South Korea will extend its trading hours for its equities, derivatives, gold futures and foreign exchange markets from Aug. 1 to boost its financial market status in line with the Morgan Stanley Capital International standards.The Korea Exchange, the country’s quasi-independent stock market operator, said Sunday that the stock and bullion markets’ trading hours will be extended by 30 minutes, enabling investors to buy and sell them between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Foreign exchange brokers will also

July 24, 2016

The number of those in their 60s who got hired in the second quarter of this year exceeded those in their 20s for the first time in two years, according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday.As life expectancy increases and employees seek to push back retirement as companies adopt a wage peak system, a growing number of elders are looking to either remain in the workforce as long as they can or try to reenter the labor market to further prepare for their postretirement.The number of those employed in

July 20, 2016

Jeong Eun-bo, the vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said Wednesday that a task force will be set up to foster constant communication with foreign financial companies operating in the country and address their needs.This comes as the state financial regulator is concerned over an increasing number of foreign financial companies folding their businesses and exiting the Korean market amid a gloomy outlook and decreasing profitability.In a meeting with executives of foreign financi

July 20, 2016

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that the central bank will maintain its monetary easing to support the economy, but its policy alone is not enough to counter possible instability on growing economic uncertainties.In a conference on the monetary policies of small open economies, the country’s top monetary policymaker said that an effective mix of macroeconomic policies are needed to manage financial risks and carry out structural reform.“There are limits to facing multiple economic ch

July 19, 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.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 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

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

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

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

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

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 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 with efforts to

July 5, 2016

Canon, Sony and Nikon may spring to mind when people think of consumer digital camera brands, while Arri and Panavision would be the most sought-after motion picture cameras for filmmakers.In the world of high tech industries such as health care, displays and semiconductors, a highly sophisticated camera is needed to spot the tiniest flaws in assembly lines or spot health irregularities inside human bodies. High-performance industrial cameras by Vieworks.(Vieworks)This is where Vieworks comes in

July 4, 2016