South Korea’s producer prices declined in October for the fourth straight month, central bank data showed Wednesday, reflecting sluggish growth and changes in pork prices.The overall producer price index stood at 103.61 last month, down 0.2 percent from a month earlier and down 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.This marked the fourth consecutive month of an on-year drop and the first on-month fall in three months.The key reason for the de

Economy Nov. 20, 2019

South Korea’s economy and its key businesses will continue to face challenges next year due to the weak global economic growth pace and persisting trade tensions, global credit ratings agency Moody’s said Tuesday.“Our outlook (for Korea in 2020) is negative,” Chris Park, associate managing director of corporate finance at the agency, said in a press briefing.“Many export-dependent companies here had their profitability decrease in 2019 but continued to maintain or e

Economy Nov. 19, 2019

South Korea’s actual key interest rate, in relative term to its inflation, is one of the highest among peer economies, data showed Monday, raising speculations that the country may carry out additional rate cuts.According to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and cited by experts here, Asia’s fourth-largest economy had the third highest “actual” base rate in October, next to Turkey and Mexico.The official policy rate here currently

Economy Nov. 18, 2019

Since the early history of the Korean Peninsula, the Han River has served as a strategic waterway and was the center of a power struggle among the Three Kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo.It was also near its banks that Joseon-era kings visited to observe the training of the nation’s Navy.Seoul Battleship Park, located on the river’s northern bank in Mapo-gu, is the first shipbuilding theme park in Seoul, providing an ideal destination for family outings.The 9,952-square-meter ar

Travel Nov. 15, 2019

Viva Republica, operator of mobile financial service Toss, said Thursday that it has converted all of its redeemable convertible preferred shares to convertible preferred shares, in a move to enhance capital stability.Redeemable shares, or RCPS, refer to preferred stocks that the issuing company may trade for cash, while convertible shares, or CPS, allow the shareholder to exchange for common stocks. The latter is recognized as capital under both Korean Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (K

Market Nov. 14, 2019

South Korea’s key job indexes showed visible progress in October, with the employment rate hitting a 23-year high for any October and the jobless rate at its lowest in six years, government data showed Wednesday.But despite the general uptrend, the nation’s backbone manufacturing industry continued to shed jobs. The figures for those in their 30s and 40s also continued to disappoint, stirring up concerns that the apparent improvement is mostly driven by government spending in the pub

Economy Nov. 13, 2019

The competition to join the C-suite is higher at major banks than at top-tier conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, data showed Tuesday.When it comes to the four major sectors of the financial market -- banks, insurers, brokerages and credit card companies -- executives accounted for 2,969 of the 23,595 employees as of the end of June, or 1.3 percent, according to the Financial Information Statistics System of the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service.The correspon

Industry Nov. 12, 2019

Weighed down by the prolonged slow growth and the government’s consequent fiscal expansion, South Korea’s fiscal deficit reached a record-high level, data by the Ministry of Economy and Finance showed Friday.According to the monthly fiscal trend report, the accumulated fiscal balance as of the end of September stood at 26.5 trillion won ($22.9 billion) in deficit.The corresponding figure had plunged into the red in 2005, 2006, 2009 and from 2013 to 2015, but the latest deficit volume

Economy Nov. 8, 2019

South Korea will reduce its troops by nearly 80,000 by 2022 and expand the use of technologies, responding to an ageing society, according to the country’s fiscal chief on Wednesday.“We will reorganize the structure of our military forces, focusing on cutting-edge technologies,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a ministerial meeting on economic revitalization, held at Export-Import Bank of Korea headquarters in Yeouido. The restructuring plan aims

Economy Nov. 6, 2019

Kwon Yong-won, chairman of the self-regulatory organization Korea Financial Investment Association, was found dead Wednesday, according to local news reports.The Bangbae Police Station said the unnatural death of the financial officer was reported during the day, adding that the detailed cause of death has yet to be identified.The financial officer’s reported death came in the wake of a recent allegations of his verbal abuse against staff -- behavior dubbed “gapjil” in Korean.L

Market Nov. 6, 2019

The Korea Herald is looking for domestic financial firms that are seeking to play a leading role in global markets.As South Korea’s No. 1 English daily newspaper, The Korea Herald has established the Global Finance Awards to give wider publicity to financial firms who have shown outstanding performance and further promote their global competitiveness. For a fair and thorough evaluation, a judging committee consisting of renowned industry experts will screen candidate companies and the

Market Nov. 5, 2019

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves reached a new high last month, mostly due to the impact of the weakening US dollar, central bank showed Tuesday.As of end-October, the country’s forex reserves stood at $406.32 billion, up $3 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.“The increase is largely due to the profits from forex assets and dollar-equivalent forex reserves held in other currencies as the US dollar has weakened,” the BOK said. Last month, t

Economy Nov. 5, 2019

A business-friendly think tank here suggested Monday that tax reduction is more effective for economic growth than fiscal spending, raising objections to the government’s expansionary policies.According to a recent report from the Korea Economic Research Institute, South Korea’s gross domestic product would on average climb 102 won ($0.09) for every 100 won in tax reduction.The institute, affiliated with the nation’s largest business lobby, Federation of the Korean Industries,

Economy Nov. 4, 2019

South Korea logged one of the sharpest falls in its potential growth rate over the past two years among advanced economies, data showed Sunday.The country’s potential economic output was estimated at 2.7 percent for this year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.Potential output refers to the maximum growth that a given economy may achieve over the medium to long term without stroking inflation.The latest figure, though slightly higher than the 2.5-2.6 pe

Economy Nov. 3, 2019

South Korea’s central bank chief on Friday called for domestic banks to enhance productivity amid the country’s slowing growth. “The International Monetary Fund has recently stressed the need to increase growth potential while revising down the growth outlook for the global economy,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said at a policy meeting with the heads of 10 major banks here.“In the end, productivity improvement through innovation is key to achieving this goal.&rdq

Economy Nov. 1, 2019