Per capita income sees first drop in six years

South Korea posted the first on-year drop in per capita income last year largely due to the weakening of the Korean won against the greenback, which dragged the dollar-converted value of national income, the central bank said Friday. According to the Bank of Korea on Friday, Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded 2.6 percent in 2015 from the previous year, the slowest pace since 2012.  (The Korea Herald)Last year, the nation’s per capita gross national income fell 2.6 percent to $27,340 from $28

March 25, 2016

Government to check non-tariff barriers against Korean goods

The Korean government will conduct a close inspection of non-tariff barriers in overseas markets that restrict sales of Korean-made goods as part of its efforts to prop up faltering exports, the trade ministry said Friday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a meeting in Seoul with local exporters and officials from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) to listen to businesses' difficulties in dealing with non-tariff trade barriers when they go through customs and to see

March 25, 2016

Creation of quality jobs is No. 1 economic policy: BOK chief

The chief of Korea's central bank on Friday urged additional efforts to create quality jobs, calling it an ultimate goal of economic policies."The reason our society pays close attention to employment numbers is because job security is closely related to the welfareof all major economic players, such as companies, households and people," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a monthly meeting with leading economists here."Also from a point of view that the ultimate goal of economic growth

March 25, 2016

S. Korea’s per capita income fell in 2015

South Korea’s per capita income fell from a year earlier in 2015, marking the first on-year drop in six years, the central bank said on Friday.Last year, the country’s per capita gross national income came to $27,340, down 2.6 percent from $28,071 in the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The fall was mostly caused by a decline in the Korean won, the bank said. The local currency had suffered a 7.4 percent drop in value against the dollar in 2015. The BOK also sa

March 25, 2016

Korea's seaport cargo edges down in Febuary

Cargo processed at Korean seaports edged down from a year earlier in February, due mainly to a drop in exports and imports, the government said Thursday.The country's seaports handled a combined 111.878 million tons of freight last month, down 0.4 percent from 112.272 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Export-import cargo, which accounted for 83.5 percent of the total, fell 2.23 percent on-year to 93.419 million tons, offsetting a 10.4 percent

March 24, 2016

Korea calls for strong leadership to boost growth in Asia

Asia needs strong leadership to rejuvenate economic growth in the region and help pull millions of people out of poverty, Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Thursday. In a keynote speech at the annual Boao Forum, Yoo also said Korea has focused its policy efforts in reforming the sectors of labor, finance, education and public service. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap)Yoo said Asia is at a "crossroads between growth and stagnation," hit by the high proportion of people living in absolute p

March 24, 2016

[Graphic News] Seniors to make up over 40% of population by 2060

Korea’s population is aging fast and the proportion of elderly will be more than 40 percent of the population by 2060, according to a report released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday.The report on Korea’s overall social trends in 2015 said that due to the continued decrease in birthrate and medical technology development, the number of seniors aged 65 and above will increase to 17.62 million people by 2060 from 6.62 million people in 2015. 　Government officials said the triangular-shaped populatio

March 23, 2016

Korea’s median age rises to 40.8 in 2015

Korea’s total population came in at 50.6 million in 2015, with its demographic profile shifting toward one that has more old people and fewer children, according to a government report Wednesday.The report by Statistics Korea noted that out of every 100 Koreans, 13 are aged 65 or older while another 14 are 14 years old or younger. Sixty are working, 70 have never given donations while 70 spend their free time flipping through TV channels. The population is projected to peak at 52.1 million in 20

March 23, 2016

Fiscal spending, tax increase touted as ways to prop up Korean economy

Economic policymakers here have lately dismissed concern over the country’s slowing economy, calling such worries overblown.In the latest rebuff, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho claimed this week that some skeptics had wrongly interpreted indicators to paint a gloomy picture of the Korean economy, which he said had made remarkable progress.At a meeting of economy-related ministers, he recalled that Korea last year achieved its highest-ever sovereign credit rating and recorded the third-fastest growth

March 23, 2016

U.S. animal product imports rise after FTA

Imports of animal products from the U.S. increased after a bilateral free trade agreement went into effect four years ago, an analysis by the Korea Rural Economic Institute said Wednesday.The institute compared 2015 average imports with the annual average from 2007-2011. The Korea-U.S. FTA took effect in March 2012.  U.S. beef on display at a local supermarket in Seoul. (Yonhap)The findings showed South Korea imported $1.76 billion worth of animal products in 2015, more than double the $823 mill

March 23, 2016

Drastic deregulation remains elusive

A noticeable part of the 2016 economic policy directions announced by the government in December was the planned establishment of regulation-free zones across the country. Under the scheme, 14 metropolises and provinces were to rezone areas devoted to developing 27 strategic industries that fit their specific conditions.Among the selected industries were drones, self-driving cars, the Internet of Things and other segments, which are expected to serve as new growth engines for the Korean economy,

March 22, 2016

FTC to keep close tabs on illegal intra-affiliate transactions

South Korea‘s corporate watchdog will take strict action against intra-affiliate transaction practices by large business groups as part of its efforts to root out illegal business deals arranged by conglomerate-controlling families, its chief said Tuesday.Local business groups, or chaebol in Korean, have been criticized for helping their owning families increase personal profits by funneling orders and contracts to subsidiaries owned by other family members or relatives. Since the antitrust law

March 22, 2016

Korea launches 'startup campus' in Pangyo

Korea opened its largest startup complex near Seoul on Tuesday as part of its efforts to boost promising local startups and attract foreign companies.The "startup campus" in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, houses more than 200 local and foreign institutions to offer workspace and consulting services for capital funding, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. Opening ceremony of Pangyo startup campus (Yonhap)They include the Yozma Group, an Israel-based global venture capital

March 22, 2016

Korea second among emerging markets in household debt growth

Korea saw the second fastest increase in household debt among emerging economies in 2015, a new study shows. The study, released by the Institute of International Finance, put Korea only behind China in the expansion of household debt relative to gross domestic product. Apartment complex in Seoul (Yonhap)Korea marked a 3.45 percentage point increase in its household debt-to-GDP ratio, ranking second after China out of 19 developing countries. China’s debt ratio gained 3.49 percentage points.By p

March 21, 2016

[Graphic News] Full-time housewives decrease as more elderly women join workforce

The number of full-time housewives is decreasing as more and more elderly women join the workforce to help with household income, according to Statistics Korea on Monday. The agency’s report on the breakdown of the country’s economically active population showed that the number of full-time housewives last year was 7.08 million, down 0.8 percent from the previous year.Despite the number of stay-at-home housewives consistently increasing since 2000, the decreasing trend began in 2014 with a 2.1 p

March 21, 2016

Exporters say many markets too mature to promise more profit

A large majority of Korean exporters see their respective markets as being too mature to deliver profits or sales increases, and want to find new lines of business, a survey indicated Monday.When the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently polled 300 local manufacturers of the country's 13 mainstay export products, 66.3 percent said their markets have ripened to the point that growth has dulled and profit is falling. Another 12.2 percent assessed the markets as being on downward s

March 21, 2016

Korea, China discuss ways to ease trade barriers

South Korea and China have agreed to better implement the bilateral free trade agreement and ease non-tariff barriers for Korean companies operating businesses in China, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday. On Thursday, South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Gao Hucheng, to evaluate the implementation of the FTA that took effect in December and seek ways to step up business ties between the two nations.  They also touched on the ongoing anti-dumpin

March 18, 2016

Fed now foresees fewer interest rate increases during 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Federal Reserve is keeping a key interest rate unchanged in light of global pressures that risk slowing the U.S. economy.  As a result, Fed officials expect to raise rates more gradually this year than they had envisioned in December. The officials now foresee two, rather than four, modest increases in their benchmark short-term rate during 2016. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy has continued to grow moderately but that the global economy and financial markets still

March 17, 2016

Upbeat economic outlook lacks solid basis

The government recently struck an upbeat tone on the outlook for the country’s economy in an abrupt change of stance that many economists think is not backed by solid evidence.In its latest economic assessment report published last week, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance forecast Korea’s industrial output and domestic demand, which have remained sluggish for months, to show a slight recovery later this year. The report, called the Green Book, said that a protracted slump in the country’s expo

March 16, 2016

[Graphic News] Korea’s income inequality highest in Asia

The income share of Korea’s top 10 percent earners to total earnings is the highest in Asia, according to a report released by the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday.The IMF’s Analysis of Inequality in Asia report said Korea’s top 10 percent income class accounted for 45 percent of the country’s total income.In 2013, the top 1 percent in emerging Asia earned 32 percent of the income share, compared to 30 percent in 1990. The share for the top decile in South Korea rose 5 percentage points

March 16, 2016