Travelers going to South Korea will be able to bring in duty-free goods worth up to $800, up from $600, as the Korean government seeks to reflect a surge in per capita income and help ramp up sluggish international tourism amid the pandemic. The Finance Ministry said Friday that the easing of customs regulations, which last took place in 2014, includes lifting a separate cap on duty-free liquor to 2 liters from 1 liter currently, but the value cap will remain at the previous $400. The 1-liter l

Economy Aug. 5, 2022

Home prices could drop as much as 2.8 percent in two years once the Bank of Korea raises its policy rate by a full percentage point or 100 basis points, the central bank said in a report Wednesday. The report, which focused on analyzing how a rate change affects home prices without studying factors like mortgage rules and new supply, comes as Seoul apartment prices kept falling for the last nine weeks. Last week Seoul saw its largest weekly drop since April 2020, according to the Korea Real Est

Economy Aug. 3, 2022

Consumer prices in July accelerated to an almost 24-year high of 6.3 percent on higher energy and food prices, as South Korea battles soaring inflation dragging down the export-led economy. According to Statistics Korea data released Tuesday, the July consumer price index edged 0.3 percentage point higher than in June. The last time the annual price gain neared such a level was in November 1998, when it reached 6.8 percent amid the Asian financial crisis. But the pace of monthly inflation sho

Economy Aug. 2, 2022

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told lawmakers Monday that the central bank will deliver the usual 0.25 percentage point interest rate hikes this year, while acknowledging that the economy would fall short of the 2.7 percent annual growth for 2022. The central bank a month ago backed its biggest single rate raise of 0.5 percentage point to tame persistent inflation prompted by a global surge in materials and food costs. The bank holds three more board meetings, each in August, October and No

Economy Aug. 1, 2022

Foreign investors were net buyers of South Korean stocks in July, reversing their selling spree for the last six months over recession worries and looking to step in and buy on the cheap amid signs of a market bottom. According to the Korea Exchange on Sunday, foreigners purchased net 2.3 trillion won ($1.7 billion) worth of shares on the benchmark Kospi, the highest monthly volume since a 3.3 trillion-won inflow in December last year. The main board rose to 2,451.50 Friday, up 5.1 percent from

Market July 31, 2022

South Koreans expect prices to rise at a record level in the next 12 months and the economy to underperform, a Bank of Korea survey showed Wednesday, as the export-led economy faces shrinking growth over poor exports. In a monthly survey of 2,500 households conducted July 11-18, consumers forecast inflation to average 4.7 percent, hitting its highest level since 2008 when the central bank began releasing the data. The all-time high, up from the previous 3.9 percent in June, also marked the lar

Economy July 27, 2022

South Korea’s worsening trade deficit is raising concerns over a growth slowdown for the export-led economy, despite unexpected growth reported in the second quarter. The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that gross domestic product for April-June rose 0.7 percent on-quarter, higher than the 0.6 percent growth in the first quarter -- fueled by the government’s decision to scrap practically all COVID-19 restrictions. “Consumer spending pushed up growth in the second

Economy July 26, 2022

South Korea’s top financial regulator is looking to allow banks to start trading cryptocurrencies, but experts are wary of whether the agency is as committed to protecting consumers along the way, saying it has so far shown little interest in pursuing it. The latest plan the Financial Services Commission revealed last Tuesday is part of its larger deregulation initiative to loosen rules that prevent banks from expanding into businesses the agency has not authorized, such as initial coin

Economy July 26, 2022

The higher people expect prices to soar, the worse a wage spiral becomes as rising living costs prompt bigger wages, with persistent inflation on the rise, the Bank of Korea said Monday in a report. “Prices and wages look like they have nothing to do with each other, but in the long run, data consistently shows they do,” the report said, referring to surging prices in Korea. Inflation hit a 24-year high of six percent in June, prompting the central bank to back its first-t

Economy July 25, 2022

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering may face a court-ordered rehabilitation process unless action is taken on a monthlong strike there, the company’s main creditor Korea Development Bank said Friday. “It would be more difficult for DSME to repay its debts as the strike drags on … we’re not going to help the builder unless it gets back to work,” an executive at the state-run bank said, suggesting that the country’s third-largest shipbuilder would hav

Industry July 22, 2022

South Korean household wealth jumped 8 percent on-year, with net worth per household estimated at 544.7 million won ($415,593) thanks to a surge in house prices, a Bank of Korea report showed Thursday. Real estate made up 75 percent of household wealth. The net worth of households, nonprofit organizations, financial and nonfinancial companies and the government came to 19,000 trillion won, up 2,030 trillion won, or 11.4 percent, from the previous year. That is the biggest annual increase since

Economy July 21, 2022

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said work-life balance plays a key role in shaping a work environment that is appealing to women, who she described as still underrepresented in workplaces, at a meeting with the Bank of Korea’s female workers held Tuesday in Seoul. “Work-life balance is a tremendous problem. I guess it’s a huge problem here, too,” Yellen said, describing having a family while working in challenging jobs as a hurdle for women pursuing a career. The meet

Economy July 19, 2022

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Monday that its plan to help low-income earners reduce their debt burdens does not encourage reckless investments in stocks or real estate, amid criticism that young Koreans who have made losses from such investments could repay debts with taxpayers’ money. “We’re not helping those who have had to cut their losses on stocks and cryptocurrencies to pay for loans (taken out for investment),” Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Fin

Economy July 18, 2022

The South Korean won could further depreciate against the US dollar in months to come as long as the US backs aggressive monetary tightening to fight raging inflation, analysts said, as the Korean currency weakened to a 13-year low of 1,326.1 won per US dollar Friday. The breach of the 1,300 won psychological threshold -- prompted by rising US rates luring investors and soaring demand for the safe-haven asset amid global economic uncertainty -- is the latest indication that policymakers in Seou

Market July 17, 2022

President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged Thursday to help low-income earners with their mounting debt burdens, a day after the central bank made its biggest single rate hike to tame persistent inflation, at a weekly meeting he convened for the second time. The meetings deal with pressing economic issues affecting what they call a “vulnerable group” of self-employed people, small business owners and those fresh out of college. Policymakers discussed inflation last week. This week, they unveil

Economy July 14, 2022