Korea‘s current account surplus widens in Feb.

South Korea’s current account surplus widened from a year earlier in February on narrowing service account deficits and imports slipping faster than exports, central bank data showed Friday.Cars are lined up at South Korea‘s Ulsan Port to be shipped overseas. (Yonhap)The current account surplus came to $7.51 billion in February, compared to a revised $6.82 billion surplus in the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.From a year earlier, the February reading marks a

April 1, 2016

Korea’s consumer prices up 1 percent in March

South Korean consumer prices grew more than 1 percent for the second month in a row in March, government data showed Friday.The country’s consumer price index rose 1.0 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing slightly from the 1.3 percent on-year gain in February, according to a report by Statistics Korea.Customers shop at a local supermarket. (Yonhap)Previously, the price increase rate had remained below 1 percent for 11 straight months until November last year, before rising to above 1

April 1, 2016

Number of executives earning over W500 mln a year on the rise

A total of 748 corporate executives in South Korea earned more than 500 million won ($437,000) in annual salary and other incomes in 2015, marking a rise of 3.9 percent from 720 executives in the previous year, a stock-evaluating website said Friday.Market research company Chaebul.com said it surveyed the paychecks of the standing board members at 2,643 companies nationwide with their incomes, cited in the data, including severance pay and stock options.The nation's 10 largest conglomerates acco

April 1, 2016

Annual salary for workers at loss-making shipyards tops W70m won

The average annual paycheck of workers at the country's top three shipbuilders hovered above 70 million won ($61,200) last year, although local shipyards suffered record losses, industry data showed Friday.Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. paid 78.2 million won on average to its 25,236 workers last year, with the comparable figures for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. being 75 million won and 71 million won, respectively, the data showed.But this year thei

April 1, 2016

Samsung employees' average annual salary tops W100m for 3rd year

The average annual paycheck of Samsung Electronics Co.'s employees and executives hovered above 100 million won ($87,489) in 2015 for the third consecutive year, data showed Thursday.According to the latest data compiled by the South Korean tech giant, its 95,652 employees and executives raked in 101 million won on average last year, slightly lower than the 102 million won posted in 2014.Male employees, which make up 68 percent of the entire workforce, made 110 million won on average, while thei

April 1, 2016

Tax refund for foreigners receiving plastic surgery

Foreign patients who undergo plastic surgery in Korea will receive VAT refunds starting April 1, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday.The measure is being implemented for one year.  (123RF)The procedures applicable for tax reimbursements include double eye-lid surgery, rhinoplasty, breasts augmentation or reduction surgery excluding reconstruction after mastectomy, liposuction, face lift, facial bone contouring, teeth bleaching, laminating and gingivoplasty and orthognathic surgery.

April 1, 2016

Foreigners made more online purchases in 2015

South Korea’s online sales to foreign customers nearly tripled last year from a year earlier on the back of rising demand from Chinese consumers, a report showed Thursday.South Korean retailers sold an estimated $130 million worth of goods to overseas customers through their websites, up from $44.6 million the previous year, according to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute.  A customer browses through an online shopping mall. (Yonhap)E-commerce exports have been on a sharp ri

March 31, 2016

Economy shows mixed signals

Two key economic indicators released Thursday sent mixed signals about the health of Korea’s economy. There were some improvements in manufacturing but persistent weakness in private consumption and investment. The country’s industrial production swung to on-month growth in February, led by chips and mobile gadgets, while a key gauge of business sentiment made a turnaround in March after five months of decline. Output for all industries increased 0.8 percent from a month earlier, compared to a 1

March 31, 2016

Industrial output picks up in February

Korea’s industrial output swung back to growth in February on a strong rise in chips and mobile gadgets, data shows. According to Statistic Korea, production increased 0.8 percent from a month earlier, compared to a 1.5 percent contraction in January. From a year ago, the output grew 2.4 percent.  Samsung flash memory chips (Yonhap)The mining and manufacturing sector led the increase, logging an output growth of 3.3 percent, the highest on-month gain since September 2009. Compared to the corresp

March 31, 2016

Korea catching up with advanced nations in R&D spending

Korea maintains its lead as the world's largest investor in research and development (R&D) for its economic size but still has a long way to go to compete with the U.S. and Japan, the government said Wednesday.Korea spent 4.29 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in R&D in 2014, ranking first in the world, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. Research facility (Yonhap)By amount, Korea came in sixth with $60.5 billion. Driven by rising industrial investment, Asia'

March 30, 2016

Korea struggles to reverse decline in exports

Korea has seen its exports declining for 14 months in a row since January last year. The record streak of on-year monthly decrease -- with double-digit figures for the December-February period -- has amplified concerns over the slowing growth of Asia’s fourth-largest economy heavily reliant on exports.What is being closely watched for is official trade data for March, which is set to be released by the government Friday. Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan (Yonhap)With the country’s outbound shipments

March 30, 2016

Government seeks retail giants' help in exports

Korea's trade minister requested the country's major distribution chains Tuesday to support the government's desperate efforts to boost exports."Local distribution firms doing business abroad can play a role as the spearhead of exporting our consumer goods," Joo Hyung-hwan, minister of trade, industry and energy, said in a roundtable meeting with representatives from the industry. Trade minister Joo Hyung-hwan (Yonhap)A dozen CEOs of online and offline retail giants operating both here and in fo

March 29, 2016

Consumer sentiment rebounds in March

Korean consumers’ sentiment improved in March, ending a three-month spell of deterioration, central bank data showed Tuesday. The Bank of Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index ticked up to 100 for March, from February’s 98, which was the lowest level in eight months. The index had moved from 105 in November to 102 in December and 100 in January.  Bank of Korea (Yonhap)A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite.“The stabil

March 29, 2016

Korea to cut discretionary spending by 10% in 2017

South Korea has decided to cut the discretionary spending of government agencies by 10 percent next year in a bid to focus its fiscal policy on job creation, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The 2017 budget guidelines, which passed the Cabinet on Tuesday, call for a thorough examination of spending earmarked for public works projects and welfare outlays.Out of the nearly 380 trillion won ($326.2 billion) of the state budget last year, some 53 percent, or 200 trillion won, is discretionary spend

March 29, 2016

Calls for new stimulus grow as growth outlook darkens

Calls are growing for Korea to take bolder steps to support the economy, after a string of recent economic data indicated that Asia’s fourth-largest economy may be in for a rougher than expected ride this year. Private experts, increasingly doubtful of the government-projected recovery path for the economy, are slashing their forecasts for Korea’s economic growth in 2016. Local think tanks and foreign investment banks now predict that the economy, as measured by gross domestic product, will grow

March 27, 2016

Korea’s household income share of GDP plunges

Household income’s share of gross domestic product, a gauge on how GDP growth actually “trickles down” to household income, plunged in South Korea from 1995-2014 to one of the lowest levels among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an OECD report showed Sunday.Household income dropped to 64.3 percent of GDP in 2013 from 69.6 percent in 1995, according to the interim report of Going for Growth 2016 by the OECD.It was the fourth-lowest percentage in the OECD

March 27, 2016

Households' interest income hits 20-yr low amid historically low rate

Households' interest income from their deposits at banks and other financial institutes dropped to the lowest level in 20 years in 2015 as the central bank kept the rate historically low to bolster the slowing economy, data showed Sunday.According to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the country's central bank, households earned 32.18 trillion won ($27.5 billion) in interest on their deposits last year, down 19.5 percent from a year earlier. This marked the fourth straight year that their int

March 27, 2016

Korean shares expected to rebound this week

 South Korean shares will likely remain rangebound ahead of key U.S. indicators next week, but begin an upward march toward the end on a continued inflow of foreign capital, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,983.81 on Friday, down 0.4 percent from a week earlier.Foreign investors purchased a net 286 billion won ($244.2 million) worth of stocks. Both retail and institutional investors were net sellers as they sought to cash in on their gain

March 26, 2016

KB, Korea Investment, HK fund submit final bid for Hyundai Securities

KB Financial Group and Korea Investment Holdings Co. have submitted a final bid for a controlling stake in Hyundai Securities as they seek expansion to compete with bigger foreign rivals, the deal's lead manager said Friday. Besides the two, Hong Kong's private equity fund Actis also participated in the competition to acquire a 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities up for sale since last year by financially-troubled Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., according to EY Han Young accounting firm.    T

March 25, 2016