S. Korea says mobile phones, other consumer goods not under US' export curbs on Russia

Mobile phones, cars and other consumer goods are not subject to the United States' sweeping restrictions on exports to Russia, South Korea's trade ministry said Thursday. Last week, the US government announced the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) for "all of Russia" as part of its export controls to block Russia's access to global high-tech products and other major items, such as semiconductors, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The measure calls on companies to receive a license

March 3, 2022

BOK maintains 4% growth estimate for 2021, inches up Q4 estimate to 1.2%

South Korea's central bank maintained its earlier 2021 economic growth estimate Thursday but slightly increased its estimate for the fourth quarter, citing larger-than-expected exports. South Korea's economy grew 4 percent in 2021 after expanding 1.2 percent in the October-December period, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The 2021 growth rate remained unchanged from the BOK's earlier estimate on Jan. 25, but the fourth quarter figure was slightly higher than a projec

March 3, 2022

Korea strives to placate US after ‘belated’ sanction

SEJONG -- South Korea is struggling to avoid the current unfavorable situation, in which its tech-oriented companies should receive endorsement from the US before they export products to Russia. Though Korea has dispatched senior officials to the US to overcome the situation, critics are saying it is too late. The situation comes as the Korean government took a relatively passive stance in February, compared to other countries, in terms conducting economic and financial sanctions against Russi

March 2, 2022

Average daily exports hit record-high in February

SEJONG -- The nation’s average exports a day reached an all-time high in February despite deepening market and geopolitical uncertainty, involving high raw materials prices worldwide and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, state data showed Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea’s average daily exports recorded $2.69 billion last month, up 17.6 percent, compared to $2.29 billion posted a year earlier. This marked the highest since the nation started

March 1, 2022

2022 fiscal deficit likely to surpass W70tr

SEJONG -- The nation is projected to see the fiscal deficit sharply increase this year in the wake of allocation of the supplementary budget worth 16.9 trillion won ($14 billion), state data showed Monday. In addition, there is a possibility that the fiscal deficit will further increase, as two major presidential candidates have pledged to draw up new supplementary budgets amid growing uncertainty over the economy due to external factors as well as the ongoing pandemic. According to the Minist

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea to seek exemption for local firms from US tech sanctions against Russia

South Korea will seek close consultations with the United States to receive an exemption from Washington's recently expanded sanctions against Russia to minimize the impact of the restrictions on local firms and the economy, the country's top trade official said Monday. Last week, the US government announced the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) for "all of Russia" as part of sweeping export controls over its recent invasion of Ukraine, which requires companies to receive a license f

Feb. 28, 2022

Overseas card spending jumps 18.6% in 2021 on strong won

South Koreans' overseas card spending swelled nearly 19 percent in 2021 amid a strong local currency against the US dollar, central bank data showed Monday. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to $12.23 billion last year, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The 2021 tally represents a sharp turnaround from a 46.1 percent on-year tumble recorded a year earlier. Last year's surge w

Feb. 28, 2022

S. Korea's dependency on Japan materials, parts hits fresh low in 2021

South Korea's dependency on Japanese materials and parts fell to an all-time low last year following Tokyo's control of exports of key products bound for Seoul, the industry ministry said Monday. Imports of Japanese materials, parts and equipment came to $39.5 billion in 2021, accounting for 15.9 percent of South Korea's overall purchase of those goods, according to the data from the industry and trade ministry. The figure was down 1.3 percentage points from the previous year and the lowest sinc

Feb. 28, 2022

Home transactions dip 54% in Jan. on lending curbs

Home transactions in South Korea tumbled more than 50 percent in January amid tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, government data showed Monday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 41,709 units last month, down 54 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Compared with the previous month, the January tally was down 22.4 percent. The number of home transactions in the greater Seoul area, which includes

Feb. 28, 2022

40% of young Koreans feel poor

Four out of 10 young Koreans consider themselves poor, citing familial transfer of wealth as a key factor aggravating the social divide, data showed Sunday. According to data from National Youth Policy Institute, 42.6 percent of 4,114 respondents aged between 19 and 34 said they think they’re are poor and of those, some 34.3 percent answered they believe that they won’t be able to get out of poverty. Only some 28.5 percent said they think they can. Some 41.4 percent said they earne

Feb. 27, 2022

Korea to launch W2tr biz support program to counter Russia-Ukraine crisis if needed

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Friday that a support program worth 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion) will be launched to cushion local businesses from economic woes stemming from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, if needed. “We will thoroughly review the extent of damages and the financial state of our exporters and importers to prevent any difficulties stemming from the Ukraine crisis,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Koh Seung-beom said at a joint

Feb. 25, 2022

Korea, India agree to block double taxation

SEJONG -- The tax administrative agencies of South Korea and India have agreed to closely coordinate on easing tax burdens for businesses by holding a bilateral meeting of chiefs, the National Tax Service said Friday. The two also have decided to exchange know-how in uncovering practices of offshore tax evasion. During their meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, NTS commissioner Kim Dae-ji expressed gratitude to his counterpart Tarun Bajaj for the Indian tax authority’s recent policy to prev

Feb. 25, 2022

S. Korea to support companies to minimize impacts from Ukraine crisis

South Korea said Friday it plans to provide financial support to local exporters in an effort to minimize their potential damage from international sanctions against Russia over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The United States announced new sanctions against Russia, including export controls, over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in a bid to restrict Russia's ability to do business in major currencies. South Korea said Thursday it will join the international community in imposing sanctions against Ru

Feb. 25, 2022

S. Korea's fisheries output rebounds in 2021

South Korea's fisheries output rebounded last year from the previous year on the back of increased fish stocks and expanded fishing grounds, data showed Friday. Total fisheries output amounted to 3.82 million tons last year, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. The 2021 tally rebounded from 3.71 million tons in 2020 when fisheries output hit a four-year low. Last year, aquaculture production increased and fisheries output from inland fishing also gained ground. By v

Feb. 25, 2022

S. Korea's arable land dips for 9th year in 2021

South Korea's total arable land dropped for the ninth consecutive year in 2021 as rice paddies shrank amid falling consumption of rice, data showed Friday. The country's arable land totaled 1.55 million hectares -- slightly more than three times the size of the U.S. state of Delaware -- as of end-2021, down 1.2 percent or 18,000 hectares from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Arable land in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on the decline since 2013 due to declin

Feb. 25, 2022

S. Korea's central bank joins BIS Asian green bond fund

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it has invested part of the country's foreign exchange reserves in a green bond fund for central banks in a bid to expand its investment in green projects. The BOK said it took part in the Asian Green Fund that was launched by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Thursday to invest in dollar-denominated green bonds issued in the Asian region. The BOK did not specify the amount of its investment. Green bonds are meant to raise money to support enviro

Feb. 25, 2022

Trade terms decline for 10th consecutive month in January

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the 10th straight month in January as import costs rose at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- stood at 89.42 last month, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure has marked on-year declines each month since April when the index fell 0.6 percent from a year earlier. Compared wi

Feb. 25, 2022

Ministry mulls subsidy cut for hybrids

SEJONG -- Hybrid cars will likely be excluded from a government list of eco-friendly cars in the coming years, rendering hybrid-car owners no longer able to enjoy tax benefits or state-led purchase subsidies. During a ministerial meeting for the nation’s innovative growth in Seoul on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki unveiled a policy to regard only electric cars and hydrogen-fueled cars as low-emission cars on a midterm policy direction. He said that the g

Feb. 24, 2022

BOK freezes key rate, announces decade-high inflation outlook

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate anchored at the current 1.25 percent, but sharply revised its annual inflation outlook to a decade high of 3.1 percent. The Bank of Korea’s seven-day monetary policy board unanimously voted to freeze the key rate at the level it maintained since it delivered a 0.25 percentage point rate hike in January. The January decision brought back the base rate to pre-pandemic levels, before the BOK carried out a 0.5 perc

Feb. 24, 2022

BOK freezes policy rate amid pandemic, Ukraine crisis

South Korea's central bank held its key interest rate steady Thursday amid worries that the upsurge in COVID-19 infections and heightening geopolitical risks stemming from Eastern Europe could undercut economic recovery momentum. The Bank of Korea (BOK), however, sharply revised upward its inflation outlook for this year, raising the possibility that it could hike the interest rate in the months to come. As widely expected, the seven-member monetary policy board of the central bank voted to fr

Feb. 24, 2022