S. Korean builder sentiment rises for 3rd month in Nov.

South Korean builders' business sentiment increased for the third consecutive month in November on a recovery in new orders despite the prolonged coronavirus crisis, a poll showed Tuesday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) stood at 85.3 last month, up 5.4 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea. The November figure was the highest monthly tally for this year, but it was still below the benchmark level. A r

Dec. 1, 2020

[News Focus] 2020 payouts for jobless likely to reach W12tr

SEJONG -- If current trends continue, the annual tally for payouts for the jobless will hover around an unprecedented 12 trillion won ($10.8 billion) in 2020, data from the Korean Employment Information Service showed. Over the first 10 months of this year, the payment of unemployment benefits came to 10.26 trillion won. This has already outstripped the former record high of 8.35 trillion won in 2019. The 2020 projection would be a 160 percent increase compared to 2015, when the yearly be

Dec. 1, 2020

Life expectancy of S. Koreans rises to 83.3 years in 2019

South Korean babies born in 2019 are expected to live more than 83 years, data showed Tuesday, amid improved public awareness about health and better medical systems. Life expectancy at birth averaged 83.3 years last year, six months longer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with 10 years ago, the average life expectancy became 3.2 years longer. The tally also marked a sharp hike from 62.3 years in 1970, when the country began compiling related da

Dec. 1, 2020

Chip export prices for Oct. hit new low on strong won

South Korea's semiconductor export prices sank to a new record low in October due to a strong local currency and slowing demand stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The won-based export price index for chips came to 69.61 for October, the lowest level since the Bank of Korea began tracking related data in January 1985. The figure is also off more than 30 percent from the index's base year of 2015. The index reached 104.32 in December 2018. Since January 20

Dec. 1, 2020

Exports rebound in Nov. on solid chip sales amid virus resurgence

South Korea's exports rebounded by rising 4 percent in November on-year on the back of strong sales of chips, data showed Tuesday, though a resurgence in new virus cases still poses risks of delaying a full-fledged recovery. Outbound shipments came to $45.8 billion last month, compared with $44 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports fell 2.1 percent to $39.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $5.93 billion. It marked

Dec. 1, 2020

S. Korea's economy grows faster than estimated at 2.1% in Q3: BOK

South Korea's economy expanded at a faster-than-estimated pace in the third quarter on the back of a modest recovery in exports amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.1 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks a slight increase from an earlier estimate of a 1.9 percent on-quarter expansion estimated in October and compares

Dec. 1, 2020

Kia workers to continue strike for higher pay amid pandemic

Unionized workers at Kia Motors Corp. will extend their partial strike for several days to demand higher wages and bonuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the union said Monday. Daytime and night-duty workers will hold a four-hour strike at Kia's three domestic plants in Gwangmyeong and Hwaseong, both near Seoul, and Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 1-2 and 4, union spokesman Hwang Hyo-dong said over the phone. "The company didn't contact the union to narrow differences over

Nov. 30, 2020

Corporate direct financing up 20% in October

South Korean companies’ stock and bond sales rose 19.7 percent in October from a month earlier due mainly to a robust gain in bond sales by financial firms, data showed Monday. Local companies raised a combined 20.6 trillion won ($18.6 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in October, up 3.4 trillion won from September, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Last month, six companies raised a combined 1.07 trillion won through initial public offerings, up 52.5 perce

Nov. 30, 2020

S. Korea refutes China's claim on industrial standard for kimchi

Kimchi is not just fermented cabbage but a central part of Korea's food culture, and the process of making it has already been recognized as a global standard for nearly two decades, Seoul's agriculture ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs made the remark to refute Chinese media's claim that Beijing has won a certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for its kimchi making process. The ministry said Beijing won ISO certific

Nov. 30, 2020

Virus outbreaks hit key plants in S. Korea, production loss feared

A series of new coronavirus outbreaks have been reported at major industrial plants amid growing concerns about production losses, companies said Monday. COVID-19 infections have affected production and sales at local manufacturers this year. Kia Motors Corp., the country's second-biggest carmaker, suspended two of its three plants in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul on Monday, as four assembly line workers tested positive for COVID-19, a company spokesman said over the phone. "T

Nov. 30, 2020

Industrial output stays flat, consumption falls again in Oct.

South Korea's industrial output stayed flat in October from a month earlier while consumption and investment declined again, data showed Monday, in a sign that economic recovery momentum still remains weak amid the pandemic. The nation's overall industrial production remained unchanged on-month in October, following a 2.2 percent on-month gain in September, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a year earlier, the industrial output fell 2.7 percent in October. Prod

Nov. 30, 2020

[News Focus] 45% of Korean female workers in nonregular job status

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the percentage of those in nonregular job status among the total female workers climb to the all-time high. As for men, the nonregular employee portion marked the highest in more than a decade. In Korea, job statuses are commonly divided into regular jobs with permanent contracts and consequent protections for workers, and nonregular jobs, such as temporary jobs, contract jobs and other forms of works with low job security. According to research d

Nov. 29, 2020

S. Korean firms tipped to report earnings improvement in Q4

South Korean listed firms are expected to log better earnings in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago amid simmering recovery from the pandemic's fallout, data showed on Sunday. As of Friday, the combined operating income for 167 major listed firms on the main bourse was estimated at 33.6 trillion won ($30.4 billion) for the October-December period, up 60.1 percent from a year earlier, according to financial info tracker FnGuide. It also represents a 6.9 percent increase from the previo

Nov. 29, 2020

S. Korea to see limited impact on local markets from global food insecurity: vice finance minister

South Korea’s first vice finance minister said Friday the global food insecurity worsened by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will not have a serious impact on the local food supply chain, but the government will continue to keep an eye on the market condition. “According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the FAO Food Price Index has continued its upward trend in recent months, signaling food insecurity around the globe,” Kim Yong-beom, first vice

Nov. 27, 2020

S. Korea's state pension fund logs over 4% return in Jan.-Sept.

South Korea's state pension fund posted a return rate of over 4 percent through September on robust performances in domestic and overseas stock markets, its operator said Friday. The state pension fund registered a 4.17 percent investment return at the end of September, according to the National Pension Service (NPS). It chalked up a 8.47 percent investment return from the local stock market and a 3.28 percent yield from investments in overseas stocks. The fund's return rates from investme

Nov. 27, 2020

S. Korea to delay opening of FX market by 1 hour on college entrance exam day

The opening of South Korea's foreign exchange market will be delayed by one hour on the day of the college entrance exam next week, the committee in charge of the foreign exchange market said Friday. The foreign exchange market is set to open at 10 a.m. and close at 3:30 p.m. next Thursday as part of efforts to ease traffic, according to the Seoul Foreign Exchange Market Committee. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly high school seniors, are scheduled to take the crucial test that is wide

Nov. 27, 2020

PEF-led consortium picked as main bidder for STX Offshore

Midsized shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Friday its creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) have picked a consortium as the prime bidder for the shipbuilder. On Nov. 9, the creditors signed a preliminary deal with the consortium comprising local private equity fund KH Investment (KHI) and United Asset Management Company (UAMCO), South Korea's biggest bad debt clearer, to sell the shipbuilder. After the deal, the creditors put up the stake in the shipbuil

Nov. 27, 2020

Manufacturing sector's 2019 added value dips at fastest pace since 1998

South Korea's manufacturing industry saw its added value shrink at the fastest clip in 21 years in 2019 on falling prices of chips and other key products, government data showed Friday. The added value of the country's manufacturing and mining sectors came to 559.8 trillion won ($507 billion) last year, down 1.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It was the largest annualized contraction since the 2.1 percent fall recorded in 1998 in the wake of the count

Nov. 27, 2020

Institutions' investments in foreign securities rise in Q3

South Korean institutions' investments in foreign securities rose in the third quarter from three months earlier as global financial markets recovered from pandemic-driven losses, central bank data showed Friday. The combined value of foreign securities held by institutional investors came to $345.4 billion as of end-September, up $8.9 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked a gain for the second straight quarter after a $9.5 billion fall in the firs

Nov. 27, 2020

Banks' lending rates stay flat in October

South Korean banks' lending rates stayed flat in October, despite rising market rates, central bank data showed Friday. The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.66 percent in October, unchanged from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). In September, banks' lending rates rose for the first time in four months. The rates declined for the third straight month since June due to the impact of the central bank's policy rate cut in May.

Nov. 27, 2020