FSC replaces 3 senior deputy governors at FSS

      South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday it had replaced three senior deputy governors at the Financial Supervisory Service, appointing the incumbent head of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit as the FSS’s first senior deputy governor. Kim Geun-ik was officially named as the financial watchdog’s first senior deputy governor by the Financial Services Commission during its temporary meeting on Thursday morning, officials said. The KoFIU

June 4, 2020

NTS launches tax evasion probe into Starbucks Korea

The National Tax Service has launched a special probe into allegations of tax evasion by Starbucks Korea, according to local media outlets Thursday. The Seoul office of the NTS has conducted an irregular tax investigation into allegations the US coffee chain rigged prices of raw materials and products while importing them from its overseas branches, according to terrestrial broadcaster SBS. In May, the tax agency secured audit books and computerized data from Starbucks Korea’s head offi

June 4, 2020

S. Korea to allow consumers to get foreign currencies via delivery service

SEJONG -- South Korea will allow consumers to get foreign currencies via a no-contact delivery service if they change the Korean won into foreign currencies through a digital platform, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday. The move is part of the government's efforts to ease regulations as it seeks to revive economic growth and promote contactless industrial sectors amid the coronavirus pandemic. To spur competition in foreign exchange transactions, the government will also allow broke

June 4, 2020

S. Korea suffers largest current account deficit in nearly decade in April

South Korea suffered the largest current account deficit in almost a decade in April due mainly to a sharp decline in exports caused by the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The country posted a current account deficit of $3.12 billion in the month, marking a turnaround from a $5.96 billion surplus the month before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the largest current account deficit since January 2011. The deficit also came

June 4, 2020

S. Korean economy could contract over 2% in Q2: finance minister

South Korea‘s economy may contract by more than 2 percent in the second quarter of this year as the country reels from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s top economic policymaker said Wednesday. 　 In a interview with Yonhap News TV, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while the country‘s real gross domestic product (GDP) posted minus 1.3 percent growth in the first quarter of 2020, compared with three months earlier, that number could fall into the lower negat

June 3, 2020

Extra budget to push debt-GDP ratio to record-high, rattle fiscal soundness

Despite the rosy picture painted by the government about its third supplementary budget of 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) announced Wednesday, concerns are rising about the nation’s fiscal soundness as national debt will increase by around 100 trillion won, propelling the debt-gross domestic ratio to a record-high. The proposal follows the first and second supplementary budgets worth a combined 23.9 trillion won, allocated in recent months, to minimize the economic fallout from the COVI

June 3, 2020

S. Korea unveils W35.3tr extra budget plan to brace for post-coronavirus era

South Korea has finalized the single-largest supplementary budget worth 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion), marking its third set of extra fiscal spending in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. The supplementary budget bill was approved in an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held at Seoul Government Complex to overcome the economic crisis and brace for the forthcoming post-coronavirus era. It is slated to be submitted to the National Assembly on T

June 3, 2020

Korean companies' revenue, profitability down in 2019

South Korean businesses suffered a heavy setback in their profits last year due to a sharp decline in sales partly caused by a prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, central bank data showed Wednesday. The combined sales of South Korean firms dipped 1 percent from a year earlier in 2019, marking a turnaround from a 4.2 percent on-year increase the year before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The sharp drop in sales is apparently attributed to

June 3, 2020

S. Korea proposes largest-ever extra budget to battle pandemic

SEJONG -- South Korea on Wednesday proposed another extra budget plan worth 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) that will help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. The biggest-ever budget, which is subject to approval from the National Assembly, will raise the total of the nation's stimulus packages to 270 trillion won as the government has stepped up fiscal and monetary responses to the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

June 3, 2020

S. Korea’s GDP shrinks by 1.3% amid falling per capita income

South Korea’s real gross domestic product shrank 1.3 percent on-quarter in the first quarter of this year, nearly missing its previous forecast of 1.4 percent, data from the Bank of Korea showed Tuesday. Through the contraction was 0.1 percentage point lower than the earlier estimate, it marked the largest on-quarter drop since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the country was reeling from the global financial crisis and the corresponding figure stood at 3.3 percent. The country’s

June 2, 2020

Korea faces first dip in annual inflation in 8 months

South Korea’s consumer prices shed 0.3 percent on-year in May, marking the first annual contraction in eight months, due to the fall in global oil prices and the persisting COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The consumer price index for May stood at 104.71, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier and down 0.2 percentage point from a month earlier, according to data tallied by Statistics Korea. This was the second time that the annual inflation rate fell below zero since th

June 2, 2020

S. Korea's corporate loans rise at over decade high rate in Q1

Loans extended to companies in South Korea jumped at the fastest rate in more than 10 years in the first quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently on a rise in demand from businesses hit by the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic. The outstanding amount of corporate loans came to 1,259.2 trillion won ($1.03 trillion) at end-March, up 51.4 trillion won from three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the largest on-quart

June 2, 2020

Pork price on rise amid pandemic

The price of pork increased in May from a year earlier as a growing number of people preferred preparing meals at home amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The average wholesale price of pork reached 5,115 won ($4.18) per kilogram in May, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of pigs slaughtered in May reached 1.4 million units, up 1.5 percent from the month's average, it added.

June 2, 2020

S. Korea, Australia to broaden ties in green energy segment

South Korea and Australia agreed Tuesday to beef up cooperation in the energy segment to continue to expand the use of environment friendly resources despite the rising uncertainties stemming from the new coronavirus pandemic. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo and his Australian counterpart, Keith Pitt, held a virtual meeting, and they vowed to forge deeper ties especially as the pandemic has put strain on and caused uncertainties in the global resources market, according to the Ministry of Trade,

June 2, 2020

Korea's inflation dips 0.3% in May, first fall in 8 months

SEJONG -- South Korea's consumer prices fell 0.3 percent on-year in May due mainly to a fall in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first annual decline in eight months, data showed Tuesday. The May tally compares with a 0.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. The nation's inflation fell 0.2 percent on-month, the data showed. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, rose 0.5 percent from a year earli

June 2, 2020

Korea's Q1 growth revised up, but further contraction in store in Q2

South Korea's economy shrank at a slightly less-than-expected rate in the first quarter but is projected to face a deeper contraction in the current quarter due to the growing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Tuesday. The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.3 percent from three months earlier in the January-March period, 0.1 percentage point lower than the expected 1.4 percent contraction in advance data, according to the Bank of Korea

June 2, 2020

S. Korea to invest $15m in ADB funds

  The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday they will invest $15 million (18.4 billion won) in the Asian Development Bank’s upcoming new fund program to help early-stage startups here to expand their business into Southeast Asia regions.  The Ventures Facility Investment Fund is aimed at financing small and medium-sized companies in business sectors like agriculture, public sanitation or fintech that foster sustainable economic growth in Southeast A

June 1, 2020

S. Korea sharply cuts this year's growth outlook amid pandemic, but expects strong rebound in 2021

South Korea on Monday sharply slashed its growth estimate for the year, but expected a strong economic rebound next year on the back of massive fiscal spending, vowing to adopt "all possible means" to help Asia's fourth-largest economy chug along amid the pandemic. The finance ministry revised down its growth outlook to 0.1 percent from the 2.4 percent forecast late last year. Such a sharp cut follows the outbreak of the new coronavirus that has infected more than 6 million people g

June 1, 2020

‘Single-largest extra budget’ sought to deal with COVID-19 fallout

South Korea’s government and ruling party on Monday vowed to effectuate “the single-largest supplementary budget ever” within this month to head off the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking synergy with the upcoming “mega budget,” the country also rolled out its economic policy road map for the second half of the year, including its own version of the “New Deal” package. “The government plans to submit the supplementary budget bill

June 1, 2020

S. Korea’s exports fail to recover in May

South Korea’s exports continued to fall in May, marking a double-digit percentage decline for the second consecutive month, according to a government report on Monday. The extended decline was largely due to the global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry explained. Shipments of semiconductor products, however, bounced back, which alleviated the extended decline, it added. The nation’s outbound shipments in May dropped by 23.7 percent on-year to $34.8 bill

June 1, 2020