South Korea to map out AI strategy this year, build 2,000 AI-based factories by 2030

South Korea announced its vision to create a “manufacturing renaissance” over a number of industries, viewing manufacturing as the nation’s economic foundation and a way of creating high-quality jobs and innovative growth. “The government has mapped out strategies for the nation to become an innovative manufacturing powerhouse over the next decade by being away from ‘quantitative and market follower strategies,’” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Trade,

June 19, 2019

Fitch cuts growth outlook for S. Korea to 2 percent

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings has substantially slashed its growth outlook for South Korea‘s economy this year to 2 percent, citing weaker underlying momentum.The latest forecast, contained in its global economic outlook report posted on its website Monday, represented a sharp downward revision from its previous forecast of 2.5 percent in February. Fitch said the South Korean economy would grow 2.6 percent in both 2020 and 2021.The South Korean economy expanded 2.7 percent in 2018,

June 18, 2019

Average spending by foreign tourists to Korea tumbles in Q1

Average spending by foreign tourists visiting South Korea has decreased to a level last seen 10 years ago, data showed Tuesday.According to the data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, foreign tourists coming to South Korea spent an average of $1,268 per person per trip in the first quarter of this year.  The figure is down 12.1 percent from $1,442 a year ago and marks the fourth quarterly decrease in a row.Average spending hovered around $1,

June 18, 2019

Corporate revenue, profit down in Q1 on sluggish exports

South Korean companies suffered a heavy loss in their sales and profits in the first quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently due to a sharp drop in exports and tepid local consumption.In the first three months of the year, the average sales of local businesses declined 2.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The figure follows a 6 percent on-year growth in their sales during the fourth quarter of last year. The country's exports dip

June 18, 2019

[News Focus] Korea’s household debt-to-income to top 200%

SEJONG -- The record household debt in South Korea is an Achilles’ heel when it comes to economic growth, as the financial liability of citizens is putting a damper on private consumption.Some market analysts say that Korea’s collective household debt is estimated to have topped 2,000 trillion won ($1.68 trillion). They claim the latest figure of about 1,500 trillion won, released by the Bank of Korea, does not include loans extended to the self-employed.In any case, the outstanding

June 16, 2019

Employment of males in 40s hit most by sluggish manufacturing industry

The number of employed men in their 40s shrank at the fastest pace in 27 years last month, attributable to the declining population and lackluster local manufacturing industry, government data showed Sunday.The number of employed males aged between 40 and 49 stood at 3.83 million in May, shedding 115,000 from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea.  Employment of males in their 40s has kept sliding for 53 consecutive months since January 2015, but the latest figure was th

June 16, 2019

Treasury bond yield hits new low, gold price surges amid uncertainties

Responding to mounting speculations that South Korea’s central bank may soon lower the policy rate amid uncertainties, Treasury bond interest rates hit a record-low this year, market observers noted Sunday.Gold price, in contrast, has remained strong and hit a new high, reflecting investors’ increasing appetite for low-risk assets.The yield on three-year Treasury bonds closed at 1.470 percent on Friday, marking the first case that the figure fell under 1.5 percent since November 2016

June 16, 2019

Downside risks looming larger: finance minister

South Korea's economy is increasingly facing downside risks amid the trade tussle between the United States and China, the country's chief economic policymaker said Friday, stressing the need to take quick and bold actions to buttress the economy."There are growing calls to take bolder actions as the economy is faced with increased downside risks," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a meeting with heads of private economic think tanks.Exports have been on a constant decline, and dome

June 14, 2019

Govt. ministries request 6.2% budget increase for 2020

South Korea's government ministries and state agencies have requested a 6.2 percent hike in their budgets for next year as they want to spend more on welfare, research and development, and defense, the finance ministry said Friday.Ministries and state agencies have asked the government to set aside a combined 498.7 trillion won ($422 billion) for the budget for next year, up 29.1 trillion won from this year's 469.6 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.The government req

June 14, 2019

Jobless rate at 4% in May, job additions gather pace

South Korea's jobless rate remained flat at 4 percent in May from a year earlier, and job additions again exceeded the 200,000 mark, government data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people reached 27.32 million in May, an increase of 259,000 from the same month in 2018, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The statistics agency said the number of unemployed people stood at 1.145 million in May, the highest level for any May since 2000.The unemployment rate for young adults

June 12, 2019

Exports down 16.6% in first 10 days of June

South Korea's exports sharply fell 16.6 percent in the first 10 days of June mainly due to decreased shipments of semiconductors, one of the country's key items, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's exports stood at $10.3 billion in the June 1-10 period, compared with $12.3 billion in the same period last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.  By product, exports of electronic appliances and vessels jumped 68.1 percent and 169.7 percent, respectively.  Meanwhile, outbound

June 11, 2019

S. Korea should continue expansionary actions: finance minister, IMF chief

South Korea’s top fiscal policymaker and the chief of the International Monetary Fund have agreed that Asia’s fourth-largest economy needs to continue its current pump-priming policies in order to respond to external risks and to boost growth, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday.The finance minister also pledged his dedicated efforts to effectuate the government’s supplementary budget bill worth 6.7 trillion ($5.7 billion), which has been pending here since late Apr

June 10, 2019

[News Focus] Korea seeks to raise GDP, employment figures by spending more of taxpayers’ money

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in government recently unveiled a policy to pay 3 million won ($2,550) over a six-month period, or 500,000 won a month, to a certain portion of jobless people aged 18-64 after assessing their household income levels.It has also decided to provide financial support for self-employed people who have had to close their businesses, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.Officials say the purpose of this support is to assist the recipients’ job-seeking activiti

June 9, 2019

Downside risks continuing amid heightened uncertainty: Cheong Wa Dae

South Korea's economy is positioned to face heightened downside risks as the trade dispute between the United States and China escalates, hurting global trade and manufacturing activity, a senior presidential secretary said Sunday."I think we cannot rule out the possibility of the downside risks being drawn out as external uncertainties have increased further than what we expected," Yoon Jong-won, senior secretary for economic affairs, told reporters. "The global economy is on a d

June 9, 2019

Gold price hits 3-year high amid US-China trade uncertainties

The price of gold on South Korea’s bourse reached the highest level in three years this week, reflecting the market’s preference for risk-free assets amid persistent volatility, data showed Thursday.According to the Korea Exchange Gold Market, the price of gold closed at 50,430 won ($42.80) per gram Wednesday, down 30 won from the previous day’s close but up 9.06 percent from the beginning of the year.Tuesday’s closing price of 50,460 won per gram marked the highest since

June 6, 2019

Consumer prices stay stagnant for 5th month

South Korea’s consumer price growth remained below the 1 percent level for the fifth consecutive month in May, due to a decline in price of petroleum products and increased welfare costs, government data showed Tuesday.The latest figures, which fell far below the Bank of Korea’s consumer price target of 2 percent, are once again seen as a signal that the central bank may consider a policy rate cut within the year. The consumer price index stood at 105.05 in May, up 0.7 percent from a

June 4, 2019

Korean economy shrinks revised 0.4% in Q1: BOK

South Korea's economy shrank at a faster rate in the first quarter than earlier expected, the central bank said Tuesday, due to sluggish investment and exports that are expected to further deteriorate on escalating trade tension between the world's two largest economies.The country's real gross domestic product backtracked 0.4 percent in the first quarter of the year from three months earlier, the Bank of Korea said.The latest revision is lower than the central bank's earlier estimate of a 0.3 p

June 4, 2019

BOK chief urges for economic resilience amid prolonged trade war impact

The chief of South Korea’s central bank on Monday urged the nation to build economic resilience to external shock factors, amid the prolonged US-China trade conflict and its negative impact. He also reiterated the need for structural reform to rev up the country’s growth potential and job creation capacity. “Global economic linkages have been slowing lately due to the impact of the trade dispute (between Washington and Beijing),” said Lee Ju-yeol, governor of the Bank of

June 3, 2019

[News Focus] National debt up W56 trillion since late 2017: Assembly data

SEJONG -- Compared with past governments, the Moon Jae-in administration has been actively increasing public expenditure to benefit jobless people in their 20s and early 30s.However, many have cast doubt on the efficacy of its strategy of pouring dozens of trillions of won in taxpayer money into job creation over the past two years since May 2017.This year, the incumbent government is struggling to prevent the economic growth rate from falling sharply by proposing a supplementary budget bill, dr

June 2, 2019

S. Korea's exports down 9.4 percent in May on chips, China

South Korea's exports dropped 9.4 percent in May from a year earlier, extending their on-year fall for the sixth consecutive month, data showed Saturday, due mainly to the sluggish shipments of chips and the weak Chinese economy.  Outbound shipments came to US$45.9 billion for May, down from the $50.68 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.  Imports moved down 1.9 percent last month to $43.64 billion, the minis

June 1, 2019