Korea’s employment performance falls short of OECD average: FKI

South Korea has been outpaced by most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding key labor-related indicators, a local business lobby found Tuesday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, Korea ranked 29th for its employment rate among 37 OECD members in 2021, a drastic fall from the 23rd position it had maintained between 2016 and 2000. Though Korea saw its ranking for men’s employment rate climb from 20th in 2000 to 12th in 2016, it slid t

Oct. 18, 2022

Korea’s employment performance falls short of OECD average: FKI

South Korea has been outpaced by most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding key labor-related indicators, a local business lobby found Tuesday. According to the Federation of Korean Industries, Korea ranked 29th for its employment rate among 37 OECD members in 2021, a drastic fall from the 23rd position it had maintained between 2016 and 2000. Though Korea saw its ranking for men’s employment rate climb from 20th in 2000 to 12th in 2016, it slid t

Oct. 18, 2022

Growth in container rates for US west coast edges down in Sept.

SEJONG -- Shipping costs for container cargo bound for the west coast of the United States inched down in September from a month earlier amid mounting worries over a US economic downturn, government data showed Monday. The average freight rate for a 40-foot container from Asia's fourth-largest economy to the US west coast fell 0.4 percent on-year to 13.88 million won ($960,000), according to the data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS). From a year earlier, however, the rate rose 19.1 perc

Oct. 17, 2022

S. Korea eyes W1.5t investment by revamping regulations

South Korea plans to overhaul a set of business regulations as part of efforts to bolster investment, the finance ministry said Monday, amid growing fears over an economic slump. The decision was made during a meeting of economy-related ministries presided over by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea plans to overhaul 24 business-linked regulations, which is expected to help the country raise investment worth 1.5 trillion won ($1.03 billio

Oct. 17, 2022

[Breaking] Fire at Kakao data center causes servers to go down

A fire Saturday at a Kakao data center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, has led to a server outage affecting the KakaoTalk messenger app, along with other apps such as Kakao T, Kakao Map, Kakao Metro, Kakao Webtoon, Kakao Bank, Kakao-owned portal Daum and music streaming service Melon. The internet connection for the apps has been unavailable since 3:30 p.m. "There has been a fire at SK C&C data center since 3:30 p.m. Work has begun to put down the fire, but we are uncertain when the fir

Oct. 15, 2022

Job growth slows in Sept. amid recession worries

South Korea posted 19 straight months of job gains in September, although the employment growth has cooled amid worries over a recession prompted by soaring interest rates and slowing exports. According to Statistics Korea data released Friday, the number of the employed rose to 28.38 million last month, up 707,000 from the same month a year ago -- the largest annual gain since 1999 in the month of September. But the monthly increase has been declining since May, when 935,000 jobs were added. A

Oct. 14, 2022

IMF chief downplays possibility in Korea’s financial crisis

SEJONG -- The chief of the International Monetary Fund on Friday dismissed the possibility that South Korea would face a financial crisis, seemingly suggesting that the current economic situation of the nation is different from the 1997 or 2008 crises. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the remarks of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came during a meeting with Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho in Washington. Georgieva picked the nat

Oct. 14, 2022

Finance minister calls on World Bank to expand ties with Korea

SEJONG -- South Korea’s top economic policymaker on Thursday called for close collaboration between the Korean government and the World Bank Group to address major global issues, such as tackling climate change. In his meeting with WB Group President David Malpass in Washington, DC, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho stressed the role of World Bank's local liaison office at the Free Economic Zone in Incheon’s Songdo-dong, to bolster the bilateral coordination.

Oct. 13, 2022

BOK's big-step rate hike coincides with gov't view: finance minister

WASHINGTON/SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the central bank's decision to take another big-step rate hike was necessary to cope with inflation and the strong US dollar. On the previous day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in line with efforts to bring inflation under control. It is the first time in about 10 years that the rate has risen to the 3 percent range. "There are absolutely no difference

Oct. 13, 2022

Finance ministry tells global investors Korean FX market slated to be open 24/7

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic policymakers said the government will allow foreign-based financial firms to “directly” participate in the local foreign exchange market during a meeting with global investment bank executives. Saying that the policy is a part of the government’s effort to provide a foreign investor-friendly environment, the officials reiterated that Korea is mapping out details on the upcoming extension of the foreign exchange market’s opening hour

Oct. 12, 2022

S. Korea confirms second big rate hike as surging dollar adds to inflation woes

The Bank of Korea returned to its second outsized rate hike since July as a surging US dollar and higher import bills chip away at efforts to curb persistent inflation. The central bank raised its policy rate to a 10-year high of 3 percent by 50 basis points on Wednesday -- an increase that is twice the usual size and marks a break from the August guidance that supported a gradual 25 basis point hike until this year’s last round of a rate-setting meeting in November. “We need to step

Oct. 12, 2022

S. Korea's trade lobby group chief calls for reprieve of US law on EV credits

The chief of South Korea's trade lobby group has called for the United States to allow at least a three-year delay in the implementation of a new US law on tax credits for electric vehicle buyers seen as a disadvantage to Korean automakers. Koo Ja-yeol, chair of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), delivered the message when he met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Pat Wilson, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development in the southeastern US state,

Oct. 12, 2022

IMF predicts gloomy outlook for Korea, urges monetary tightening

SEJONG -- The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday suggested a gloomy prediction for the 2023 economy of the world as well as South Korea, citing protracted downside risks such as high inflation and cheap currencies against the US dollar. In its World Economic Outlook, the US-based organization revised its forecast on the 2023 gross domestic product growth of global economy down to 2.7 percent, from its earlier suggestion of 2.9 percent. It also slashed its outlook on Korea by 0.1 percentage

Oct. 11, 2022

S. Korean officials, businesses discuss joint responses to US EV tax law

South Korean officials held a meeting with domestic car and battery makers Tuesday to discuss responses to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as Washington sought public input on its implementation amid concerns over its discriminatory features, the industry ministry said. The IRA, signed by US President Joe Biden in August, excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax incentives, sparking concerns that Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. will lose ground in the US market a

Oct. 11, 2022

Customs agency detects W256.7b worth of items with false country-of-origin labels

South Korea's customs agency said Tuesday it has detected 256.7 billion won ($179.6 million) worth of imported items disguised as being locally produced through September this year. The amount marks a 35 percent rise from the same period a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service. Among the major items were optical instruments, with their value reaching 115.8 billion, followed by machines with 60.8 billion won and auto parts with 8.7 percent. Home appliances also took up 6.7 bil

Oct. 11, 2022

Exports down 20.2% during first 10 days of October

South Korea's exports slipped 20.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of October due mainly to sluggish overseas sales of chips, data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $11.8 billion in the Oct. 1-10 period, compared with $14.8 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 11.3 percent on-year to $15.6 billion during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of $3.8 billion. The decline also came as th

Oct. 11, 2022

4 in 5 foreigner apartment purchases by Chinese, US nationals over past 7 years

SEJONG -- More than 80 percent of all apartment purchases by foreigners over the past seven years were made by US and Chinese nationals, an opposition party lawmaker said on Monday. According to relevant documents, which were handed over to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea from both the Land Ministry and the Korea Real Estate Board, foreigners bought 29,792 apartments in the local property market between January 2015 and August 2022. Of them, Chinese nationals bought

Oct. 10, 2022

BOK says riskier borrowers close to bankruptcy ahead of rate hike

Some 381,000 households would be unable to repay their loans even if they liquidated everything they have including their homes, as of December last year, Bank of Korea data showed Monday. The report -- revealed by Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea as part of the annual parliamentary audit -- said “riskier borrowers” account for 3.2 percent of the entire loan group, with their loan volume making up 6.2 percent of the total at 69.4 trillion won ($48.

Oct. 10, 2022

Some 380,000 households at high risk of default due to excessive debt burden: BOK

Some 380,000 households in South Korea were found to be at high risk of financial default due to excessive debt burdens, a central bank report showed Monday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) report submitted to Rep. Kang Joon-hyun of the main opposition Democratic Party, the number of households at high risk in terms of financial liabilities reached 381,000 as of the end of last year. The BOK defines such high-risk households as those that are unable to pay back their loans even through disp

Oct. 10, 2022

Soaring food prices force Koreans to scrimp on eating out

Higher food prices are taking a toll on much of the world and Koreans are no exception, as they look to deal with the surging costs of eating out that reached a 30-year high last month -- the latest sign that will likely harden resolve at the Bank of Korea for a second hefty rate hike this week. While overall consumer prices eased in September for a second straight month, services inflation edged up 4.2 percent on-year, a 21-year high, according to Statistics Korea data released last week. Eatin

Oct. 9, 2022