Number of small firms rises 4.7% in 2020 despite pandemic

SEJONG -- The number of small companies in South Korea expanded nearly 5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier despite the pandemic, but their profit fell sharply, government data showed Tuesday. The country had 2,902,000 companies with fewer than five workers as of the end of 2020, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The largest number of such companies were retailers and who

Dec. 28, 2021

Number of businesses gains 17.8% over 5 years

SEJONG -- The number of businesses in South Korea rose nearly 18 percent over the past five years as almost all industrial sectors posted gains, data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had a total of 6,013,000 businesses as of the end of 2020, up 17.8 percent from five years earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. One-man operations accounted for the biggest proportion of the total with 79 percent, followed by corporations with 15.4 percent and other establishments wit

Dec. 28, 2021

Seoul court rules in favor of Kyobo Life in legal battle with Hong Kong-based PEF

A Seoul court has rejected a Hong Kong-based private equity firm's request for Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to carry out its obligation with regard to a put option that it has been trying to exercise, the South Korean insurer said Tuesday. The ruling appears to have removed a major hurdle for Kyobo Life's push to list shares on the local stock bourse in the first half of next year, according to company officials. In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares

Dec. 28, 2021

Govt. to lift restrictions on urea solution sales as supply stabilizes

The government will lift restrictions on sales of urea solution as the supply of the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions has been stabilized, the finance ministry said Tuesday. South Korea had struggled to cope with a shortage of urea solution after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. The government has imposed curbs on where and how much of the solution can be sold in a way to ease its shortage. Those restrictions will be lifted starti

Dec. 28, 2021

[Interactive] S. Korean exports of kimchi up 13.8% in Jan.-Aug.

South Korea’s exports of kimchi climbed nearly 14 percent in the first eight months of 2021 on growing overseas demand for healthier food amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Outbound shipments of kimchi reached $111.5 million in the January-August period, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the food industry. In contrast, imports of kimchi shrank 9.7 percent on-year to $86.1 million over the cited period, resulting in

Dec. 28, 2021

S. Korea to cut tariff rates on 90 products in 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea will lower tariff rates on a total of 90 products next year to strengthen competitiveness of small businesses and stabilize prices of key materials, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The number is higher than the 83 items subject to temporary tariff cuts under a tariff quota system this year, according to the ministry. Those products include crude oil, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, sugar, corn, chicken eggs and materials needed to produce batteries, the

Dec. 28, 2021

Consumer sentiment worsens in December amid virus resurgence

South Korea's consumer sentiment index dropped for the first time in four months in December due to concerns over the resurgence of the coronavirus, central bank data showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came to 103.9 in December, down 3.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the first decline since August when the index fell to 102.5 from the previous month's 103.2. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pe

Dec. 28, 2021

S. Korea to sell W13tr worth of state bonds in Jan.

South Korea plans to sell 13 trillion won ($11 billion) in government bonds in January, the finance ministry said Monday. The ministry will issue 900 billion won in Treasurys with a two-year maturity, 2.5 trillion won with a maturity of three years, 2.5 trillion won in five-year government bonds and 2.6 trillion won with a maturity of 10 years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Sales of longer-dated bonds will include 3.3 trillion won in 30-year Treasury notes and 400 billion w

Dec. 27, 2021

Stable recovery forecast for Korea in 2022

South Korea is projected to see stable economic growth in 2022, driven by strong memory chips and electronic devices exports, despite lingering omicron and COVID-19 woes, experts in the US, UK and South Korea said.  “We believe that sufficient vaccine supply and South Korea’s capacity to quickly rollout booster jabs will ensure a recovery in private consumption and business investment spending,” Fei Xue, an Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit told The Korea He

Dec. 27, 2021

Chip, renewable energy sectors set for growth: report

The chip, renewable energy and entertainment industries are set to grow next year, auditing firm Samjong KPMG said Monday in its annual industry forecast report for 24 industries. The supply of system chips will improve as production expands while sales of memory chips next year will not be as strong as this year, because of oversupply, the report said, noting that the South Korean government should work with local chipmakers like Samsung Electronics to localize parts for chip independence. Sa

Dec. 27, 2021

Exports to New Southern, Northern regions to hit new records in 2021

South Korea's exports to the so-called New Southern and Northern regions are likely to touch all-time highs in 2021 on Seoul's efforts to deepen economic ties with those regions, the trade ministry said Monday. Seoul's overseas shipments to the New Southern Region -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India -- reached $111.9 billion in the first 11 months of this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In light of that, exports to the region are proje

Dec. 27, 2021

Number of franchise outlets up 9.5% in 2020 despite pandemic

The number of franchise outlets in South Korea rose more than 9 percent in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, but their sales dropped for the first time since 2013, data showed Monday. Franchise stores numbered 235,709 as of end-December last year, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Food and beverage franchise outlets expanded at double-digit numbers as demand for home delivery services grew sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

Dec. 27, 2021

Regional GDP inches up in 2020 amid pandemic

SEJONG -- The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) for provinces and cities in South Korea inched up in 2020 from a year earlier amid restrictions on business operations caused by the pandemic, data showed Monday. According to the data provided by Statistics Korea, the GRDP came to 1,936 trillion won ($1.63 trillion) in 2020, up 0.4 percent or 9 trillion won from a year earlier. The greater Seoul area -- which covers Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital Seoul, and the western port ci

Dec. 27, 2021

S. Korea to submit application for CPTPP in April: finance minister

South Korea will push to submit an official application to join a mega Asia-Pacific free trade agreement in April next year by speeding up the process of collecting public opinions and building social consensus, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday. The government earlier said that it had begun the process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) involving 11 nations as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio. Finance Mi

Dec. 27, 2021

Cost of living top economic issue next year in Seoul: survey

The cost of living was cited as the most important economic issue of 2022 by Seoul citizens, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey on 1,200 households in the capital by the Seoul Institute, 19.2 percent of the respondents said the cost of living is the top economic issue next year. Another 17.3 percent cited youth unemployment and job creation followed by mortgage loans and increasing household debts at 9.8 percent, the result of the 2022 presidential election at 8.3 percent, incom

Dec. 27, 2021

Shinhan taps ex-IBM director as digital chief officer

Shinhan Financial Group, one of the four banking giants in the country, has named a former IBM managing director as its digital chief officer to accelerate a push to expand its digital services. Kim Myoung-hee, who spent the last 23 years developing digital operations at IBM before joining SK telecom to oversee digital efforts at the country’s largest mobile carrier, is considered one of the leading women experts on digital transformation. Kim was the first senior women chief to lead the

Dec. 24, 2021

BOK to end corporate bond-buying program as scheduled amid stabilizing market

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will end a special program to buy corporate bonds, including low-rated debts, at the end of this month as planned as the financial market has stabilized. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) launched a 10 trillion-won ($8.4 billion) program in July last year to purchase corporate bonds and commercial paper, a move aimed at easing a corporate funding squeeze. The program has been extended twice and is set to end on Dec

Dec. 23, 2021

Corporate earnings hit 6-year low in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korean firms' earnings plunged to a six-year low in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The combined pretax net profit of 13,429 companies came to 97.7 trillion won ($82 billion) in 2020, down 3.9 percent from the prior year and marking the third straight year of decline, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the lowest level since the 91.4 trillion won recorded in 2014 and represented the first time for their total bottom l

Dec. 23, 2021

Housing prices, debt are major risks to financial stability: BOK

South Korea's financial system has remained stable, but a rise in housing prices and high household debt serve as major potential risks to financial stability, a central bank report showed Thursday. In a biannual report on financial stability, the Bank of Korea (BOK) called for policy efforts to stabilize the housing market and curb the growth of household debt, raising the need to ease the high level of financial imbalances. "Since the first half of this year, the country's financial sy

Dec. 23, 2021

Finance ministry to prioritize stabilizing inflation next year

South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it will put the top priority on stabilizing consumer inflation next year as the country faces a buildup in price pressure amid rising prices of raw materials and farm products and the economic recovery. The government plans to beef up the monitoring of the supply of key farm produce closely linked to people's livelihoods and freeze public utility bills in the first quarter of next year. The Ministry of Economy and Finance picked measures to stabili

Dec. 22, 2021