Korea's housing market stays upbeat in Q4: report

South Korea's housing market continued its upside mode in the fourth quarter of last year on the back of a government-led stimulus and low borrowing costs, a report showed Wednesday.Home prices in the country rose an average of 4.4 percent on-year in the October-December period, up from a 4.1 percent on-year gain in the previous quarter, according to a report compiled by the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI).Seasonally adjusted home prices edged up 0.9 percent from three months earlier

Jan. 27, 2016

Bank lending rates on fresh household loans rise in Dec.

 Bank lending rates on new household loans rose slightly from a month earlier in December apparently due to a U.S. rate hike, central bank data showed Wednesday.The average rate for new household loans gained 0.07 percentage points from the previous month to 3.23 percent last month, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).December marked the second straight month the average rate on new household loans gained from a month earlier.The average rate on new home-backed loans added 0.08 percen

Jan. 27, 2016

Entrepreneurship index tumbles due to public sector: report

South Korea's entrepreneurial spirit has weakened sharply compared with the 1970s as economic bills are often left in limbo and the establishment of large enterprises have become a lot tougher than in the past, a report showed Wednesday. The entrepreneurial spirit index fell from 150.9 in 1976 to 66.6 in 2013, slightly higher than 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, according to the report by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). The KERI, a think tank affiliated with the Fe

Jan. 27, 2016

S. Korea’s consumer sentiment sinks in Jan.

South Korean consumers’ sentiment slipped in January, with more people expecting their income and overall economic conditions to further decline, central bank data showed Wednesday.The Composite Consumer Sentiment Index came in at 100 for January, falling from the revised 102 for December, according to the data.The reading was on par with July last year when the economy fell into the doldrums in the aftermath of a nationwide outbreak of MERS. A reading below 100 indicates that pessimists outnumb

Jan. 27, 2016

ABS issuance soars in 2015 on new state loan program

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea nearly doubled in 2015 from a year earlier on the back of sharp growth in sales of government-led mortgage funds, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. A combined 83 trillion won ($68.1 billion) worth of ABS were issued last year, up 99.8 percent from the previous year's 41.5 trillion won according to the Financial Supervisory Service.ABSs are derived from underlying assets such as auto loans, home loans, credit card receivables and s

Jan. 27, 2016

Korea’s GDP growth slips to 2.6% in 2015

The ailing South Korean economy grew 2.6 percent in 2015, the lowest in three years, largely due to slumping exports and manufacturing, the central bank said Tuesday.　The nation’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent from the previous three months, according to the Bank of Korea’s preliminary report.　“Private spending and investment in the construction sector expanded at a fast rate in 2015 and growth in facility investment was steady, but the exports and investment in intellec

Jan. 26, 2016

Exports of Korea's content industry exceed $5 billion in 2014

The exports of South Korea's content industry exceeded US$5 billion in 2014 due mainly to its continued growth boosted by the global boom of Korean pop culture products, the government said Tuesday.The culture ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) said the industry's total exports in 2014 were a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year, with the computer game industry accounting the most of the total.According to a statistical survey by the two organizations, the increase in

Jan. 26, 2016

Korean exports losing competitive edge against Chinese goods

South Korean products are losing their competitiveness against Chinese goods that could reduce their outbound shipments down the road, a central bank report said Tuesday.According to the report by the Bank of Korea, the competitiveness of South Korean products somewhat improved over the 2005-2013 period, but that the rate of improvement in Chinese goods, partly measured in terms of global market share, outpaced that of South Korean products."The country's global competitiveness has somewhat impr

Jan. 26, 2016

Collective loans for new homes lead mortgage gain in H2

Collective loans banks offer new apartment buyers rose sharply in the second half of last year, leading growth in total mortgage loans, official data showed Tuesday.Outstanding collective loans extended by local commercial banks totaled 110.3 trillion won ($91.8 billion) as of end-2015, up 10.1 trillion won from six months ago, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Tuesday. The total excludes "policy" mortgage loans by state-run Korea Housing-Finan

Jan. 26, 2016

China capital flows into Korean

More Chinese companies are becoming major stakeholders of South Korean entertainment agencies, a trend that could be positive for the expansion of "hallyu," or the worldwide popularity of Korean culture, but worrisome for its long-term future.Chinese investors have injected 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) over the past five years into South Korean games, movies and entertainment, according to South Korea's Small and Medium Business Administration.That is a huge departure from even about a year ago

Jan. 26, 2016

Korean finance minister stresses budget frontloading in Q1

South Korea's finance minister asked government ministries and agencies on Tuesday to make all-out efforts to frontload their budget spending in the first quarter to preemptively cope with rising economic uncertainties at home and abroad."The government is pushing forward with the frontloading of fiscal spending in the first quarter as the South Korean economy is expected to face challenges like contracted consumption, a slowdown in China and fast-falling oil prices," Finance Minister and Deputy

Jan. 26, 2016

FTC targets CJ owner family-related business

          JS Communications, fully-owned by Lee Jae-hwan, the chairman of CJ Group’s younger brother, is being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission over deals with its sister firm CJ CGV, according to industry sources Monday. 　JS Communications, the screen advertising arm of the nation’s food and entertainment giant, has offered services to CJ CGV, the nation’s largest multiplex cinema chain, since its foundation in 2005. 　“We can only confirm that officials from the Fair Trade Commission c

Jan. 25, 2016

Korean won's fall seen to last with no remedy in sight

The South Korean currency will likely keep falling against the U.S. dollar for some time and may drop as low as 1,300 won, with local authorities having little means or will to halt its slide, analysts here said Monday.The local currency closed at 1,200.1 against the greenback Friday after dipping to 1,214.00 won two days earlier, the lowest level in over five years since 1,215.6 won posted on July 19, 2010.The won's depreciation is largely attributed to a slowdown in the global economy, but als

Jan. 25, 2016

Korea's terms of trade improve on weaker import prices in Dec.

South Korea's terms of trade improved from a year earlier in December as import prices fell at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Monday.The terms of trade index came to 100.83 last month, unchanged from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The December figure, however, marks an 8 percent increase from the same month last year.The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how

Jan. 25, 2016

Korea opens center to support exports to Iran

South Korea launched a business center to support local firms exporting to Iran on Monday as the former reclusive country is opening its market following the recent lifting of international sanctions, the finance ministry said.Located in downtown Seoul, the support center, backed by related government agencies including the finance and trade ministries, the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and the Korea Export-Import Bank, will provide information and consulting services on trade and investment with

Jan. 25, 2016

Korea's imports of Japanese fishery goods on rise

South Korea's imports of Japanese fishery products increased on-year in 2015, data showed Sunday, marking the first rise since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident sparked contamination concerns.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the country's imports of Japanese fishery products came to 38,724 tons, up 17.9 percent from a year earlier. After posting 84,018 tons in 2011, the figure dropped to a low of 32,844 tons in 2014. A devastating earthquake off the east

Jan. 24, 2016

Korea, Japan pressed to reset declining economic partnership

Business circles in Korea and Japan were the most eager to welcome an agreement reached between Seoul and Tokyo last month on resolving the issue of Korean women forced into pre-1945 wartime sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers.The Federation of Korean Industries, a major business lobby here, said in a statement at the time that it expected the two neighboring nations to usher in a new century of hope by putting an end to the most sensitive matter between them. Its Japanese counterpart, Keidanre

Jan. 21, 2016

Public sector to adopt performance-based salaries

The government plans to adopt a performance-based salary system on a wider scale as part of its efforts to reform the public sector, government sources said Thursday.Public companies and government agencies frequently come under criticism for lax management and mounting debts usually covered by taxpayers’ money. In response, the government has pushed forward with the full introduction of a system to encourage competition among public servants since it has so far been applied only to the heads of

Jan. 21, 2016

Finance minister vows reform, stimulus for ‘tangible’ growth

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on Thursday vowed to deliver “tangible” recovery in domestic demand and exports through a continued focus on structural reform and economic stimulus measures. 　“We will remove all obstacles that have hindered economic growth and job creation,” Yoo said in his first ministerial meeting with economic bureaucrats on Thursday. “The government will also try to reinvigorate the entire economy by reviving consumption and export.” Financial Minister Yoo Il-ho attends his first

Jan. 21, 2016