Korean firms in India expresses concern over trade regulations

South Korean companies operating in India have cited various trade barriers, including tariffs, as major hurdles of doing business there, industry sources said Friday.During the conference hosted by Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Ahmedabad, the economic hub of the Indian state of Gujarat, firms operating on the subcontinent claimed that there should be an improvement made to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. South Korea and India implemented CEPA, a type of fre

Jan. 18, 2019

Korea sets FCEV target at 80,000 units by 2022

　　South Korea will increase the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the roads by 80,000 units in the next four years, the finance minister said Wednesday.　Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said at a ministerial meeting on innovation-led growth in Seoul that the new fuel-cell electric vehicle target is part of a broad strategy aimed at building an ecosystem for hydrogen industries. It would include producers of the fuel as well as technologies that store an

Jan. 16, 2019

Brexit deal refusal to have limited impact on economy: ministry

The British parliament’s latest rejection of the government’s proposed Brexit deal is likely to have a limited impact on global financial markets as well as the South Korean economy, Seoul’s government said Wednesday.Vowing pre-emptive steps to counter a possible fallout, Korean authorities will work on preparations for a bilateral free trade deal with Britain, as the latter will no longer be subject to the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement upon Brexit. “The vote to reject th

Jan. 16, 2019

Seoul to spend 537 b won for traditional markets

South Korea plans to spend 537 billion won ($478 million) to help nurture the country's traditional markets, the government said Wednesday.According to the Ministry for SMEs and Startups, around half of the earmarked budget will be spent to help expand parking space and related facilities in a way to provide visitors with easy access and other amenities. Also, the budget will be spent to remodel empty spaces at traditional markets into leisure-related facilities, refurbish restrooms and enhance

Jan. 16, 2019

Korea jobless rate exceeds that of US in Q3

South Korea posted a higher unemployment rate than the United States in the third quarter of last year for the first time in 17 years amid a sluggish job market here, data showed Wednesday.South Korea's seasonally adjusted jobless rate came to 4 percent in the July-September period of last year, higher than 3.8 percent for America, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. South Korea's third-quarter unemployment rate was up 0.2 percentage point from t

Jan. 16, 2019

Samsung’s Lee, SK’s Chey ‘spar’ over semiconductors in front of Moon

Owners of the world’s two largest memory chipmakers -- Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong and SK Group’s Chey Tae-won -- boasted of their business confidence during a walk with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. The conglomerate chiefs were among eight business representatives that took a 25-minute walk around the Cheong Wa Dae garden after a more official business meeting.　 In response to Moon’s expression of concerns about a slowdown in the semiconductors market, Sa

Jan. 15, 2019

[News Focus] Consumer confidence in Korea lowest among OECD members

SEJONG -- The atmosphere on the streets at year-end was not the same in 2018 as what people remembered from past years. To explain it, they pointed to the large number of struggling small business owners amid a sagging economy burdened by weak private consumption.Another barometer of consumption during a short period is the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall Feb. 2-6 this year, a time on which many industries are pinning their hopes.One question is whether Chinese tourists will visit South Kore

Jan. 15, 2019

Import prices fall to 8-month low in Dec. on falling oil prices: BOK

South Korea’s import prices fell for two consecutive months in December and reached an eight-month low, amid a prolonged fall in crude oil prices, central bank data said Tuesday. The import price index stood at 85.01 last month, down 3.4 percent from the previous month, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea. This marked the lowest figure since the 84.80 observed in April last year.As a key reason behind the imports price fall the central bank cited a recent downtrend

Jan. 15, 2019

Korea to continue efforts to boost lending for SMEs

South Korea will continue its efforts to encourage banks and other financial institutions to direct more loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, a senior financial regulator said Monday. Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a regular meeting of the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities around the world, in Switzerland earlier this week.  The outstanding loans f

Jan. 14, 2019

President Moon to meet with leaders of top conglomerates

President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting this week with the leaders of the country's largest businesses, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The meeting will be held Tuesday at Cheong Wa Dae, involving top executive officers of about 130 major businesses, including vice chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics Co. The scheduled meeting follows the president's meeting with small and medium-sized business leaders last week."As in the meeting with small, medium-sized busines

Jan. 14, 2019

[Monitor] Foreign investors sell off $5.66b worth of Korean stocks, largest in 7 yrs

The value of South Korean stocks offloaded by foreign investors last year reached $5.66 billion, the largest in seven years, driven by US-China trade war and uncertainties tailing US interest rate hike, data from the Bank of Korea showed. They have become the net sellers for the first time in three years. But they remained strong buyers in the bond market, purchasing $13.91 billion worth of bonds last year.On a monthly basis, foreigners remained net buyers in the securities market for two consec

Jan. 13, 2019

Fixed deposits grow steeply in 2018 on higher rates: BOK

The volume of fixed deposits at local banks marked the steepest growth in eight years in 2018, on the back of increased policy rate and the banks’ efforts to reinforce liquidity, central bank data showed Sunday.The total balance for fixed-term deposits as of the end of last year stood at 668.4 trillion won ($599 billion), up 72.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.This on-year increase was the largest since the 95.7 trillion won observed in 2010, when the bank

Jan. 13, 2019

Seoul shares likely to move in tight range next week on uncertainties

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range next week on lingering uncertainties, such as the Brexit vote and the release of 2018 earnings results from major firms, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 12.29 points, or 0.60 percent to 2,075.57 on Friday. This week, the main index gained 3.2 percent helped by optimism over US-China trade talks.While eyeing new developments in the trade negotiations between the world's top two econo

Jan. 12, 2019

Korea's exports fall 7.5% in first 10 days of January

South Korea's exports fell 7.5 percent in the first 10 days of January from a year earlier due largely to a sharp decline in shipments of semiconductors and ships, customs data showed Friday.The country's outbound shipments reached $12.7 billion in the Jan. 1-10 period, compared with $13.6 billion in the same period of last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.The office said that daily average exports, which reflect working days, also fell 7.5 percent on-year to $1.69 bill

Jan. 11, 2019

Workers at SMEs earn 65% of wages for employees of large firms: report

Employees working for small and medium-sized companies in South Korea were paid, on average, 65.1 percent of the earnings of employees of a large firm in 2017, a report showed Thursday. The average monthly wage of SME workers stood at 3.35 million won ($3,154) in 2017, compared with 5.14 million won paid to those working for big enterprises, according to the report by the Korea Federation of SMEs. The wage discrepancy between large and smaller companies has shown no signs of narrowing over

Jan. 10, 2019

Samsung's Q4 operating profit tumbles 28.7% on tepid memory demand

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday its operating profit plunged 28.7 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago due to weak memory demand, falling far short of market expectations. Operating profit came to 10.8 trillion won ($9.66 billion) in the October-December period, the South Korean tech behemoth said in a regulatory filing. This is down 38.5 percent from 15.1 trillion won posted a quarter earlier.  The operating profit was the lowest since the first quarter of 2017. Sale

Jan. 8, 2019

[News Focus] Korean harbors brace for 4th industrial revolution

SEJONG -- South Korea is mapping out mid- and long-term plans to become a global logistics hub by introducing “smart” harbors across the country, a project that is expected to last a decade from 2021 to 2030.The focus of these plans will be 31 harbors designated for trade and 29 for domestic logistics, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.The harbors that will handle exports and imports include Gyeongin, Incheon, Daesan, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, Boryeong, Janghang, Gunsan, Mo

Jan. 7, 2019

Corporate retirement pension funds top 172tr won

Corporate retirement pension funds managed by South Korea's financial institutions topped 172 trillion won ($153 billion) as of September last year, but their annual rate of return was low, government data showed Monday. The retirement pension scheme, which was introduced in 2005, is meant to help fund retirees' severance payments. Companies and employees make contributions to the pension funds, and employees can receive the pension after retirement. The accumulated corporate retirement pension

Jan. 7, 2019

S. Korea logs world‘s 2nd fastest household debt-to-GDP ratio growth

The ratio of household debt to gross domestic product in South Korea increased at the second fastest pace in the world last year, only outranked by China, despite the Seoul government’s tightened lending rules, data showed Wednesday. According to data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements, Seoul’s household debt accounted for 96 percent of the GDP at the end of the second quarter in 2018, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous year. The growth rate marked the se

Jan. 6, 2019

EU to impose 25% duty on quota-exceeding steel imports from Feb.

The European Commission has informed the World Trade Organization of its decision to adopt a 25-percent duty on imports of steel into the European Union above a certain level from Feb. 2, the foreign ministry said Friday.In the notice to the WTO, the EC said steel imports below 105 percent of volumes recorded during the 2015-2017 period will be exempt from tariffs through 2021. But steel imports exceeding 105 percent will be slapped with a 25-percent duty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in

Jan. 5, 2019