South Korea’s potential growth on downhill for decades

South Korea’s potential growth rate has declined for decades, reflecting the nation’s aging society, slowing capital accumulation and changing job market, a think tank report showed Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s potential growth rate – gross domestic product per person aged 15 and over – by decade came to an average 2.1 percent in the 2010s, compared with 7.6 percent in the 1980s, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute. The figure has

Aug. 18, 2021

Steelmakers in talks with shipbuilders over price hike

South Korean steelmakers appear to be in the final stage of negotiations with shipbuilders over prices of thick steel plates, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Posco, the country's largest steelmaker, has reportedly proposed a hike in the prices of thick steel plates -- a key material that accounts for about one-fifth of shipbuilding costs -- to 1.15 million won ($980) per ton. The offer marked a sharp increase from the first half of this year when thick steel plates were sold at

Aug. 18, 2021

SK REIT eyes stock market debut in Sept.

The real estate investment trust (REIT) unit of SK Group, South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate, said Wednesday it will carry out an initial public offering in September. SK REIT said it will sell 46.5 million shares to investors in the planned IPO, whose specific date has yet to be unveiled. Its public offering price has been set at 5,000 won ($4.26) per share, with the company seeking to raise about 233 billion won through the IPO. After a demand forecast session for institutions on Aug. 23-24,

Aug. 18, 2021

Hyundai to cut output at US plant on chip shortage

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday it will reduce production at its US plant this week due to a chip shortage. Hyundai Motor will cut vehicle production at the Alabama plant from Tuesday to Friday (US time) over a lack of semiconductor parts, a company spokesman said over the phone. The Alabama plant halted operations for one week last month due to the same problem. From January to July, Hyundai's vehicle sales rose 22% to 2.34 million units from 1.92 million in the year-ago perio

Aug. 18, 2021

Auto exports down 2.9% amid shortages of automotive chips

South Korea's exports of automobiles edged down 2.9 percent in July from a year earlier as the global supply shortages of automotive chips hindered production, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles reached 181,046 units in July, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, exports advanced 12.3 percent to $4.1 billion. The ministry attributed the decrease to a low base effect, as overseas shipments of cars gathered ground in July 2020 after the

Aug. 18, 2021

Semiconductor market to expand 25% in 2021, grow further in 2022: WSTS

The global semiconductor market is expected to expand 25.1 percent this year on the back of robust growth from the memory sector, a report from an industry tracker showed Wednesday, amid concerns of a slowdown in demand. World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), a nonprofit organization of chipmakers, said the global semiconductor market is expected to grow to $551 billion in 2021, up from its previous forecast of $527.2 billion. It also revised up the market growth for the year to 25.1 p

Aug. 18, 2021

Major firms fare well in H1 despite pandemic

Sales by major companies in South Korea rose nearly 10 percent in the first half of the year in spite of the coronavirus pandemic with their total operating profit more than doubling, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Combined sales of 225 out of the country's top 500 firms came to 1,127.4 trillion won ($960 billion) in the January-June period, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. Their operating profit stood at 105.1 trillion won in the six-month period, more than do

Aug. 18, 2021

S. Korea, Kazakhstan sign 23 business MOUs, eye closer economic ties

South Korea's industry ministry said Tuesday it has hosted a business roundtable with Kazakhstan and signed around two dozen business agreements, in a move to enhance economic ties with the Central Asian nation. During the meeting, Seoul and Nur-Sultan signed a set of 23 memorandums of understanding in various industries ranging from automobiles to the development of natural resources, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The move came during Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart

Aug. 17, 2021

Major firms' workforce declines over 3 years

The number of employees for South Korea's major companies has declined by nearly 30,000 over the past three years, with global tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. having the largest workforce, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The combined headcount of the country's top 100 firms stood at about 1.39 million as of the end of 2020, down slightly by over 27,000 from three years earlier, according to the CXO Institute. Last year alone, the number decreased by 9,000 from the previous year, marking t

Aug. 17, 2021

Over 70% of cash handouts to be doled out to pandemic-hit merchants this month: minister

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday the government plans to provide more than 70 percent of emergency relief funds to small merchants hard hit by the pandemic over the next two weeks. The move is aimed at accelerating the provision of cash handouts to pandemic-stricken merchants as the country is grappling with the fourth wave of the pandemic. The country plans to provide a total of 4.22 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in relief aid to micro business owners by the end of September as it crea

Aug. 17, 2021

Foreign crypto exchanges seek distance from Korea ahead of tighter regulations

Some foreign cryptocurrency exchanges have distanced themselves from South Korea as Korean authorities are set to enforce tighter regulations against virtual coins. By Sept. 24, cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Korean investors must register with the nation's anti-money laundering body and disclose their details on risk management. Under the tougher regulations, banks will issue real-name accounts in line with stricter guidelines to prevent money laundering. Beginning Sept. 25, cryptocurrenc

Aug. 17, 2021

S. Korea's trade in camping goods hits new high in 2020 on pandemic

South Korea's exports and imports of camping goods reached a fresh high in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy exported and imported $399 million worth of camping equipment last year, an all-time high and up 40 percent from the previous year, according to the report from the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute. In the first half of this year alone, the country's trade in camping gear stood at $293 million, above the $285 million reg

Aug. 17, 2021

[Law Talk] More questions than answers: Who is the ‘responsible executive’ under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act?

Under the highly controversial Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which was codified by the National Assembly in January this year, business owners and responsible executives are required to comply with new health and safety obligations. A failure to comply with such requirements that results in serious bodily harm will subject them to significant civil liability and administrative/criminal penalties. The introduction of the act is seen as a legislative effort by the South Korean government to

Aug. 16, 2021

Tax revenue linked to asset markets jumps 76% in H1

South Korea’s tax revenue from asset markets surged nearly 76 percent on-year in the first half amid an increase in housing transactions and stock trading, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party, the government collected about 36.7 trillion won ($31.5 billion) worth of tax revenue linked to asset markets in the January-June period. The government’s total tax inco

Aug. 16, 2021

Meet market winners and losers in times of pandemic

By The Investor team 　 The South Korean financial and investment market has been going through probably the biggest and fastest change in its modern history under the COVID-19 pandemic, which still shows no sign of abating. It may not be the case just for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, as global markets as a whole have also been greatly touched by the spread of the virus and a series of expansionary fiscal measures, as well as the lockdowns that followed. What appears to have made the

Aug. 15, 2021

Regulator set to take measures against shippers' alleged price fixing

South Korea's antitrust regulator will soon decide on punitive actions against the country's leading shipper, HMM Co., and other shipping lines over suspected price fixing, government sources said Sunday. Since 2018, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has been looking into allegations that HMM and others colluded to fix higher freight rates for a Southeast Asian sea route. After expanding its investigation into foreign firms, the regulator informed 23 shippers at home and abroad in May tha

Aug. 15, 2021

S. Korea reviewing 2022 national budget of some W600tr

South Korea is seeking to draw up a national budget of around 600 trillion won ($513.3 billion) for next year in a bid to maintain expansionary fiscal spending amid the pandemic, government sources said Sunday. If confirmed, this would mark a 7.5 percent on-year increase from this year's national budget of 558 trillion won, according to sources at the finance ministry and the National Assembly. The government is seeking to keep the on-year growth pace of the 2022 budget in the 7-percent range,

Aug. 15, 2021

[Anniversary Special] Living with economic uncertainty: How COVID changed Korea’s investment landscape

Monetary easing policies have been carried out primarily to counter the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, but brought significant changes in South Koreans’ economic lives, pushing many to jump into markets under inflationary pressure. For Koreans, living in an era of ample liquidity has been considered a window of opportunity. So much so that it could be considered foolish not to take out loans with ultralow interests to invest in real estate and stocks. An abundance of cash combined with a

Aug. 14, 2021

KIC divests all Alibaba stake, mixed on other Chinese tech stocks

South Korea‘s sole sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corp., divested the entirety of 2.9 million shares in Alibaba Group Holding -- the 25th-biggest United States-listed stock it was holding earlier this year -- during the second quarter of this year, a filing showed Friday. The quarterly report, submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, also indicated that its positions toward US-listed Chinese technology stocks were mixed at the end of June, before Beijing’s sw

Aug. 13, 2021

Government vows to curb soaring food prices ahead of Chuseok

The South Korean government will increase supplies of key fruits and vegetables from its stockpiles to stabilize market prices ahead of the Chuseok holiday set for Sept. 20-22, First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said Friday. “Prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products, which advanced 9.6 percent in July, continued a downward trend for a fifth consecutive month, but the figure still remained at a high level on the back of bird flu outbreaks coupled with an increase in

Aug. 13, 2021