S. Korea to sell W13tr worth of state bonds in Jan.

South Korea plans to sell 13 trillion won ($11 billion) in government bonds in January, the finance ministry said Monday. The ministry will issue 900 billion won in Treasurys with a two-year maturity, 2.5 trillion won with a maturity of three years, 2.5 trillion won in five-year government bonds and 2.6 trillion won with a maturity of 10 years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Sales of longer-dated bonds will include 3.3 trillion won in 30-year Treasury notes and 400 billion w

Dec. 27, 2021

Stable recovery forecast for Korea in 2022

South Korea is projected to see stable economic growth in 2022, driven by strong memory chips and electronic devices exports, despite lingering omicron and COVID-19 woes, experts in the US, UK and South Korea said.  “We believe that sufficient vaccine supply and South Korea’s capacity to quickly rollout booster jabs will ensure a recovery in private consumption and business investment spending,” Fei Xue, an Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit told The Korea He

Dec. 27, 2021

Chip, renewable energy sectors set for growth: report

The chip, renewable energy and entertainment industries are set to grow next year, auditing firm Samjong KPMG said Monday in its annual industry forecast report for 24 industries. The supply of system chips will improve as production expands while sales of memory chips next year will not be as strong as this year, because of oversupply, the report said, noting that the South Korean government should work with local chipmakers like Samsung Electronics to localize parts for chip independence. Sa

Dec. 27, 2021

Exports to New Southern, Northern regions to hit new records in 2021

South Korea's exports to the so-called New Southern and Northern regions are likely to touch all-time highs in 2021 on Seoul's efforts to deepen economic ties with those regions, the trade ministry said Monday. Seoul's overseas shipments to the New Southern Region -- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India -- reached $111.9 billion in the first 11 months of this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In light of that, exports to the region are proje

Dec. 27, 2021

Number of franchise outlets up 9.5% in 2020 despite pandemic

The number of franchise outlets in South Korea rose more than 9 percent in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, but their sales dropped for the first time since 2013, data showed Monday. Franchise stores numbered 235,709 as of end-December last year, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Food and beverage franchise outlets expanded at double-digit numbers as demand for home delivery services grew sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

Dec. 27, 2021

Regional GDP inches up in 2020 amid pandemic

SEJONG -- The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) for provinces and cities in South Korea inched up in 2020 from a year earlier amid restrictions on business operations caused by the pandemic, data showed Monday. According to the data provided by Statistics Korea, the GRDP came to 1,936 trillion won ($1.63 trillion) in 2020, up 0.4 percent or 9 trillion won from a year earlier. The greater Seoul area -- which covers Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital Seoul, and the western port ci

Dec. 27, 2021

S. Korea to submit application for CPTPP in April: finance minister

South Korea will push to submit an official application to join a mega Asia-Pacific free trade agreement in April next year by speeding up the process of collecting public opinions and building social consensus, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday. The government earlier said that it had begun the process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) involving 11 nations as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio. Finance Mi

Dec. 27, 2021

Cost of living top economic issue next year in Seoul: survey

The cost of living was cited as the most important economic issue of 2022 by Seoul citizens, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey on 1,200 households in the capital by the Seoul Institute, 19.2 percent of the respondents said the cost of living is the top economic issue next year. Another 17.3 percent cited youth unemployment and job creation followed by mortgage loans and increasing household debts at 9.8 percent, the result of the 2022 presidential election at 8.3 percent, incom

Dec. 27, 2021

Shinhan taps ex-IBM director as digital chief officer

Shinhan Financial Group, one of the four banking giants in the country, has named a former IBM managing director as its digital chief officer to accelerate a push to expand its digital services. Kim Myoung-hee, who spent the last 23 years developing digital operations at IBM before joining SK telecom to oversee digital efforts at the country’s largest mobile carrier, is considered one of the leading women experts on digital transformation. Kim was the first senior women chief to lead the

Dec. 24, 2021

BOK to end corporate bond-buying program as scheduled amid stabilizing market

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will end a special program to buy corporate bonds, including low-rated debts, at the end of this month as planned as the financial market has stabilized. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) launched a 10 trillion-won ($8.4 billion) program in July last year to purchase corporate bonds and commercial paper, a move aimed at easing a corporate funding squeeze. The program has been extended twice and is set to end on Dec

Dec. 23, 2021

Corporate earnings hit 6-year low in 2020 amid pandemic

South Korean firms' earnings plunged to a six-year low in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Thursday. The combined pretax net profit of 13,429 companies came to 97.7 trillion won ($82 billion) in 2020, down 3.9 percent from the prior year and marking the third straight year of decline, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the lowest level since the 91.4 trillion won recorded in 2014 and represented the first time for their total bottom l

Dec. 23, 2021

Housing prices, debt are major risks to financial stability: BOK

South Korea's financial system has remained stable, but a rise in housing prices and high household debt serve as major potential risks to financial stability, a central bank report showed Thursday. In a biannual report on financial stability, the Bank of Korea (BOK) called for policy efforts to stabilize the housing market and curb the growth of household debt, raising the need to ease the high level of financial imbalances. "Since the first half of this year, the country's financial sy

Dec. 23, 2021

Finance ministry to prioritize stabilizing inflation next year

South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it will put the top priority on stabilizing consumer inflation next year as the country faces a buildup in price pressure amid rising prices of raw materials and farm products and the economic recovery. The government plans to beef up the monitoring of the supply of key farm produce closely linked to people's livelihoods and freeze public utility bills in the first quarter of next year. The Ministry of Economy and Finance picked measures to stabili

Dec. 22, 2021

Financial watchdog to seek 'soft landing' for household debt, bring debt increase under pre-pandemic levels

South Korea's financial watchdog said Wednesday that it will continue to prioritize a "soft landing" for soaring household debt and bringing debt growth down to pre-pandemic levels next year. In a report laying out its policy goals for next year, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) also said that it will "preemptively" manage vulnerability risks facing the financial sector amid worries that snowballing corporate and household debt and rising interest rates could hurt the

Dec. 22, 2021

S. Korea's seaport cargo down 1.9% in Nov.

The volume of cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell nearly 2 percent in November due to delayed handling at major ports, government data showed Wednesday. Cargo handled at the country's ports stood at 128.5 million tons last month, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo also declined 1.9 on-year to 108.8 million tons. Container cargo decreased 7.4 percent on-year to 2.39 million twenty-foot-e

Dec. 22, 2021

S. Korea unveils measures to prevent foreigners' illegal property transactions

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will closely monitor foreigners' real estate transactions in a bid to prevent cross-border flows of illegal funds and crack down on dubious deals. The government unveiled a set of measures to prevent foreigners from illegally buying real estate as some non-residents are found to have taken undue profits from property transactions. To monitor any illegal money flows, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Customs Service will set up an i

Dec. 22, 2021

Corporate direct financing rises 1.6% in November

Corporate direct financing by firms in South Korea grew 1.6 percent in November from a month earlier due to an increase in bond sales, data showed Wednesday. Local companies raised a combined 19.45 trillion won ($16.3 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 300.3 billion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other fi

Dec. 22, 2021

BOK faces dilemma over inflation, growth

The Bank of Korea appears to be facing a dilemma ahead of its rate decision in January, as producer and consumer prices soar in defiance of anemic growth. Producer prices in November hit a record high, up 0.5 percent on-month and 9.6 percent on-year. The prices have been on a steady rise since November 2020, the longest since May 2011, when they ended a 19-month rally. “The base effect makes the (price) rises look worse than what they actually are. In November last year, oil and raw mate

Dec. 21, 2021

FSS chief warns of action if loan-deposit margin widens beyond 'reasonable' levels

South Korea's chief financial regulator said Tuesday that his agency will take "necessary" action if the spread between interest rates on loans and deposits widens beyond "reasonable" levels. Jeong Eun-bo, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made the remarks during an online press conference amid criticism that banks and other financial firms are quicker to increase their loan rates than raise rates on deposits. The rate hikes are in line with the central bank

Dec. 21, 2021

Global supply bottlenecks feared to ratchet up pressure on inflation: BOK report

Protracted global supply disruptions could send expected inflation higher and add larger-than-expected upward pressure on inflation in South Korea, a central bank report said Tuesday. The report by the Bank of Korea also said that the global "carbon neutral" initiative could rather exert pressure on inflation by causing imbalances in the supply of and demand for materials needed to produce clean energy. "The global supply bottlenecks have been impacting upward inflationary pres

Dec. 21, 2021