Trade group recommends future FTAs based on market size, trade barriers

A local trade organization recommended Tuesday that South Korea should pursue free trade agreements  with South African countries, Uzbekistan and Cote d'Ivoire, citing their market scale and trade conditions.The Korea International Trade Association said it assessed the market size, growth potential, level of trade barriers, access to resources, exports competitiveness and state risks in determining future partners for the free trade deals. Countries with which negotiations or feasibility s

May 23, 2017

Insurers' combined Q1 profit jumps 24.4% on dividend income

The combined net profit of insurance firms in South Korea for the first quarter of this year jumped 24.4 percent on-year, thanks to a hefty gain in their dividend income, government data showed Tuesday. Insurance firms saw their combined net profit rise by 544.2 billion won ($487 million) to 2.7 trillion won for the January-March period, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.  The combined net income of life insurers gained 18.6 percent on-year to 1.57 trillion won, whi

May 23, 2017

Korea recollects 67.9% of public funds

South Korea has recouped 67.9 percent of the public funds it sunk into ailing financial firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The quarterly retrieval rate rose 0.1 percentage point at the end of March, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. During the January-March period, the government recouped 165.3 billion won, including 133.8 billion won from the sale of the government's stake in Woori Bank, according to the statement.South Ko

May 23, 2017

[Monitor] Assets of 4 major groups surge

The combined assets of South Korea’s four leading conglomerates Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG reached 864.9 trillion won ($774.3 billion) last year, up 33.5 percent from 647.6 trillion won in 2011. The proportion of these four groups in terms of total assets among the top 30 conglomerates in Korea also rose by 3.5 percentage points from 49.1 percent in 2011 to 52.7 percent.

May 22, 2017

Experts mixed on Moon's plan for trade bodies

Debate is heating up here on whether and how to reshape the government’s trade bodies to cope with mounting external pressures.During his campaign, President Moon Jae-in vowed to transfer the trade functions of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.He said the decision by his predecessor Park Geun-hye to remove trade functions from the Foreign Ministry was “wrong,” siding with the view that the measure weakened the country’s ability

May 22, 2017

17% of state financing projects graded 'poor' in 2017 govt. assessment

More than 17 percent of state financing projects were rated as "poor" in the latest efficiency assessment this year, the finance ministry said Monday.Out of 1,415 projects worth a combined 116.1 trillion won ($103.9 billion) run by 50 government ministries and agencies in 2017, 249 schemes received the lowest grade, with 238 plans appraised as "excellent," according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The government carries out an efficiency test on state financing proje

May 22, 2017

State pension's income replacement ratio reaches 24%

South Korean pensioners find it difficult to live only on monthly payments from the state pension scheme as the amount comes to less than a quarter of their pre-retirement income, a government report said Monday.The state pension's so-called income replacement ratio for South Koreans aged 65 or older with an average subscription period of 23.8 years amounts to 23.9 percent, according to the report by the Board of Audit and Inspection.  The figure means South Korean pensioners receive a mont

May 22, 2017

Over 10% of regular workers think they are temps: report

More than 10 percent of full-time workers in South Korea consider themselves as nonregular employees because of poor working conditions, a report said Monday.According to the report by the Korea Labor Institute, 10.7 percent of South Korea's regular workers believe they are temporary employees owing to long work hours and low pay. Kim Ki-hong, a researcher at the think tank, authored the report based on the 2014 annual survey of 5,000 households on their economic activity, job mobility, income a

May 22, 2017

Debt ratio of listed firms edges up in Q1

South Korean companies listed on the country's main stock market saw their debt ratio inch up in the first quarter of this year from three months earlier, data showed Monday.The debt-to-equity ratio of the 725 listed companies, which close their books in December, came to 116.8 percent at the end of March, up 1.77 percentage points from the end of December, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association. A key measure of financial health and stability, the

May 22, 2017

Producer prices up for 6th straight month in April

South Korea's producer prices rose for a sixth straight month in April on rising oil and raw material prices, central bank data showed Monday.The producer price index -- a barometer of future consumer inflation -- reached 102.58 in April, up 4.0 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.  The BOK attributed the hike to an increase in oil and raw material prices.The price of Dubai crude -- South Korea's benchmark -- stood at an average of $52.30 in

May 22, 2017

Moon puts chaebol reform, income growth top on economic agenda

President Moon Jae-in’s chaebol reform drive became even more clear on Sunday as he named a longtime activist for shareholders’ rights and transparent corporate governance as the chief of the staff for policy, a position he revived for swift changes on overall economic policies. Jang Ha-sung, a business professor at Korea University, is “the right person,” to shift an outdated socio-economic paradigm that long focused on ways to support conglomerates for the nation’

May 21, 2017

Korea records highest Q1 growth among top exporting nations

South Korea‘s exports recorded the fastest quarter growth among the world’s leading exporting countries with its first quarter revenue totaling $132.3 billion, up 14.9 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the World Trade Organization on Sunday. Despite a decline in world trade over the past two years, Korea’s exports have recovered rapidly, jumping from the No. 8 spot last year to No. 6 among the top 10 exporting countries ranking for the first quarter

May 21, 2017

AmCham meets White House officials

Leaders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea recently concluded their senior-level “Doorknock” meetings in Washington, during which the delegation met with key officials of the Trump Administration, Congress and policy think tanks to discuss issues regarding Korea-US relations, according to a press release from AmCham on Sunday.During their visit last week, AmCham officials held more than 50 meetings from Monday to Thursday with White House officials and congressional leaders

May 21, 2017

BOK expected to hold policy rate steady in May: Moody's Analytics

South Korea's central bank is expected to hold its key rates steady this month due to weak domestic spending, a report by Moody's Analytics said Sunday.The Bank of Korea kept its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent for the 10th consecutive month in April to bolster Asia's fourth-biggest economy. The leading provider of economic analysis, said the BOK will "likely stand pat" on rates at the monetary policy meeting set for Thursday, noting further easing is off the cards as it

May 21, 2017

New gov't to tweak merit pay for public agencies: analysts

South Korea's new Moon Jae-in government is expected to make only small changes to the current merit pay system for all public agency employees instead of scrapping it all together, analysts said Friday.During a campaign rally for the May 9 presidential election, Moon of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea promised to immediately abolish the performance-based wage system should he be elected as the nation's president. Experts, however, said the Moon administration will find it difficult t

May 19, 2017

Retailers struggle with weak sales as concerns over gov't rules loom

Retailers are struggling with weak sales amid unfavorable market conditions industry data showed Friday, with prospects of new government regulations adding to their worries.According to the sales tally, April's numbers by major department stores shrank nearly 2 percent compared to same month last year. Lotte showed a 1.9-percent contraction while sales at Hyundai fell 1.6 percent. The lone increase in sales was in the home appliances sector from the wedding season in spring. Retailers had hoped

May 19, 2017

[Moon in Office] How far can chaebol reform go?

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles delving into the economic policies and tasks expected of the new Moon Jae-in administration. This is the sixth installment -- Ed.President Moon Jae-in’s administration was born out of an advanced presidential election, in the wake of the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye, following the worst bribery and influence-peddling scandal involving her long-time friend, presidential aides and business tycoons.His strong will for chaebol re

May 18, 2017

Nominee for FTC chief aims strict regulation on big 4 biz groups

Kim Sang-jo, South Korea’s nominee for chief of the anti-trust watchdog, said on Thursday he would apply stricter fair trade laws to the four largest chaebol when he takes office.Often called “chaebol sniper” for his longtime shareholder activism, the economics professor at Hansung University was the key economic adviser to President Moon Jae-in during his election campaign, mapping out Moon‘s key pledges on chaebol reform. “The existing regulations were based on th

May 18, 2017

17 companies report 'WannaCry' damage in Korea

South Korea's state-run cybersecurity agency said Thursday that 17 companies have been struck by "WannaCry" so far, but the spread of the ransomware has slowed.The Korea Internet & Security Agency KISA said it is keeping a watchful eye on the spread of the ransomware, although the situation is presumed to have past its peak.Ransomware refers to malware that locks up files on a computer with encryption until the victims pay a certain amount of money to hackers. The latest instance o

May 18, 2017

Koreans' overseas card spending hits record high in Q1

Overseas card spending by South Koreans hit a record high in the first quarter due to a hike in the number of people going overseas, the central bank said Thursday.In the January-March period, overseas card spending amounted to $4.02 billion, up 21.9 percent from $3.3 billion a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea BOK. From a month earlier, the Q1 tally marked a 7.4-percent increase.Overseas card spending includes purchases made with debit and direct payment cards, in addition to credit

May 18, 2017