Bond issuance in S. Korea jumps in Oct.

Bond issuance in South Korea rose sharply in October from the previous month due to increased debt sales by financial firms and the government, data showed Wednesday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 65.4 trillion won ($55.4 billion) last month, up 8.4 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Last month's increase compares with a 9.6 trillion-won on-month plunge recorded in September. Sales of fi

Nov. 10, 2021

BOK board members say inclusion of housing costs will heighten inflation

The members of the South Korean central bank's rate-setting board have voiced concerns inflation could be higher than current levels if housing costs are taken into consideration, minutes from the latest policy meeting showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea issued the minutes of the Oct. 12 meeting when its seven-member board held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.75 percent. "In August, the consumer prices in the US grew 5.3 percent, much higher than a 2.6 percent rise in our country, whic

Nov. 10, 2021

S. Korean multiplexes still suffer from pandemic-inflicted losses in Q3

South Korean multiplex operators suffered huge losses in the third quarter amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, but their bottomline is expected to improve thanks to the nationwide move to return to normalcy, financial data showed Wednesday. CJ CGV, the No. 1 multiplex operator under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its operating loss reached 77.5 billion won ($65.7 million) over the July-September period, narrowing from an operating deficit of 96.8 billion won a year ago. Its

Nov. 10, 2021

S. Korean exports to India drop 3.5% from pre-pandemic level

South Korea's exports to India shrank 3.5 percent in the first nine months of this year from 2019 due to import controls and a delay in the recovery of the emerging economy, a top business lobby said Wednesday. Overseas shipments to Asia's third-largest economy came to $11.41 billion in the January-September period, compared with $11.82 billion during the same period two years earlier, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). The decline contrasts with a 16.5 percent on-year sur

Nov. 10, 2021

Job growth extended to 8th month in Oct. amid economic recovery

South Korea reported job additions for the eighth straight month in October in the latest sign the country's economic recovery has continued despite the fourth wave of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.74 million last month, 652,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The reading was lower than an on-year increase of 671,000 in September when South Korea reported the largest job additions in more than seven y

Nov. 10, 2021

Financial watchdog closely monitoring steeply rising loan rates

South Korea's financial watchdog is closely monitoring the recent fast-rising interest rates banks impose on loans, its head said Tuesday, amid the government's beefed-up efforts to tighten regulations on household borrowing. Jeong Eun-bo, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made the remarks amid complaints that some top-tier banks are imposing higher interest rates on loans than cooperative banks, an unusual reversal of borrowing costs. "Interest rates are determined by the

Nov. 9, 2021

S. Korea to produce urea solution with urea secured through crackdowns

South Korea said Tuesday it has identified thousands of tons of urea held by local importers and plans to use them to produce urea water solution, a key fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions, amid its supply shortage. Special inspection teams began crackdowns on hoarding of urea or its solution Monday and found local importers to have held a combined 3,000 tons of urea, according to the government. Of the 2,000 tons of urea to be used for vehicles, the government plans to send 700 ton

Nov. 9, 2021

Korea’s hydrogen focus presents investment opportunities: Deutsche Bank

South Korea’s focus on forging a complete hydrogen energy ecosystem in line with its climate pledge is presenting new investment opportunities, as the country is in dire need of a technological breakthrough to reduce the cost of green transition, a report by German investment bank Deutsche Bank showed Tuesday. The country’s ambition to increase fiscal spending to nurture hydrogen-related research and development, combined with the legal and institutional framework in the m

Nov. 9, 2021

Probes launched into suspected tax evasion

South Korea's tax agency said Tuesday it has launched probes into suspected tax evasion by 30 people who pocketed corporate profits for personal gains or handed down wealth to their children by illegal means. The National Tax Service (NTS) said it has cracked down on corporate chiefs and their family members who allegedly misused corporate profits or made illegal off-shore tax evasions and capital transactions. Of them, nine people made illegal property-related transactions or traded intangibl

Nov. 9, 2021

Local governments log W8.7tr budget deficit in 2020 due to pandemic spending

Local governments across South Korea recorded steep budget deficits last year due to increased spending to cope with COVID-19, the interior ministry said Tuesday. According to an analysis by the ministry, the consolidated fiscal balance of 243 local governments for the fiscal year of 2020 recorded a deficit of 8.7 trillion won ($7.4 billion). Last year's deficit tally marked a sharp contrast with a budget surplus of 6 trillion won recorded in 2019. The ministry cited the local government's ex

Nov. 9, 2021

S. Korea in close consultation with Mexico to resume FTA talks: ministry

South Korea and Mexico have "closely discussed" the possible resumption of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement, an official of Seoul's trade ministry said Tuesday. The two nations began talks on a strategic economic complementary agreement in 2006, but the negotiations have been stalled since 2008 amid opposition from businesses in the Latin American country. "The two sides have been in close consultation on whether to resume talks for the bilateral FTA," Chun

Nov. 9, 2021

Amid fast-growing national debt, potential GDP growth to hit near zero

South Korea is expected to see its national debt grow at the fastest clip relative to the size of the economy among major countries, while its growth rate of potential output per capita will fall to the near-zero range without policy changes, according to economic reports Monday. Sparking concerns over a further loss of momentum for the country’s economy, the International Monetary Fund estimated that Korea’s general government gross debt to gross domestic product would increase t

Nov. 8, 2021

S. Korea, Singapore aim to strike digital trade deal this year

South Korea and Singapore agreed Monday to conclude their digital trade pact this year in a move to deepen broader trade and economic ties, Seoul's trade ministry said. The agreement was made during the meeting between Seoul's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng held in Seoul. "The two sides agreed to speed up working-level negotiations with a goal to conclude the Digital Partnership Agreement (DPA) within this year, as their talk

Nov. 8, 2021

S. Korea to bring in urea from Vietnam

In a bid to ease its urea shortage, South Korea said Monday it plans to import 200 metric tons of the main component of diesel exhaust fluid from Vietnam next week, and fly in an additional supply from Australia. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government has decided on how much powdered urea it plans to import from the Southeast Asian nation, while adding 7,000 liters to the initial 20,000 liters of solution it seeks to fly in from Australia. On top of all that, it is cu

Nov. 8, 2021

S. Korea's debt-GDP ratio likely to rise fastest over 5 years: report

South Korea's national debt ratio is expected to gain at the fastest clip among 35 advanced nations over the next five years despite its high financial soundness, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report said Monday. Seoul's ratio of national debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to reach 66.7 percent in 2026, up 15.4 percentage points from the end of this year, according to the IMF report. The expected growth pace is the highest among 35 nations that the Washington-based inter

Nov. 8, 2021

[ESG Talk] ESG and communication risks: Coloring too much?

Green washing refers to abusive marketing activities that exaggerate, misrepresent and mislead about the company’s eco-conscious behavior, products or financing. The tendency of companies to oversell is expanding from environmental to social areas and coining new color-themed names. It is true that false ESG communication could happen unintentionally. Companies must carefully pick the words they use in communicating corporate sustainability practices because inspectors and civil society ar

Nov. 7, 2021

Recovery momentum 'feeble' due to manufacturing slowdown: KDI

South Korea's economic recovery momentum has weakened due to the slowdown in the manufacturing sector amid a global supply chain shortage and energy crisis, a state-run think tank said Sunday. "The recovery in manufacturing weakens as global supply chains remain clogged, since an improvement of external conditions lost steam," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economic assessment report. The manufacturing firms' shipments have fallen, while the inventory-to-ship

Nov. 7, 2021

Exports of fishery goods up over 20% through October: data

South Korea's exports of fishery products grew 20.5 percent on-year in the first 10 months of this year, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of fishery products reached $2.24 billion during the January-October period, compared to $1.86 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Exports to China rose 48.1 percent to reach $540 million, and those to the United States and the European Union surged 24.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively.

Nov. 7, 2021

S. Korea logs current account surplus for 17th straight month in Sept. amid brisk exports

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 17th straight month in September thanks to solid exports amid the rebounding global economy from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Friday.  The current account surplus totaled $10.07 billion in September, up from $7.51 billion a month earlier, according to data by the Bank of Korea. The amount was slightly smaller than the previous year's surplus of $10.34 billion. The September figure marked the 17th straight month that

Nov. 5, 2021

Fed taper to have limited impact on Korean market

The US Federal Reserve’s decision to dial back its bond-purchasing program in November will have a limited impact on the Korean financial market, the Korean government said Thursday while vowing to monitor market uncertainties surrounding the inflation outlook in the US. As widely expected, the Federal Open Market Committee, the US Fed’s monetary policymaking body, announced that it would reduce its bond purchases by a total of $15 billion a month starting in November. It left it

Nov. 4, 2021