Household debt growth slows in June

South Korea's household debt growth slowed slightly in June, data showed Wednesday, as the government moved to control fresh loans.Household debt rose by 7.8 trillion won ($6.8 billion) last month, down from 11.6 trillion won tallied for the same month last year, according to the data by the Financial Services Commission. In the first half of the year, household debt grew by 40.3 trillion won, compared with an expansion of 50.4 trillion won for the same period in 2016. The country's household de

July 12, 2017

Middle-aged Koreans want to work longer for stable livelihoods after retirement: poll

Middle-aged South Koreans want to work longer and believe they need about half of their present salaries to enjoy a stable life after retirement, a local business lobby said Wednesday. In a survey of 1,136 Koreans aged 40 or older, the Federation of Korean Industries' Center for Large and Small Business Cooperation  said respondents said they need an average of2.79 million won ($2.43 million) per month and hope to work until the age of 69.4, which is over nine years more than the count

July 12, 2017

Effective corporate tax rate remains at around 16% for past 7 years: govt. data

South Korea's effective corporate tax rate has remained at around 16 percent since 2010 due to various deductions and exemptions despite the nominal corporate tax rate marked at 22 percent, government data showed Wednesday.The effective corporate tax rate was 16.6 percent last year, up 0.5 percent from the previous year, according to the figures provided by the National Assembly Budget Office.The figures for last year reflect taxable corporate earnings in the previous year.The latest findings sh

July 12, 2017

Korea's ICT exports rise for 8th month in June

South Korean exports of information and communication technology products increased for the eighth consecutive month in June on brisk overseas sales of semiconductors and displays, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $15.9 billion worth of Korean-made ICT products were shipped overseas last month, up 18 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.June's overseas shipments of ICT products marked a monthly record high for

July 12, 2017

Korea to make all-out efforts to deal with external risks: finance minister

South Korea's top economic policy chief said Wednesday that he will make all-out efforts to stave off any fallout from heightening external pressures, such as a potential US rate hike and spreading trade protectionism."We are facing Washington's tightening monetary policy and a trend toward trade protectionism," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a policy meeting in Seoul. "We need concerted efforts to deal with such risks."In line with changes, he said the government wil

July 12, 2017

Korea's jobless rate rises to 3.8% in June

South Korea's jobless rate edged up in June as the number of newly employed people recorded a five-month low amid a feeble economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.8 percent last month, up 0.2 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it also rose 0.2 percentage point.The number of employed people reached 26.86 million in June, up 301,000 from a year earlier, marking the

July 12, 2017

New Korean govt. to pursue 'good growth': official

South Korea's new government will seek both growth and fairer wealth distribution under the main theme of "good growth," a presidential official said Tuesday, hinting it will also break from the country's longstanding preoccupation with numerical targets."The new government will pursue good growth," the official told reporters, declining to be named. "This means we will no longer follow the pattern of putting forward growth targets and pushing for growth-centric policies

July 12, 2017

'Nuclear power plant suspension could bring legal charges’

With Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s pending decision to suspend the construction of Shin-Kori No. 5 and 6 nuclear power plants in Ulsan, the plant’s parent company Korea Electric Power Corp. is reviewing whether it could be held legally liable to its shareholders.  　After taking office in May, President Moon Jae-in decided to temporarily suspend the construction of the Shin-Kori plants as part of his administration’s nuclear-free energy policy to reduce the country&rsqu

July 11, 2017

State audit agency asks for probe over duty-free licensing

South Korea's state audit agency on Tuesday requested that the prosecution probe the customs service over a suspected illicit selection of duty-free operators in 2015. The Board of Audit and Inspection raised suspicions that the Korea Customs Service arbitrarily applied rules to eliminate Hotel Lotte from receiving a license to run a duty-free store in Seoul in its July and November biddings.  It also accused the KCS of later creating additional slots in breach of regulations to help the du

July 11, 2017

Korea's exports shot up 38.5% in first 10 days of July

South Korea's exports shot up nearly 40 percent in the first 10 days of this month from a year earlier on robust overseas demand for semiconductors and ships, customs data showed Tuesday.Total outbound shipments reached $14.3 billion from July 1-10, up 38.5 percent from $10.3 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to numbers compiled by the Korea Customs Service.The sharp increase was led by a 574.4 percent on-year surge in exports of vessels and a 50.4 percent gain in chips,

July 11, 2017

Korea's exports, investment up, consumption down

The South Korean economy is experiencing a feeble recovery as brisk exports and investment were offset by flaccid private consumption and weak service sector growth, a government report said Tuesday."On the back of an upturn in global trade, upbeat exports and investment pushed up the South Korean economy to a large extent, while domestic demand remained weak due to sluggish private consumption and service sector output," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment repo

July 11, 2017

Egg prices still flying high despite imports

Local egg prices still are high despite the arrival of eggs imported from Thailand following the latest outbreak of bird flu, data showed Tuesday.The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade said a carton of 30 eggs was priced at an average 7,969 won ($6.94) as of Monday, up slightly from last month. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 970,000 eggs imported from the Southeast Asian country arrived in South Korea via ship last week. The government has been dealing with

July 11, 2017

Korea sees widening investment imbalance

Korea has seen foreign direct investment slump and investments by local companies abroad balloon over the past few years.According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Korean firms’ investments overseas amounted to $276.1 billion for a decade through 2016, nearly tripling $94.7 billion invested by foreign businesses in the nation over the same period.Last year alone, Korean companies invested $35.2 billion abroad, up 14.2 percent from the year before, strengthening effo

July 10, 2017

Car insurance premiums to be adjusted differently depending on fault

Drivers who are less at fault for a car accident, will pay lower auto insurance premiums in a change from the current system, the financial regulator said Monday. The change, which will go into effect from September, is aimed at adjusting the degree of balance between at-fault drivers and those who are much less responsible for an accident after reporting the case to an insurance firm to get compensation. Currently, if a driver is 80 percent responsible for an accident with the other driver bein

July 10, 2017

House prices becoming increasingly exorbitant in Korea

　Home purchases are becoming increasingly unaffordable and prices and loan interest rates have reached their highest level in four year and three months, the Korea Housing-Finance Corp. announced Monday. 　In the first quarter of this year, the Korea-Housing Affordability Index rose to 59.3, a 0.4 percentage point increase compared to the previous quarter, according to data. The figure marks the highest average rate in more than four years since reaching 59.9 in the fourth quarter of 2012.　The K-

July 10, 2017

CEOs growing less confident about future of global economy

More corporate CEOs are becoming less optimistic about the immediate future of the global economy compared with last year, an international survey said Monday.   The poll carried out by consulting firm KPMG International said that out of 1,261 CEOs from 10 countries who were canvassed between Feb. 21 and April 11 this year, 65 percent were confident about global economic growth for the next three years. Although still a majority, the number lags behind the 80 percent tallied last year.

July 10, 2017

FTC chairman vows to strengthen enforcement of fair trade law

The head of South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Monday that he will strengthen the enforcement of fair trade laws by expanding civil actions against rule-breaking companies."I will introduce a system that will allow multiple economic players to enforce trade rules at the same time," Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo said in a conference held in Seoul. "I will make efforts to get trade law violations be resolved through civil suits." Under the current Fair Trade Act

July 10, 2017

Foreign cruise tourists fall sharply amid China sanctions: data

The number of foreign cruise tourists visiting South Korea has declined sharply in recent months, government data showed Monday, amid a diplomatic row with China over the deployment of a US anti-missile system.China has been banning package tours to South Korea since March as part of its economic retaliation against South Korea over the THAAD deployment, which Beijing considers a security threat.Chinese accounted for 91 percent of about 1.95 million foreign tourists who came to South Korea

July 10, 2017

Homes becoming less affordable as prices, interest rates rise

Rising home prices and loan interest rates have made houses the least affordable in over four years, the latest data showed Monday.According to the Korea Housing-Finance, the Korea-housing affordability index rose to 58.9 in the first three months of the year, up 0.4 percentage point from the previous quarter. This is the highest since the fourth quarter of 2012, when the index stood at 59.9. K-HAI reflects the burden of loan repayment for homebuyers with median income who purchase average-price

July 10, 2017