Exports rise 20.1% in first 10 days of Nov.

South Korea's exports rose 20.1 percent on-year in the first 10 days of November, customs data showed Wednesday, amid the new coronavirus outbreak. The country's outbound shipments stood at $14.1 billion in the Nov. 1-10 period, compared with $11.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports also gained 12.1 percent on-year during the cited period. Imports increased 7.8 percent on-year to $13.3 billion in the 10-day period, according to the dat

Nov. 11, 2020

S. Korea's trade volume feared to miss $1tr mark this year

South Korea's trade volume is unlikely to pass the $1 trillion mark in 2020 due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a Sino-US trade row, sources said Wednesday. The gloomy projection comes as South Korea's trade fell sharply in the first 10 months of the year from a year ago, pounded by the double whammy. South Korea's exports and imports totaled $798 billion in the January-October period, down 8.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to data from the industry an

Nov. 11, 2020

S. Korea's Oct. job loss largest in 6 months amid pandemic

South Korea reported the sharpest on-year fall in jobs in six months in October, extending its job losses to an eighth month amid the protracted pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.09 million last month, 421,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Job losses increased from an on-year fall of 392,000 in September. The tally marked the sharpest on-year decline since April, when the country shed 476,000 jobs due to

Nov. 11, 2020

Creditors invite bidders for STX Offshore

Mid-sized shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Tuesday that its creditors led by the Korea Development Bank (KDB) have invited preliminary bidders to sell their stake in the shipbuilder. On Monday, the company made public its plan on its website to woo investors. Ernst & Young Han Young, the sale manager for the deal, will finalize the bidding by Nov. 23. The KDB-led creditors wholly own the shipyard after debt-for-equity swaps and a debt rescheduling program. STX Offshore

Nov. 10, 2020

S. Korea to remove ‘pro-colonial Japan’ artist’s work from coins, banknotes

South Korea is working on replacing its frequently used 100-won coins as the design includes a portrait drawn by an artist who was pro-Japanese during the colonial period, the country’s central bank said Tuesday. The historical figure whose face will be removed or redrawn is Admiral Yi Sun-sin, whose statue stands permanently in Seoul’s downtown Gwanghwamun Square. The naval hero from the Joseon Dynasty who scored dramatic victories against Japanese invaders in the southern seas

Nov. 10, 2020

S. Korea to decide on Delivery Hero's acquisition of Woowa next month

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator plans to decide next month whether to approve a $4 billion deal by Germany's Delivery Hero to acquire the nation's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers, officials said Tuesday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it has sent documents about an antitrust review to the German food delivery company. If Delivery Hero submits its opinion on the documents to the KFTC, the Korean regulator will make a decision on the deal on Dec. 9, KFTC

Nov. 10, 2020

S. Korean shipyards rank 1st in new orders for 4th straight month

South Korean shipbuilders ranked first in new global shipbuilding orders in October for a fourth straight month, far outpacing their Chinese rivals, industry data showed Tuesday. According to the data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service, Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 720,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs), taking up 69 percent of the 1.04 million CGTs ordered globally in October. The South Korean shipbuilders were followed by Chinese shipbuilders wit

Nov. 10, 2020

Demand for processed meat rising in sync with single-member households

South Korea's market for processed meat products, such as sausages, has been growing steadily in recent years amid rising demand from single-member households, data showed Tuesday. The country's processed meat market was estimated at 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) in 2018, up 2.4 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The market has grown an average of 8.9 percent since 2015. The ministry attributed the growth to rising demand for read

Nov. 10, 2020

Tax revenue tallied at W36.6tr in September

SEJONG -- South Korea collected 36.6 trillion won ($32.7 billion) in taxes in September, up 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday. Income tax revenue amounted to 6.7 trillion won in September, up 4.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Dues collected from companies, on the other hand, reached 8.3 trillion won in the month, down 1.2 trillion won from a year earlier due to the lackluster earnings of local firms.

Nov. 10, 2020

US likely to restore multilateralism, free trade under Biden: KIEP report

Following the presidential election victory of Joe Biden, the United States is expected to “partly” revive its former free trade policies in the multilateral frame, while maintaining some protectionist actions against China, according to South Korea’s state-run think tank. The incoming Democrat administration is especially likely to bolster the US’ solidarity with South Korea and other allies on the trade front in order to regain its standing within the World Trade O

Nov. 9, 2020

What strong won on back of Biden victory means for S. Korea

South Korea’s currency surged to a 22-month high against the US greenback on Monday as Joe Biden’s election victory sent waves across the global financial market. After opening at 1,120 won against the US greenback, it was quoted at 1,113.9 won at Monday’s closing -- its highest level since Jan. 31, 2019.　 The won is projected to grow stronger and breach the 1,100 won mark this year and even the 1,050 won level next year, the chiefs of the five major commercial banks here told

Nov. 9, 2020

Korea ranks 9th out of 23 for recovery pace: KCIF

  South Korea has fared well among the world’s major economies, with a related economic indicator showing a mid-level performance, the Korea Center for International Finance said Monday.  According to the Tracking Indices for the Global Economic Recovery, an index designed to measure global economic recovery by the think tank Brookings Institution and Financial Times, Asia’s fourth-largest economy posted minus 0.76. The figure marked 9th place among 23 leading economies,

Nov. 9, 2020

S. Korea mulls toughening rules on overdrafts: finance minister

South Korea is considering tightening rules on overdrafts as a sharp rise in such lending adds to concerns over the country's already-high household debt, the finance minister said Monday. As the financial regulator toughened rules on mortgage lending to curb rising housing prices, people heavily took out overdrafts in recent months to meet demand for property-related costs and invest in stocks amid low interest rates. At a parliamentary session, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the governmen

Nov. 9, 2020

Biden victory pushes Korean currency to 22-month high

South Korea's won currency surged to a 22-month high against the US dollar on Monday, after the election of Joe Biden as the next US president. The won was quoted at 1,113.9 won per US dollar at Monday's closing, up 6.5 won from the previous session, touching its strongest level since Jan. 31, 2019. It was the first time in some 22 months that the currency breached the key support level of 1,120 won to the greenback. Analysts said the won is expected to further strengthen for the time bein

Nov. 9, 2020

S. Korean firms urged to diversify into Malaysia

South Korean companies need to diversify their Southeast Asian exports and investments into Malaysia in a departure from their focus on Vietnam, a report said Monday. "Malaysia has been drawing attention as a promising destination for exports and investment as well as a supply source as the United States has opened the possibility of imposing tariffs on Vietnamese goods through a foreign exchange investigation," said the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).&nb

Nov. 9, 2020

[News Focus] Employment rate for 30-somethings hits 5-year low

SEJONG -- South Korea saw its employment rate slide to 60.3 percent in September, its lowest level in four months since it hit 60.2 percent in May. People in their 30s have been hit hardest, government data suggested. According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate for those aged between 30 and 39 recorded 74.1 percent. This was the lowest figure in more than five years (65 months), since April 2015, when it stood at 73.8 percent. The figure for September 2020 was 2.4 percentage points lo

Nov. 8, 2020

Number of single-person households surpasses 6 million

The number of people residing alone hit more than 6 million as of this year as the prolonged coronavirus pandemic accelerated a stay-at-home trend while shifting interests towards stock investment from savings, an industry report showed Sunday. According to KB Financial Group’s report on single-person households in South Korea, the tally for one-person households reached 6.17 million, which accounts for 30.3 percent of all households. Relative to the entire population, the figure indica

Nov. 8, 2020

S. Korean economy faces growing downside risks amid global flare-up in COVID-19: KDI

The South Korean economy is on a recovery path, aided by a mild improvement in the manufacturing sector, but it faces growing downside risks amid a global resurgence in new coronavirus cases, a state-run think tank said Sunday. The country's service industry has slackened as people refrained from making in-person contact and going outside, while the manufacturing sector has undergone a limited recovery on improving demand at home and abroad, according to a monthly economic assessment report by

Nov. 8, 2020

Global IBs upgrade S. Korea’s growth outlook on recovery hopes

Global investment banking giants, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citi have raised their 2020 average growth forecasts for South Korea’s economy, a report compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance showed Friday. The report came as the export-driven economy’s outbound shipments have been riding on a path to solid recovery. Korea’s current account surplus hit a two-year high in September as exports rebounded for the first time in seven months amid the global

Nov. 6, 2020

S. Korea, Uzbekistan agree to push for launch of trade talks

South Korea and Uzbekistan agreed Friday to announce the launch of trade talks at an opportune time in an effort to expand bilateral trade, the government said. The agreement was made between South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo and Sardor Umurzakov, Uzbekistan's deputy prime minister for investment and foreign economic relations, during a videoconference of a bilateral trade and economic committee, the trade ministry said. The meeting of the committee, the official

Nov. 6, 2020