Regulator to rule on suspected accounting breach by Samsung BioLogics

South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it will give a final ruling on whether Samsung BioLogics Co. violated accounting rules, a decision that could lead to the delisting of the biopharmaceutical firm. The ruling will be announced at around 4:30 p.m., an official at the Financial Services Commission said.The regulatory probe by the Securities and Futures Commission centers on questions about Samsung BioLogics' sudden profits in 2015 after years of losses. Samsung BioLogics reported a n

Nov. 14, 2018

Korea's jobless rate rises in Oct., dismal job conditions continue

South Korea's jobless rate rose slightly in October due to a fall in employment in the retail and hospitality sectors, with poorer-than-expected job creation showing no signs of a letup, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent last month, up 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people reached 27.09 million in October, an increase of 64,000 from the same month in 2017, according t

Nov. 14, 2018

KEPCO Q3 net tumbles on increased fuel costs

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. said Tuesday its net profit plunged in the third quarter compared with a year ago due to higher fuel costs.Net profits stood at 737.29 billion won ($650.4 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, down 51.8 percent from a year earlier, KEPCO said in a regulatory filing. The firm's sales gained 1.4 percent on-year to 16.4 trillion won on increased electricity demand during an unprecedented stretch of hot summer weather. Its operat

Nov. 13, 2018

S. Korea’s corporate earnings steady despite slowing economy: Moody’s

South Korea’s economic growth will slow down in the upcoming years, weighed down by the global slowdown amid weak demand and ongoing trade conflicts, according to Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday.Despite the downward pressure, most local nonfinancial companies here are likely to see stable corporate earnings next year on the back of strong macroeconomic conditions, the credit ratings agency said.“While South Korea’s exports are exposed to the US-China trade tensions v

Nov. 13, 2018

Tax revenue tallied at 20.5 tln won in September

South Korea's tax revenue was tallied at 20.5 trillion won ($18 billion) in September, up 2.9 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday.Income tax revenue amounted to 3.7 trillion won in September, up 0.5 trillion won from a year earlier, due to a rise in wages. Dues collected by companies also increased 1.9 trillion won on-year to reach 10.1 trillion won in the one-month period, the ministry said.Value-added tax revenue reached 2.1 trillion won in September, also up 0.

Nov. 13, 2018

LG Corp. makes list of top 20 social value firms worldwide

LG Corp., the holding firm of South Korea's No. 4 conglomerate LG Group, has made the list of the top 20 socially valuable companies in the world, industry sources said Tuesday.LG earned 79 points out of the full 100 in the societal return on investment survey by U.S. pollster Harris Poll and marketing consultant Finn Partners, tying for 13th place. LG is the sole South Korean and Asian company that has been included on the list. It has ranked second among non-U.S.-based companies after German s

Nov. 13, 2018

Confirmation hearing for finance minister nominee likely to follow budget review

The National Assembly is expected to hold a confirmation hearing for Hong Nam-ki, the finance minister nominee, early next month after handling the government's 2019 budget proposal.On Friday, President Moon Jae-in named Hong, the chief of the government policy coordination office under the prime minister's office, to replace Kim Dong-yeon as finance minister and deputy prime minister for economic affairs.The ruling Democratic Party is seeking to hold the hearing for Hong around on Dec. 3-5, aft

Nov. 12, 2018

[News Analysis] Severe headwinds greet Moon’s economic policymakers

South Korea’s newly appointed economic policymakers -- in contrast to their predecessors who took office with high hopes upon the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration -- appear to be off to a rocky start, amid escalating concerns and disapproval of the government’s economic policy direction.For the time being, the newly appointed deputy prime minister for economy and presidential chief of staff for policy are expected to press ahead with Moon’s disputed economic polic

Nov. 12, 2018

Planned profit-sharing scheme causes controversy

Controversy is intensifying over a move by the government and ruling party to encourage large corporations to share profits with their subcontractors and suppliers.Government policymakers and lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea last week agreed to work together to introduce what is called the cooperative profit-sharing system. The controversial scheme is to be put into practice as early as February, if a law designed to provide incentives to participating companies is enacted within the

Nov. 12, 2018

Loss rate for auto insurance jumps in Q3 on heatwave

Non-life insurers' loss rate for their auto insurance businesses jumped in the third quarter, as a prolonged stretch of hot weather led to a raft of claims, data showed Monday. The nation's 11 non-life insurers posted an average loss rate of 87.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with 80.7 percent a quarter earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The loss rate refers to the proportion of coverage a non-life insurer pays to its policyholders from insurance premiu

Nov. 12, 2018

Regulator calls for thorough measures amid US-China trade disputes

South Korea has been hit hard by trade frictions between the United States and China, Seoul's financial regulator said Monday, calling for efforts to revamp export industries and nurture new growth engines.Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks in a lecture hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul. "South Korea is effectively at ground zero after being directly impacted by global trade disputes," Kim said, pointing to th

Nov. 12, 2018

Industry minister vows to cut red tape to stimulate manufacturing

South Korea's industry minister vowed to cut red tape to ease the excessive burden felt by businesses and expand support for the slumping manufacturing industry.Sung Yun-mo, minister of trade, industry and energy, renewed his pledge for deregulation in a meeting with representatives from the nation's leading companies. "The main manufacturing sectors, such as auto and shipbuilding, are undergoing difficult times in the wake of growth by Chinese rivals and lack of general momentum that is ne

Nov. 12, 2018

Finance minister nominee says raising growth potential top priority

The finance minister nominee said Monday that he will work on a set of measures aimed at boosting the country's growth potential, with a focus on improving dismal job conditions."My task is to help maintain the country's growth potential at a stable level, and I have to lay the foundation for it to be raised going forward," Hong Nam-ki told reporters in Seoul.President Moon Jae-in named Hong the country's next finance minister Friday, sacking the incumbent Kim Dong-yeon.He is set to fa

Nov. 12, 2018

Korea's exports fall in first 10 days of Nov.

South Korea's exports fell by 4.8 percent in the first 10 days of this month from a year earlier due largely to a decline in shipments of chips and fewer working days, customs data showed Monday.The country's outbound shipments reached US$15.3 billion in the November 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The office said that daily average exports, which reflect working days, rose 1.1 percent on-year to $1.91 billion compared to a year earlier.By product, outbound shi

Nov. 12, 2018

Govt. to focus on improving people's livelihoods, structural reforms: minister nominee

South Korea's government will focus all of its efforts to improve people's livelihoods and push forward timely structural reforms that can back up income-led growth goals, the finance minister nominee said Sunday.In a meeting with reporters just after he was named the country's next finance minister Friday, Hong Nam-ki said Asia's fourth-largest economy is currently in a transitional period. He said that the country needs to take steps to carry out necessary economic reforms so as to lay the fou

Nov. 11, 2018

New firms in knowledge intensive fields show strong long-term employment effect: report

Startups in the manufacturing industry, especially in knowledge intensive fields like semiconductors, tend to contribute more to job creation in the long term, compared with those in the service sector, a report said Sunday.According to the report published by the Bank of Korea, a one percentage point rise in the founding of new manufacturing firms will bring about a 3.3 percentage point gain in employment over a 10-year business span.The figures are based on employment and corporate data from 2

Nov. 11, 2018

Korea's manufacturing output falls sharply, SMEs affected more than big biz

South Korea's manufacturing sector output fell sharply in the first nine months of the year, with smaller businesses affected more than big companies, government data showed Sunday.According to the 2018 mining and manufacturing sector data released by Statistics Korea, output numbers fell 0.4 percent on-year in the January-September period for large corporations, while corresponding figures for small and medium-sized enterprises dropped 4.3 percent. The sharper drop for smaller companies comes a

Nov. 11, 2018

Korea's ability to create jobs expected to hit 9-year low

The South Korean economy's ability to create new jobs is expected to fall to the lowest level in nine years in 2018, the central bank's estimate showed Sunday.The Bank of Korea expected the gross domestic product elasticity of Asia's fourth-largest economy to stand at 0.11 this year, the lowest since 2009, when the nation grappled with slowing growth following the global financial crisis in the previous year.The GDP elasticity of employment, which shows how many jobs are created for industr

Nov. 11, 2018

Finance minister nominee tasked with invigorating economy to spearhead income-led growth strategy

Struggling with weak job numbers and slack facility investment, President Moon Jae-in Friday tapped a veteran fiscal policy expert as the new finance minister who will spearhead his signature income-led growth policy.The nomination of Hong Nam-ki, currently chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, comes as the South Korean economy is showing signs of a slowdown amid internal and external challenges.Some economic data have even hinted that Seoul maybe heading towards a period of ec

Nov. 9, 2018

[New Analysis] Kim-Jang reshuffle inevitable for Moon amid pressing economy

The replacement of the nation’s top two economic policymakers had long been speculated as inevitable for the Moon Jae-in administration to keep its policy momentum amid prolonged economic challenges and mounting skepticism over next year.After months of denying rumors about the reshuffle, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday announced the replacements for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung.Kim was repl

Nov. 9, 2018