Service-led jobs should revive consumption: BOK chief

South Korea’s central bank chief said sluggish private consumption should be boosted by job growth in the service sector, cautioning against optimism from rebounding exports.“To revive consumption, people’s income should be increased through job creation. And such job creation should be led by the service industry rather than the manufacturing sector,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said at a meeting with economists, professors and financial industry executives. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sp

April 5, 2017

Korea's Q1 GDP growth may accelerate

South Korea's economic growth for the first quarter of this year is expected to be faster than the fourth quarter of last year, fueled by robust exports, according to estimates by foreign investment banks Wednesday. Although the nation's industrial output fell in February, foreign banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Citibank, expected production to bounce back, helped by strong exports on improved global demand.  (Yonhap)The estimates, compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance, came

April 5, 2017

Korea's current account surplus increases to $8.4b in Feb

South Korea's current account surplus rose in February from a year earlier due to an increased surplus in the goods account, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's current account surplus reached $8.4 billion in February, compared with a surplus of $7.62 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.(Yonhap)The figure represents a surplus for 60 months in a row. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.The BOK said the goods ac

April 5, 2017

Korea's FX reserves up in March

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March from a month earlier due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the US greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of March, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $375.3 billion, up 1.39 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.(Yonhap)Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as Internat

April 5, 2017

[Monitor] Korea's consumer prices surge 2.2%

South Korea’s consumer prices increased 2.2 percent last month, the fastest hike in nearly five years in March on a sharp rise in gas prices, Statistics Korea said Tuesday.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 1.7 percent compared with last year.

April 4, 2017

Korea's trade dependence hits 10 year low

South Korea's reliance on trade fell to an all-time low in a decade last year, data showed Tuesday, but there are lingering concerns that Asia's fourth-largest economy remains vulnerable to external factors.The proportion of South Korea's trade to its gross national income (GNI) -- a gauge of a country's trade dependence -- stood at 80.8 percent at the end of last year, down 5.9 percentage points from 2015, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The ratio jumped to 104.5 percen

April 4, 2017

Korea’s debt-to-GDP ratio continues to rise in 2016

South Korea’s national debt in proportion to gross domestic product continued to increase to 38.3 percent in 2016, due to increased fiscal expenditure to prop up the sluggish economy, government data showed Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea’s national debt hit a record high of 627.1 trillion won ($560 billion) last year, up by 35.7 trillion won from a year earlier. Most of the annual gain in national debt, or 31.8 trillion won, was from the issuance of Treasury bon

April 4, 2017

Korea, Kenya discuss closer economic collaboration

South Korea and Kenya have discussed ways to step up their collaboration on a range of economic issues, including investment and trade, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.In the fourth round of the joint South Korea-Kenya economic committee held in Nairobi on Monday, South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho and Kenya's Political and Diplomatic Secretary Tom Amolo discussed economic cooperation issues before adopting an "Agreed Minutes," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

April 4, 2017

Analysis shows women executives very rare at top 10 conglomerates

Women account for only 2.4 percent of executives at South Korea's top 10 conglomerates, with Samsung Group showing the highest number while Hyundai Motor Group has the least, a corporate watcher's analysis showed Tuesday.Chaebul.com, which follows the activities of leading business groups, counted 5,590 executives at the top 10 listed conglomerates based on their financial reports for 2016. Among them, 134 were registered or unregistered women executives.(Yonhap)Hyundai Motor Group fared the wor

April 4, 2017

Average sales price of apartments in Seoul tops W600m

The average sales price of apartments in Seoul has surpassed the 600 million won ($537,000) mark for the first time, data showed Tuesday, due to reconstruction projects in the affluent Gangnam Ward in the southern part of the capital city.The average sales price of apartments came to 600.17 million won as of Tuesday, up 1.56 million won from a month earlier, according to data compiled by KB Kookmin Bank, a flagship unit of South Korea's leading banking giant KB Financial Group Inc.(Yonhap)The ba

April 4, 2017

Korea's consumer prices growth hits almost 5-yr high in March

South Korea's consumer prices shot up at the fastest clip in nearly five years in March on a sharp rise in gas prices, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index gained 2.2 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 1.9 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.(Yonhap)The March number marked the highest on-year gain since June 2012.From a month earlier, the index stayed unchanged at 102.79 in March, with it set at

April 4, 2017

Foreign capital flowing into Korean markets rapidly

A rapid flow of foreign capital into local stock and bond markets is raising concerns about the possibility of increasing volatility in Korea’s financial markets.So far this year, foreign investors have bought a net of nearly 14 trillion won ($12.6 billion) in Korean financial assets -- 5.9 trillion won in equities and 8 trillion won in bonds, according to data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Financial Supervisory Service.(Yonhap)This pace of foreign capital inflow is the faste

April 3, 2017

Die-hard shoppers growing as new group of important consumers

South Koreans are spending less as their income and living expenses move in opposite directions, while the country's economy has yet to pick up beyond doubt, but one segment of consumer groups seems unbothered, or uncaring at least. Retail data analyzed on Sunday showed that sales of items that would normally be the first to be dropped from the shopping list when pinched for money are showing growth, often in double digits.(Yonhap)Ahn, a 36-year-old who describes himself as an ordinary salary wo

April 3, 2017

[Graphic News] K-Food popular in ethnic markets in US

South Korea‘s food exports to the United States are expected to reach $1 billion for the first time this year, owing to their brisk advances into ethnic markets, the Korea Agro-fisheries and Food Trade Corp.’s branch said. Most notable among the top 30 export items are ramen, ginseng, mixed seasonings and gochujang, or red pepper paste. Ramen posted $6.84 million during the first two months this year, up 14.3 percent on-year; ginseng $3.3 million, up 67 percent; gochujang $1.8 million, up 33.8 p

April 2, 2017

Seoul raises trade concerns at WTO over Beijing's apparent retaliation

South Korea's commerce ministry said Sunday that it has raised trade concerns at a WTO committee over China's apparent retaliatory steps against Seoul's decision to deploy a US missile defense system within the year.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it has raised "specific trade concerns" in the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) committee meeting held in Geneva from April 28-30, over three cases of what it claims are Chinese trade barriers. (Yonhap)In October last year, China

April 2, 2017

Koreans' overseas spending hits record high in 2016

South Koreans spent a record high overseas last year as more people opted to go on overseas trips, data from the central bank showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, South Koreans spent 28.93 trillion won ($25.9 billion) overseas last year, up 8.3 percent, or 2.23 trillion won, from the previous year. (Yonhap)The 2016 tally marks the highest since the central bank began to compile related data in 1970.South Koreans' overseas spending has been on a sharp rise, reaching

April 2, 2017

Korea economy likely set to turn around

With a recent upturn in exports and production and a slight rebound in private consumption, hopes for an economic recovery are rising in South Korea despite lingering uncertainties at home and abroad, local experts said Sunday.Improved economic data show Asia's fourth-largest economy may be entering into a recovery cycle amid eased political risks following the arrest of former president Park Geun-hye and the fixed schedule for the presidential election next month. (Yonhap)South Korea's producti

April 2, 2017

Top 30 groups cut some 20,000 jobs in 2016

South Korea's top 30 business groups cut nearly 20,000 jobs in 2016 amid the country's prolonged economic slowdown, a corporate tracker said Sunday.According to CEO Score, 253 affiliates of the leading conglomerates, known here as chaebol, had a combined workforce of 930,124 as of the end of last year, down 19,903, or 2.1 percent, from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The figure covers only the groups' units that have published business reports for fiscal 2016.Samsung Group, South Korea's top family-cont

April 2, 2017

BOK money museum offers foreign language service for visitors

South Korea's central bank said Friday it will offer English and two other language service for visitors to its money museum.The Bank of Korea Money Museum said the service, set to begin on Saturday, will be available at 2 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday.(Yonhap)English service will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while Chinese and Japanese service will be provided on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.The BOK said about 230,000 South Koreans and foreigners visited the museum

March 31, 2017