Self-employed high earners’ tax evasion totals W10tr in decade

The amount of evaded income taxes from self-employed high earners in South Korea totaled nearly 10 trillion won ($8.58 billion) from 2010 to 2019, according to data compiled by the National Tax Service. The report, submitted to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and parliamentary finance committee member Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, showed that the nation’s tax agency investigated 7,760 business owners with high income. Over the past 10 years, these taxpayers reduced their accumulated

Sept. 20, 2020

'Vaccine nationalism' likely to delay end of coronavirus pandemic: BOK

South Korea’s central bank warned Sunday that efforts by individual nations to prioritize their own citizens over others for access to a future coronavirus vaccine are likely to push back the time frame for the pandemic’s end. “There are projections that development of some of the vaccines will be complete by the second half of 2021,” the Bank of Korea said in its regular report on the global economy. “But there is a possibility that the end of the coronavirus p

Sept. 20, 2020

Disaster relief fund payments to kick off before Chuseok

South Korea’s government will start handing out the emergency relief funds tailored for the socially vulnerable early next week, in time for the Chuseok holiday that starts on Sept. 30, officials said Sunday. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, small-sized merchants, non-standard contract employees, and families with young children will start to receive the special allowance on Sept. 28-29. The

Sept. 20, 2020

Science ministry, OECD to hold videoconference to promote tech cooperation

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said Sunday it will hold a joint videoconference with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to forge closer ties in key technology sectors. Officials from the ministry and the OECD will exchange views on the upcoming post-coronavirus digital era, and how to handle advances in neurotechnology innovations in the online workshop, which runs from Monday through Thursday. "International cooperation in the digital tech realm

Sept. 20, 2020

Researchers develop cheap, long-lasting catalyst to extract hydrogen from water

South Korean researchers have developed an affordable and long-lasting electrocatalyst that can cleanly and efficiently extract hydrogen from water, a state-run science institute said Sunday. A team of researchers led by Yoo Sung-jong has made a special catalyst that can produce hydrogen without relying on expensive platinum, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) said. It said the new process also overcomes the main shortcomings of non-platinum-based electrocatalyst that suffere

Sept. 20, 2020

S. Korea's seaport cargo down 18% on coronavirus

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell 18.2 percent in August in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, government data showed Sunday. Cargo handled at the country's ports came to 117.34 million tons last month, down from 143.43 million tons a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo shrank 19.7 percent on-year to 100.8 million tons last month, leading the overall decline. Hit by the coronavirus pandemic, container car

Sept. 20, 2020

S. Koreans drink 8.5 days per month on average: poll

South Koreans on average consumed alcoholic beverages 8.5 days per month in 2019, a poll showed Sunday, with a growing number of people drinking at home this year due to the virus pandemic. It marked a slight drop from 8.8 days posted in 2017 and 2018, according to the report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Around 43 percent of South Koreans picked beer as the most preferred type of alcoholic beverage, followed by soju, a distilled liquor made with grain, with

Sept. 20, 2020

S. Korea to expand emergency loans for virus-hit small biz

The South Korean government has rolled up its sleeves once again to help virus-battered small businesses. Next Wednesday it plans to expand its ongoing emergency loan program for merchants and entrepreneurs, and a Finance Ministry representative said it will also try to minimize the impact of the lockdown measures on the economy. 　 “The government has raised the credit limit on the second round of its emergency lending program, from the previous 10 million won ($8,620) to 20 million won

Sept. 18, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic accelerates digital transformation: finance minister

SEJONG -- The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating digital transformation and the world needs to prepare for this structural change in a post-pandemic era, South Korea's finance minister has said. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks at an online meeting of the Group of 20 Finance and Health Ministers on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement. Hong said the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and contactless solutions in businesses and society, while increasing the

Sept. 18, 2020

Fiscal chief urges for extra budget approval by next Tuesday

South Korea’s fiscal chief on Thursday asked the National Assembly to approve the recently submitted fourth supplementary budget bill by early next week, aiming at handing out emergency relief funds ahead of the Chuseok holiday. He also pledged to help small business owners digitalize their operations by providing online delivery systems to offline stores and traditional markets, in an extended effort to revamp the economy in the post-coronavirus era. “Sept. 22 is the eff

Sept. 17, 2020

[News Focus] Korea’s national debt to top 800 trillion won

SEJONG -- South Korea’s national debt is projected to surpass 800 trillion won ($682 billion) in the coming weeks, marking the first time in its history. The growth pace is proving serious in the wake of the government’s active allocation of supplementary budgets. The national debt is a core indicator for fiscal soundness, reflecting liabilities held by the central and local governments at home and abroad. According to the National Assembly Budget Office, the sovereign debt was es

Sept. 17, 2020

Toss users spend 65% of cash relief within month: data

Users of Toss, a local financial services app operated by Viva Republica, spent 65 percent of their disaster relief funds in less than a month, the company said Thursday, referring to its data analysis. According to the estimate, 65 percent of the total 395.2 billion won ($336.5 million) in spending by 778,000 recipients was spent before end-May, after the Korean government started to dole out some 14 trillion won to every Korean household that month. Viva Republica compiled the data from use

Sept. 17, 2020

Kia halts 2 domestic plants following confirmed COVID-19 cases

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Thursday it has suspended two of its domestic plants as at least eight workers have been confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus. Kia halted the operations of two plants in Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, from late Wednesday and sent all of the 6,000 plant workers home, a company spokesman said over the phone. "As of 3:30 p.m., nine assembly line workers were confirmed to have been infected with the virus," he sai

Sept. 17, 2020

Seoul, Beijing begin irregular flights amid pandemic

South Korea and China on Thursday began to operate irregular flights to allow Korean residents in China who returned here due to the coronavirus outbreak to go back, the transport ministry said. Korean Air Lines Co. and Xiamen Airlines will offer a total of seven flights from Incheon, west of Seoul, to Qingdao, Zhengzhou and Xiamen from Thursday until Oct. 15, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. All passengers are required to submit the results of a coronavirus te

Sept. 17, 2020

Finance minister asks lawmakers to approve extra budget by next Tuesday

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday asked the National Assembly to approve a fourth supplementary budget by early next week, in order to give emergency handouts to small merchants ahead of the Chuseok holiday season. The ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party reached an agreement earlier this week to vote on the fourth extra budget bill this coming Tuesday. That day is a potential deadline for the government to provide relief handouts to small mercha

Sept. 17, 2020

Retail investors pour huge money into domestic, overseas stocks

South Korean retail investors have poured nearly 100 trillion won ($85.2 billion) into domestic and overseas stocks this year amid ample liquidity and low interest rates, data showed Thursday. Individual investors' net buying of shares traded on the country's main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets came to 55.9 trillion won as of Wednesday this year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Investor deposits at brokerage houses for stock investment stood at 56.7 trillion won as of Tuesd

Sept. 17, 2020

S. Korea to take top spot in economic growth for 2020: OECD

Acknowledging South Korea’s relatively effective control of COVID-19 and its appropriate fiscal response, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently increased its outlook for Asia’s fourth-largest economy this year, officials said Wednesday. It also reiterated the need to sustain expansionary fiscal policies, warning that hasty belt-tightening as the economy is slowly recovering could dampen growth prospects for next year. In its biannual Interim Economic

Sept. 16, 2020

S. Korea’s food prices hike to third highest among OECD states

South Korea’s food price inflation last month ranked the third highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, due to the record-long summer monsoon season soon followed by consecutive typhoons, data showed Wednesday. The prices for groceries and nonalcoholic beverages for August was up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the OECD and Statistics Korea. This on-year rise was third highest among the 22 OECD member states th

Sept. 16, 2020

CJ Group's Lee Mie-kyung elected as vice chairwoman of Academy Museum

South Korean entertainment giant CJ Group executive Lee Mie-kyung, widely known as Miky Lee, has been chosen as vice chairwoman of the board of the Academy Museum opening next year in Los Angeles. According to the homepage of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Wednesday, its board of trustees has appointed Netflix's CEO Ted Sarandos as chair and Miky Lee as vice-chair. Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos was named treasurer, while producer Kimberly Steward was reelected as secretary.

Sept. 16, 2020

KB Financial chairman likely to serve another 3-year term

KB Financial Group said Wednesday it has selected chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo as the final candidate for the post of chief of the South Korean banking giant. Yoon, who has been leading KB Financial since 2014, will begin a third three-year term as KB Financial chairman if approved at the KB Financial's extraordinary shareholders' meeting in November. Under his leadership, KB Financial has been racing to expand non-banking business in a bid to diversify its revenue sources. (Yonhap)

Sept. 16, 2020