Korea's exports dip 7.5% in first 20 days of June

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 7.5 percent on year in the first 20 days of June amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $25 billion in the June 1-20 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 20-day period also slipped 16.2 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is denting exports by South Korea's economy. The

June 22, 2020

S. Korea's household debt grew at alarming clip last year: BIS data

South Korea's household debt to the gross domestic product grew at the fastest pace among 43 countries in the world last year, leading the country's overall private-sector debt to also expand at one of the biggest rates, data showed Sunday. The ratio of the country's household debt to GDP reached 95.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 1.6 percentage points from 93.9 percent the previous year, according to data provided by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Hong Kong had the

June 21, 2020

S. Korea’s overseas direct investment falls 15% in Q1

South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 15.3 percent on-year in the first three months of the year, weighed on by the coronavirus pandemic, with investments to China and Hong Kong having fallen the most, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance showed Friday. Local companies invested a combined $12.6 billion in the cited period, compared with $14.9 billion reported for the same quarter last year. This year’s first quarter also marked the first time the figure turned int

June 19, 2020

S. Korea sets aside W5tr for subcontractors in key industries

South Korea will provide 5 trillion won ($4.12 billion) to subcontractors in key industrial sectors, in an extended move to shore up the economy amid the fallout of COVID-19, the nation’s top fiscal policymaker said Friday. “Starting July, (the government) will supply operating fund loans to subcontractors in basic industries,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in an economy-related ministerial meeting held at Seoul Government Complex. Responding t

June 19, 2020

S. Korea's current account surplus with US, China narrows in 2019

South Korea's current account surplus with the United States and China sharply narrowed in 2019 from a year earlier amid a prolonged trade dispute between the world's largest economies that undermined its exports, as well as its current account balance, central bank data showed Friday. South Korea posted a current account surplus of $22.05 billion with the United States in 2019, compared with a $24.67 billion surplus posted in 2018, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Its curr

June 19, 2020

Finance minister renews calls for parliamentary approval of 3rd extra budget

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Friday renewed calls for the National Assembly to approve the third extra budget to help revive the virus-hit economy, saying the government will spare no efforts to achieve positive growth this year. Earlier this month, South Korea proposed its third extra budget of 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) meant to help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. "I earnestly ask the National Assembly to appr

June 19, 2020

After market backlash, authorities vow to soften blow on ordinary homebuyers

Perplexed by the market backlash against new reinforced housing loan regulations, South Korea’s government hurriedly added that it would soon introduce exception clauses for people buying homes to live in rather than for investment purposes. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Financial Services Commission on Thursday issued a statement pushing back at local reports that accused the government of discriminating against non-homeowning citizens. “(The governmen

June 18, 2020

[News Focus] 1 in 7 Koreans de facto jobless since March

SEJONG -- The novel coronavirus has created a tough job market in which more than 4 million South Koreans have been unemployed or underemployed for a third consecutive month. According to Statistics Korea, the “extended-based” jobless rate under the Supplementary Index III for Employment stayed above 14 percent over the past three months -- 14.4 percent in March, 14.9 percent in April and 14.5 percent in May. This is an unprecedented high, indicating that 1 out of 7 Koreans has b

June 18, 2020

ADB expects S. Koran economy to contract 1% this year amid pandemic

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday sharply revised down its 2020 growth estimate for South Korea, along with that for the entire Asian region, expecting Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1 percent from a year earlier. The revision marks a turnaround from a 1.3 percent on-year growth forecast in April. Last year, the Korean economy expanded 2 percent. "In a regular supplement to its annual flagship economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook 2020 released in April,

June 18, 2020

Trading soars with 22 nations that participated in Korean War

South Korea's trading volume with 21 countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War soared in the past 60 years on its economic growth and increased establishment of diplomatic ties with them, a local business lobby said Thursday. The trading volume with the 21 nations reached $314.6 billion in 2019, a dramatic hike from $200 million worth of trade with 12 participating nations in 1960, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said in a statement. "South Korea needs to expand fr

June 18, 2020

S. Korea to levy tax on cryptocurrency: finance minister

South Korea plans to impose tax on cryptocurrency, the country's finance minister said Wednesday, adding that his ministry will announce the details next month. The government "has continued to realign its tax system to reflect changes in market conditions, but it is especially working to refine its list of taxable items and types of tax this year," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while speaking before the parliamentary finance committee. In the past years, cryptocurrencies, such

June 17, 2020

S. Korea rolls out stricter regulations to cool heated housing market

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled stricter regulations to curb rising housing prices, including tighter loan rules and an expanded range of areas that are subject to special restrictions. Through the Moon Jae-in administration’s 21st set of housing price regulations, the government expanded its special regulations and monitoring zone to most areas west of Seoul and to certain other key cities as well, it said in a briefing of related ministries. Cities adjacent to Seoul including Inch

June 17, 2020

NK demolition to have limited impact on financial market: officials

North Korea’s recent demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong will have a limited impact on the domestic financial market, South Korea’s fiscal and monetary authorities said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea held a meeting Wednesday morning under the chairmanship of Deputy Gov. Yoon Myun-shik to review the global financial market’s response to the North Korean action and the impact on the domestic market. At around 2:50 p.m. on the previous day, North Korea dem

June 17, 2020

S. Korea to further tighten lending rules, expand regulated areas to curb rising home prices

South Korea said Wednesday that it will further tighten lending rules and designate more areas subject to tighter regulations in an effort to stem a further rise in housing prices. The government also warned that it will take additional stronger steps to curb speculative demand, if needed. The government rolled out its toughest measures yet to stem rising housing prices in greater Seoul and some unregulated areas, as a series of steps, including tax hikes and loan regulations, failed to put a

June 17, 2020

S. Korea to brace for growing inter-Korean tension

South Korea will take steps to minimize negative economic fallout caused by North Korea's explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office, the country's finance minister said Tuesday. In the afternoon, North Korea blew up the office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean cooperative industrial zone in the North's city near the border, after cutting off all communication lines with South Korea. Pyongyang blamed the South for the deadlock in inter-Korean relations on June 13. Finance M

June 16, 2020

S. Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbs 5 spots to 23rd

South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking climbed five spots this year, buoyed by improvement in government, business and infrastructure efficiencies amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to an annual global competitiveness report. The report by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, which was released here by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy on Tuesday, showed that the nation ranked No. 23 out of 63 countries and saw the faste

June 16, 2020

S. Korea to reinforce rules against real estate speculation

South Korea is about to unveil additional regulations to curb housing prices, mainly by deterring the rampant practice of speculative buying made possible by the country’s unique jeonse lease system, officials said Tuesday. The government will hold a ministerial meeting Wednesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, where the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is to report a new set of real estate policies. After the suggested pol

June 16, 2020

Top investment banks upgrade Korea’s growth forecasts

　 Major foreign investment banks and institutions have revised their economic growth outlook for South Korea, data showed Tuesday.  According to the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign investment banks -- Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, HSBC, Nomura and UBS -- forecast that the local economy will contract by 0.4 percent this year on average, slightly improved from the minus 0.9 percent growth estimated in late Apr

June 16, 2020

FX deposits hit 26-month high in May amid pandemic-caused uncertainties

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to the highest amount in over two years last month, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid pandemic-triggered uncertainties that apparently prompted local businesses to stockpile hard currency. Foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $80.92 billion as of end-May, up $2.74 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since March 2018, when foreign curr

June 16, 2020

Korean economy tipped to shrink 0.4% in 2020 on virus: IBs

  Major foreign investment banks (IBs) and economic institutes have forecast South Korea's economy to shrink in 2020 due to the fallout of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, a report showed on Tuesday. According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign IBs and economic think tanks predicted that South Korea's economy may contract 0.4 percent this year, up from a contraction of 0.9 percent that they predicted in late April. Nomura raised its forecast t

June 16, 2020