Gov't should hike tax rate for high-income earners: lawmaker

The government should increase the tax rate for high-income earners in order to help ease the gap between the haves and have-nots, an opposition lawmaker said Monday.Citing data provided by the National Tax Service, Rep. Oh Jae-sae of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the top 100,000 income earners in the country took home an average of 470 million won ($398,000) in 2013.In terms of earned income alone, the top 100,000 got paid an average of 274.4 million won in the sa

Sept. 14, 2015

Loans to self-employed spike at record pace

Loans extended to the self-employed by South Korean lenders this year have surged at the fastest clip ever, central bank data showed Sunday, adding to concerns over the country's bulky and still growing household debt.Local lenders' outstanding loans to the self-employed reached 229.7 trillion won ($193.7 billion) as of the end of August, growing 20.4 trillion won from the end of last year, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.The increase in the eight-month period is bigger than

Sept. 13, 2015

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

Following is a translation of the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision for September. The central bank's monetary policy committee voted Friday 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 improvem

Sept. 11, 2015

Overdue wages for foreign workers on the rise

The amount of overdue wages for foreigners working in South Korea has increased steadily over the last three years, a report showed Friday. Employers paid 9,378 foreign-born workers at total of 24.1 billion won ($20.3 million) late in 2012, with that number going up to 9,625 workers and 28.1 billion won in 2013 and 12,021 workers and 33.9 billion won in 2014, according to the report.Rep. Jasmine B. Lee of the ruling Saneuri Party released the report based on data the Ministry of Labor submitted

Sept. 11, 2015

BOK holds key rate steady at record low of 1.5 pct in Sept.

As expected, South Korea's central bank on Friday left its benchmark policy rate unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent for September as it extended its wait-and-see mode amid rising growth uncertainties and heightened volatility in the global financial market.It marks the third straight month in which the Bank of Korea has stood pat on the key interest rate following a surprise rate cut in June that was aimed at curbing the economic fallout from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which claimed

Sept. 11, 2015

State pension fund to open office in Singapore

South Korea's state-run pension fund operator said Friday it will open an office in Singapore next week in line with its move to find more overseas investment opportunities.The National Pension Service's Singapore operation will be tasked with gathering information on investment, and it marks the NPS' third overseas operation. Similar operations in New York and London were opened in 2011 and 2012, respectively.The NPS has been seeking to jack up overseas investment with the aim to raise that por

Sept. 11, 2015

Korea to limit pay rises for wage peak system rebels

The government plans to halve the pay hike rate of public corporations and institutions that fail to introduce the wage peak system by the end of this year, officials said Thursday.Under the plan, if the pay increases for both public servants and quasi-public servants is set at 3.4 percent next year, the rate for employees of the agencies delaying or declining to adopt the wage peak system would stay at 1.7 percent. The officials said the Steering Committee on Public Institution will decide the

Sept. 10, 2015

S. Korea's household debt risks easing: S&P official

South Korea's household debt is potentially detrimental to the local bank industry, but the risks are expected to fizzle out in line with policy efforts aimed at improving the quality of such liabilities, a Standard & Poor's official said Thursday."It's a threat, but we also see mitigation. The household debt level increased sharply this year. (But) we saw the government put out measures to slow it down and help banks to change the structure of mortgage loans," said Ryan Tsang, an analytical man

Sept. 10, 2015

Multinationals with huge domestic sales avoided taxes: report

Multinational companies generating sizable revenue and profits have managed to avoid paying corporate taxes by taking advantage of loopholes in the present taxation system, a report said Thursday.According to data provided by the National Tax Service to Rep. Lee Man-woo's office for the parliamentary audit, of the 9,532 foreign companies in the country, 4,752 paid zero corporate taxes in 2013.Of those that did not pay, 15 may have had annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won ($839 million) and also

Sept. 10, 2015

Household loan growth quickens in Aug.

Growth in South Korean banks' household lending gathered pace in August from the previous month on robust property trade and a seasonal increase in demand for holiday spending, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding household loans extended by local lenders totaled 609.6 trillion won ($508.8 billion) as of the end of last month, increasing 7.8 trillion won from July, according to the Bank of Korea.The monthly gain is slightly bigger than a 7.3 trillion won gain in July but still smaller t

Sept. 10, 2015

M&A activity in S. Korea surges in H1

Mergers and acquisitions in South Korea jumped on-year in the first half as conglomerates consolidated affiliates to streamline their operations, the antitrust watchdog said Thursday.The value of reported M&As reached 127.7 trillion won ($107.2 billion) in the January-June period, up from 88.1 trillion won the year before, the Fair Trade Commission said in a report. The number of merger cases also surged to 313 from 286 over the cited period."There was a rush of M&As and intra-group consolidatio

Sept. 10, 2015

Job creation tumbles, but outlook bright

South Korea's job creation plunged to the lowest level in six years in August, casting a cloud over the outlook for employment down the road as the economy struggles with weak demand both at home and abroad.   Citing the low growth stemmed mainly from seasonal factors, however, government officials painted a rather rosy picture of the labor market, predicting employment will likely gather ground in September.According to latest government data, Asia's fourth-largest economy added 256,000 jobs in

Sept. 9, 2015

Arirang TV to host World Economic Forum session

Arirang TV, a South Korean all-English cable network, said Wednesday it will host a session of the World Economic Forum in China later this week.The session, titled "Asia's Energy Option," will be broadcast live on Arirang's website (www.arirang.com) at 1 p.m., local time, on Thursday.The Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2015, which is part of the World Economic Forum, kicked off in Dalian, China on Wednesday for a three-day run.The session will discuss the Chinese energy demand slowdown, com

Sept. 9, 2015

S. Korea's wage gap between native, foreign workers biggest in OECD

South Korea has the largest wage gap between native and foreign workers among the world's leading developed economies with high income, data showed Wednesday.The 2015 employment outlook by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that South Korean employees get paid 1.55 times more than foreign-born workers on average.It is the highest wage gap among OECD members that compile related data, which analysts said can be interpreted as a sign that South Korea remai

Sept. 9, 2015

Household loans keep growing at fast pace in July

Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions continued to grow at a fact clip in July, central bank data showed Wednesday, adding to growing concerns over the country's bulky household debt.Outstanding household lending by local lenders and non-banking institutions totaled 763.3 trillion won ($639.1 billion) as of the end of July, up 3.3 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The July reading excludes the 6.2 trillion won that was tran

Sept. 9, 2015

S. Korea's home transactions reach new high for Aug.

South Korea's home transactions climbed to a new high for the month of August, the government said Wednesday, in the latest sign of recovery in the real estate market here.The number of home transactions came to 94,110 last month, up 23.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The figure marks a 15 percent drop from a month earlier, but it is the largest number for the month of August since the government began compiling such data i

Sept. 9, 2015

S. Korea's tourism income falls 11 pct in H1

South Korea saw its profit from tourism slump 11 percent in the first half of this year as the number of visitors plummeted following an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, central bank data showed Wednesday.Foreign visitors to the country spent 6.6 trillion won ($5.5 billion) in the January-June period, down 10.8 percent from the 7.4 trillion won spending posted in the second half of last year, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The data covers the spending of foreigners w

Sept. 9, 2015