Airlines to levy no fuel surcharges on intl. routes in Oct.

South Korean airlines will not impose fuel surcharges on international routes in October on low oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Wednesday. The surcharge for one-way tickets on international routes will remain at zero next month, unchanged from a month earlier, according to the sources. Local air carriers' fuel surcharges on international routes will stay at zero for the seventh consecutive month, raising expectations that the zero rate may last down the ro

Sept. 16, 2020

Hyundai Samho delivers world's first LNG-powered container ship

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has delivered the world's first container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a Singaporean shipping company. The LNG-powered container ship with a capacity of 14,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) is one of six ships to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries for Singapore's Eastern Pacific Shipping in a 2018 deal. The other ships will be delivered by the third quarter of 2022, the company said

Sept. 16, 2020

6 financial groups to make public governance structures on websites

Six financial groups in South Korea plan to make public their governance structures, financial health and other details on their websites later this month, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The integrated regulatory filing is meant to provide a clear picture to financial consumers on the financial group's risk factors, according the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The move could also help "improve the financial groups' risk management capabilities through market discipline,&qu

Sept. 16, 2020

S. Korea, Myanmar to discuss broadening economic ties

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to hold a virtual meeting with Myanmar to share ways to expand their economic ties and overcome economic jitters sparked by the new coronavirus pandemic. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo plans to meet his Myanmar counterpart, Than Myint, later in the day through a videoconference to exchange ideas on pending economic issues between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The gathering was originally scheduled to take place i

Sept. 16, 2020

S. Korea's exports of virus test kits rebound in August

South Korea's exports of coronavirus test kits rebounded in August as the world grappled with a resurgence of the novel coronavirus, data showed Wednesday. In the first 20 days of August, exports of virus test kits stood at $106 million, compared with $123 million in July. Exports of virus test kits in August are expected to rise 10 percent from a month earlier, according to the customs data. South Korea's exports of coronavirus test kits had declined since their peak in April. Accordin

Sept. 16, 2020

S. Korea's energy consumption dips 3.6% in H1

South Korea's energy consumption fell nearly 4 percent in the first half of the year due to an economic slowdown sparked by the coronavirus outbreak, a report said Wednesday. The country's overall energy consumption came to 112.6 million tons of oil equivalent (TOEs), down 3.6 percent from the same period last year, according to the report from the Korea Energy Economics Institute. The first-half drop follows a 0.6 percent on-year decline for all of 2019, which was the first annual drop in 10

Sept. 16, 2020

S. Korea recoups nearly 70% of bailout funds

South Korea has recouped 69.5 percent of the public funds it spent to bail out troubled financial and other firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Wednesday. South Korea had retrieved 117.2 trillion won ($99.3 billion) out of the 168.7 trillion won in state funds spent to save firms from bankruptcy as of the end of June, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The recovery rate marks a slight rise from the 69.2 percent recorded at the end

Sept. 16, 2020

Gyeonggi chief’s loan relief suggestion prompts criticism from banking sector

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung’s idea for a government loan relief program -- in which the state would forgive and pay off interest on loans for those in the low income bracket -- was met with criticism from the banking sector. Lee recently said via Facebook that a “welfare state must take responsibility for the financial risks of ordinary citizens,” and “a welfare loan system where everyone can receive low-interest, long-term loans with the government financially

Sept. 15, 2020

[News Focus] Korea outstrips Japan in average pay in 2019

SEJONG -- The average annual wage for South Korean workers was found to have reached $42,285 last year, according to calculation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The level placed Korea at No. 19 among 35 members of the OECD. Two member countries, Colombia and Turkey, were not in included in the 2019 comparison. Though the figure fell short of the OECD average, $48,587, Korea ranked above Israel (21st), Italy (22nd), Spain (23rd) and Japan (24th), all of which saw

Sept. 15, 2020

ADB maintains growth outlook for S. Korea, cuts projection for Asia

The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday that South Korea’s economy would likely contract 1 percent on-year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but grow 3.3 percent next year on the back of the global economic recovery and local fiscal spending. In its revised set of growth projections for the Asian region, ADB maintained its earlier forecast for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, while cutting the region’s overall growth outlook for this year to a contraction of 0.7 percent f

Sept. 15, 2020

Exim Bank issues $1.5b in global bonds

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Exim Bank) said Tuesday that it has issued $1.5 billion worth of bonds to foreign investors. Exim Bank has sold three-year bonds worth 500 million euros, $400 million in five-year dollar bonds and $500 million in dollar bonds that will mature in 10 years. The euro-denominated social bonds carry a yield of minus 0.118 percent, the lowest interest rate offered by South Korean institutions, the state lender said. A negative bond yield means that an inv

Sept. 15, 2020

Financial holding firms' H1 net down 11% on increased provisions

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit fall 11 percent on-year in the first half of this year due mainly to increased loan loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 7.6 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the first six months of this year, compared with 8.57 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FS

Sept. 15, 2020

Corporate sales dip by most in Q2 amid pandemic

South Korean companies' sales declined at the sharpest clip on record in the second quarter as their business activity was hit by the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday. Sales of local businesses dropped 10.1 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, accelerating from a 1.9 percent on-year fall in the first quarter, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the sharpest on-year fall since the first quarter of 2015 when the BOK beg

Sept. 15, 2020

S. Korean firms need to heed India's import regulations: report

South Korean companies need to keep close tabs on India's anti-dumping rules and other trade remedies to protect its domestic industries, a report said Tuesday. India, Asia's third-largest economy, has been beefing up efforts to shield its domestic industries from foreign competitors by sharply raising import regulation probes in recent years. "India's import regulations have recently been very tough and aggressive," the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) s

Sept. 15, 2020

S. Korea's export prices dip for 1st time in 4 months in Aug.

South Korea's export prices fell for the first time in four months in August as the local currency appreciated against the US dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, dropped 0.2 percent in August from the previous month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-month gain in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the first drop after the index rose for three straight months since May.

Sept. 15, 2020

US sanctions on Huawei feared to hit S. Korean chip exports to China

South Korean chip exports to China are feared to take a hit from US sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. due to their heavy dependence on the neighboring country, sources said Tuesday. The new sanctions, which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to Huawei without prior approval from Washington, became effective the same day. The US move forces Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, and SK hynix Inc. to stop semico

Sept. 15, 2020

Finance minister, ADB chief vow cooperation against COVID-19

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa held a video-linked meeting on Monday and pledged to cooperate against the new coronavirus, the finance ministry said. During the talks, Hong and Asakawa agreed to encourage countries in the Asia Pacific region to cooperate in various sectors to respond to COVID-19, according to the ministry. Hong also proposed opening ADB's Seoul office to boost cooperative ties, the ministry said.  Asakawa said they sho

Sept. 14, 2020

Seoul seeks trade deal with Uzbekistan, strives to diversify export channels

South Korea will enter into talks with Uzbekistan by the end of the year, seeking to sign a bilateral trade deal, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday. It will also establish a platform to help local SMEs promote and sell their products through contactless global selling channels such as Amazon. “Our economy continues to face difficulties, with exports logging negative growth for six months straight,” Hong said in a meeting of economy-related minist

Sept. 14, 2020

Credit card firms' H1 net up 19% on increased profit from loans

South Korea's credit card companies saw their combined earnings rise in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to increased profits from card loans, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of eight card issuers, including Shinhan Card Co., Samsung Card Co. and KB Kookmin Card Co., came to 1.11 trillion won ($937 million) in the January-June period, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The hike in profit

Sept. 14, 2020

Daily money transfers via mobile payment apps up 20% in H1 amid pandemic

The value of daily money transfers via mobile payment apps in South Korea rose 20.3 percent in the first half from six months earlier as online financial transactions increased amid the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily money transfers via smartphone apps, such as Toss, Naver Pay and KakaoPay, stood at 322.6 billion won ($272.3 million) in the January-June period, compared with 268.2 billion won in the second half of 2019, according to the data by th

Sept. 14, 2020