Won sinks after verbal warning against rapid gains

The South Korean currency dropped against the US dollar Thursday after currency authorities warned that they are ready to take actions at any time to curb the won's sharp gains. The local currency ended at 1,115.6 won to the greenback, down 11.8 won from the previous session, when the won rose to a 29-month high of 1,103.8 to the dollar. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that FX authorities are closely monitoring the market, warning that excessive currency volatility is not

Nov. 19, 2020

Listed firms' earnings rebound in Q3

Listed companies in South Korea posted improved earnings in the third quarter from a quarter ago, possibly signaling a rebound from the previous pandemic-hit quarters this year, data showed Wednesday.  In the July-September period, the combined net profit of 590 out of 655 firms that are listed on the main KOSPI bourse and close their books on Dec. 31 came to 25.6 trillion won ($23.2 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 81.3 percent from three months ago, according to the data compiled by

Nov. 18, 2020

Residents' FX deposits hit record high in Oct.

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose to a record high in October as exporters raised dollar holdings amid the country's improving exports, central bank data showed Wednesday.   Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $93.32 billion as of end-October, up $7.87 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).   The tally rebounded from September, when the FX deposits declined for the first time si

Nov. 18, 2020

No. of holding companies in S. Korea declines in 2020

The number of holding companies in South Korea declined this year from a year earlier due largely to a fall in mid-sized holding firms, the country's antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said a total of 167 holding companies were registered with the country's antitrust regulator as of end-September, down from 173 the previous year. The registered holding companies consist of 157 general holding firms and 10 financial ones. A fall in the number of small an

Nov. 18, 2020

Big firms' investments gain 10% despite weaker sales

Capital spending by large South Korean firms rose more than 10 percent in the first nine months of the year despite lower sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Combined investments by 362 big businesses in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 63.2 trillion won ($57.1 billion) in the January-September period, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The solid increase came as their total sales fell 4.5 percent on-year

Nov. 18, 2020

[Contribution] NTS strives to broaden access to tax statistics

On Sept. 24, the National Tax Service held an opening ceremony at its Seoul Regional Office for the Seoul branch of NTS Data Lab. This is the first offshoot of the NTS Data Lab, which has been in operation in the city of Sejong since 2018. The NTS Data Lab is a secured facility whose main purpose is to promote research that may inform tax policies. It gives researchers access to microdata that had been used to compile national tax statistics for further analysis. Most of the data held by NTS

Nov. 17, 2020

Korean economy maintaining recovery momentum amid pandemic: finance minister

The South Korean economy is maintaining its recovery momentum amid the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, the country's chief economic policymaker said Tuesday. During a conference call with global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's (S&P) earlier in the day, Hong discussed the country's overall economic situation and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Every year, delegations from key global credit rating agencies visit South Kor

Nov. 17, 2020

[News Focus] Korea 6th highest in household debt in OECD

SEJONG -- South Korean households saw their collective debt reach 191 percent of their net disposal income as of 2019, up from the ratio of 184 percent posted a year earlier, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed. As a result, Korea placed at sixth on the list of OECD countries in the household debt-disposal income ratio last year, up from No. 8 in 2018. The France-based organization compared the latest available data for 33 of its total 37 members. The ex

Nov. 17, 2020

Fitch holds negative outlook on Hyundai Motor amid pandemic

Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it holds a negative outlook on two South Korean carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. -- due to uncertainties over the COVID-19 pandemic and hefty quality-related expenses. Fitch holds the BBB+ rating for the two Korean carmakers with negative outlook despite their "resilient performance" since the start of the pandemic this year. Hyundai and Kia's operations and profitability have been resilient so far, and Fitch expects

Nov. 17, 2020

Half of people in S. Korea's rural areas aged 65 and older in 2019

Nearly half of the population in South Korea's farming areas was aged 65 and older last year as younger people flocked to cities for education and jobs, data showed Tuesday. The portion of those aged 65 and above accounted for 46.6 percent of the total population residing in rural areas last year, sharply up from 4.9 percent in 1970, according to Statistics Korea. The number of people engaged in the farming industry came to 2.25 million in 2019, down 84.4 percent from 14.42 million in 1970. S

Nov. 17, 2020

S. Korea, Cambodia to hold 4th round of FTA talks

South Korea will hold the fourth round of free trade talks with Cambodia this week as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio in Southeast Asia, the trade ministry said Tuesday. The three-day virtual meetings, slated to start Wednesday, will focus on general rules, origin of country, customs clearance, market access and other issues. The two sides have held three rounds of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) this year with a goal to finalize a draft by year-end. T

Nov. 17, 2020

Service output in major cities, provinces dips in Q3 on virus fallout

Combined service output in major cities and provinces declined 1.7 percent on-year in the third quarter as the new coronavirus outbreak hit the service sector involving face-to-face contact, data showed Tuesday. Service output in six cities and nine provinces retreated in the July-September period, with Incheon, west of Seoul, suffering the biggest on-year fall with an 11.6 percent decline, according to the data from Statistics Korea. "Service output contracted on-year in the third quarte

Nov. 17, 2020

No. of multiple home owners grows by more than 90,000 over past year

The number of multiple home owners in South Korea grew by more than 90,000 over the past year, data showed Tuesday, amid the government's efforts to curb rising home prices. The number of multiple home owners reached 2.28 million as of Nov. 1, 2019, up 92,000 from 2.19 million in the same period of last year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally picked up from a rise of 73,000 posted in the one-year period that ended on Nov. 1, 2018. The portion of people who have more than two houses acc

Nov. 17, 2020

S. Korea likely to give conditional OK to Delivery Hero's acquisition of Woowa

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator is likely to give conditional approval to a $4 billion deal by Germany's Delivery Hero to acquire the nation's top food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers, Delivery Hero officials said Monday. Delivery Hero officials in South Korea said the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) informed them that it would grant permission for the deal on the condition that the German firm sells its food delivery affiliate here, Yogiyo. Officials at the KFTC were not

Nov. 16, 2020

BOK chief discusses COVID-19, digitalization with Asia-Pacific central banks

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol attended a videoconference with central bank representatives from 11 Asia-Pacific nations, the nation’s central bank said Monday. Key topics included the effects of COVID-19 on the economy. The 25th Executives’ Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks was a follow-up to a similar meeting held Aug. 19. The long-term effects of the pandemic on the economy, GDP outlooks and the digitalization of central banks were among the topics discussed, the BOK s

Nov. 16, 2020

Lawmakers set to adding ‘employment promotion’ to BOK’s role

South Korean lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties’ latest attempt to amend the law to add the goal of maximum employment to the Bank of Korea’s mandate has been prompting divided response from onlookers as of Monday. The related proposals submitted by lawmakers -- which came as Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been seeing record-high jobless rates -- would be reviewed by the National Assembly’s strategy and finance committee, starting Monday. Unlike the

Nov. 16, 2020

Auto exports slip 3.2% in Oct. on virus pandemic

South Korea's exports of automobiles fell 3.2 percent on-year in October after rebounding briefly the previous month, as the resurgence of COVID-19 cases around the globe hurt consumer sentiment.   Local carmakers shipped a combined 200,666 units of automobiles overseas last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, auto exports edged up 5.8 percent to $4 billion.   During the January-September period, the countr

Nov. 16, 2020

S. Korea to hold 4th round of talks on amending FTA with Chile

South Korea will hold the fourth round of negotiations with Chile this week on revising their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) that went into effect in 2004, Seoul's trade ministry said Monday. The two-day videoconference talks, which are set to begin Tuesday, will focus on expanding the scope of free trade and updating terms of the 15-year-old FTA, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two sides will also hold discussions on five categories -- goo

Nov. 16, 2020

Chips, displays boost S. Korea's ICT exports in Oct.

South Korea's outbound shipments of information and communication technology (ICT) products rose 6 percent in October from a year earlier due to global demand for the country's semiconductors and displays, data showed Monday. Exports of ICT products stood at $16.4 billion last month, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, marking an on-year rise since June this year. ICT imports stood at $10.2 billion in October, up 9.2 percent over the cited period, leading to a trade surplus

Nov. 16, 2020

Korean Air to buy indebted Asiana, emerging as world's 10th-largest airline

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Monday that it will acquire Asiana Airlines Inc. in a deal valued at 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) that would create the world's 10th-biggest airline by fleets. Korean Air plans to raise 2.5 trillion won via rights offerings early next year. Of the proceeds, it will spend 1.5 trillion won to buy new shares to be sold by Asiana and 300 billion won worth of Asiana perpetual bonds, the company said in a statement. "The company mad

Nov. 16, 2020