South Korea to add 830,000 housing units by 2025

South Korea plans to supply 830,000 housing units in Seoul and other big cities by 2025 through housing redevelopment projects led by state-run agencies, marking the largest-scale supply measure yet envisioned by the Moon Jae-in administration. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Thursday announced its real estate plan, which aims to provide affordable housing in big cities to meet the demand from young people and to tackle soaring home prices. “If this measure is imp

Feb. 4, 2021

[News Focus] 4.33 million people de facto jobless in Korea

SEJONG --The number of unemployed or underemployed people in South Korea climbed to the second-highest on record in December at 14.6 percent, according to Statistics Korea. Defined as the “extended-based” jobless rate, it refers to the percentage of the unemployed or underemployed of the economically active population under the Supplementary Index III for Employment. The Index III regards “underemployed” people -- who work less than 36 hours a week and want to work mo

Feb. 4, 2021

Korea Eximbank sells $1.5b worth of bonds

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) said Thursday that it has issued global bonds worth $1.5 billion to overseas investors. The three-tranche debt is comprised of three-year bonds worth $500 million and five-year bonds worth $700 million, with the remainder maturing in 10 years, the lender said. The three-year bonds carry an annual interest rate of the yield on three-year US Treasurys plus 0.23 percent, and the five-year debt has a rate of the return on five-year US Trea

Feb. 4, 2021

Amount of grain brought home by S. Korean agricultural firms doubles in 2020

The amount of wheat and other grains brought home by South Korean agricultural firms more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, in line with the country's efforts to revamp its national food security. The combined amount of grains excluding rice imported through South Korean agricultural developers reached 110,000 tons in 2020, soaring from just 44,000 tons posted the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Wheat accounted for

Feb. 4, 2021

Rising DRAM prices bode well for S. Korean chipmakers

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a rising course, industry data showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the memory market. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached as high as $3.93 as of Wednesday, according to data from DRAMeXchange, a research division of market tracker TrendForce. Its spot price reached $2.54 on Aug. 20, 2020, but rebounded above the $3 mark in mid-December. A spot price is the price quoted in

Feb. 4, 2021

S. Korea faces record import curbs in 2020 amid protectionism

South Korea faced a record number of import restrictions from trade partners in 2020 amid growing protectionism, a trade body said Thursday. The country was subject to 228 import regulations from 26 countries as of end-December, up 18 from a year earlier, according to a report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). It was also the largest-ever number of import restrictions targeting Asia's fourth-largest economy. Import restrictions cover anti-dumping duties, countervailing

Feb. 4, 2021

[Newsmaker] Ruling camp bigwigs clash over COVID-19 relief funds

Tensions flared between South Korea’s fiscal chief and the ruling party leader on Wednesday, as they publicly disagreed over the timing of an additional release of COVID-19 relief funds and who should benefit. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck a defiant tone against the idea pitched by the ruling Democratic Party Chairman and a leading potential contender for 2022 presidential race Lee Nak-yon to begin discussions on a fourth round of emergency handouts to all househo

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to extend ban on stock short selling until May 2

South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it will again extend a ban on stock short selling until May 2, amid growing calls from retail investors to prohibit the hedging practice. The extension of the ban, which had been set to be lifted on March 15, also came after politicians called for financial authorities to keep the ban. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo told reporters that the ban on large-cap 200 firms listed on the main KOSPI and 150 firms listed on the

Feb. 3, 2021

Korea below OECD average as FDI recipient: think tank

South Korea recieved some of the lowest amount of foreign direct investment among 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members last year, a local think tank data showed Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s FDI-to-gross ratio last year came to 0.32 percent, translating into No. 25 among 37 global economies in terms of FDI recipient, a report by Korea Economic Research Institute said. The net FDI-to-GDP ratio -– which is FDI minus outward direct inves

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea to import more eggs this month to stabilize prices

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to import more eggs this month in a bid to stabilize prices of eggs that have shot up amid the outbreak of bird flu here. The country will import some 24 million eggs after the Lunar New Year holiday, set for Feb. 11-14, ends, as it seeks to ease a potential shortage of the egg supply, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry earlier said the country will import 20 million eggs and distribute them before the holiday. Affected by the ou

Feb. 3, 2021

S. Korea, Cambodia strike free trade deal for broader economic cooperation

South Korea said Wednesday it has clinched a free trade deal with Cambodia, the latest in a series of its free trade pacts to revitalize its ailing exports amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Cambodian counterpart Pan Sorasak held a virtual meeting and declared that Seoul and Phnom Penh have completed FTA negotiations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The FTA will pave the way for the two countries to overcome challenges from th

Feb. 3, 2021

Face value of damaged currency rises in 2020

The face value of damaged banknotes and coins in South Korea rose in 2020, data from the central bank showed Wednesday. A total of 4.76 trillion won worth ($4.26 billion) of damaged bills and coins were discarded by the Bank of Korea (BOK) last year, up 410 billion won from a year ago, according to the BOK data. The central bank spent 10.6 billion won replacing the damaged banknotes last year. Last year, a record 642 million damaged bills and coins were discarded by the central bank, up 0.3 p

Feb. 3, 2021

Exports of plastics, auto parts, steel to bask in trade deal with Indonesia

South Korean plastic, auto parts and steel companies are expected to benefit from a trade deal with Indonesia once it goes into effect, a trade body said Wednesday. South Korea and Indonesia formally signed the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) in December last year, clearing the way for local exporters to tap deeper into the Southeast Asian market. The deal awaits parliamentary ratification in both countries. Under the trade deal, Jakarta would eliminate tariffs on about 92

Feb. 3, 2021

Exporters' sales outlook hits 3-year high for Feb.

South Korean exporters' sales outlook touched an over three-year high for February amid improving overseas sales of key products, central bank data showed Wednesday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local exporting companies' sales stood at 100 for February, up from 89 for January, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marks the highest reading since the 102 recorded in November 2017. The index measures exporters' outlook for shipments. A reading above 100 means optimis

Feb. 3, 2021

Govt. launches review of details about more pandemic emergency handouts

The finance ministry on Tuesday launched a review over how to draw up a fourth round of emergency handouts designed to help people cope with economic slumps caused by the pandemic. South Korea is likely to seek to draw up an extra budget to provide more pandemic relief funds in March or April to assist merchants and businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since last year, the country has drawn up three rounds of emergency relief funds totaling 31.4 trillion won ($28.1 billion), including

Feb. 2, 2021

S. Korea's sovereign wealth fund earns $21.8b in 2020

South Korea's sovereign wealth fund said Tuesday it earned $21.8 billion from investment, boosted by stock rallies, as the coronavirus pandemic prompted central banks to cut rates and pump liquidity into markets. Choi Hee-nam, chief executive of Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), told reporters that its return on investment was 13.7 percent last year, compared with 15.39 percent in 2019. It marked the second straight year that the KIC posted a double-digit return on investment. Over the past two y

Feb. 2, 2021

S. Korea's whisky imports hit 21-year low in 2020

South Korea's imports of whisky plunged to a 21-year low in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and a change in alcohol consumption here, government data showed Tuesday. The value of whisky imports amounted to $132.5 million last year, down 13.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It was the lowest level since the $115.9 million recorded in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. An industry official said whisky consumption fell furth

Feb. 2, 2021

Public sector's hiring dips nearly 18% in 2020

South Korea's public sector employment tumbled nearly 18 percent in 2020 from a year ago due to a one-off factor, government data showed Tuesday. Public institutions in Asia's fourth-largest economy hired 27,490 new employees last year, down 17.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the state portal All Public Information in One (ALIO). State-run companies cut their employment by about 32 percent, and hiring by quasi-governmental institutions sank about 20 percent. Yet last year's tally

Feb. 2, 2021

Consumer prices grow at less than 1% for 4th month in Jan.

South Korea's consumer prices grew by less than 1 percent for the fourth straight month in January, data showed Tuesday, indicating that the country's inflationary pressure remains low amid the pandemic. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent on-year in January, compared with a 0.5 percent on-year gain the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the fourth consecutive month that the on-year growth rate of the consumer inflation stayed in the 1 percent r

Feb. 2, 2021

S. Korea to add 3,000 electric car charging stations this year

South Korea plans to set up 3,000 rapid charging stations for electric vehicles by the end of this year to expand the use of eco-friendly cars, the Finance Ministry said Monday. “Creating convenient charging infrastructure is a very important task to keep pace with the expansion of electric vehicle supply,” said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki while presiding over a meeting to promote “Big 3” industries. Big 3 industries refer to green cars, biohealth, and non-memory chips

Feb. 1, 2021