S. Korea logs current account surplus for 18th straight month in October

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 18th straight month in October, though the surplus was smaller than the previous month due to increased imports amid high energy and raw material prices, the central bank said Tuesday. The current account surplus came to $6.95 billion in October, down from $10.07 billion a month earlier, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The October figure marked the 18th straight month that the current account has been in the black since

Dec. 7, 2021

S. Korea, ASEAN to ease customs checks amid pandemic

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to cut red tape in customs checks to boost trade, until they see the coronavirus pandemic subside, Korea’s Finance Ministry said Monday. Copies of a product’s certificate of origin will now be accepted for tariff cuts guaranteed under their free trade agreement that took effect in June 2007. The original certificates had been shipped late because of the pandemic. “Nearly 40,000 Korean firms exporting to AS

Dec. 6, 2021

[Global Finance Awards] Shinhan Financial Group leads ESG investment trend

Shinhan Financial Group, South Korea’s second-largest financial company by market capitalization, is the first financial services firm in East Asia to have openly committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 -- a bold step in the global race to expand environmental, social and governance investment. “ESG investment poses an opportunity, not a risk, which means we should be able to take advantage of it,” Shinhan Chairman Cho Yong-byoung said, describing ESG investment as a vaccine th

Dec. 6, 2021

[GLOBAL FINANCE AWARDS] Financial ecosystems needed to buttress virtuous cycle of capital flows

By Yoo Chang-jo / Professor of marketing at Dongguk University The Korea Herald initiated the Global Finance Awards with a belief that the nation needs to improve the competitiveness of the local financial sector and create financial ecosystems that are recognized worldwide to promote its growth momentum in the “fourth industrial revolution.” The awards, in their fifth year, aim to reward financiers and financial institutions that have not only expanded access to financial services

Dec. 6, 2021

Samsung Electronics tops $110b in annual exports

Samsung Electronics was recognized with a $110 billion Tower of Export at the 58th Trade Day in South Korea, in an unprecedented move among companies of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed Monday. This comes as the Korean technology bellwether earned $113.2 billion from July 2020 to June this year from exports of semiconductor chips, consumer electronic goods and mobile handsets. This accounted for a fifth of the total exports of Kor

Dec. 6, 2021

S. Korea, ADB to hold startup road show this week

South Korea and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) plan to co-host a road show this week with an aim to facilitate Korean startups' foray into the Asia-Pacific region and find ways to promote sustainable growth of developing nations, the finance ministry said Monday. The ADB Ventures Korean Roadshow will be held Friday both via YouTube streaming and at Dream Plus in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam, according to the finance and SME ministries. At the event, the Korean government plans to pro

Dec. 6, 2021

S. Korea, ASEAN agree to quicken customs procedure for their FTA

South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to address sticky issues in customs procedures for better implementation of their free trade agreement (FTA), the finance ministry said Monday. Under the agreement, South Korean firms will be able to receive tariff benefits if they submit a copy of certificates of origin when they export goods to the 10 member states of ASEAN, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Korean exporters have had difficulties a

Dec. 6, 2021

Small merchants' sentiment dips for Dec. amid soaring coronavirus cases

South Korean small merchants' business confidence worsened for December in the wake of a surge in coronavirus infections, a poll showed Monday. The Small Enterprise and Market Service said its business survey index (BSI) for small merchants came to 85.4 for this month, down 2.2 points from the previous month. It marks the first time in four months that the small merchants' BSI has gone down from the previous month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey of 2,400

Dec. 6, 2021

Growth of insurance firms' lending slows in Q3

South Korean insurance companies saw their lending grow at a slower pace in the third quarter from three months earlier due to tougher rules on household loans, data showed Monday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 262.4 trillion won ($222 billion) as of the end of September, up 2.1 trillion won from the prior quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Yet the figure was down from the on-quarter increase of 5.2 trillion won in the previous quarter. From a ye

Dec. 6, 2021

High earners report 19% asset increase in pandemic-hit 2021

High-income households in South Korea -- those who earn between 70 million won ($59,000) and 120 million won before tax annually -- saw their assets increase by 19 percent, or 150 million won on average, from last year, a study showed Sunday. According to the study conducted by Woori Financial Research Institute, which is run by Woori Financial Group, its 4,000 clients classified as “mass affluent” saw their assets rise to 917 million won on average.  The size of debt on avera

Dec. 5, 2021

FSC puts top priority on bringing household debt growth to pre-pandemic levels

The head of South Korea's top financial regulator has said he will make continued efforts to bring household debt growth down to pre-pandemic levels, as fast increasing debt has emerged as a major risk that could threaten the country's economy. Koh Seung-beom, chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), still noted he will use some "flexibility" in managing the debt issue by taking into consideration economic, financial market situations and minimizing hurdles for people in actu

Dec. 5, 2021

Online shopping hits record high in Oct. amid COVID-19 pandemic

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in October on the back of solid demand for food delivery services and electronic goods amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Friday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things, ranging from clothes to electronic goods. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.9 trillion won ($14.35 billion) in October, up 21.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statis

Dec. 3, 2021

S. Korea's foreign reserves down for 1st time in 5 months in November

South Korea's foreign reserves shrank for the first time in five months in November due to a decline in the dollar-converted value of assets denominated in other foreign currencies, central bank data showed Friday. The country's foreign reserves came to $463.91 billion as of end-November, down $5.3 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the first time in five months that the foreign reserves have shrunk. The decline stemmed part

Dec. 3, 2021

New home permits soar 24.4% in Jan.-Oct.

New home permits in South Korea surged more than 24 percent in the first 10 months of the year amid high housing prices, government data showed Friday. Construction permits issued for new homes came to 405,704 units in the January-October period, up 24.4 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. New construction permits in the South Korean capital of Seoul spiked 54.7 percent to 70,578 over the cited period. New home permits issued

Dec. 3, 2021

Consumer price growth hits decade high

SEJONG -- The growth in consumer prices posted the highest in almost a decade last month with prices of daily necessities such as diesel and agricultural products surging, sparking concerns over its impact on households. Statistics Korea said Thursday that consumer prices climbed 3.7 percent on-year in November, which marked the highest increase since the 4.2 percent growth in December 2011. Consumer prices increased over 3 percent for the second consecutive month, following a 3.2 percent gro

Dec. 2, 2021

Inflation growth hits 10-year high in Nov. amid rising oil prices

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly 10 years in November due to surging energy costs and high prices of farm products, data showed Thursday, underscoring a build-up in inflationary pressure amid economic recovery. The consumer prices increased 3.7 percent in November from a year earlier, accelerating from a 3.2 percent on-year gain in October, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Consumer inflation rose 0.4 percent in November from a month ago. It m

Dec. 2, 2021

OECD maintains Korea’s 2021 GDP forecast at 4%

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has maintained its outlook on the South Korean economy this year, while revising down its growth predictions for major countries. In a report released Wednesday, the Paris-based organization maintained its earlier forecast in September of a 4 percent growth in gross domestic product for Korea this year. “The Korean economy continues to recover following the COVID-19 shock, propelled by strong export growth, improving bu

Dec. 1, 2021

Monthly exports break $60b-mark for first time

SEJONG -- South Korea’s monthly exports surpassed $60 billion last month for the first time on the back of the brisk outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemicals. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports posted an all-time high of $60.4 billion in November, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier. “After initially surpassing $50 billion in October 2013, the monthly export volume topped the $60 billion mark in 97 months,” said the ministry. &ldqu

Dec. 1, 2021

S. Korean manufacturing index above par for 14th month in Nov.: IHS Markit

South Korea's manufacturing activity remained in the expansionary phase for 14 months running in November on brisk exports, a global market researcher said Wednesday. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the country's manufacturing sector came to 50.9 last month, up 0.7 point from the previous month, according to a survey by IHS Markit. Since October 2020, South Korea's PMI, a key measure of factory activity in a country, has been above the 50-point mark that separates contraction from expa

Dec. 1, 2021

WSTS halves growth prediction for memory chip market next year

A semiconductor industry tracker on Wednesday cut in half its growth projection of the global memory chip market next year. World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), a nonprofit organization of chipmakers, forecast the memory market to expand 8.5 percent year-on-year to $171.6 billion next year, down from a growth rate of 18.4 percent with $190.7 billion it forecast in its August report. While the agency did not elaborate, falling DRAM prices and an expected slowdown in memory demand are be

Dec. 1, 2021