S. Korea logs trade surplus for 21st straight month in Oct.

South Korea logged a trade surplus for the 21st straight month in October thanks to relatively robust exports growth, customs data showed Thursday.South Korea's exports came to $50.5 billion last month, up 7.2 percent from the same month a year earlier, while imports grew 5.2 percent on-year to $45.6 billion, according to the data provided by the Korea Customs Service. As a result, Korea logged $4.9 billion in trade surplus last month, marking the 21st month of a surplus in a row since February

Nov. 14, 2013

Korea urges China to level field

South Korea’s trade negotiators plan to call for their Chinese counterpart not to discriminate against Korean firms operating in the country in of favor homegrown competitors, antirust regulatory officials said Thursday.According to the Fair Trade Commission, the request will likely be made during the second round of negotiations to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement, slated for next week.FTC officials said the negotiators are seeking to reach a consensus on nondiscrimination between Chin

Nov. 14, 2013

BOK hits back at U.S. currency claims

Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said Thursday that it was highly “inappropriate” to say that the country was able to achieve current account surpluses mainly due to its undervalued currency.The governor’s remarks to the press came after the BOK monetary policy committee unanimously decided to keep its key base rate unchanged at 2.5 percent for the sixth straight month.Gov. Kim said that Korea saw “surpluses mostly through trade with emerging economies, not with developed economies,” adding tha

Nov. 14, 2013

State-run firms to up investment by W1.5tr

The government plans to further open up its state-run enterprises’ cash reserves to increase investment in business projects and human capital in the hope of encouraging the private sector to follow suit this year.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said in an economic-related meeting on Wednesday that it will support its state-run enterprises to invest another some 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) during the rest of the year.The 1.5 trillion won scheme includes 100 billion wo

Nov. 13, 2013

Russia, Korea plan $500m joint investment platform

A Russian investment corporation said Wednesday that it will launch a $500 million “joint investment platform” with South Korea‘s sovereign wealth fund in a move to facilitate trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.The deal was reached between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Korea Investment Corporation. It was announced in time for the summit talks between Korean President Park Geun-hye and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Seoul.“The parties intend to invest in

Nov. 13, 2013

S. Korea's Oct. jobless rate inches up, job creation picks up

South Korea's jobless rate inched up in October from a month earlier but job creation accelerated, raising hopes that labor market conditions are improving, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 2.8 percent last month, up from 2.7 percent in September.The jobless rate adjusted for inflation remained unchanged at 3 percent over the cited period.Job creation is picking up speed. The number of employed people was 25.54 million in

Nov. 13, 2013

U.S. pressure on Korea grows over beef market

A U.S. decision to relax its own restrictions on beef imports is expected to affect South Korea and other nations with regulations on American beef, a U.S. official said Tuesday."We anticipate these changes could convince other countries to remove any remaining restrictions on U.S. cattle and cattle products," Lyndsay Cole, the official at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), told Yonhap News Agency.In early November, the agency affiliated with the Department of Agriculture (U

Nov. 13, 2013

KEPCO Q3 net rises 1.8 % on high electricity price

Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea’s state-run energy company, said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income rose 1.8 percent from a year ago on the back of higher electricity prices during the summer.Net profit came to 973.66 billion won ($909.6 million) in the July-September period, compared with 956.23 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose 6.8 percent to 14.28 trillion won in the period, but operating profit fell 18.8 percent to 1.55 trillion wo

Nov. 12, 2013

Brokerages slash listed firms’ Q4 earnings outlook

South Korea’s brokerage houses slashed their fourth-quarter earnings outlook for domestic listed firms this month, data showed Tuesday, due mainly to the prolonged slump in the local economy.The operating-profit outlook for firms listed on the main bourse came to 34.4 trillion won ($32.1 billion) for the October-December period as of Tuesday, down 4.4 percent from an estimate made a month earlier, according to the data compiled by SK Securities Co.The outlook covers listed companies for which on

Nov. 12, 2013

Kimchi index: New attempt at real-life economic measure

Korean households consume some 2 million tons of kimchi per year, making the fermented side dish’s ingredients key factors in the nation’s price index ― especially during the kimchi-making season in late fall and early winter.In consideration of the kimchi crises that have jolted the domestic economy over the past few years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has recently introduced the “kimchi index.” The kimchi index, indicating the costs of 13 key ingredients such as cabbage,

Nov. 12, 2013

Korea's import prices fall for 14th month in Oct.

South Korea's import prices declined for the 14th straight month in October as oil prices fell and the local currency strengthened against the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Tuesday.In local currency terms, the country's import prices declined 7.3 percent in October from a year earlier, smaller than an 8.1 percent on-year fall in September, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).It marked the 14th straight month of on-year declines in import prices since September last year when such prices di

Nov. 12, 2013

Korea’s IT exports jump 11.6% in Oct.: ministry

South Korea’s exports of information technology products rose 11.6 percent from a year earlier in October, data showed Monday, apparently due to the rising global demand for mobile devices.Outbound shipments of IT products reached US$16.23 billion last month, marking the highest amount since the $15.15 billion tallied in May, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.South Korea’s trade surplus in the IT sector also widened to an all-time high by jumping 19.7 percent on-year

Nov. 11, 2013

S. Korea to scale down foreign currency stabilization fund amid mounting losses

South Korea plans to scale down the amount of its foreign currency stabilization fund for next year as part of efforts to reduce mounting losses from its operation, the finance ministry said Monday.According to the ministry, the government set the amount of the money being operated under the fund at 72.07 trillion won ($67.5 billion) for next year, which is down 10.5 percent, or 8.42 trillion won, from this year.The government runs the fund, aimed at protecting the local financial market from ex

Nov. 11, 2013

Seoul shares likely to rebound next week

  South Korean stocks are expected to rebound next week on hopes that U.S. central bankers will give reassuring signs about putting the stimulus cut on hold in their upcoming speeches, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 2.23 percent to 1,984.87 on Friday from a week earlier. The main index erased most of the gains from recent rallies, falling to the lowest point in two months and below the psychologically significant 2,000 mark for the first time

Nov. 9, 2013

Moody's retains credit rating on S. Korea at 'Aa3'

Moody's Investors Service said Friday that it has retained its sovereign credit rating on South Korea at "Aa3," citing the country's "strong" fiscal fundamentals and "moderate" debt burden. The global credit appraiser added that it kept its ratings outlook for Korea at stable, also citing its economic resilience, export competitiveness and stabilized geopolitical risks stemming from North Korea."Korea demonstrates strong fiscal fundamentals, as reflected in consistent budget surpluses, a moderat

Nov. 8, 2013

70% of foreign workers earn less than W2m

Seven out of 10 foreigners working in Korea were paid less than 2 million won ($1,800) a month this year, Statistics Korea revealed Thursday.According to the state-funded agency, about 525,000 foreign workers were paid less than 2 million won in 2013. They took up 71.4 percent of the total 735,000 salaried non-Korean employees.Of them, the monthly wage for 42,000 workers was below 1 million won, accounting for more than 5 percent of all foreign workers. About 159,000 non-Koreans were paid betwee

Nov. 7, 2013