[News Focus] Home prices in 9 major regions up 26% in a year

SEJONG - House prices rose an average of more than 25 percent in the last 12 months in South Korea’s nine major areas, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average on-year growth in housing prices in the nine areas reached 26.7 percent during July 2020-July 2021 period. The other seven of the nine are Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Ulsan and Sejong. Seoul saw the average trading price of homes come to 37.38 m

July 6, 2021

Finance minister, BOK chief to attend G-20 meeting of top financial, economic officials

South Korea's top economic policymaker and the head of the central bank will attend a Group of 20 (G-20) meeting of finance ministers and top central bankers this week, the finance ministry and the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will head to Venice, Italy, on Wednesday to attend the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting set for Friday and Saturday, according to the ministry and the BOK. The meeting will center on eco

July 6, 2021

S. Korea set to cut maximum legal lending rate

South Korea will lower the maximum interest rate this week as part of efforts to ease financial burdens on low-income people, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The maximum legal interest rate that private lenders can charge will be cut to 20 percent from the current 24 percent Wednesday, according to the Financial Services Commission. It will mark the second cut in the maximum legal interest rate in three years. In 2018, the government cut the lending rate ceiling to 24 percent from 27.9 p

July 6, 2021

No. of fake banknotes dips to record low in H1 amid pandemic

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes dropped to a new record low in the first half as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline of cash use, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday. In the January-June period, the number of fake banknotes found here came to 38, down from 161 a year earlier and marking the lowest since the BOK began releasing such data in 2000. By denomination, 5,000-won counterfeit bills accounted for more than half of all counterfeit bills found here, with 22 bil

July 6, 2021

Online shopping hits record high in May amid contactless trend

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in May as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid the pandemic-induced contactless trend, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.1 trillion won ($14 billion) in May, up 26 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The May reading marked the largest since November 2001, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. Amid an economic recovery and a non-conta

July 6, 2021

Exports of farm goods hit all-time high in H1

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports of agricultural products shot up to set a new record in the first six months of 2021, data showed Tuesday, on the back of stronger global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Outbound shipments of such goods in the January-June period came to $4.15 billion, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. Exports of fresh products advanced 11.4 percent over

July 6, 2021

S. Korean retailer confidence improves for Q3

A majority of South Korean retailers expect their business conditions to improve further in the third quarter of 2021 than three months earlier as more people get vaccinated against the new coronavirus, a poll showed Tuesday. The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry said its retail business survey index (RBSI) stood at 106 for the July-September period, up from 103 three months earlier. It marks the second consecutive quarter that the country's RBSI has remained above par. In the second qua

July 6, 2021

Korea pushes measures to clinch $30b of foreign construction deals

With signs of recovery in the global construction market, the government said Monday it would make an all-out effort to achieve its goal of securing $30 billion worth of overseas construction deals this year. “Large-scale infrastructure investment demand from developed and developing countries is expected to grow as the global construction market is expected to recover this year,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said. Korean construction firms won overseas orders worth $14.7 billion

July 5, 2021

Auto parts maker Mando gets 'A' ESG rating from MSCI

South Korean auto parts maker Mando Corp. said Monday it has received an "A" environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating form global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) for its environmentally friendly growth value. Mando said the company is the first among South Korean auto and auto parts manufacturers to have been awarded such an ESG rating by MSCI. MSCI grants an A ESG rating to companies with a mixed or unexceptional track record of managing the most

July 5, 2021

Imported auto sales fall 4.2% in June amid pandemic

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 4.2 percent in June from a year earlier amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 26,191 units last month from 27,350 a year ago as the prolonged pandemic weighs on consumer demand, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were Volkswagen's T-Roc 2.0 TDI SUV, Mercedes-Benz

July 5, 2021

Support measures eyed for $30b overseas construction order target

South Korea said Monday it will provide financial and policy support to local construction firms to help them achieve the $30 billion target of overseas orders this year. The government unveiled a set of comprehensive measures to support local builders as the overseas construction market is expected to rebound this year following slumps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the finance and land ministries. The global construction market is estimated at $12.4 trillion this year, up 12.2

July 5, 2021

S. Korea's FX reserves fall in June as US dollar remains strong

South Korea's foreign reserves declined in June as the US dollar's strength reduced the value of non-dollar assets, central bank data showed Monday. The nation's foreign reserves came to $454.1 billion as of end-June, down $2.35 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion. The FX reserves decli

July 5, 2021

Oil prices in S. Korea hit 33-month high

Retail oil prices in South Korea rose for the ninth consecutive week to reach the highest level in nearly three years amid a global oil rally, data showed Sunday. The average gasoline price nationwide was 1,600.9 won ($1.40) per liter in the fifth week of June, edging up 13.5 won from a week earlier, according to the data provided by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC). The gasoline price surpassed the 1,600 won level for the first time since November 2018. Diesel prices also gained

July 4, 2021

Korea’s tax agency joins European tax body to support companies’ overseas expansion

South Korea’s National Tax Service has joined a nonprofit European tax body in a bid to enhance cooperation with member countries and provide policy support for local companies making forays into the European market. The Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations approved South Korea’s entry as an associate member -- the first in Asia -- at the 25th General Assembly held through video conferencing from Wednesday to Friday. The IOTA consists of 44 member countries from the

July 2, 2021

Samsung Electronics, SK hynix likely to be subjected to new global tax rules

South Korean conglomerates Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are likely to be subject to a global minimum tax rate that multinational companies will have to pay regardless of where their headquarters are. Some 130 countries and jurisdictions, representing more than 90 percent of global gross domestic product, endorsed a set of tax plans aimed at addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and D

July 2, 2021

S. Korea to maintain expansionary fiscal policy, slowly shift toward monetary tightening

South Korea’s fiscal policy will be expansionary but its monetary policy could turn slightly more hawkish, the respective chiefs in charge of each said Friday. Both said their solutions would minimize the economic woes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki met Friday with Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol amid controversy over policy discord. There have been strong signals of a rate hike by the end of the year from the central bank, and the government recently unv

July 2, 2021

13 biz group owners hold stocks worth over W1tr

Thirteen out of South Korea's top 50 business group heads hold stocks worth more than 1 trillion won ($881 million) as of end-June, with Samsung Group's chief being the richest, a corporate tracker said Friday. The number, which came amid a bullish local stock market, was up from 12 recorded in the first quarter of this year, according to CXO Institute Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chairman of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, owned the largest amount

July 2, 2021

S. Korean, French finance ministers discuss cooperation ahead of G-20 meeting

The finance ministers of South Korea and France have held a virtual meeting to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and agenda items ahead of a key international financial meeting, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire had an online meeting on Thursday ahead of next week's meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 (G-20) economies, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The G-20 finance ministers

July 2, 2021

Inflation growth hits over 2% for 3rd straight month in June

South Korea's consumer prices grew more than 2 percent for the third straight month in June on higher prices of farm and oil products, data showed Friday, underscoring expectations that a rate hike within this year may become more plausible amid an economic recovery. The consumer price index rose 2.4 percent on-year in June, slowing from a 2.6 percent on-year gain the previous month, the fastest rise in more than nine years, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The inflation gai

July 2, 2021

Fiscal chief promises blockbuster R&Ds funding to keep battery leadership

South Korea will carry out massive public-private R&D collaboration projects to capture the biggest share of the global rechargeable battery market by 2030, the country’s top economic policymaker said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will soon announce detailed strategic plans to make the country the largest producer of next-generation rechargeable batteries to stay ahead of global rivals. In 2020, Korean rechargeable battery makers topped the world marke

July 1, 2021