S. Korea, Slovenia FM discuss economic cooperation

The foreign ministers from South Korea and Slovenia held talks on Friday to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, Seoul's foreign ministry said.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with his Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec earlier in the day to exchange views on geopolitical situations and economic cooperation, according to the foreign ministry.A joint statement said that the two top diplomats agreed that there is still "untapped potential" for c

March 13, 2015

Park renews calls for revitalization of S. Korea's economy

President Park Geun-hye on Friday renewed calls to revitalize the South Korean economy, a day after the country's central bank joined a global easing wave to bolster growth by cutting the key interest rate to a record low of 1.75 percent. Park made the comments in a meeting with the prime minister and the chiefs of the parliament, the election watchdog as well as the top courts -- the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.The session was meant to brief them on the outcome of her recent trip to

March 13, 2015

Australian embassy in Seoul hosts forum on regulatory reform

The Australian Embassy in Seoul on Friday hosted a forum on regulatory reform and deregulation with the South Korean government in a bid to explore ways for cooperation in these areas, officials said.The one-day forum titled the "Best Practice Regulation Workshop" came as Seoul and Canberra seek to boost cooperation in the field of regulatory reforms with a free trade agreement between South Korea and Australia (KAFTA) going into effect late last year."Services and investment are important parts

March 13, 2015

Finance minister urges companies to increase hiring

South Korea's finance minister pressed leading business groups Friday to have companies increase investment and hiring to help government efforts to revitalize the economy amid rising concerns about deflation."We can see some improvements in the real estate and labor markets as we've made all-out efforts to boost the economy," Choi Kyung-hwan said in a luncheon meeting with the heads of the country's five business associations."But main economic indices have remained sluggish due to future uncer

March 13, 2015

Korea-U.S. FTA boosts bilateral trade in 2014

Bilateral trade between South Korea and the United States jumped nearly 12 percent from a year earlier last year, partly demonstrating the intended effect of a free trade agreement (FTA) enacted three years ago, the Seoul government said Thursday.In 2014, total trade volume between the two countries came to $115.6 billion, up 11.6 percent from $103.6 billion in 2013, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.South Korea's exports to the United States spiked 13.3 percent on-year to

March 12, 2015

Gov't to aggressively support corporate investment: finance minister

The government will aggressively support both inbound and outbound investments by local companies to help vitalize the economy, which has not regained its growth momentum, South Korea's finance minister said Thursday.In a meeting of economy-related ministers in Seoul, Choi Kyung-hwan stressed that the recent visit by President Park Geun-hye to four Middle Eastern countries will open new opportunities in the construction, industrial plants, energy, health care, information technology and food sec

March 12, 2015

Rent issue feared to fuel inter-Korean row over Kaesong park

The controversial issue of land use fees in a joint inter-Korean factory park in North Korea is expected to add fuel to the already-growing tension between the Koreas over the project, officials said Wednesday.In November, the North's Central Special Development Guidance Bureau in charge of the industrial complex notified its South Korean counterpart of its intention to start talks on the rent issue, according to the officials.When the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border town of the

March 11, 2015

Trade minister says S. Korea cannot afford to be left out of TPP

South Korea's trade minister hinted at Seoul's imminent participation in a U.S.-led regional free trade agreement Wednesday, saying the country cannot afford to be left out of what would be a great global value chain.While meeting with reporters, Yoon Sang-jick, the minister of trade, industry and energy, said the government has not yet made a final decision on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)."We are closely monitoring the progress in TPP negotiations," Yoon said. "However, we must c

March 11, 2015

S. Korea's steel, iron imports from China down in 16 months

South Korea's steel and iron imports from China declined on-year in February for the first time in 16 months, industry data showed Wednesday, easing some of the local steelmakers' concerns that the low-priced products would hurt profit.  Total imports of iron and steel products from the world's No. 2 economy dropped 12.3 percent on-year to 905,000 tons last month, according to data from the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KOSA). The latest data marks the first downward change in more than a year

March 11, 2015

Household lending growth doubles in Feb.

Household loan growth at South Korean banks more than doubled in February from a month earlier on robust property transactions and solid demand for loans amid low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.Household loans, which include mortgage lending, extended by local lenders reached 566 trillion won ($503 billion) in February, gaining 3.7 trillion won from the previous month, more than twofold of January's 1.4 trillion won gain, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea

March 11, 2015

S. Korea launches 'China Desk' to fully utilize bilateral FTA

The South Korean government on Wednesday set up a new help center for local businesses, especially small and medium-sized companies, seeking to explore the Chinese market using the country's bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the neighboring country.The so-called China Desk was set up at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) in Seoul. It consists of experts from five related agencies, including KITA, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and the Korea Intellectual Propert

March 11, 2015

Gov't to financially help builders win overseas orders

South Korea plans to strengthen financial support for local builders so they can better win overseas construction contracts in the face of stiff challenges, the government said Wednesday.The plan outlined by Vice Finance Minister Joo Hyung-hwan at a meeting in Seoul calls for the introduction of an "on-lending"arrangement by the government, which can get more private financial institutions to help fund builders' overseas projects, with the support of the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Ko

March 11, 2015

S. Korean gov't missing chance to increase energy reserve

The South Korean government allocated fewer funds to purchase oil products, missing out on the opportunity to stock up on emergency energy reserves at the lowest costs in decades, records showed Wednesday.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government plans to purchase 219,000 barrels of petroleum products, mostly gasoline, this year as part of its emergency reserve.The amount will mark a 40.8 percent plunge from 370,000 barrels purchased in 2014."A large portion of the

March 11, 2015

Households with largest income cutting back on spending as retirement approaches

Families whose main breadwinner was in his or her 50s were found to have slashed their spending last year despite having the largest average income among all age groups, a government report showed Tuesday, reflecting growing concerns about retirement and the future economy.The average consumption propensity of such households stood at 69.7 percent, the lowest of any demographic group, according to Statistics Korea. The propensity average is the ratio of total consumption spending to disposable i

March 10, 2015

Top regulator-nominee calls for tough reform, risk management on household debt

The nominee for South Korea's top financial regulator urged local financial firms on Tuesday to take stricter reform measures for what he described as a "second take-off" and vowed heightened risk management on ballooning household debt."The financial industry is facing rapid environment changes, such as a low interest rate trend, an aging society and finance-IT convergence, but it has failed to find a new growth engine and lacks dynamics and innovation," Yim Jong-yong, the Financial Services Co

March 10, 2015

Department store, discount outlet sales rebound in Feb.

Sales at South Korean department stores and discount outlets rose sharply in February after contracting for five straight months, helped by demand caused by the Lunar New Year holiday, the government said Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's Green Book, sales at local discount store chains surged 30.5 percent on-year last month, with numbers for department stores rising 7.1 percent.The positive turnaround follows on-year monthly contractions since September.The ministry sa

March 10, 2015

Oil prices mixed after pre-weekend slide

Oil prices finished mixed Monday in a market held back by a strong dollar and persistent concerns about the global oversupply of crude.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April climbed 39 cents to finish at $50.00 a barrel on the New York Stock Exchange.In London, Brent North Sea crude for April, the key global futures contract, shed $1.20 to settle at $58.53 a barrel."It may be a new week but the crude complex is weighing up the same issues -- immediately rising productio

March 10, 2015

S. Korea 'natural candidate' for Pacific trade deal: U.S. official

Implementing a bilateral trade deal with the United States as well as a number of key regional players makes South Korea a "natural candidate" to join ongoing discussions for the Washington-led Pacific Rim trading bloc, but it needs to make a stronger commitment in wider areas, a senior American official said Monday. Wendy Cutler, acting deputy of the U.S. Trade Representative, said the 2012 free trade agreement (FTA) between Seoul and Washington boosted bilateral economic ties by lifting tariff

March 9, 2015