Households piling up heavy debts: data

South Korean households saw their debts increase sharply with per-person debt expected to top 30 million won ($26,700) this year, data showed Sunday.Household credit reached 1,493 trillion won as of end-June this year, which marks a 362 trillion-won rise from the second quarter of 2015.Simply calculated, it means a South Korean household owed 75.6 million won to local lenders and card firms, and 28.9 million won of debt per person, data from the Bank of Korea showed. The per-person debt topped t

Sept. 16, 2018

Finance minister vows to take additional steps unless housing prices stabilize

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Friday that the government would take stronger measures if home prices do not stabilize.On Thursday, South Korea's government said it will levy tougher taxes than originally planned as it strives to rein in soaring housing prices.Over the past year, the Moon Jae-in government has unveiled a series of measures to curb housing prices that have had little impact on the market. Alarmed by the fastest housing price gains in a decade, Seoul said it would f

Sept. 14, 2018

Government further hikes tax rate for multiple homes, expensive properties

The South Korean government on Thursday announced it would again raise the comprehensive real estate tax rate for owners of high-priced residences and of multiple properties, as part of a further attempt to rein in skyrocketing housing prices.According to the latest action plan, those who own multiple properties in bubble-prone zones will face real estate taxes as high as 3.2 percent, officials said. This additional tax hike comes on the heels of a government decision in July to increase real es

Sept. 13, 2018

S. Korea’s job situation at its worst since post-financial crisis period: data

Amid an ever-worsening job market and lower-than-expected growth, South Korea’s youth unemployment rate reached its highest level since the country’s financial crisis situation in the late 1990s, government data showed Wednesday.According to a Statistics Korea report on employment trends, the number of newly employed people stood at 26.9 million in August, up 3,000 from a year earlier. This on-year rise was the lowest since the 10,000 decrease recorded in January 2010, when the

Sept. 12, 2018

Calls rising for pro-corporate policy across board

A widening gap between South Korea’s large, export-oriented companies and its domestically focused smaller enterprises, in terms of both earnings and employment, highlights the need for a pro-corporate policy across the board, economists say.Small and midsized enterprises have been hit harder by the increased costs stemming from a set of labor-friendly measures taken by President Moon Jae-in’s administration in its pursuit of “income-led growth.”Under these circumstances,

Sept. 12, 2018

Korea's jobless rate rises in Aug., sluggish job creation continues

South Korea's unemployment rate rose slightly in August due to a fall in employment in the retail and manufacturing sectors, with poorer-than-expected job creation showing no signs of a letup, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 4 percent last month, up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.The number of employed people reached 26.9 million in August, up 3,000 from the same month in 2017, according to the data.

Sept. 12, 2018

Declining investment holding back growth

A steep decline in domestic investments is becoming a main drawback on the country’s economic growth, with projections suggesting it is likely to fall short of the government’s target of 2.9 percent this year.Investments in facility, construction and intellectual property production dropped on-quarter in the April-June period, according to data released by the Bank of Korea last week. It marked the first time investments had fallen simultaneously in the three segments since the secon

Sept. 10, 2018

PM leaves for visit Russia's Vladivostok for economic forum

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon left for Vladivostok on Monday to attend an annual international economic forum and hold meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.About 6,000 people are expected to attend the Eastern Economic Forum that Putin has hosted in Vladivostok every year since 2015, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Abe and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga. The three-day trip will be Lee's first to Russia as prime minister.During the visi

Sept. 10, 2018

Current account surplus hits yearly high on growth in semiconductors

South Korea’s current account surplus reached a yearly high in July on the back of strong global trade and sturdy growth of the local semiconductors business, central bank data showed Thursday.Also, the travel account deficit contracted from a year earlier amid a rise of inbound travelers from China and Japan, as well as a slowdown in the number of outbound travelers.Seoul’s current account surplus stood at $8.76 billion as of end-July, up from $7.25 billion in the previous year, acc

Sept. 6, 2018

Korea, India hold talks on trade remedies

South Korea and India have discussed ways to reduce the use of trade remedy measures and promote investment opportunities between the two nations, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday.Senior officials of the Korea Trade Commission under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a meeting in New Delhi to explore ways to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.Seoul officials asked the Indian government to fairly conduct trade-related investiga

Sept. 6, 2018

Job market expected to improve in earnest next year: official

South Korea's job market is expected to improve in earnest next year, with more than 200,000 new jobs likely to be created in the second half of 2019, the vice chief of the presidential job commission said Thursday.Rhee Mok-hee made the remark at a meeting of officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party to discuss ways to create jobs by fostering new growth industries. "I expect that the job market will improve to some degree in the second half," Rhee said at the start

Sept. 6, 2018

US imposes anti-dumping duty on Korean power transformers

The United States Department of Commerce has decided to impose an anti-dumping duty on power transformers made by South Korea's Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co., industry sources said Wednesday.In its latest, fifth review, the US government upheld its earlier ruling that levies an anti-dumping duty of 60.81 percent on large power transformers manufactured by Hyundai Electric shipped to the US, according to the sources. The final decision will be made in March next year.As it did in earl

Sept. 6, 2018

Trump says revised Korea trade deal may be signed in 'couple of weeks'

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a revised trade deal between the US and South Korea may be signed "in a couple of weeks."Speaking at the White House, Trump indicated the signing could take place when he meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month."It may be signed during the United Nations conference in a couple of weeks," he said. "The deal is done. It's been done with South Korea

Sept. 6, 2018

Soaring debt among self-employed puts economy at risk

A steep rise in debt owed by self-employed people with faltering businesses is a ticking time bomb for the South Korean economy, experts warn.Outstanding loans to the self-employed increased 77 trillion won ($68.9 billion) on-year to 598 trillion won at the end of last year, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service.The figure is now estimated to be close to 615 trillion won, given that banks extended 15.8 trillion won more in loans in the first seven months of this year, with fig

Sept. 5, 2018

Bank loans soar in August amid heated housing market

South Korea’s major banks saw their household loan balance climb at the fastest pace in almost two years in August, propelled by the mortgage loan uptrend amid the robust real estate market here, said industry officials on Tuesday.The household loan balance of the nation’s top five banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana and Nonghyup -- stood at 552.39 trillion won ($495.7 billion) as of end-August, up 4.65 trillion won from a month earlier. This on-month increase was visibly h

Sept. 4, 2018

Consumer prices remain unstable ahead of Chuseok

South Korea's consumer prices remain unstable ahead of the Chuseok holiday due to soaring vegetable prices stemming from weeks of hot weather and the recent downpours, data showed Tuesday.The prices of 21 vegetables had increased 4.1 percent as of Aug. 31 compared with a week earlier, according to the Korean Consumer Agency's price chart.Of the total, the cost of 15 items gained over the cited period as an unprecedented heat wave damaged crops and caused diseases in leafy vegetables, while six w

Sept. 4, 2018

Korea's consumer prices up 1.4% in August

South Korea's consumer price growth continued to stay above 1 percent in August on a rise of agricultural goods and the service sector, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index climbed 1.4 percent last month from a year earlier, decelerating from the previous month's 1.5 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the index rose 0.5 percent.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, grew 0.9 percent on

Sept. 4, 2018

Korean economy grows revised 0.6% on-quarter in Q2: BOK

South Korea's economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter from three months earlier on sluggish construction investment, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent in the April-June period, slowing down from a 1 percent on-quarter increase in the previous quarter, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.The latest reading marks a slight decrease from an earlier estimate of a 0.7 percent gain in July.The BOK explained t

Sept. 4, 2018

Indicators point to weakening economy

Concerns are growing over the weakening vitality of the Korean economy as facility investment continues to decrease, with consumer sentiment and business confidence sluggish.Government data released last week showed facility investment fell 0.6 percent on-month in July, marking a decline for five consecutive months. It was the longest straight decline since the foreign exchange crisis, when investment fell for 10 straight months from September 1997. Analysts at the state statistics office a

Sept. 3, 2018

Signs emerge of stronger real estate tax

South Korea is facing another set of brawls this year concerning taxation equity and wealth distribution, as the government and ruling party signaled at further toughening tax rules for affluent property owners, according to officials Monday.Detailed prospects, however, remain unclear as related ministries held different stances over the reduction of benefits for lease business operators -- an action that may deliver a blow upon the government’s policy credibility.“We will begin disc

Sept. 3, 2018