag down the domestic demand.The gro

June 22, 2014

Fifth round of RCEP trade negotiations to be held next week

A new round of negotiations for a regional free trade agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be held in Singapore next week, the South Korean government said Friday.The fifth round of RCEP negotiations will be held from Monday through Friday with participating countries expected to continue their discussions on market liberalization for products, service and investment, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.“The countries are also set to

June 20, 2014

Korea leans toward opening rice market

The South Korean government appeared to be leaning toward liberalizing the country’s rice market Friday, one day after the Philippines was given a five-year extension of a waiver to open its rice market but only at what officials here called a “huge cost.”In the eighth and latest round of negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Philippines was given a five-year extension of the waiver that was originally set to expire at the end of June 2012.However, the Southeast Asian country

June 20, 2014

Seoul to announce launch of Seoul-Sejong expressway construction in H2

South Korea will announce its official launch of a large-scale construction project during the second half of this year to build an expressway linking Seoul and the new administrative capital city of Sejong, a government source said Thursday.If the construction plan goes as planned, it would be completed by 2022, he said.The 129-kilometer-long road would be one of Korea’s largest infrastructure construction projects and is expected to alleviate growing traffic volume on the Gyeongbu Expressway,

June 19, 2014

South Korea should stimulate innovation: OECD

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday called on South Korea to reduce market regulations to boost start-ups and innovation. While the country’s research and development spending was the highest among the OECD member countries at 4.4 percent of GDP in 2012, weaknesses in the innovation system limit the returns, the OECD said in its latest economic surveys report.South Korea’s subdued growth during 2011-2012 revealed some structural problems, such as high household d

June 17, 2014

Watchdog to tighten monitoring of stock trading by paper companies

The South Korean financial watchdog said Tuesday it will closely monitor stock trading by paper companies set up in tax havens to ferret out local nationals disguised as foreign investors to dodge domestic law and engage in illegal activities.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said out of 38,437 foreign corporations investing in the country, 7,626, or 20 percent, are offshore companies based in 62 tax haven-designated countries including the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Barb

June 17, 2014

Nominee’s property policy in dispute

Finance Minister-nominee Choi Kyung-hwan’s plans to ease mortgage loan regulations are drawing mixed reactions from financial policymakers and regulators as to whether they could bolster South Korea’s slumping real estate market or end up fueling the nation’s spiraling household debt. The main bone of contention is whether or not to deregulate the current loan-to-value and also debt-to-income ratio rules for mortgage loans, as Choi is proposing. On Friday, the three-term Saenuri Party lawmaker i

June 16, 2014

Korea’s income disparity widens at one of world’s fastest rates

South Korea’s income disparity significantly widened over the past years with the gap between top and low income earners growing at one of the fastest rates in the world, data showed Sunday.According to the state statistics office, the average monthly income of South Korea’s urban households nearly doubled from about 2.1 million won ($2,000) in 1990 to a little over 3.9 million won last year.However, the country’s Gini coefficient widened from 0.256 to 0.280 over the cited period.Gini coefficien

June 15, 2014

Korea second-best market for investment in Asia: survey

A recent survey showed South Korea is the second most attractive market in Asia for foreign investors, a local trade and investment agency said Sunday.According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the country was ranked the second among seven Asian countries surveyed in terms of attractiveness to foreign investment. The other six countries are Singapore, which ranked the highest, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Taiwan and Malaysia, according to KOTRA.In the survey, 243 foreign businesses in

June 15, 2014

Korea’s house transactions plunge 13.7% in May

Sales of South Korean homes dwindled significantly from a year earlier in May, the government said Sunday, apparently reflecting worsened consumer sentiment due to a government plan to tax income from real estate rental.The overall number of home transactions plunged 13.7 percent on-year to 77,754 last month, marking a sharp decline from a 16.6 percent on-year surge in the previous month.The ministry attributed the drop to what it called a base effect, claiming home sales in May 2013 had surged

June 15, 2014