Government to finalize minimum wage restructuring plan within January

Within this month the renewed calculation method for the legal minimum wage will be finalized, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday.“The government will announce its draft next week and confirm the final plan within January,” said the fiscal policymaker in a meeting of economic officials held at Seoul Government Complex. The government had recently gestured at partly adjusting the legal wage system, embracing the market’s backlash against the drast

Jan. 4, 2019

Community Chest's new honor society member

Philip Morris Korea Director Kim Byung-chul (left) poses for a photo during an initiation ceremony on Thursday in Seoul for the Community Chest of Korea’s Honor Society, an exclusive club for individuals who have donated at least 100 million won. Kim became the 2,027th member with his latest donation, which will be used to help medically vulnerable social groups, prevent the spread of poverty and reinforce environmental protection projects, the company said.   Credit:PMK

Jan. 4, 2019

S. Korea’s foreign reserves hit record high in Dec.

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves reached a record high level in December, amid a weakening US dollar trend, the central bank said Friday.The total amount of foreign currency holdings stood at $403.69 billion as of the end of December, up $710 million from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. This renewed an earlier record of $403 billion observed in September. The appreciation of nondollar currencies when converted into the greenback was largely attributable to the la

Jan. 4, 2019

Cheong Wa Dae ramps up dialogue with conglomerate executives

President Moon Jae-in’s chief policy adviser held a closed-door meeting with South Korean conglomerate executives late last year, the presidential office confirmed Thursday, in what appeared to be the government’s attempt to address mounting concerns over the country’s economic outlook. According to Cheong Wa Dae, Kim Soo-hyun, presidential chief of staff for policy, met with senior officials at family-controlled conglomerates in late 2018. The meeting was reportedly held at a

Jan. 3, 2019

[News Focus] Will 2019 job market see effect of W54 trillion spending?

SEJONG - During his 2017 presidential campaign, candidate Moon Jae-in promised to create 800,000 jobs if elected. His employment pledge is estimated to have appealed to many voters, including among the youth.The Moon administration has reportedly poured about 54 trillion won ($48.2 billion) in taxpayer money, involving a supplementary budget and stabilization fund, into the employment-related segment over the past 20 months. But the result at the present stage falls far short of the stated goal,

Jan. 3, 2019

FDI pledges to S. Korea hit record high in 2018

New foreign direct investment pledged to South Korea rose to the highest level ever last year, led by rising interest in the nation's high-tech industries and startups in emerging sectors, government data showed Thursday.South Korea received $26.9 billion worth of FDI commitments in 2018, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It was the fourth consecutive year to surpass the $20 billion mark.  The actual investment made by foreign comp

Jan. 3, 2019

Ministry takes legal action against whistle-blowing official

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday it will level criminal charges against a former official for making public remarks accusing the Moon Jae-in government of forcing bond issuance and interfering in corporate personnel affairs.But the high-profile figures who were directly mentioned in the accusation -- including former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon -- have continued their silence amid the snowballing controversy.“The ministry will submit a bill of indictment against former

Jan. 2, 2019

47% of self-employed to lay off workers, cut back hiring

Approximately half of South Korea’s self-employed businesses plan to lay off employees or cut back on hiring this year, according to a survey released Wednesday.Incruit, an online recruiting service, conducted the survey with 240 self-employed participants, asking whether their business decisions in 2019 will be effected by the Cabinet’s decision to pass the revised Minimum Wage Act.  The decree obliges employers to provide workers with paid leave depending on their weekly worki

Jan. 2, 2019

GM Korea repositions vehicle prices to revive sales

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Tuesday that it has cut the prices of mainstay models in an effort to revive lackluster sales.Starting Tuesday, GM Korea slashed the prices of its major models, such as the Impala sedan and the Trax and Equinox sport-utility vehicle, by up to 3 million won ($2,700), the company said in a statement. The company expects its “customer-focused pricing approach” to strengthen the position of those key Chevrolet vehicles in th

Jan. 1, 2019

Korea's exports hit record high in 2018

South Korea's exports hit an all-time high last year on brisk sales of memory chips and petrochemical goods, government data showed Tuesday.Outbound shipments came to $605.5 billion for 2018, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports jumped 11.8 percent on-year to $535 billion last year for a trade surplus of $70.5 billion, marking 10th consecutive year the country exported more goods than it bought, the ministry sai

Jan. 1, 2019

[News Focus] Widening economic gulf presents another headache for Moon in 2019

SEJONG -- As the new year approaches, so does the middle phase of President Moon Jae-in’s 60-month tenure.The coming 20 months could be a time for Moon to respond to the concerns of citizens, the majority of whom are asking him to walk back his North Korea-oriented policy focus and prioritize the economy in the South.Statistics indicate that one of the biggest concerns of ordinary people is the increasing polarization of society -- a problem aggravated by the recent jump in apartment price

Dec. 31, 2018

Slower consumer price growth rate reflects fuel tax cut, lower gas fees

South Korea’s consumer prices in December grew at the slowest pace in five months due to government cuts of the fuel tax and gas fees, but prices of agricultural goods and dining out maintained a steady uptrend, data showed Monday.The consumer price index for December rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier, down 0.3 percent from the previous month and marking the lowest on-year rise since the 1.1 percent observed in July, according to the data released by Statistics Korea.The rate of increas

Dec. 31, 2018

Korea's consumer prices rise 1.3% on-year in December

South Korea's consumer prices rose 1.3 percent in December from a year earlier on gains in agricultural and industrial goods and the service sector, government data showed Monday.The reading represents a decline from the previous month's 2 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the index fell 0.3 percent.South Korea's consumer prices rose 1.5 percent for all of 2018, down from 1.9 percent in 2017.South Korea's central bank has said that it

Dec. 31, 2018

A new beginning of patent examination cooperation

Patents, which are the exclusive rights granted for creative ideas and innovative inventions, can be considered one of the driving forces behind technological innovation, industrial competitiveness, and economic growth. Paul Romer, an American economist at New York University and co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in economics, demonstrated through his life’s research that investment in technology encouraged by patents can bolster economies. This is all the more evident in business setti

Dec. 30, 2018

Children inheriting more than 100 million won from parents soars

The number of South Korean children inheriting more than 100 million won ($89,526) from their parents shot up in 2017 from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as the government vowed to reduce tax deductions down the road.According to the data compiled by the National Tax Service, the agency imposed taxes on 146,337 cases of inheritance in 2017, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier. The combined amount of gift tax collected came to 24.5 trillion won, up 6.5 trillion won over the cited period.Inhe

Dec. 30, 2018

Conflict between gov, biz owners escalates on new wage

The conflict between the government and business owners has intensified in South Korea ahead of the scheduled implementation of a new wage system that obligates employers to give paid leave to workers, industry watchers said Sunday.Under South Korean law, an employer must provide employees with paid leave depending on their weekly work hours. For example, if an employee works 40 hours a week, he or she must be granted extra pay worth eight hours of labor every week.It not only applies to re

Dec. 30, 2018

S. Korean economy to grow in mid-2% range in 2019: poll

South Korea's economy is expected to grow in the mid-2 percent range in 2019 as exports, private consumption and construction-related investment are expected to take a hit, a poll carried out on the heads of local think tanks showed Sunday.The survey conducted by Yonhap News Agency on seven leading economists, such as Choi Jeong-pyo, president of the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and Chang Ji-sang, head of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), showed growth predicti

Dec. 30, 2018

Average daily wage of SME production workers rises 1.5% in H2

The average daily wage of production workers at small and medium-sized enterprises stood at 88,503 won ($79.2) in the second half this year, up 1.5 percent from the previous six-month period, data showed Sunday.The latest findings that checked 1,200 companies with annual sales exceeding 3 billion won and having more than 10 workers also showed wages rising 13.4 percent on-year.The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KBIZ) that compiled the data said that of the 118 types of occupation

Dec. 30, 2018

Korea's Nov. trade terms plunge at fastest clip in more than 7 years

South Korea's terms of trade plunged at the sharpest pace in more than seven years last month due to higher crude oil prices, central bank data showed Friday.The terms of trade index for products dropped for 12 straight months to reach a four-year low of 90.49, down 10.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It is the fastest on-year decline since October 2011, when the index lost 11 percent.The index measures the amount of imports a country can p

Dec. 28, 2018

Korea's industrial output falls 0.7% in Nov.

South Korea's industrial output fell 0.7 percent in November from a month earlier due in part to decreased exports of semiconductors and a decline in production in the service sector, government data showed Friday.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropping 1.7 percent on-month in November.It said semiconductors output fell 5.2 percent in November from a month earlier as chip exports declined 18.9 percent during th

Dec. 28, 2018