Widening income inequality heightens call for policy change

Official data showing a continuous widening of income inequality have strengthened calls on the Moon Jae-in administration to scrap its income-led growth policy.Economists urge President Moon and his economic aides to focus on accelerating regulatory reforms and other efforts to reinvigorate corporate activity rather than sticking to the policy that they say has increased the problems of poorer people.According to data released by Statistics Korea last week, the average monthly income of the poo

Nov. 26, 2018

OECD World Forum to take place in Songdo this week

Global leaders, scholars and policymakers from all sectors of society are to gather in Incheon’s Songdo area this week to discuss well-being and inclusive growth, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Statistics Korea.The sixth OECD World Forum, titled “The Future of Well-being” and held jointly by the OECD and South Korea’s statistics office, will take place at Songdo Convensia in the western metropolitan city of Incheon from Tuesday

Nov. 26, 2018

Bulk of smaller firms gloomy about sales

More than 7 in 10 small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea are gloomy about their sales this year due to dwindling demand at home and abroad, a poll showed Monday.According to the survey of 362 smaller and large companies, 74 percent of the SMEs polled expected their 2018 sales to match those of last year or plunge sharply. Nearly 11 percent of them forecast their shipments to tumble more than 30 percent, while slightly over 34 percent projected declines of 10 to 30 percent. Some 29 per

Nov. 26, 2018

Majority Koreans recognize forests' role in improving life: survey

South Koreans are aware of the benefits of forests and their role in improving quality of life, according to a survey conducted by the National Institute of Forest Science under the Korea Forest Service.The nationwide survey was carried out in May and involved 2,624 adults residing in 17 areas of the country (provinces or major cities). Respondents were asked to rate the connections between forests and quality of life in 11 categories.When respondents were asked how much forests had influenced t

Nov. 25, 2018

Money continuing to flow into Seoul, Gyeonggi: KIET

South Korea's capital city of Seoul and the neighboring Gyeonggi Province continue to attract money from other parts of the country despite efforts to strive for balanced growth, a report by a state-run think tank said Sunday.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, nine out of the 16 major cities and provinces in the country posted a net outflow of factor income as of 2016.Factor income refers to the total earnings generated by people and companies with

Nov. 25, 2018

[Management in Korea] When career momentum stops, look beneath the surface

Management in Korea is a regular column written by the members of Egon Zehnder Seoul, touching on various aspects of Korean enterprises and business leaders and offering management tips. -- Ed.As advisers on leadership and leadership issues, there is one story we’ve seen unfold time and again in Korea: An executive builds up a solid track record over 20 years of meeting deadlines, exceeding goals and assuming positions of greater and greater responsibility. Furthermore, he or she has a ste

Nov. 25, 2018

Korea's air passenger traffic hits record high for Oct.

South Korea's air passenger traffic reached a record high for October on increased overseas travel demand, the government said Sunday. The number of air passengers came to 10.06 million for the month, up a solid 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the tally released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Last month represents the third time in 2018 that the country's air passenger numbers surpassed the 10 million mark. The high figure was reached in both January and Aug

Nov. 25, 2018

'Gabjil' complaints filed by worker nears 9,000 as of Oct.

The number of people who claim they experienced "gabjil" at their jobs neared the 9,000 mark in October, amid growing public condemnation against high-handedness at workplaces, a local employment information site said Sunday.Gabjil refers to bullying and sometimes violence by a person of power against someone or an entity in a weaker position. The word derives from a contract term to describe a leading party in a deal.Jobplanet said the allegation of abuse and unfair treatment by super

Nov. 25, 2018

SMEs hire fewer foreign workers, cite heavier burdens: poll

South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises are finding it increasingly difficult to hire foreign workers amid rising minimum wages and a prolonged economic downturn, a survey by a local business federation showed Sunday.According to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, or KBIZ, a majority of companies that opted not to hire foreign nationals this year cited a deteriorating business environment as their main concern.The latest survey was conducted from Monday to Wednesda

Nov. 25, 2018

Seoul shares expected to stay low-key ahead of key events

South Korean stocks are expected to show some toned-down movements next week as investors await the results of key events at home and abroad, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,057.48 points on Friday, down 1.67 percent from the previous week.The index pulled off a strong start on Monday to hit a four-week high on news that the United States and China would have talks to deal with ongoing trade tensions.However, KOSPI fell for remaining four sessio

Nov. 24, 2018

Seoul warns of rampant fraud on online shopping sites ahead of year-end holidays

As the peak shopping season approaches, with Black Friday falling in the US this week and the holiday season next month, consumers are at an increased risk of fraud when using cross-border shopping sites, the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center said Thursday. The center under the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it had handled eight consumer complaints against Rogervi2018, an online shopping site that purported to sell products from the French luxury shoe brand Roger Vivier, owned by To

Nov. 22, 2018

[Newsmaker] How much trouble is Samsung BioLogics in?

[KH Explains]: Answers to some of the most frequently raised questions regarding Samsung BioLogics caseOn Nov. 14, the market was thrown into commotion, and heated debates arose, as the South Korean financial regulator Financial Services Commission ruled Samsung BioLogics had intentionally violated accounting rules in 2015. It ordered a halt in stock trading of the biopharmaceutical company, which will go through an examination that could lead to delisting, in theory, in the worst-case scenario.

Nov. 22, 2018

[Monitor] World Talent Ranking list 2018

Among 63 nations, Korea’s talent competitiveness ranked 33rd with a score of 62.32 out of 100 points according to the International Institute Management Development in Switzerland. Switzerland topped the list with a perfect score of 100, followed by Denmark, Norway, Austria and the Netherlands. Korea’s ranking rose six places from 39th last year, mostly due to a jump from 38th to 20th in the investment and development sector. In Asia, Singapore ranked the highest at 13th, the same as

Nov. 22, 2018

Weak govt. spending, inflexible labor rules constrain youth employment: report

South Korea's weak spending on labor market policies and inflexible employment rules have limited youth employment to some extent, a report said Thursday.According to the report published by the Bank of Korea, South Korea spent 0.231 percent of its gross domestic product on policies like job creation, vocational training and start-up incentives from 1985-2013. It ranked second from the bottom out of 21 advanced countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, ahead of the

Nov. 22, 2018

Household income grows in Q3, but wealth gap widens

South Korea's household income rose in the third quarter from a year earlier, but the income gap between the haves and have-nots widened, a government report showed Thursday.An average household earned 4.74 million won ($4,200) per month in the July-September period, up 4.6 percent from the previous year, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The inflation-adjusted real income increased 3 percent on-year over the one-year period, the data showed.The latest statistics showed households' in

Nov. 22, 2018

Number of foreign tourists to Korea soars 31% in October

The number of foreigners who visited South Korea rose 31.1 percent in October from a year earlier mainly due to a base effect after visits by Chinese nationals plunged in 2017, the local tourism promotion agency said Thursday.A total of 1.53 million foreigners visited South Korea last month, up from 1.17 million tallied the same month a year ago, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The number of Chinese tourists shot up 37.6 percent.In March last year, China banned group tours to South

Nov. 22, 2018

OECD maintains S. Korea's 2018 economic growth estimate at 2.7 pct

South Korea's economy is expected to grow 2.7 percent this year, the same pace predicted in September, a Paris-based international organization said Wednesday.In its economic outlook, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand 2.8 percent next year, also unchanged from its earlier projection three months ago. In September, the OECD cut its growth outlook for South Korea from its previous estimate of 3 percent made in May.&quo

Nov. 21, 2018

Moon’s policy weakens labor elasticity

The Moon Jae-in administration’s employment policy has precipitated the weakening of the Korean economy’s ability to create new jobs, experts say.According to the Bank of Korea, the country’s employment elasticity, which is calculated by dividing the rate of increase in the number of employees by the economic growth rate, is estimated to fall to a nine-year low of 0.11 this year. The higher the figure is, the more jobs are added by economic output.The central bank recently fore

Nov. 21, 2018

Korea to spend W2b next year to combat illicit online contents

South Korea said Wednesday that it will spend 2 billion won ($1.8 million) next year to develop technology that can detect and block obscene materials from Internet streaming websites and videos.The Ministry of Science and ICT made the announcement as government officials and experts held a meeting and discussed ways to effectively deal with the online circulation of pornography, obscene and harmful materials.The move comes after a series of so-called revenge porn incidents, in which people, mos

Nov. 21, 2018

Finance minister vows deregulation, support for startups

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Wednesday that the government will ceaselessly seek deregulation and provide support for startups, which are key to innovation-led growth.Attending a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said his successor shares the view that smaller firms should play a leading role in the innovation-led growth strategy. "Startups, their growth and deregulation are very important (for innovation-led growth), and the government will continue

Nov. 21, 2018