Korea's current account surplus narrows in Aug.

South Korea's current account remained in the black for the fourth consecutive month in August, but its surplus narrowed sharply from a year earlier amid a steady decline in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday.The country's current account surplus came to $5.27 billion in the month, compared with a $8.55 billion surplus in the same month last year and a $6.95 billion surplus a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The goods account surplus has been more than h

Oct. 8, 2019

Prices of apartments in redeveloped Seoul areas soar 53% in 4 years

The average sale price of real estate in redeveloped apartment complexes in Seoul has soared more than 50 percent over the past four years, data showed Monday.According to data submitted by the state-run Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation to the parliamentary land committee, the average sale price per pyeong for reconstructed apartments stood at 31.5 million won ($26,345) as of this year. A pyeong is a unit of area used in real estate measuring, equivalent to 3.3 square meters. This

Oct. 7, 2019

[Monitor] Rosy prospects for Samsung Electronics’ Q3 earnings

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics is expected to see its third quarter earnings come in well over market consensus, according to forecast by Korea Investment & Securities. Next year’s operating profit will be even greater, the securities firm predicted in its report.The revenue of Samsung in the latest quarter will be around 65.8 trillion won and its operating profit sime 7.4 trillion, each exceeding earlier predictions by 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, the rep

Oct. 6, 2019

[News Focus] Portion of optimists over economy stays at 13%: poll

SEJONG -- A variety of polls show that the public disapproval rating for President Moon Jae-in now outstrips his approval rating.According to a survey from Gallup Korea, the portion of respondents who expressed negative opinion toward the president, exceeded the supporters for him for the sixth consecutive week since August.In the pollster’s latest survey, conducted on Oct. 1-2, 51 percent of the 1,000 citizens polled expressed disapproval of Moon’s performance, while the approval ra

Oct. 6, 2019

S. Korea sees steepest drop in exports among key economies

South Korea marked the steepest drop in export volume so far this year among the world’s top 10 exporters, data showed.Korea’s export slowdown was especially noticeable in July, due partly to the slowdown in overall world trade volume and the drop in prices of semiconductors and petroleum products. Exports to China, in particular, dropped significantly by 16.6 percent from the previous month.  The month coincides with when Japan started to impose export curbs on key materials cr

Oct. 6, 2019

China-Taiwan dispute may further undermine S. Korean exports: report

China's political dispute with Taiwan may add to regional risks created by protest rallies in Hong Kong that could further undermine South Korea's exports to its neighbors, a central bank report suggested Sunday.South Korean exports have dipped for 10 consecutive months since December amid the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, the world's largest importers of South Korean goods."Considering the country's close financial and trade relations with the countries, a ch

Oct. 6, 2019

Seniors main income earners for poorest households: data

Seniors are the chief breadwinners for South Korea's poorest households, with such family units generally having less than one member holding a steady job, data showed Saturday.According to the data from Statistics Korea, the average age of the chief breadwinners for households making up the bottom 20 percent of the income tier stood at 63.8 years between 2003 and 2019.  Asia's fourth-largest economy became an aged society -- one in which 14 percent of the population is over 65 -- in 2017,

Oct. 5, 2019

S. Korea's economic fundamentals remain solid: Moody's

A senior official of global rating agency Moody's Investors Service has said that the overall fundamentals of the South Korean economy are solid, the finance ministry said Friday.Moody's managing director of sovereign risk, Yves Lemay, made the comment in a meeting with South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom in London after Kim asked Moody's to take into account South Korea's policies in evaluating its rating on Seoul. Lemay said geopolitical risks constrained South Korea's rating, th

Oct. 4, 2019

Finance Ministry hits back at Bloomberg in defense of ‘J-nomics’

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has disputed a Bloomberg column that accused the Moon Jae-in administration’s inclusive growth policies as “socialist,” officials said Wednesday.Bloomberg on Monday posted a letter to the editor, written by Seoul’s First Vice Minister Kim Yong-beom in response to an earlier column titled “What’s worse than corrupt billionaires? Socialism.”The original column by Shuli Ren, an opinion columnist covering Asian markets, ap

Oct. 2, 2019

S. Korea likely to miss growth target: finance minister

South Korea is unlikely to achieve its growth target this year, the finance minister said Wednesday, as exports slowed amid trade tensions with Japan and an ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China.When asked by a lawmaker whether South Korea can pull off its 2.4 percent or 2.5 percent growth target, Hong Nam-ki said in a parliamentary audit that "it appears difficult to achieve it."It is not the first time that Hong voiced skepticism about South Korea's economic grow

Oct. 2, 2019

Online shopping hits record high in August

The total value of goods purchased via online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in August, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things, ranging from clothes to electronic goods.The total value of online transactions reached 11.25 trillion won ($9.3 billion) in August, the highest level since Statistics Korea started collecting data on online shopping in January 2001. From a year earlier, the val

Oct. 2, 2019

S&P cuts S. Korea's growth outlook to 1.8% this year

Global rating agency Standard & Poor's said Tuesday that it slashed its growth forecast for South Korea's economy this year to 1.8 percent amid the global economic slowdown.The latest estimate represented a downward revision from its previous 2 percent forecast in July.  S&P said that the South Korean economy could grow 2.1 percent in 2020, also down from its previous forecast of 2.6 percent. The rating agency said eroding confidence in the outlook is intensifying the investment-led

Oct. 1, 2019

S. Korea sees first negative inflation in September, denies deflation

South Korea saw its inflation drop for the first time in September due to weakened demand and decreased prices of agricultural and petroleum products, government data showed Tuesday.Though the latest figures rekindled concerns on long-term deflation and speculations on an imminent rate cut, policymakers argued that recent fluctuations were only temporary. Consumer prices slipped 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the first on-year decrease in inflation since the related data w

Oct. 1, 2019

S. Korea logs first drop in inflation in September

South Korea's headline inflation dropped for the first time in September due to declines in prices of agricultural products and stabilizing petroleum prices, the statistics agency said Tuesday.South Korea's consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the first on-year drop in inflation since Statistics Korea began compiling related data in 1965. The statistics agency said the record low consumer prices are blamed on a fall in prices of agricultural products, stabil

Oct. 1, 2019

Korea's exports down for 10th month on trade rows, chips

South Korea's exports sank 11.7 percent in September from a year earlier, extending their slump to a 10th consecutive month, data showed Tuesday, hurt by still weak prices of semiconductors and the yearlong trade row between the United States and China. Outbound shipments reached $44.7 billion last month, compared with the $50.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports fell 5.6 percent on-year last month to $38.7 billion

Oct. 1, 2019

S. Korea sees key industrial indexes rise in August

South Korea saw its production, consumption and investment rise last month, on the back of the launch of Samsung’s flagship smartphones and increased imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, government data showed Monday.This marked the first time in five months that all three industrial indexes climbed simultaneously but also came amid stalled exports and mounting external uncertainties.According to monthly industrial figures compiled by Statistics Korea, the industrial productio

Sept. 30, 2019

Industrial output up for 2nd consecutive month in August

South Korea's industrial output advanced for the second straight month last month on the back of a rise in the service sector, government data showed Monday.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the country's overall industrial output rose 0.5 percent in August from a month earlier.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 1.4 percent last month from a month earlier due mainly to decreased output in cars. Meanwhile, the output of the service sector incre

Sept. 30, 2019

[News Focus] Real estate mortgages hinder economic growth

SEJONG -- Household debt in South Korea has hogged the limelight in recent decades.The nation’s collective household debt has continued to rise in the wake of active credit card issuance, mortgage loans, student loans for college tuition and loans taken by the self-employed.Apart from first-tier commercial banks, secondary lenders -- such as capital services firms, credit card issuers and savings banks -- have engaged in cutthroat competition for household lending.Registered private moneyl

Sept. 29, 2019

BOK chief admits growth challenges, denies deflation

The chief of South Korea’s central bank recognized the country’s challenges in achieving its modest 2.2 percent economic growth pace target for this year, but denied the possibility of deflation.While vowing to maintain the current monetary easing policy moves, he also stressed the need to stay “data dependent,” refraining from asserting the economic outlook for the second half and next year.“As major economies further ease their monetary policies, the concerns on g

Sept. 29, 2019

S. Korea ranks 20th in Allianz wealth report

South Korea ranked 20th out of 53 countries surveyed by German insurer Allianz Group in terms of per capita financial assets last year, according to its report on Sunday.According to the recently released Allianz Global Wealth Report, Koreans' financial assets stood at an average of 39 million won ($33,000) per person in 2018, slightly up from a year earlier. Last year, the United States topped the list with per capita financial assets of 240 million won, followed by Switzerland with per capita

Sept. 29, 2019