The Korean economy has hit a wall. Conventional management methods have run their course. Aging systems, where corporate owners run their businesses with employees accustomed to their ironclad control, no longer work and are making it difficult to find new opportunities and growth in this digital age.Christopher Han, vice president of Design & Co-Innovation Center (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)This is where Christopher Han comes in with SAP Design & Co-Innovation Center in Pangyo.The DCC chief

July 15, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The Korean economy has hit a wall. Conventional management methods have run their course. Aging systems, where corporate owners run their businesses with employees accustomed to their ironclad control, no longer work and are making it difficult to find new opportunities and growth in this digital age.This is where Christopher Han comes in with SAP Design & Co-Innovation Center in Pangyo. Christopher Han, vice president of Design & Co-Innovation Center./ The Investor (Park Hyun-koo

July 15, 2016

The Korean economy has hit a wall. Conventional management methods have run their course. Aging systems, where corporate owners run their businesses with employees accustomed to their ironclad control, no longer work and are making it difficult to find new opportunities and growth in this digital age.This is where Christopher Han comes in with SAP Design & Co-Innovation Center in Pangyo.Christopher Han, vice president of Design & Co-Innovation Center (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)The DCC chief

Business July 15, 2016

The Bank of Korea on Thursday revised down its growth forecast from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent this year, and kept its record low interest rate steady at 1.25 percent as expected, saying that its monetary policy was already accommodative enough to support the government’s planned fiscal stimulus.The central bank’s rate policy decision was unanimous, and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sided with Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on views that without monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, the country’s growth would

July 14, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The Bank of Korea on July 14 revised down its growth forecast from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent this year, and kept its record low interest rate steady at 1.25 percent as expected, saying that its monetary policy was already accommodative enough to support the government’s planned fiscal stimulus.The central bank’s rate policy decision was unanimous, and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sided with Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on views that without monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, the country’

July 14, 2016

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Thursday that it is expected to come up with detailed figures for its supplementary budget after a Cabinet meeting next week.The Finance Ministry announced last month that it will carry out an expansionary fiscal policy by allocating extra spending of some 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for job creation in the latter half of this year.Local media reported that the Finance Ministry has reached an agreement with the Saenuri Party to spend around

July 14, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s rising youth unemployment is reason enough for the government to push early for extra spending for the latter half of the year, as youth unemployment will hurt economic prospects.Amid a low growth forecast and a negative outlook for the job market beset by a growing number of companies reluctant to hire, Korea’s youth unemployment reached 10.3 percent in June.Without the supplementary budget, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho told a National Assembly committee, Korea could

July 13, 2016

South Korea’s rising youth unemployment rate will be enough reason for the government to push for early extra spending for the latter half of this year as the youth joblessness will hurt the prospects of its economy.Amid low growth forecast and a negative outlook for the job market beset by a growing number of companies reluctant to hire extra workforce, Korea’s youth unemployment reached a monthly record high of 10.3 percent in June.Without the supplementary budget, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho t

July 13, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Korean stocks ended higher Tuesday as foreign investors continued their buying spree following overnight gains on Wall Street where the main equity indices rallied on increased hiring.The benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,991.23, up 0.14 percent, spurred by a bull market on Wall Street as Brexit concerns moved to the background. Manufacturing expansion in the eurozone, led by Germany, boosted investor confidence with Germany’s purchasing manager’s index climbing to a 28-month high of 54

July 12, 2016

Korean stocks ended higher Tuesday as foreign investors continued their buying spree following overnight gains on Wall Street where the main equity indices rallied on increased hiring.The benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,991.23, up 0.14 percent, spurred by a bull market on Wall Street as Brexit concerns moved to the background. Manufacturing expansion in the eurozone, led by Germany, boosted investor confidence with Germany’s purchasing manager’s index climbing to a 28-month high of 54.5 last month.T

July 12, 2016

The South Korean government collected 19 trillion won ($16.6 billion) more taxes from January to May this year, compared to the same period a year ago, despite an economic slowdown, according to a monthly fiscal report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Tuesday.The government’s tax revenue amounted to 112.7 trillion won in the five months, up 19 trillion won from a year earlier, with its tax collection rate reaching 50.6 percent.The report said that an increase in income tax filings by s

July 12, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] There are not many well-known software companies in Korea with diversified utility and functional programs ranging from browsers, portals to content, advertising and security that can match the scale of Silicon Valley.However, ESTsoft, which is widely known for its ALTools package utility software, is one of the few local software companies trying to stand out in the consumer tech market dominated by either manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, or software

July 11, 2016

There are not many well-known software companies in Korea with diversified utility and functional programs ranging from browsers, portals to content, advertising and security that can match the scale of Silicon Valley.However, ESTsoft, which is widely known for its ALTools package utility software, is one of the few local software companies trying to stand out in the consumer tech market dominated by either manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, or software giants like Goo

July 11, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Faced with economic challenges from slow growth, market restructuring and an aging population, China is expected to negatively affect the prospects of the Korean economy in the mid to short term, said Brian Jackson, a senior economist at IHS, a global business analytics provider. “China’s slowing growth by itself is a negative for Korea, given Korea is exposed to Chinese domestic demand, supply chains, and the same global factor impacting China – sharply slower growth in global tr

July 11, 2016

Economic challenges in China such as slow growth, market restructuring and an aging population, are expected to hurt the Korean economy in the mid to short term, according to Brian Jackson, a senior economist at IHS, a global business analytics provider. “China’s slowing growth by itself is a negative for Korea, given Korea is exposed to Chinese domestic demand, supply chains, and the same global factor impacting China -- sharply slower growth in global trade,” Jackson said in a recent interview

July 10, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged her key policymakers and industry executives to come up with deregulatory policies and take risks by investing in technology for new businesses.In a trade and investment promotion meeting presided over by the president at Cheong Wa Dae on July 7, Park said that the time is ripe for the country to be aggressive and create new growth through creativity and technology. South Korean President Park Geun-hye“The very best way to spur investment

July 7, 2016

South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged her key policymakers and industry executives to come up with deregulatory policies and take risks by investing in technology for new businesses.In a trade and investment promotion meeting presided over by the president at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday, Park said that the time is ripe for the country to be aggressive and create new growth through creativity and technology.“The very best way to spur investment and exports is to continuously pioneer in new mar

July 7, 2016

The South Korean government seeks to attract private companies to participate and bid for local railway projects beyond the Seoul and Gyeonggi metropolitan areas amid difficulties in financing infrastructure development with state capital.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Wednesday that the government seeks to attract some 20 trillion won ($17 billion) from the private sector to build and expand railway networks nationwide over the

July 6, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean government seeks to boost the services sector through tax breaks in an effort to increase jobs amid high youth unemployment.The Finance Ministry said Tuesday that it seeks to create 250,000 jobs through such fiscal measures aimed at increasing productivity in the services industry. The government aims to uplift the value of its services sector on par with the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in five years. This is also in line w

July 5, 2016