Wine imports jump 76% in 2021 amid pandemic

South Korea's wine imports soared over 70 percent in 2021 as more people enjoyed drinking at home and alone amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy imported $506.2 million worth of wine in the January-November period of last year, up 76 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. It marks the first time that the country's wine imports have surpassed the $500 million level. South Korea's wine

Jan. 5, 2022

Korea’s FEZs attract $20b since 2003

SEJONG -- Foreign direct investment in the nine free economic zones in South Korea surpassed a cumulative $20 billion mark since the nation started operating the FEZs 18 years ago in 2003. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nine FEZs attracted FDI worth $1.31 billion in 2021, up 42 percent from a year earlier. This was a bounce-back after recording declines for two consecutive years -- from $1.69 billion in 2018 to $1.02 billion in 2019 and $910 million in 2020. Col

Jan. 4, 2022

ShinhanCard launches ‘first’ NFT service

ShinhanCard said Tuesday it had launched a nonfungible token service for clients to store their pictures using the digital assets -- a first by a local financial company. NFTs are authenticated by blockchain, a record of transactions kept on networked computers that serves as a public ledger for verifying ownership. Each NFT has a unique digital signature and digital objects, like images and videos, are traded as NFTs. “Our clients wouldn’t have to worry about making the actual tra

Jan. 4, 2022

Online shopping hits record high in Nov.

Online shopping in South Korea hit a fresh record high in November, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things, ranging from clothes to electronic goods amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 17.5 trillion won ($14.7 billion) in November, up 16.5 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The November data marked the highest level

Jan. 4, 2022

BOK chief voices concerns over growing credit risk among households, self-employed

South Korea's central bank chief Tuesday urged local financial institutions to brace for the possibility of growing credit risk from heavily indebted households and self-employed as the country will continue to tighten loose financial and monetary policy put in place to prop up the pandemic-hit economy. Lee Ju-yeol, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), made the remarks in his written New Year's greetings for the financial community, adding that such credit risk could get worse amid rising exter

Jan. 4, 2022

Construction contracts gain 12.2% in Q3

The value of construction contracts in South Korea climbed more than 12 percent in the third quarter of 2021 thanks mainly to increased private projects, government data showed Tuesday. Civilian and public works contracts in Asia's fourth-largest economy were valued at 65.2 trillion won ($54.6 billion) in the July-September period, up 12.2 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Private deals swelled 12.9 percent on-year to 55 tri

Jan. 4, 2022

Home transactions plunge 42.5% in Nov. on lending curbs

Home transactions in South Korea tumbled nearly 43 percent on-year in November amid lending curbs and rising interest rates, government data showed Tuesday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 67,159 in November, down 42.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Compared with the previous month, the November tally was down 10.8 percent. The number of home transactions in the greater Seoul area, which includ

Jan. 4, 2022

Finance minister sees urgent need to stabilize inflation, housing market

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday the government needs to mobilize all available policy means to tame inflationary pressure and stabilize the housing market in the new year. Hong also said the country will prioritize supporting small merchants hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and vulnerable people and strengthen social safety nets. "The government faces an urgent need to stabilize inflation and the housing market at an early date by mobilizing all available means," Hong said.

Jan. 3, 2022

Regulator warns of stern actions against online platforms' unfair biz activities

South Korea's antitrust regulator plans to take stern actions against unfair business activities by online platform operators in a bid to protect small merchants and consumers, its chief said Monday. Concerns have mounted that powerful online platform operators, such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., have abused their dominant market status and engaged in unfair business practices against contractors, posing a threat to the survival of small merchants. "The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will

Jan. 3, 2022

Indonesia's coal exports ban to have limited impact on S. Korea: industry ministry

Indonesia's recent ban on coal exports is expected to have a limited impact on South Korea, the industry ministry said Monday, but the Seoul government set up a task force to closely manage the situation as a precaution. Last week, Indonesia announced it has banned exports of coal in January, citing concerns over widespread blackouts due to low supplies at its domestic power plants. Jakarta is one of the world's major exporters of thermal coal, and around 20 percent of South Korea's coal impor

Jan. 3, 2022

Value of derivatives-tied securities hits near 8-yr low in Q3

The outstanding value of derivatives-tied securities issued in South Korea touched a near eight-year low in the third quarter amid a fall in Hong Kong share prices, data showed Monday. The amount of outstanding equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) came to 79.9 trillion won ($67.1 billion) as of end-September, down 300 billion won from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The September tally was the lowest value si

Jan. 3, 2022

Tech firms’ rush into finance puts pressure on banks, regulators

Naver and Kakao -- Korea’s two largest online service providers -- are prompting financial companies to better meet fintech needs and regulators to write rules that are fair to both of them. Naver Financial, a key Naver fintech subsidiary, started offering loans last year to small businesses with Woori Bank. The Naver Financial CEO said last month that he was considering seeking a permit to oversee more banking services to issue insurance and credit cards. Meanwhile, Kakao Pay, a mo

Jan. 2, 2022

S. Korea's IPO market to have bumper year in 2022 with mega deals: analysts

South Korea's initial public offering (IPO) market is expected to have another bumper year in 2022 as a slew of companies, including battery maker LG Energy Solution, are planning for stock market debuts, analysts said Sunday. The amount of money raised via IPOs on the main and tech-heavy stock markets reached a record high of 20.8 trillion won ($17.5 billion) last year, according to industry data. As more firms are preparing to go public with an aim of attracting more than 1 trillion won via

Jan. 2, 2022

S. Korea's exports rise 25.8% in 2021 to hit all-time high

South Korea's exports rose 25.8 percent in 2021 from the previous year to reach an all-time high on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products amid a global economic recovery, the industry ministry said Saturday. Outbound shipments stood at US$644.54 billion last year, compared with $512.5 billion a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the highest annual figure since the country began compiling trade related data in 1

Jan. 1, 2022

S. Korea to prioritize supporting pandemic-hit merchants next year: finance chief

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the government will ramp up its effort to support small merchants next year in a bid to help them tide over the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hong said the government will also prioritize strengthening social safety nets in 2022 in a bid to narrow deepening income gaps caused by the pandemic. "The government will focus on providing multilayered support to small merchants to help them overcome economic difficulties and make a leap forwa

Dec. 31, 2021

BOK chief vows to adjust monetary easing in line with economy

The chief of the nation’s central bank said Friday that monetary easing will be broadened in tandem with the pace of the economic recovery next year. “Additional moves related to monetary easing will be carried out after closely reviewing the development of economic growth and inflation,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in his New Year’s address. “Imbalances in the financial market and shifts in monetary policies of key economies will be taken into considerat

Dec. 31, 2021

Korea’s consumer prices growth hits decade-high

SEJONG -- The on-year growth of consumer prices has reached the highest level in 10 years in 2021, aggravating the burden on the debt-saddled household sector. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed 2.5 percent this year compared to 2020. After reaching 2.2 percent in 2012, the growth ranged between 0.4 and 1.9 percent during the 2013-2020 period. The 2021 figure marked the highest since it peaked at 4 percent in 2011, posting over 2 percent for the first time in nine years sin

Dec. 31, 2021

Industry minister vows efforts for stable supply chains, economic security

Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook vowed Friday to make all-out efforts to ensure stable supply chains for key industry materials and to nurture next-generation sectors. He made the pledge in his message for the new year, saying the government will work further to make concrete steps that prevent any recurrences of the recent urea crisis. South Korea experienced a shortage of urea solution, an essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions, after China imposed export curbs on urea in O

Dec. 31, 2021

Consumption falls steepest in 16 months

SEJONG -- Korean businesses, including those in the manufacturing and service industries, saw the index for their retail sales decline sharply last month despite brisk industrial output, state data showed Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also commented on the weakening sentiment index over private consumption, picking negative factors like bolstered quarantine against the omicron variant of COVID-19. According to Statistics Korea, the nation’s retail sale

Dec. 30, 2021

Bank mortgage rates hit highest mark in over 7 years in Nov.

South Korean banks' mortgage rates hit the highest level in more than 7 years in November amid rising borrowing costs, central bank data showed Thursday, Banks' mortgage loan rate averaged 3.51 percent in November, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) This marked the highest since July 2014, when the corresponding rate was 3.54 percent.   Banks' unsecured loan rate also rose 0.54 percentage point to 5.16 percent last month,

Dec. 30, 2021