Korea’s unemployment rate falls to 3.4 percent last month

The number of employed people in Korea reached 26.84 million in September, marking the largest monthly employment growth since May, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea on Wednesday. The government data showed that the unemployment rate hit 3.4 percent last month, down 0.2 percentage point from a year ago. The number of newly employed also marked an increase of 314,000 compared to September last year. Korea’s employment rate last month also saw a 0.3 percentage point increas

Oct. 18, 2017

Govt. needs to spend W7.3tr to subsidize 10,000 won minimum wage: report

The Moon Jae-in administration will have to spend over 7.3 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the 2018-2020 period to subsidize the raising of the country's minimum wage to 10,000 won ($8.8) per hour, a report said Wednesday.The Moon government said in July it will raise the minimum wage by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won per hour next year in the biggest wage hike in nearly two decades. Moon hopes the wage hike will narrow the income gap and boost private consumption to help revive the sagging econo

Oct. 18, 2017

Tax records show babies less than 12 months old own W15b in inherited wealth

More than 46,000 under-age minors own an average of 112.74 million won ($99,549) in inherited assets, including 304 who are less than one year old, a report from the National Tax Service said Wednesday.The data, submitted to the National Assembly for parliamentary audits, covered the 2008-2016 period.The report showed 46,542 minors aged under 18 held 5.24 trillion won in handed-down wealth. Financial assets accounted for 2.81 trillion won, or 39.7 percent, while real estate amounted to 1.69 tril

Oct. 18, 2017

Tax collection increasing from underground economy

The government collected 6.6 trillion won ($5.82 billion) in taxes last year by bringing the underground economy into the official economy, finance ministry data showed Wednesday.Records for 2013-2016 submitted to the National Assembly for parliamentary audits showed the government had gained a yearly average of 5.39 trillion won in additional taxes in comparison to 2012 through such a process. The sum in 2013 totaled 3.19 trillion won, which grew to 5.62 trillion won in 2014, 6.14 trillion won

Oct. 18, 2017

WTO to rule on Japanese fisheries import ban early next year

The World Trade Organization announced Tuesday that its dispute settlement report regarding South Korea’s ban on fisheries imports near Japan’s Fukushima is expected to be released in January or February next year.  　Following the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant explosion in March 2011, Korea imposed a ban on imports of agricultural and marine products near Fukushima. In 2013, the country extended its import ban and announced special measures to prohibit the importation of fisheri

Oct. 17, 2017

FSS chief apologizes over irregularities in hiring

The chief of the Financial Supervisory Service apologized Tuesday over the financial regulator's alleged irregularities in hiring employees with ties to influential figures, including politicians and bankers.The FSS has been under fire after state auditors found last month that a senior FSS official gave a special favor to some job candidates who are relatives of a then lawmaker and a top financial executive between late 2015 and early 2016. Choe Heung-sik, governor of the FSS, made the apology

Oct. 17, 2017

[Monitor] How will this administration do?

According to data by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea, the economic growth rate has continued to decrease in the past decades throughout three different administrations, dropping significantly from around 5 percent of growth rate recorded in the 2000s. The Moon Jae-in administration has vowed to surpass the 3 percent growth rate, with experts advising strategic moves to enable new growth engines beyond the lagging competition in the auto and steel industries.

Oct. 16, 2017

Moon urges efforts to reduce work hours, create more jobs

President Moon Jae-in reiterated the need to reduce the country's working hours Monday, noting that long hours not only reduce people's quality of life but also cause unnecessary accidents.The president's remarks came in a weekly meeting with his top aides at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae."We must no longer accept a society that thinks long work hours and overwork are natural. Among countries with an employment rate of more than 70 percent, no country has annual working hours of mor

Oct. 16, 2017

Investment abroad soars amid domestic slump

South Korean manufacturing companies’ investments abroad have been increasing at a rapid pace in contrast to sluggish corporate activity at home.Overseas investments by local manufacturers in the first quarter of this year jumped 115.2 percent from a year earlier to $11.4 billion, according to recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The increase rate exceeded 75 percent for Germany, 56.2 percent for Japan and 41.3 percent for the US, as well as the OECD a

Oct. 16, 2017

US congressmen urge Trump against ‘drastic’ changes to FTA

Following Seoul and Washington’s decision to begin talks on possibly modifying certain aspects of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, US congressmen appeared unanimous that the US president should avoid making any drastic amendments that would jeopardize bilateral relations, though the trade deal has its flaws. 　According to the US House of Representatives on Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee launched a hearing on “Opportunities to expand US trade relationships in the Asia-Pa

Oct. 16, 2017

Growth pace of household lending slows down in Sept.

South Korea's household lending by banks rose at the slowest pace in five months in September, but mortgage loans continued the upside trend amid the government's toughened financial measures to cool down the real estate market, central bank data showed Monday.Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 749.2 trillion won ($664.8 billion) as of the end of last month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. This marks a 4.9-trillion won increase compared to the previous year, but the ris

Oct. 16, 2017

Korea's unemployment rate rose sharpest in August among OECD countries

South Korea's unemployment rate grew by the biggest margin in August among member states of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, due chiefly to youth joblessness, the latest data showed Monday.The figures released by the OECD put South Korea's unemployment rate for August at 3.8 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from the previous month. While it was the first increase since June, the rate of increase was the highest, along with Austria, among the 25 OECD members checked. Numb

Oct. 16, 2017

Salary increase falling far short of withholding tax

South Korean workers' average wage rose less than 30 percent in the 2008-2015 period, while the amount of their withholding tax jumped 60 percent, tax records showed Monday.Statistics provided by the National Tax Service to Rep. Park Myung-jae for the ongoing parliamentary inspections said an average salaried worker earned 32.6 million won ($28,913) a year in 2015, up 28.9 percent from 2008. The withholding tax, on the other hand, rose 60 percent to 1.6 million won from 1 million won during the

Oct. 16, 2017

‘No currency manipulation in South Korean market’: finance minister

Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon underlined that South Korea does not intervene in foreign exchange markets, seeking to ensure that the country continues to stay out of the US-designated currency manipulator list, according to ministry officials.Minister Kim met with his US counterpart Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Finance Ministers Summit in Washington DC, to discuss pending issues including North

Oct. 15, 2017

Card spending soars 35% during Chuseok holidays

Credit and debit card spending in South Korea soared more than 30 percent over the recent extended Chuseok holiday season from a year ago, industry data showed Sunday.A daily average of 191.8 billion won ($170.1 million) worth of purchases were made through credit and debit cards during the Sept. 30-Oct. 9 holidays, up 35.8 percent from the 141.2 billion won average tallied during the Chuseok holidays last year, which fell mid-September, according to the data compiled by KB Kookmin Card Co. The

Oct. 15, 2017

Korea struggles to achieve 3% growth target amid signs of feeble recovery

South Korea is struggling to achieve its goal of 3 percent growth this year as skepticism grows over sluggish domestic demand and investment. Officials said the government is not considering stimulus measures for now, as it has already injected an extra 11 trillion won ($9.76 billion) into the economy in August. But it may come up with microeconomic measures to support vulnerable sectors if third-quarter growth is less than expected, they said. The data will be released late this month. "Th

Oct. 15, 2017

[Herald Interview] Analytic tools crucial in improving regulatory practices: US adviser　

Amid Korea’s continued strive for increased transparency and regulatory business reforms, the Fair Player Club and US Embassy Seoul hosted a joint seminar on better regulatory compliance in Seoul on Thursday. 　The seminar invited keynote speaker Aaron Szabo, senior adviser for International Regulatory Cooperation of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, who shared the US’ approach for establishing analytic tools for regulatory design and review. 　“The

Oct. 13, 2017

Seoul stocks retreat from record high

South Korean stocks fell slightly Friday, pulling back from a record high, led by a sell-off by foreign and local retail investors. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.14 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 2,473.62. Trade volume was moderate at 233 million shares worth 6.7 trillion won ($5.93 billion).  The KOSPI opened higher, despite a weak lead on Wall Street overnight. Analysts said the local stock market t

Oct. 13, 2017

Fewer Koreans expect their living conditions to improve in future: survey

Slightly fewer South Koreans now think that they will be better off in the future amid the sluggish pace of recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy, a survey showed Friday.According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea between Tuesday and Thursday, 22 percent of the 1,500 respondents said their livelihoods will improve within the next one year, down 2 percentage points from a month earlier.It also said 57 percent of those that answered the poll believed their living conditions will remain the

Oct. 13, 2017

Seoul to crack down on tax evasion by big firms, individuals

South Korea's tax agency said Friday it will crack down on tax evasion by big businesses and wealthy individuals to boost its tax revenue.The National Tax Service plans to thoroughly look into possible capital outflows by high-income earners and conglomerates and check moves to pass on managerial control of firms without paying related dues, the NTS said in the documents produced for the parliamentary audit. Tax evasion, the practice of deliberately attempting to get by without paying taxes, is

Oct. 13, 2017