Moon to hold second round of 'beer talks' with business leaders

President Moon Jae-in is set to hold the second round of "candid beer" talks with top business leaders Friday, his office Cheong Wa Dae said, as he seeks to elicit their support for his economic agenda and listen to their difficulties.The meeting will come a day after Moon met with top executives from seven business groups -- Hyundai Motor, LG, POSCO, Hanwha, Shinsegae, Doosan and CJ, along with the head of Ottogi, a leading but comparatively small food company. Friday's dinner gatheri

July 28, 2017

Lobby for smaller businesses opposes minimum wage hike

A business lobby representing small-sized businesses on Friday filed a complaint against the government's decision on next year's minimum wage hike. Earlier this month, a tripartite commission of the government, labor and management reached an agreement to increase the minimum hourly wage to 7,530 won ($6.68) in 2018, up 16.4 percent from the current 6,470 won. While the decision was hailed by the labor circle and part-time workers, small business owners immediately expressed concerns, saying it

July 28, 2017

Korea's business confidence steady at low levels in July

Business sentiments among South Korean manufacturers remained flat at low levels in July, a survey by the Bank of Korea showed Friday, with the auto industry's confidence plunging over sluggish exports.  The monthly business survey index, an indicator of the manufacturers' outlook for the coming month, was 78 in July, flat from a month earlier, according to the BOK survey. The index fell for a second straight month in June after rising to 83 in April. A reading above 100 means that more com

July 28, 2017

Korea to sell W6.7tr won in state bond in Aug.

South Korean plans to sell a combined 6.7 trillion won ($6 billion) in state bonds next month, the finance ministry said Thursday. The government will issue 1.45 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of three years, and 1.65 trillion won in five-year bonds in August.It also plans to sell 1.5 trillion won in 10-year Treasurys and a combined 2.1 trillion won of bonds with a maturity of between 20 and 30 years. (Yonhap)

July 27, 2017

[Monitor] Korea’s growth slows on weak exports

South Korea’s economic growth slackened in the second quarter of this year from a year ago due to slower exports, mainly in shipments of transportation equipment, petrochemicals and chemical products, data from the Bank of Korea showed Thursday.Exports declined 3 percent from the previous quarter and 0.1 percent from the previous year.But demand for semiconductors remained strong.Meanwhile, consumer sentiment improved under the Moon Jae-in government, with more spending on durable goods, s

July 27, 2017

Ministry, ruling party agree to focus tax revision on jobs

The Moon Jae-in government and the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea on Thursday agreed that the incoming tax law revision should focus on creating jobs and supporting small businesses.But the two sides failed to settle on how to raise extra tax from the rich. While the party viewed the hike as a crucial step to reform the nation’s economic inequality, the government remained reluctant to impose a direct burden on local businesses. The Democratic Party and the Finance Ministry

July 27, 2017

Govt. set to receive W16tr in extra tax revenues for 5 yrs: report

The government will be able to collect about 16 trillion won ($14.3 billion) in additional tax revenues for the coming five years if the tax rate hike for the superrich and top conglomerates advocated by the ruling party are implemented, a parliamentary report said Thursday.Rep. Choo Mi-ae, leader of the ruling Democratic party, has proposed raising tax rates for the super-rich and top-earning conglomerates to help finance the Moon Jae-in administration's welfare and job creation agenda estimate

July 27, 2017

President to meet top business leaders for beer, candid discussions

President Moon Jae-in was set to meet with the country's top business leaders Thursday for beer and frank discussions that may help fine-tune his economic policies, officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. with what the officials called a 20-minute beer time.The rare meeting involving beer comes at a suggestion from the president himself, according to the officials. "It will mark the first meeting with business leaders since the president's in

July 27, 2017

Korea's economic growth slows in Q2 on weak exports: BOK

South Korea's economic growth slowed in the April-June period from a quarter earlier due to decreased exports, central bank data showed Thursday.In the second quarter, the country's gross domestic product increased 0.6 percent, down from the previous quarter's 1.1 percent gain, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.Exports -- one of the major pillars for the Korean economy -- fell 3 percent in the June quarter compared with three months earlier and declined 0.1 percent from the previous year, wh

July 27, 2017

ABS issuance rises 15% in H1

The issuance of asset-backed securities in South Korea rose 15 percent on year in the first half of this year on the back of robust growth in sales of government-led mortgage funds, the financial regulator said Thursday. A combined 31.1 trillion won ($27.7 billion) worth of ABS were issued for the January-June period, compared with 27 trillion won for the same period last year, the Financial Supervisory Service said. ABSs are derived from underlying assets such as auto loans, home loans, credit

July 27, 2017

New ministry dedicated to SMEs sets sail

The new ministry in charge of small and medium-sized businesses officially started work Wednesday amid expectations it will support smaller companies and create new jobs.Earlier this month, the parliament passed a bill to elevate the Small and Medium Business Administration to a ministry for SMEs, venture startups and micro-businesses, as pledged by President Moon Jae-in during the election campaign.The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is headquartered in Daejeon, central South Korea, with 431 empl

July 26, 2017

Moon will hold talks with all economic players, including labor: official

President Moon Jae-in plans to hold talks with all major economic players here, including laborers and small or medium-sized firms, an official from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.The president is set to meet with 15 business conglomerates on Thursday and Friday.Hong Jang-pyo, the chief presidential secretary for economic affairs, said the first day of the meeting will involve top executives from eight business groups -- Hyundai Motor, LG, POSCO, Hanwha, Shinsegae, Doosan,

July 26, 2017

Prospect of higher electricity rates to turn away foreign firms

Concerns are rising that the new government’s policy to phase out nuclear power generation will result in rising electricity prices in the long run, posing an impediment to foreign investment in the country.Low electricity costs have been cited as a key factor leading foreign manufacturing firms to build factories in Korea despite other unfavorable conditions.In particular, many Japanese companies have moved production to Korea in search of stable electricity supply at lower rates since Ja

July 26, 2017

Seoul apartments exceeding W1b double in five years

The number of apartments that cost more than 1 billion won ($892,000) nearly doubled over the past five years, as Seoul’s real estate prices continues to soar, according to data from property market research company Real Estate 114 on Wednesday. 　At the end of July 2012, the number of high-priced apartments exceeding 1 billion won stood at 105,773. As of this month, the figure increased to 204,791.  　In addition, the data revealed that approximately 78 percent of apartments in Se

July 26, 2017

Korea's tax burden rate likely to hit record high in 2017

South Korea's ratio of tax burden to its gross domestic product will likely reach fresh record highs this year and next on a potential tax hike and rapidly rising government spending, government data showed Wednesday.According to the finance ministry, the government is expected to collect more than 250 trillion won ($223 billion) in national taxes by the end of 2017, up from an earlier target of 242.3 trillion won.Through May, tax revenue reached 123.8 trillion won, up 11.2 trillion won from a y

July 26, 2017

Aging population likely to cut Korea‘s overseas equities investment

South Korea's rapidly aging population is likely to reduce the nation's overseas equities investment as seniors will likely move to sell assets due to falling living standards, researchers at the Bank of Korea said Wednesday. As the global financial markets become more interconnected, older people will have a bigger impact on the nation's foreign currency market, Lim Jin-soo and Kim Young-rae said in a report.  If South Korea's overseas equities investment declines rapidly, it could affect

July 26, 2017

Korea to remove regulations in service sector

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it will remove legal and administrative regulations in the local service sector as part of its efforts to promote fair market competition and boost growth.The Fair Trade Commission, the country's antitrust watchdog, said it checked 39 restrictions that restricted competition in the sectors of food, leisure and public services.Related government ministries and agencies have already agreed to get rid of eight of them, with a detailed deregulation sch

July 26, 2017

Korea to lower maximum legal lending rate to 24% next year

South Korea will lower the maximum legal lending rate to 24 percent from next year and strengthen supervision of private lenders, in a move to help ease financial burdens for desperate borrowers, the nation's top financial regulator said Wednesday. Choi Jong-ku, the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said he will encourage banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small and medium-sized firms, instead of households and the property sector. By law, private lende

July 26, 2017

Foreign banks in Korea advised to take anti-money-laundering

South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it has advised some foreign banks here to take steps to guard against money laundering activities. After an inspection of 37 branches of foreign banks in the country, the Financial Supervisory Service concluded that some small-scale branches showed a lack of awareness of money laundering. The FSS said, however, most branches had anti-money-laundering safeguards in place. It did not identify the vulnerable branches by name.The vulnerable branches d

July 26, 2017

Moon to hold first talks with top business leaders over beer

President Moon Jae-in is set to hold his first dialogue with top business leaders here this week over beer to help break the ice and possibly allow more frank discussions, an official from the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said Tuesday.The talks will be held Thursday and Friday, each day involving part of the top executives from the 14 largest business conglomerates, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun."To ensure practical and candid discussions, President Moon will lis

July 25, 2017