S. Korea ready to take action against economic fallout from new coronavirus

South Korea said Friday it is ready to take action to reduce the impact of the new coronavirus on Asia's fourth-largest economy. The country reported its seventh case of the novel virus earlier in the day despite enhanced quarantine efforts to stem its spread. "So far, the (outbreak) has not had a significant impact on our economy," Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said during a meeting with economy-related vice ministers. The remark came as the global financial market has been

Jan. 31, 2020

Negative outlook prevails in Korean industry: KIS

The industrial outlook for 2020 is negative for eight of South Korea’s 11 major industries, in part due to the slowing global economy, according to credit rating agency Korea Investors Service on Thursday. Sectors that fell into the “negative industrial outlook” category were construction, steel, distribution, automotive, transportation, petrochemicals, life insurance and non-life insurance. The outlook for refiners, shipbuilders and securities rated neutral, according to t

Jan. 30, 2020

BOK not mulling further rate cut over coronavirus: official

The nation’s central bank is not considering additional rate cuts to counter the potential impact of the Wuhan coronavirus on the Korean economy, a senior official said Thursday. “We need to keep monitoring the outbreak. Although it is expected to affect sentiment and the market, including the country’s economic growth, consumer prices and current account, it’s too early to predict the extent of its impact,” Yoon Myun-shik, senior deputy governor of the Bank of K

Jan. 30, 2020

S. Korea enjoys trade surplus of $71.5b with FTA partners

South Korea enjoyed a surplus of $71.5 billion in trade with free trade agreement partners in 2019, data showed Thursday. The country suffered a deficit of $32.4 billion from trade with non-FTA partners, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. Last year, South Korea posted a trade surplus for the 11th consecutive year at $39.1 billion. Outbound shipments to FTA partners also decreased at a slower pace of 9.2 percent on-year to $398.4 billion in 2019, compared with the de

Jan. 30, 2020

Banks' lending rates slightly up in Dec.

Lending rates on fresh loans extended by banks in South Korea slightly rebounded in December from a month earlier, central bank data showed Thursday. The average interest rate on all new loans extended by banks on households in the month came to 2.98 percent, up 0.02 percentage point from the month before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rate on all outstanding loans averaged 3.4 percent last month, down 0.02 percentage point from November. The average rate on fresh

Jan. 30, 2020

[News Focus] North Korean defectors see household debt surge

SEJONG -- The number of defectors from North Korea over the past decades came to 33,300 in the South -- 9,300 men and 24,000 women -- as of December. The Ministry of Unification’s data showed that the number of North Korean defectors has increased since 2002, while the prior combined figure was 1,990. A noteworthy point is that the number of female refugees is far outstripping men’s tally at the current stage -- it was below 50 percent before 2002. The percentage of women poste

Jan. 30, 2020

FSC vows to beef up risk assessment for financial firms

Eun Seong-soo, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said Wednesday that the financial regulator will come up with measures to monitor risks of financial conglomerates in a comprehensive manner. “The FSC will keep trying to establish sophisticated risk assessment rules for financial conglomerates, which will not overlap with the existing regulations in the financial sector,” said the FSC chairman in a meeting jointly organized by financial think tanks Korea Institute of Fi

Jan. 29, 2020

Korea's trade terms again dip in Dec.

South Korea's trade terms continued to worsen from a year earlier in December, largely due to export prices falling at a faster rate than import prices, but the rate of decline in export prices slowed to a 13-month low, central bank data showed Wednesday. The terms of trade index for products came to 91.09 in the month, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The trade terms index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for eac

Jan. 29, 2020

Biz sentiment remains weak: survey

Business sentiment about the immediate future in South Korea remains weak due to uncertainties at home and abroad, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index of the country's top 600 companies by sales came to 92 for February, slightly up from the 89.3 recorded for this month but below the benchmark 100, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means the opposite. "T

Jan. 29, 2020

Brexit not to affect bilateral trade ties with S. Korea

Britain's separation from the European Union slated for later this week is unlikely to have a direct impact on its bilateral trade ties with South Korea, as the two have already signed a back-up agreement, industry watchers said Wednesday. London is widely expected to depart from the EU, the world's single largest economic bloc, on Friday. Major economies around the globe, including Asia's No. 4 economy, have been closely monitoring London's divorce from the EU, as the separation would mean

Jan. 29, 2020

Korea's January exports tipped to fall 7.5%: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to drop 7.5 percent on-year in January to extend their slump to 14 consecutive months despite a mild recovery in chip shipments, a poll showed Wednesday, due mainly to there being fewer working days compared to a year earlier. Outbound shipments are estimated to reach $42.7 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was carried out on 10 local brokerage houses. The country's trade sur

Jan. 29, 2020

S. Korea's consumer sentiment sharply improves for Jan.

South Korea's consumer sentiment improved sharply from a month earlier in January, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid outlooks that the country's economic conditions will improve down the road. The composite consumer sentiment index came to 104.2 for the month, up from 100.5 for the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The reading marks the highest since June 2018, as well as the largest on-month gain since September 2019, when the index jumped 4.6 points from a

Jan. 29, 2020

S. Korea to spend W20.8b to combat spread of coronavirus

South Korea will use 20.8 billion won ($17.7 million) of its national budget to contain the new Wuhan coronavirus, while keeping a close watch for potential negative effects on the local economy from the outbreak, the top fiscal policy chief said Tuesday. “Of the budget allocated for this year, 6.7 billion won set aside for building a quarantine system, 5.2 billion won for diagnosis and 2.9 billion won for isolated treatment -- culminating in a total of 20.8 billion won -- will be execut

Jan. 28, 2020

Corporate direct financing jumps 3.3% in 2019: data

South Korean companies' equity and debt sales rose 3.3 percent on-year in 2019 due mainly to a rise in corporate bond issuance, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised 175.49 trillion won ($149 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last year, compared with 169.8 trillion won in the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The surge is attributable to the 5.8 percent on-year growth in the value of corporate bonds issued, including bank bonds and asset-bac

Jan. 28, 2020

OECD further cuts Korea's potential growth rate

South Korea's potential economic growth rate may have permanently been reduced, apparently because of a steady decline in its workforce and productivity, according to an OECD report Tuesday. According to the report, South Korea's potential growth rate for the year is estimated at 2.5 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier. A potential growth rate refers to the maximum possible rate an economy can grow without triggering inflation. South Korea's rate has been on a steady decli

Jan. 28, 2020

Seoul, Manila to hold 5th round of FTA talks

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to hold the fifth round of talks with the Philippines on a bilateral free trade agreement this week, with a goal of concluding the deal this year. During the three-day negotiation that begins in Manila on Wednesday, the two countries plan to set details of the articles of the agreement, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Seoul and Manila launched their free trade negotiations in June last year. In November, the two countries agreed to c

Jan. 28, 2020

S. Korea remains watchful of economic fallout from Wuhan coronavirus cases

South Korea said Tuesday it would spare no efforts to tackle with potential economic fallout from the Wuhan coronavirus, while vowing to take steps, if necessary, to minimize any negative impact. "We are closely examining the impact of the spread (of the virus) in China on its consumption and production, along with the global economy and our exports," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during an emergency meeting held with related ministries. "For now, it has had a limited impac

Jan. 28, 2020

[News Focus] Number of nonregular workers up 900,000 during Moon’s term

SEJONG – State employment data showed that job creation under the Moon administration two years has been entirely in nonregular positions. The number of regular jobs -- positions with permanent contracts and consequently greater protections for workers -- has fallen over the period. The figures suggest the number of regular workers stayed at a similar level during the first year of President Moon Jae-in’s term -- 13.42 million as of August 2017 and 13.43 million as of August 2018.

Jan. 27, 2020

[News Focus] Boon or bane: How will real estate curbs play at the ballot box?

The Moon Jae-in administration’s continued efforts to curb skyrocketing housing prices were mostly attempts to divert the market’s liquidity towards innovative industries, to reduce the widening wealth gap, and to cut back on the nation’s snowballing household debts. But in light of the approaching parliamentary elections, slated for April this year, skepticism has been mounting that the government’s heavy-handed push may be populist gestures to divide political camps an

Jan. 27, 2020

S. Korea's land price growth falls below 4% in 2019

South Korea's official land prices grew less than 4 percent in 2019, data showed Monday, expanding at a slower pace than the previous year for the first time since 2013. The country's land prices increased 3.92 percent on-year in 2019, slowing from a 4.58 percent gain in 2018, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Land prices in Seoul posted the highest growth at 5.29 percent, followed by the administrative town of Sejong, 130 kilometers south of the capital city, w

Jan. 27, 2020