[THE INVESTOR] After the five-day Chuseok holiday, the South Korean economy and financial markets will face significant external influence from the US in the form of a decision to be publicized here Sept. 22. If the US Federal Reserve keeps its base rate untouched again during the gathering of the Federal Open Market Committee, slated for Sept. 20-21, South Korea’s policymakers might be given more time to boost the economy in the fourth quarter.Some foreign investment banks even predict the Bank

Sept. 19, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] This year’s parliamentary audit, which will mark the first conducted under the 20th National Assembly, is scheduled to begin Sept. 26 for a three-week run.Wordy warfare between the ruling and opposition parties will likely intensify over the issue of the US and Korean governments’ accord to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on the peninsula and North Korea’s fifth nuclear test earlier this month.Rival parties have also been at loggerheads over whether to question Woo

Sept. 19, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that South Korea is one of Russia’s outstanding partners in the Asia-Pacific region. He acknowledged the direction of comprehensive economic cooperation between the two countries right after his summit with President Park Geun-hye on Saturday.Their statement on future economic partnership comes after Seoul and Moscow reiterated their concerted efforts against North Korea’s nuclear development program.Though the two leaders have not clarifi

Sept. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Earlier this year, global investment banks predicted that the US Federal Reserve would raise its base rate two to three times out of the eight scheduled meetings of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee in 2016.Their projections were based on the hawkish monetary stance of the Fed with the possibility of hikes significantly affecting the global capital market — particularly emerging economies involving South Korea.But the US central bank has yet to conduct a hike after it raised

Sept. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea‘s two major opposition parties have jointly proposed a bill on setting up a new state agency that would specialize in investigating corruption cases involving senior government officials.While the probe targets include former presidents, incumbent prime ministers, lawmakers, ministers and judges, the bill on launching an independent entity has come after a series of scandals involving incumbent and former prosecutors.As the Justice Ministry and prosecutors’ office had

Aug. 11, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The U.S. government continues to impose heavy penalties on Korean steel exporters.Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would impose duties of a staggering 61 percent on hot-rolled flat steel products from South Korea’s POSCO.The penalties broke down into 3.89 percent in anti-dumping duties and 57.04 percent in countervailing duties. If the department’s decision is endorsed by the U.S. International Trade Commission, it will deal a harsh blow to Korea’s leading

Aug. 11, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] A South Korean think tank has warned that South Korea will suffer deterioration of growth potential in the coming decade, predicting a 1 percentage point drop or more by 2030.The nation’s potential growth rate posted 3.2 percent per annum between 2011 and 2015. Hyundai Research Institute projected that the rate will continue to fall to 2.7 percent between 2016 and 2020, 2.3 percent between 2021 and 2025 and 2 percent between 2026 and 2030.Korea’s potential growth rate was 3.9 perc

Aug. 9, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] It is relatively easy to obtain a driver’s license in Korea and this has led to various problems over the past five years, such as traffic accidents, raising the need to toughen the driving test requirements. In July 2011, the government eased driver’s license rules to allow individuals to save time and money.The number of hours for mandatory driving lessons was reduced to 13 hours from 60 hours. Evaluation criteria was also reduced to six items from the original 13. A license can

Aug. 9, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The Corporate Vitality Enhancement Act will take effect in about a week. The law, which was legislated in February, is designed to revitalize ailing industries, such as shipbuilding and steelmaking, which have been suffering from a glut among global competitors.Policymakers say that the law -- which is better known as the “one-shot” law -- would provide conglomerates with decent opportunities to streamline ailing business segments by merging units with similar functions.The specia

Aug. 5, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] Recent government data sounded the alarm on the need for South Korea to urgently brace itself for a rapidly aging society. Statistics Korea said that the number of citizens aged 100 or older had surged 72 percent from 2010. The figure showed that 3,159 centenarians were living in the country as of November 2015, up from the 1,835 five years earlier.As life expectancy gets longer steadily, 13.1 percent of South Korea’s 50.6 million population were 65 or older in 2015, said the stat

July 27, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s minimum wage per hour for next year has been set at 6,470 won ($5.70), a growth of 7.3 percent from the current 6,030 won. The new minimum wage translates to 1.35 million won per month for employees who work full time.Opposition lawmakers expressed their regret over the decision. The main opposition said the increase should have been at least a two-digit percentage. The runner-up opposition claimed the increase is far short of the level that can narrow the current in

July 18, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] A year ago, the government publicized its plan to create more than 200,000 jobs for those aged between 15 and 34 by 2017 in collaboration with six major business associations.Besides that, over the past few years, Korea’s economic policymakers have come up with another set of countermeasures to tackle the lingering youth unemployment problem.So far, however, the measures have yet to put a big dent in the issue.Last month, the nation’s youth unemployment rate reached 10.3 percent.

July 15, 2016

[THE INVESTOR] The issue surrounding the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is becoming a serious bone of contention in East Asia as well as on the Korean Peninsula after Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, was announced this week as the site that will host a THAAD battery.South Korea’s government has faced a dual task in resolving the backlash from domestic opponents, including Seongju residents, and neighboring countries such as China.The government should be aware that the proble

July 15, 2016