Households brace for gloomy economic conditions in 2017

Forty-two percent of South Korean households believe their economic conditions will deteriorate next year, according to a survey by Gallup Korea released Friday. The survey suggested that South Korea's consumer confidence has sharply eroded amid uncertainties in the troubled shipping and shipbuilding sectors, and an ongoing influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye. In comparison, last year's survey showed that 25 percent of households expected their economic conditions to wor

Dec. 30, 2016

S. Korea's consumer prices rise 1.3% in Dec.

South Korea's consumer prices rose more than 1 percent for the fourth consecutive month in December on high prices of fresh groceries, government data showed Friday. The country's consumer price index rose 1.3 percent last month from a year earlier, down 0.2 percentage point from the previous month's 1.5 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The inflation has stayed over the 1 percent level since September, when it snapped the growth of less than 1 percent betw

Dec. 30, 2016

[Graphic News] Salaries over W100m near 600,000

Nearly 600,000 employees received a nine-figure salary last year, up 13.3 percent from the previous year, the National Tax Service said Wednesday.The average salary of employees in South Korea was about 32.5 million won ($26,900)The increase rate of the number of nine-figure salary earners had reached as high as 42.3 percent in 2010, but the rate has remained at around 10 percent since 2012. They took up 3.4 percent of the entire workers who had their year-end tax adjusted last year.By region, w

Dec. 29, 2016

Entrepreneurship vital to Korean economy in crisis

By Kum Gi-hyunsecretary-general of Korea Entrepreneurship FoundationSouth Korea needs to boost its entrepreneurship to prepare its economy for the future and adjust to changes, as it is facing a looming crisis due to external and internal factors. The spread of entrepreneurship is imperative for an economy to grow and develop, according to German nonprofit research organization Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and a report by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, an organization which studies entrepreneurship

Dec. 29, 2016

South Korea cuts 2017 growth forecast to 2.6%

The South Korean government Thursday slashed its growth forecast for the economy next year to 2.6 percent, citing worsening employment conditions and contraction in domestic consumption. It was a 0.4 percentage point cut from a previous 3 percent forecast made in June, but still higher than recent projections by private economic institutions.The projection marks the third consecutive year of low growth, following 2.6 percent growth in 2015 and 2016. “We are seeing signs of slowing domestic consu

Dec. 29, 2016

Savings banks see 'uninsured' deposits soar

South Korean savings banks have seen their "uninsured" deposits almost double over the past two years as people seek higher returns amid low interest rates, data showed Thursday.According to the data by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., deposits of 50 million won ($41,200) or more per account at local savings banks totaled 5.7 trillion won as of end-September, with people and firms holding such accounts numbering 45,000.Of the total, deposits exceeding the 50 million-won mark stood at 3.56 tril

Dec. 29, 2016

Korea to use all means possible to beef up economy: acting president

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Thursday the government will employ all possible means to cope with the faltering economy."To make a turnaround from the recent slowdown soon, it is important for the government and public sector to actively boost the economy by mobilizing all available resources," Hwang said during a meeting of finance and economic ministers to discuss policy priorities for 2017. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks during

Dec. 29, 2016

Egg and chicken prices move in opposite directions, as bird flu spreads

The outbreak of bird flu and the subsequent massive culling of poultry in South Korea have sent local egg prices skyrocketing 20 percent this month, industry data said Thursday.In contrast, however, demand for chicken nosedived apparently due to growing safety concern among consumers, pushing down poultry prices, they said.The price of a carton of 30 eggs has spiked by some 20 percent this month compared with the previous month to over 7,200 won ($5.96) at Homeplus, one of the major retailers in

Dec. 29, 2016

Winter cold pushes power consumption to 3-month high

South Korea's electricity consumption has shot up to the highest in three months as temperatures dropped to the lowest so far this winter, the operator of the country's power market said Thursday.According to the state-run Korea Power Exchange (KPX), peak power demand reached around 79.2 million kilowatts (kW) on Wednesday, the highest since Aug. 25, mainly due to increased power consumption amid a drop in temperature.The country's reserve electricity stood at 11.3 million kW, with the electrici

Dec. 29, 2016

Korea's industrial output rebounds in Nov.

South Korea's industrial output rebounded in November snapping the second consecutive month of decline on the back of a gain in semiconductors and cars, government data showed Thursday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 4.8 percent last month from a year ago, according to the data by Statistics Korea.The November figure marked the first on-year gain in three months, following a 1.9 percent drop in September and 1.3 percent fall in October.It also reached

Dec. 29, 2016

Korea cuts 2017 growth forecast to 2.6% from 3%

South Korea on Thursday cut its economic growth forecast by 0.4 percentage point to 2.6 percent for next year, as a slight recovery in exports will be offset by a slowdown in domestic demand.It also revised down its earlier estimate for 2016 to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent as stronger-than-expected downside risks such as partial strikes at major carmakers weighed heavily on Asia's fourth-largest economy in the fourth quarter. South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho speaks at a press briefing in

Dec. 29, 2016

Korean households' excess funds nosedive in Q3

Excess funds held by South Korean households plummeted in the third quarter of this year on increased purchases of new houses, official data showed Wednesday.Surplus funds held by households here, including nonprofit organizations, totaled 1.9 trillion won ($1.5 billion) during the July-September period, a sharp fall from 14.1 trillion in the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. An image of home purchases in a photo provided by Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)It cited

Dec. 28, 2016

Interest rates keep climbing in November: BOK data

South Korea's market interest rates continued to ascend in November amid expectations of the incoming US administration's stimulus policy, coupled with indications of a firm economic recovery, central bank data showed Wednesday.The local banks' average interest rate for new savings deposits was 1.51 percent that month, up 0.1 percentage point from October, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rate on fresh loans rose 0.07 percentage point on-month to 3.36 percent. An ad for mortgage loans b

Dec. 28, 2016

Korea's tax burden to GDP ratio expected to hit record high in 2017

South Korea's ratio of tax burden to the gross domestic product will likely reach an all-time high of 19.6 percent next year on increased government spending, the finance ministry said Tuesday.Government spending has been on a steady rise for years in a way to buttress Asia's fourth-largest economy suffering from faltering exports and sluggish domestic demand.For 2016, it mapped out a 398 trillion won budget, including a 10 trillion won supplementary budget, and came up with a 400.5 trillion won

Dec. 27, 2016

Korea's exports to Vietnam, New Zealand gain ground on FTAs

South Korea's exports to Vietnam and New Zealand rose over the past year to a large extent on the back of the implementation of bilateral free trade pacts amid sluggish global demand, latest customs data showed Monday.Outbound shipments of South Korean-made goods to Vietnam jumped 15.2 percent on-year to $29.4 billion between January and November, with the free trade agreement with Vietnam taking effect on Dec. 20, 2015, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.Exports of semiconductor

Dec. 26, 2016