[News Focus] Pohang quake to bolster talks on Moon’s nuke-free vision

The Pohang earthquake on Wednesday that has rekindled national anxiety over the safety of nuclear power plants -- mostly located in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula -- is likely to add momentum to the Moon Jae-in government’s nuclear-free energy road map.Anti-nuclear groups here anticipate the agenda may even rethink the recent decision to continue with the construction of new reactors.“Earthquakes in Korea are all the more dangerous as they may hit upon nuclear power pl

Nov. 16, 2017

[Monitor] More foreign residents in South Korea

The number of residents with foreign nationalities and those who have naturalized living in South Korea has reached 1.76 million as of 2016, 3.4 percent of the entire population, data by Statistics Korea released by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security showed. This is a 3.1 percent increase from 2015, and a threefold surge from 2006 when the first set of statistics was gathered.Most, or 32.4 percent, were residing in Gyeonggi Province followed by 22.9 percent in Seoul and 6.5 perce

Nov. 16, 2017

High-skilled expatriates needed for economic growth: BOK Busan

One third of foreign expatriates residing in Busan were found to be low-skilled laborers with insufficient capacity to spend, a report by the Bank of Korea’s Busan office showed Thursday. A spokesperson from the BOK Busan voiced the opinion that the influx of foreign residents should be selective to encourage contributions to local economic growth.According to report by the central bank office, in 2015, Busan -- as Korea’s second-largest city -- had 3.5 percent of the total foreign p

Nov. 16, 2017

New KITA chairman to focus on fostering SMEs

Kim Young-joo, who was officially elected as the new chairman of the Korea International Trade Association on Thursday, said he would focus on helping Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises thrive on a global level.  　“Korea’s SMEs account for a small share of exports compared to other advanced countries,” said Kim, during a press conference held at the InterContinental Seoul Coex on Thursday.　“We will seek various support measures to enable SMEs and start-

Nov. 16, 2017

Finance chief to reflect biz community's ideas in policy

South Korea's finance minister said Thursday that he will take into account the business community's ideas in crafting policy, calling entrepreneurs "partners for economic development."Kim Dong-yeon made the pledge to Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during their meeting in central Seoul.The policymaker also praised businessmen as key people behind innovative growth. Park delivered the business community's proposals on the current economic situati

Nov. 16, 2017

Finance minister, Chinese ambassador hold talks to bolster economic cooperation

South Korea's top economic policymaker on Thursday met with the Chinese ambassador to Seoul to discuss ways to bolster economic cooperation following the latest efforts to improve bilateral relations."I highly anticipate that the economic ties between South Korea and China will become stronger," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a meeting with Beijing envoy Qui Guohong.Seoul-Beijing relations have been at its lowest ebb due to China's protest against the deployment of the THAAD mi

Nov. 16, 2017

[Monitor] 1997 financial crisis dealt biggest blow: survey

More than half of South Korean people think the effect of 1997 Asian financial crisis still has an influence on society and their daily lives, a survey by the Korea Development Institute showed.South Korea suffered a slump in its currency and sharp devaluation in its stock markets and asset prices in 1997, eventually forced to turn to a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. In the survey, 57.4 percent of the 1,000 respondents said the financial crisis was the most difficult perio

Nov. 15, 2017

Korea may fall behind global recovery

The Korean economy may be decoupled from robust global economic recovery next year, held back by a slump in domestic demand and uncertainties in external conditions, economists here say.The International Monetary Fund recently revised up its global economic growth outlook for next year from 3.6 percent to 3.7 percent, while forecasting the world economy would expand 3.6 percent this year.Emerging market economies were projected to grow 4.9 percent on average in 2018, up from the 4.6 percent esti

Nov. 15, 2017

Startup Ministry launches ‘ScaleUp’ workshop in Changwon

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups launched its three-day Growth Ecosystem ScaleUp Workshop in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday, highlighting a new vision to revitalize the local economy and create more jobs through customized solutions. 　The workshop, which is being held at the Pullman Ambassador Changwon hotel through Friday, is led by professor Daniel Isenberg. It includes participants and key leaders from various fields including public institutions, banks, universities and r

Nov. 15, 2017

Finance minister vows to ease cost burden of higher minimum wage

South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will make efforts to reduce increasing labor costs that small businesses would suffer due to the government-led hike in minimum wage.President Moon Jae-in has pledged to increase the minimum wage to 10,000 won ($8.98) by 2020, as part of his efforts to narrow the income gap and boost private consumption, which may then stimulate the economy.As a first step, the government earlier decided to raise the minimum wage by 16.4 percent t

Nov. 15, 2017

WTO rules in favor of S. Korea over US anti-dumping duties on steel pipes

The World Trade Organization has ruled in favor of South Korea’s complaint that the United States’ anti-dumping duties against Korean steelmakers is in violation of international trade law, according to a statement by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday. 　The ruling comes nearly three years after the Korean government filed a complaint against the US arguing that its profit data calculations for dumping rate margins, which led to the US levying tariffs on oil coun

Nov. 15, 2017

Samsung Electronics board members receive W6.8b won average pay in Q1-Q3

Four Samsung Electronics executives who sit on the company's board of directors received nearly 6.8 billion won ($6.08 million) in pay per person in the first three quarters of this year, the tech firm's report showed Wednesday.The CEOs, all registered members of the board, took away 27.15 billion won during the nine months, averaging 6.78 billion won each. The sum is 2.66 times more than what previous members received during the same months last year, according to the company's third-quarter re

Nov. 15, 2017

Korea's jobless rate drops to 10-month low in Oct.

South Korea's jobless rate dropped to the lowest level in 10 months in October, but the rate of the fall slowed down, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.2 percent last, down 0.2 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it also fell 0.2 percentage point.It marked the lowest rate since December last year, when it hit 3.2 percent.The number of employed people reached 26.85 million in Oc

Nov. 15, 2017

IMF upgrades Korea's economic growth outlook to 3.2% this year

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that it has revised up its growth outlook for South Korea's economy this year to 3.2 percent.The upward revision came a month after the IMF adjusted South Korea's gross domestic product growth to 3 percent."The cyclical recovery is expected to continue. GDP growth is projected at 3.2 percent in 2017 as the momentum in the first three quarters continues," the IMF said in a statement after wrapping up a visit to Seoul by its officials. The IMF

Nov. 14, 2017

Korea, Japan discuss more job opportunities for Koreans in Japan

South Korea and Japan have discussed ways to provide Koreans with more job opportunities in Japan where employment rates rose speedily, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. During his three-day trip to Japan till Tuesday, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama, other senior government officials and heads of main business associations to discuss the issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. In the meetings, both the South Korean and Japanese side

Nov. 14, 2017

Most of Koreans think the 1997 financial crisis caused fallout: survey

More than half of South Korean people think the 1997 Asian financial crisis had an adverse impact on the economy, society and their daily lives, a survey showed Tuesday.Twenty years ago, Asia's fourth-largest economy experienced a slump in its currency and a sharp devaluation in its stock markets and asset prices along with other countries in the region. The country was forced to turn to a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, which demanded that the Seoul government tighten its

Nov. 14, 2017

Govt. to retain budget for anti-smoking programs after heavy criticism

Parliament is to reinstate the reduced budget for anti-smoking programs, sources said Tuesday, following public criticism that the country is neglecting its responsibility despite a rise in revenue brought on by higher cigarette prices.The assembly's budgeting subcommittee on Monday set next year's anti-smoking assistance budget at 146.7 billion won ($131 million), up 13.5 billion won from the prior proposal so as to meet this year's level. The budget needs to pass the health and welfare committ

Nov. 14, 2017

[Monitor] Korea's global market share in exports to break record

With South Korea‘s exports rallying, its global market share is to touch a record high at 3.33 percent this year, a report by the Institute for International Trade, Korea International Trade Association, showed Monday.This is beyond 3.19 percent, the most recent record high, marked in 2015.The buoyant export trend is also expected to significantly help the local economy, with the contribution rate of exports reaching 78.5 percent as of the first nine months this year, the highest mark in f

Nov. 13, 2017

Korea's economy to grow in mid-2% range next year: experts

South Korea's economy is expected to grow in the mid-2 percent range in 2018, slowing down from the 3 percent estimated for this year due to market uncertainties, economists said Monday.In a seminar arranged by the Korea Economic Research Institute, economists from KERI and the LG Economic Research Institute forecast that South Korea's economic growth will dip slightly in the new year. The slower pace of growth is due mainly to external uncertainties such as possible US rate increases and the pl

Nov. 13, 2017

Korea raises concerns over China's cyber security measures in WTO meeting

South Korea has raised issues with China's strict cyber security regulations at a recent meeting of the World Trade Organization, citing concerns of potential trade secret infringement, a trade agency said Monday. The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said it has discussed 33 technical issues with representatives of 16 nations in the WTO's technical barriers to trade committee meeting held from Nov. 7-9 in Geneva. The state agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said it

Nov. 13, 2017