KOICA teams up with USAID, Bill Gates' foundation to nurture Korean social ventures

South Korea's official development assistance provider, KOICA, has signed deals with its U.S.counterpart and Microsoft founder Bill Gates' foundation to help Korean social ventures make inroads into the global market, the state agency said Monday.Under the deals, KOICA, or the Korea International Cooperation Agency, will invest US$1 million in Global Innovation Exchange (GIEx), a global platform for marketing social innovation ideas over the next five years.   The investment will enable KOICA to

July 18, 2016

[Graphic News] Global oil consumption on steady increase

Despite global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, the world’s oil consumption is steadily increasing, according to an energy review by British Petroleum.The report said the global oil consumption per day on average stood at 95 million barrels last year, a 2 percent increase from the previous year and 3.2 percent higher than 2013.The U.S. and China took a combined share of nearly one-third of global oil consumption. South Korea ranked eighth in the world. Analysts said some advanced countries in

July 18, 2016

[Monitor] Minimum wage for 2017

South Korea‘s minimum wage has been set at 6,470 won ($5.70) per hour for next year, up 7 percent from this year. The new minimum wage translates to 51,760 won a day for those who work eight hours a day and some 1.35 million won a month for those who work 40 hours a week.

July 18, 2016

Little sign of economic retaliation from China

China seems to have substantial limits to making economic retaliations against South Korea for its decision earlier this month to allow the U.S. to deploy an advanced missile defense system on its soil, experts here note.Last week’s measure by China’s Commerce Ministry to slap antidumping duties of 4.1 percent on acrylic fiber produced by a South Korean chemical company -- a 2 percent cut from its initial ruling in April -- has put Seoul’s trade officials somewhat at ease, though they still guar

July 18, 2016

S. Korea, Mongolia to work on trade agreement

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea and Mongolia are to push for a trade agreement. According to Seoul’s presidential office, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj agreed on the issue during their meeting on July 17. Seoul said that the two countries agreed to launch a feasibility study on forming an economic partnership agreement saying that the development was tantamount to the two nations working on a free trade agreement. The two nations will complete the

July 18, 2016

Korean shares down in late morning trading

Korean shares traded lower late Monday morning, but pared earlier losses on the back of foreign buying.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 0.33 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,016.93 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.53 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix up 0.46 percent.AmorePacific, the largest cosmetics maker, dipped 0.59 percent.In contrast, top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.75 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Mot

July 18, 2016

U.S. beef imports soar on rising hanwoo price

[THE INVESTOR] U.S. beef imports increased significantly as South Koreans turned away from their expensive local beef hanwoo, industry data showed last week. U.S. beef imports increased by 25.7 percent from January to May this year from the same period last year, to reach 61,062 tons, according to a report by the National Agriculture Cooperative Federation, better known as NongHyup. (123rf)South Korea became the third largest beef importer in the world during the period, after Japan and Mexico.

July 17, 2016

Korean families spend 1.28 mln won monthly for 2 kids

To raise two children in South Korea, it costs an average of 1.28 million won ($1,128) a month, the results of a survey showed Sunday.Education is the biggest financial burden, although the level of related expenditures vary considerably in accordance with income level, according to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.It conducted a poll on 6,172 women, aged between 15 and 49, with two kids nationwide as of August last year.South Korea's birthrate of 1.12, recorded in 2015, is one

July 17, 2016

[Weekender] ‘Changing the way we work’

The Korean economy has hit a wall. Conventional management methods have run their course. Aging systems, where corporate owners run their businesses with employees accustomed to their ironclad control, no longer work and are making it difficult to find new opportunities and growth in this digital age.Christopher Han, vice president of Design & Co-Innovation Center (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)This is where Christopher Han comes in with SAP Design & Co-Innovation Center in Pangyo.The DCC chief

July 15, 2016

Seoul shares up again on foreign buying

South Korean shares maintained momentum on Friday, going up for a fifth consecutive day thanks to an unrelenting buying spree by foreigners. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 8.49 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,017.26.Trade volume recorded 473.6 million shares worth 4.5 trillion won (US$3.9 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 410 to 382.Foreigners net-purchased 485 billion won worth of shares, while individuals an

July 15, 2016

Korea's exports to China seen shrinking on structural change

South Korea's exports to China will continue to decline partly due to a change in China's economic structure, a central bank report said Friday, pointing to a need to adjust the country's own economic structure to meet changing demands in the world's second-largest economy.According to the report from the Bank of Korea, the country's exports to China are expected to shrink by an average $5 billion per year over the next five years.Such an outlook comes as China is increasingly focusing on its do

July 15, 2016

Korean shares up in late morning trade

South Korean shares edged up in late morning trade Friday on continued foreign buying.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 12.74 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,021.51 as of 11:20 a.m.Foreign traders purchased a net 192 billion won ($169 million) worth of shares, while individuals and institutional investors were net sellers. It's boosted by external factors such as additional positive data on the U.S. economy and a global monetary easing mood, market watchers said.The U.S. Produce

July 15, 2016

Korea posts record high trade surplus in June

South Korea's trade surplus hit an all-time high in June as a protracted economic slowdown dragged down imports at a faster pace than exports, customs data showed Friday.The country's trade surplus came to a record $11.5 billion last month, up sharply from $6.99 billion in the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.The amount of the June trade surplus broke the earlier record of $10.2 billion set in November last year.The figure also marked a 15.5 percent on-year ri

July 15, 2016

Changing structure of Chinese economy could cost S. Korea US$25b

[THE INVESTOR] The changing structure of Chinese economy could cut South Korea’s exports by US$ 25 billion until 2020, the Bank of Korea said in a report on July 15. In the report, the central bank said that should China’s economy become more spending-centric, the rate at which South Korea’s exports to China increases will drop by 0.8 percentage point each year.The parameters in the scenario are the ratio between of China’s gross domestic product and consumer spending rises 5 percentage points b

July 15, 2016

Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean shares opened higher on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.    The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.47 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,020.24 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market watchers pay attention to whether the KOSPI will maintain momentum after a four-session winning streak.The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 134.29 points, or 0.7 percent, to 18,506.41. Line Corp., a Japanese massaging app operator owned by South Korea's interne

July 15, 2016

BOK cuts growth forecast to 2.7%

The Bank of Korea on Thursday revised down its growth forecast from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent this year, and kept its record low interest rate steady at 1.25 percent as expected, saying that its monetary policy was already accommodative enough to support the government’s planned fiscal stimulus.The central bank’s rate policy decision was unanimous, and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sided with Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on views that without monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, the country’s growth would

July 14, 2016

Korea to tighten asbestos controls

[THE INVESTOR] The government is set to strengthen the management of buildings with asbestos during their dismantling and reconstruction process to minimize health risks from exposure to the material. Asbestos were widely used in 1970s to build slate roofs, interior materials, soundproof walls and insulators at low costs. Asbestos is defined as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, as exposure to worn out asbestos materials can cause diseases such as lung cancers and mesothelioma.The re

July 14, 2016

BOK blames low oil prices for weak price increase

South Korea's central bank on Thursday named low global oil prices as a main cause of the country's slow consumer price increase in the first half, insisting its local demands have remained strong and will continue to expand.In the first six months of the year, the country's consumer prices have gained only 0.9 percent from the same period last year, falling far short of the central bank's 2 percent target for the 2016-2018 period, the Bank of Korea noted."This was partly because an upward press

July 14, 2016

BOK slashes growth outlook to 2.7%

South Korea's central bank on Thursday revised down its growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent three months earlier, citing sluggish consumption at home and abroad.The quarterly revision by the Bank of Korea came shortly after the government slashed its outlook for 2016 to 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent."The local economy will maintain its modest growth trend on expansionary economic policies, but the bank believes local and external uncertainties surround

July 14, 2016