US’ tightening raises rate hike pressure for BOK

The United States’ latest decision to nudge up its key interest rate and the consequent “reversal” of policy rates with South Korea appeared Thursday to have a limited impact on Asia’s fourth-largest economy.Washington’s signal for the start of a belt-tightening monetary policy over the coming years, however, increased pressure for Seoul’s central bank to consider its own rate hikes despite the tepid economic recovery pace, low inflation and unabated household

March 22, 2018

N. Korea's nuclear tests caused depreciation of Korean won: report

The South Korean currency depreciated at a sharp clip due to the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea last year, a central bank report showed Thursday.The report published by the Bank of Korea examined the movement of the won-dollar rate for five trading sessions before and after nuke tests between 2008 and 2017.It used an analysis model assuming that news articles on North Korean provocations affect the South Korean exchange rates against the U.S. dollar. North Korea has conducted six nuclear

March 22, 2018

Korea, China begin follow-up FTA talks on services, investment

South Korea and China on Thursday began the first round of talks to expand the scope of the bilateral free trade agreement to better cover the service and investment sectors and increase business opportunities for both sides.The two nations implemented the FTA, which is focused on lowering tariffs on goods, in December 2015 and recently agreed to hold negotiations to upgrade the trade deal.Kim Young-sam, a deputy minister of trade and investment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and

March 22, 2018

US rate hike expected to have little impact on Korean market

South Korea's central bank chief said Thursday that the latest interest rate hike in the United States will have little impact on the South Korean market."The US Federal Reserve's decision met market expectations, and as a result, the US market remained steady," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told reporters before attending an emergency meeting with officials in Seoul. "In South Korea, I expect that the financial market will have little impact from the Fed's decision."The US

March 22, 2018

Korea vulnerable to global trade war

Concerns are rising that Korea, which is heavily dependent on exports for growth, will become the biggest victim of a looming global trade war prompted by US protectionist measures and retaliatory moves from other major economies.China and the EU are poised to react strongly if they are subject to hefty US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which are slated to come into force Friday.The trade conflict between the US and China is set to further flare up as President Donald Trump’s admin

March 21, 2018

Vaccum cleaners for men, action figures for women

The boundaries between products typically purchased by women and men are crumbling, according to one online retailer’s statistics reported Tuesday. The phenomenon is a reflection of changing attitudes toward gender-assigned roles, experts said. A growing number of men are buying items such as vacuum cleaners, traditionally seen as household goods purchased by women, according to 11st, a local report said. From January to March, some 45 percent of those who purchased robot vacuum cleaners o

March 21, 2018

S. Korea pins hope on steel tariff exemption

Speculations rose Tuesday that South Korea may have to make compromises concerning its free trade deal renegotiation with the US, as it seeks to be exempted from the Trump administration’s new steel tariff. The possibility escalated after Seoul’s top economic policymakers expressed optimism over the tariff exemption, with days remaining until the measure takes effect. “I expect to have some good results within the week,” Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu

March 20, 2018

Leaders of S. Korea, Canada vow joint efforts to fight trade protectionism

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed Tuesday to work together to fight trade protectionism in the global market, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.The agreement came in their phone conversation held earlier in the day."President Moon and Prime Minister Trudeau noted both South Korea and Canada are highly dependent on trade, and expressed concerns over the recent spread of trade protectionism throughout the world," Cheong Wa D

March 20, 2018

Vietnam to be Korea's No. 2 export market in 2020: report

Vietnam is expected to outstrip the United States as Korea's second-largest export destination in 2020 thanks to a bilateral free trade deal, a report said Tuesday."Bilateral trade is expected to exceed $100 billion in 2020, making Vietnam the No. 2 destination for Korean exports after China," said the report from the Korea International Trade Association.Vietnam surpassed Hong Kong and emerged as Korea's third-biggest export market in 2017, trailing China and the US, up three notches

March 20, 2018

Fed unlikely to change its policy tack: analysts

The US Federal Reserve is not expected to unveil a surprise shift in its monetary policy position following this week's rate-setting meeting, market analysts said Tuesday.The Federal Open Market Committee is tipped to raise interest rates at the Tuesday-Wednesday meeting to be presided over first by new Fed Chair Jerome Powell.A growing number of market experts have predicted that the US Federal Reserve will jack up interest rates four times this year, from an earlier estimate of three, on solid

March 20, 2018

View gap between Korean, Japanese men on income, job status, marriage

More Korean men tend to view income and job status as essential factors for a thriving dating life compared to Japanese men, a recent report said.The report, released in late 2017, delves into the correlation between youths' economic self-reliance and family formation in Korea and Japan. The project, led by researcher Cho Sung-ho of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, cites two studies that analyzed Koreans aged 15-30 and Japanese aged 18-70. Clear differences were spotted between

March 19, 2018

Korea raises cautious hopes for exemption from US steel tariffs

South Korea's commerce minister on Monday raised cautious hopes for getting an exemption from the United States over proposed tariffs on Korean steel products, as negotiators engage in last-minute lobbying to minimize the impact on the local industry.Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, said South Korea has been negotiating with US officials through multiple channels to earn a reprieve from the 25-percent steel duties, which are set to go into effect on March 23.South Korean trad

March 19, 2018

Employment policy adds to corporate woes

The Moon Jae-in administration’s employment policy, which relies on fiscal spending and is unaccompanied by regulatory and labor reforms, will do little to ease Korea’s deteriorating situation of youth joblessness, experts say.What is further concerning is that a set of pro-labor measures taken by the administration is pushing an increasing number of local firms to move production abroad, reducing jobs at home.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance is drawing up a supplementary budget

March 19, 2018

Korea proposes economic consultative body with IDB

SEJONG -- Korea's finance minister has proposed an economic consultative body with Latin American countries as a means to strengthen cooperation, the finance ministry said Monday.In a meeting with Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, Seoul's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon contended that the consultative body is necessary to bolster ties between Korea and the Latin American region.The two sides also agreed to expand a progra

March 19, 2018

Burden of buying house in Seoul hits 6-year high

The burden of buying a house in Seoul has risen to a 6-year high as demand for homes in the affluent Gangnam district surged despite the government's measures to cool the property market, data showed Monday.The Korea Housing Affordability Index rose to 116.7 in the fourth-quarter of last year, up 6.4 percentage points from a quarter earlier, according to the Korea Housing-Finance Corp.It was the highest quarterly figure since the fourth-quarter of 2011, when the index stood at 119.4. The index r

March 19, 2018

[Monitor] Job market for women greatly improves

Over the past three decades, the employment increase rate and the proportion of paid workers who are women increased noticeably to surpass those of men, according to data by the Korea Employment Information Service.The number of female employees in South Korea that had stood at 6,771,000 in 1988 increased 67.7 percent to 11,356,000 last year. The increase rate for men was 52.2 percent.The economic activity rate of women also surged from 45.0 percent to 52.1 percent in the same time span. The pro

March 18, 2018

S. Korea, US discuss steel tariff exemption, autos in FTA talks

South Korea and the United States made some progress in the third round of negotiations to amend their free trade agreement (FTA) on key issues, and will continue to talk about Washington's proposed steel tariff, Seoul's trade ministry said Saturday. Yoo Myung-hee, a South Korean deputy minister for FTA negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, ended two-days of talks with her US counterpart, Assistant Trade Representative Michael Beeman, in Washington, D.C. amid heightened tra

March 17, 2018

State-run firms to hire 28,000 this year

SEJONG -- Korea's state-run companies are planning to hire over 28,000 employees this year, up 5,000 from their earlier planned figure, as part of efforts to address the country's chronic youth unemployment, the finance ministry said Friday.Early this week, the government said it would extend financial and tax incentives to young jobseekers and plan to put together 4 trillion won ($3.75 billion) in extra budget to finance a variety of projects to jack up the employment of young people.President

March 16, 2018

PM discusses economic cooperation with Dominican Republic's president

SANTO DOMINGO -- South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon has met with Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina on Thursday and discussed ways to increase trade and investment, as well as cooperation in energy, infrastructure and other areas, between the two countries.Lee arrived in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, on Wednesday for a three-day visit, becoming the first South Korean prime minister to visit Dominican Republic since the two countries established diplomatic rel

March 16, 2018

Korea, US hold 3rd round of FTA talks

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States were holding a third round of talks Thursday to amend their free trade agreement as Washington took a series of protectionist actions.The two sides, led by senior trade officials, met at the US Trade Representative's office in Washington to continue negotiating terms for a new trade pact that will address US complaints about a widening deficit and alleged unfair trade in the auto sector.US President Donald Trump has slammed the 2012 agreement

March 16, 2018