Surging energy bills spark concerns of inflation

South Korea’s recent decision to raise electricity prices for the first time in nearly a decade and an expected price surge in home gas is likely to increase inflationary pressure, industry watchers said Sunday. Electricity and home gas prices, which are key components of “public utility charges” -- fees related to supply of electricity, gas, power, water and transport – usually help lower inflationary pressure, with their relatively flat price gains. But the COVID-19 pa

Sept. 26, 2021

S. Korea's seaport cargo up 8.7% amid global economic recovery

The amount of cargo handled at South Korean seaports was up 8.7 percent on-year in August amid the global economic recovery, government data showed Sunday. The cargo processed at the country's ports stood at 128.6 million tons last month, up from 118.3 million tons a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo rose 9 percent to 117.4 million tons on the back of strong exports of petrochemicals and cars. Coastal cargo handled in Sou

Sept. 26, 2021

10 crypto exchanges file applications to register with KFIU

Ten cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea have filed applications to register with the nation's anti-money laundering body to continue their businesses under tougher regulations, according to the body Friday. By Friday midnight, both foreign and local cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Korean investors are required to register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) and have real-name bank accounts. If they have no real-name bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned fr

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea reports surplus in trade of intellectual property rights in H1

South Korea reported a surplus in the trade of intellectual property rights in the first half of this year, as exports of copyrights increased, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's surplus in the intellectual property account came to $850 million in the first half, compared with a deficit of $1.11 billion in the second half of last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the first six-month surplus since the second half of 2019, when the nation rep

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea's financial market stable but potential imbalance concerning: BOK

South Korea's financial market continues to be stable, but concerns remain over a build-up of financial imbalances due to surging home prices, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday. In a regular report on financial stability, the BOK also called for vigilance against a rise in the debt of households and companies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The nation's financial stability index shot up to 22.3 in April last year, breaching the lower boundary for a crisis warning, but it has since come down to

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea to further expand scope of beneficiaries of employment insurance system

South Korea plans to allow delivery workers and designated drivers to receive benefits from the employment insurance system starting next year as the government seeks to expand the labor safety net, a senior government official said Friday. It is part of the government's plan to expand the employment insurance scheme to all working people as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the job market. The government plans to enable some platform workers, including delivery workers and designated

Sept. 24, 2021

S. Korea to end injecting public funds into overseas coal projects

South Korea said Friday it will refrain from injecting public funds into overseas coal projects starting in October, in line with the global initiatives to gradually phase out traditional energy sources and go carbon neutral by 2050. Under the new guideline to be implemented next month, all public organizations will no longer disburse funds to overseas coal power plants, while private businesses in which the government has a stake will also be induced to follow the measure, according to the Min

Sept. 24, 2021

Corporate direct financing slips 7.9% in August

South Korea's corporate direct financing fell 7.9 percent on month in August due to a decline in sales of bonds, data showed Friday. Local companies raised a combined 19.35 trillion won ($16.4 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in August, down 1.66 trillion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales rose 10.3 percent to 4.05 trillion won, with the value of initial public offerings jumping 27.4 percent to 4 trillion won.

Sept. 24, 2021

Producer prices up for 10th month in August

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.4 percent on-month in August due to a modest rise in prices of food and energy, extending their monthly gains for the 10th straight month, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 110.72 in August, compared with 110.28 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The July index advanced 7.3 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods

Sept. 24, 2021

[ESG Talk] Overseeing critical ESG risks: Environmental issues

As regulatory and stakeholder issues heighten around environmental, social and governance factors, companies must now oversee the associated risks more strategically. Unfortunately, ESG issues are sensitive to public choices, rely on future scenario-based materiality and require longer time horizons. Thus, the challenge in quantifying ESG risks has prompted companies to adopt different risk management procedures. Since ESG risks can turn to sizable negative impacts throughout a company’s

Sept. 23, 2021

Korean firms neglect science in setting climate targets: study

South Korean companies’ climate targets are not grounded in scientific evidence, a study showed Thursday, indicating that ambitious goals to achieve carbon neutrality for a sustainable future lack substance. This heightens calls for the country, which recently unveiled its ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, to have its companies take more concrete action to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- a major culprit behind global warming -- ahead of the Group of 20 Summit in October, acc

Sept. 23, 2021

Finance chief to meet heads of BOK, financial regulators next week

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki will hold a four-party meeting next week with the governor of the central bank and two chiefs of financial regulatory authorities to discuss household debt and other economic issues, officials said Thursday. Hong will preside over the gathering on Sept. 30 with Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol, Koh Seung-beom, new head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and Jeong Eun-bo, new chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, according to the finance ministry.

Sept. 23, 2021

S. Korea’s stock market retreats amid China’s Evergrande crisis

South Korea’s stock market retreated Thursday, hit by the growing debt crisis faced by Evergrande Group, one of China’s biggest property developers, as financial authorities vowed to closely monitor the situation’s impact on the market. The benchmark Kospi lost 12.93 points, or 0.41 percent, to close at 3,127.58 points. The secondary tech-heavy Kosdaq shed 9.86 points or 0.94 percent to close at 1,036.26. Trading volume was moderate at about 612 million shares worth some 13.

Sept. 23, 2021

S. Korea wary of market volatility from Evergrande woes, Fed's tapering: official

South Korea plans to closely monitor financial markets as China Evergrande Group's debt problems and uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's tapering issue could increase market volatility, a senior government official said Thursday. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the government will also pump up efforts to slow the growth of household debt in a bid to ease financial imbalances. Global financial markets were rattled this week ahead of the Fed's policy meeting and due to concerns

Sept. 23, 2021

Exports rise 23% in first 20 days of Sept.

South Korea's exports rose 22.9 percent on-year in the first 20 days of September on the back of robust demand for chips, petroleum products and autos, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.1 billion in the Sept. 1-20 period, compared with $29.4 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 38.8 percent on-year to $35 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.12 billion during the cited period, the data s

Sept. 23, 2021

Listed firms' Q3 operating profit forecast to jump 49%

South Korea's listed companies are likely to see their earnings spike nearly 50 percent in the third quarter on brisk exports, a market tracker said Thursday. The combined operating income of 246 listed firms is expected to reach 59.6 trillion won ($50.6 billion) for the July-September period, up about 49 percent from a year earlier, according to FnGuide. The operating profit outlook still remains high though it is much lower than forecasts of 118 percent and 91 percent for the first and secon

Sept. 23, 2021

Major firms' dependence on overseas sales rises in H1 amid pandemic

Major South Korean companies' dependence on overseas markets for sales increased in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. Combined overseas sales of the country's top 100 firms by revenue climbed 13.2 percent on-year to 397.3 trillion won ($337 billion) in the January-June period, according to the data from the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). The amount accounted for 54.9 percent of their total top line for the first half, up 2.8 percentage poin

Sept. 23, 2021

Insurers' risk-based capital ratio gains in Q2

Insurance firms in South Korea saw their risk-based capital ratio rise in the second quarter of this year as they strengthened capital, data showed Thursday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 260.9 percent at end-June, up 5 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The rise in the RBC ratio came as insurers boosted capital and reported modest profits, according to the FSS. A key yardstick

Sept. 23, 2021

ADB maintains S. Korea’s growth outlook at 4%, trims projection for Asia

The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday maintained its previous 4 percent growth outlook for the South Korean economy this year, on the back of robust exports and mild recovery in private consumption. The ADB kept its earlier growth scenario for Korea, which was released in July. It also left its 2022 growth outlook unchanged at 3.1 percent, according to the bank’s report titled “Asian Development Outlook Update.” However, it forecast that Korea’s inflation rate will

Sept. 22, 2021

S. Korea has larger classes, lower employment rates among college graduates than OECD averages: education ministry

South Korea has larger class sizes and lower employment rates among the highly educated than Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) averages, the education ministry said Friday. According to the latest edition of the OECD's "Education at a Glance," released by the Ministry of Education, elementary and middle school classes had an average of 23 and 26.1 students, respectively, in 2019. The figures were lower than 23.1 and 26.7 from 2018 but still higher than the OE

Sept. 17, 2021