The Korea Herald

BUSINESS

All
Economy
Finance
Industry
Technology
Automode

LATEST NEWS

Russian aircraft violates S. Korea's airspace above East Sea twice
[Gwangju Swimming] Water polo stars hope sport will grow after 1st world ch...
Overturned van in Samcheok carried 6 Thai nationals: police
NK leader inspects new submarine to be deployed in East Sea: state media
Pompeo says he thinks NK was 'perplexed' by high priority of remains return
Students released after 8 hours of questioning over protest in Japan consul...
Kim Seo-yeong not dwelling on disappointing result
Trump says there was 'very positive' correspondence recently with N. Korea
Swimmers 'don't trust' Sun as doping row boils over
Malfunctioning equipment forces solo re-races in preliminary

Today Economy

S. Korea gears up for financial market contingency plan amid Japan factor

In response to the escalating economic conflict between South Korea and Japan, financial authorities here are establishing a contingency plan in case Tokyo expands its trade restrictions to the financial sector, officials said Monday.The preemptive gesture came out of concern about the apparent dependency of local financial companies on Japanese lenders, which have been offering a low interest rate for years. The total amount of Japanese money circulating in Korea’s financial market was es

Korea's exports set to decline for 8th straight month in July

South Korea's exports are likely to extend their slump to an eighth month in July, driven by a decline in outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemical goods, data showed on Monday. The country's exports fell 13.6 percent in the first 20 days of July from a year earlier to $28.3 billion, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. Average daily exports -- which reflect working days -- declined 16.2 percent on-year to $1.71 billion. If the trend continue

Jul 22, 2019
Economy
Investors pour money into short-term vehicles amid low rates, uncertainty

Investors have increasingly shifted their money to short-term financial instruments, such as money market funds, amid low interest rates and growing economic uncertainties, data showed Sunday. Money market funds are short-term debt securities such as Treasury bills and commercial papers. They are widely considered to be as safe as bank deposits while providing a higher return. The net asset value of MMFs came to 120.18 trillion won ($102 billion) as of Wednesday, breaching the 120 trillion-won t

Jul 21, 2019
Economy
Q2 economic growth estimated at around 1%

South Korea's quarterly economic growth is estimated at 1 percent for the second quarter of the year, shifting from a contraction of 0.4 percent the previous quarter, financial industry sources said Sunday.The Bank of Korea is set to unveil its estimate for second-quarter growth this week. Earlier, the central bank had predicted that Asia's fourth-largest economy would expand 1.2 percent during the April-June period. But a drawn out trade dispute between the United States and China, combined wit

Jul 21, 2019
Economy
S. Korea cuts growth outlook to 2.2%, key rate to 1.5% amid uncertainties

Japan’s export curbs had impact on drastic lowering of outlook: BOK chief

Jul 19, 2019
Economy
[News Focus] ‘Sagging economy’ faces 2nd rebound in dollar, oil

SEJONG -- Prices of the US dollar and gasoline directly affect a large proportion of South Korean businesses and households in terms of manufacturing costs and purchasing power.While monetary authorities sometimes have intervened in the foreign exchange market and hamper the cheap dollar in an attempt to promote exports, the greenback’s current strong position versus the Korean won suggests the local economy has been sagging.Simultaneously, a hike in international prices of crude oil, whic

Jul 19, 2019
Economy
Home transactions down 28% in H1

Home sales in South Korea plunged more than 28 percent in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier, data showed Thursday, amid tightened regulations intended to curb rising housing prices. The number of housing transactions came to 314,108 in the first six months of the year, down 28.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The figure is 35.8 percent down on the five-year average of 489,373. In June alone, t

Jul 18, 2019
Economy
BOK cuts key rate to 1.5% amid uncertainties

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday cut the nation’s policy rate to 1.5 percent, amid mounting external uncertainties, officials have announced.It also decided to sharply slash the country's growth pace this year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.2 percent from 2.5 percent.The Bank of Korea held its rate-setting Monetary Policy Board and decided to cut the base interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent.The rate cut decision came a step earlier than the US Fed’s largely anti

Jul 19, 2019
Economy
BOK slashes policy rate to 1.50%

The Bank of Korea slashed its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.50 percent Thursday in a surprise move to help spur growth amid prolonged trade tensions.The rate cut is the first since November when the central bank raised the rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent.The unexpected rate cut follows seven consecutive months of decline in the country's exports, which could face further downward momentum in the future due to Japan's export curbs on key materials for the production of se

Jul 18, 2019
Economy
[Monitor] Koreans make up 24.1% of Japan visitors: data

With boycotts of Japanese products becoming more widespread in South Korea in response to Tokyo’s export restrictions, accompanied by calls to stop visiting the neighboring country in a show of protest, data showed that Koreans were the second-largest group of visitors to Japan, the largest being Chinese travelers.The data from the Japan National Tourism Organization showed that almost 7.54 million Koreans traveled to Japan in 2018, making up 24.1 percent of all visitors to the country. It

Jul 18, 2019
Economy
S. Korea’s Trade Ministry refutes Japan by revealing catch-all system

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday released details of its “catch-all system” for the country’s trade controls for security, refuting one by one Japan’s claims that South Korea’s system is insufficient.The ministry reiterated that Korea has been controlling exports of both strategic and nonstrategic items under stricter conditions than Japan.Japan has raised as a reason for its export restrictions of key materials for South Korea’s tech fi

Jul 18, 2019
Economy
[News Focus] Portion of pessimists over economy hits record: poll

SEJONG -- A large proportion of self-employed people have closed their businesses and joined the growing number of jobless people over the past two years. Simultaneously, the state payment of unemployment benefits has climbed to an all-time high.The Moon government started providing some young jobless people with 3 million won ($2,540) for six months per individual, while the number of people who lost jobs has been drastically increasing among those in their early 50s, 40s and late 30s. The

Jul 18, 2019
Economy
S. Korea's national assets grow 8.2% in 2018

South Korea's total wealth grew at a fast pace from a year earlier in 2018 but largely on rapid increases in real estate and housing prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's national assets came to 15,511.7 trillion won ($13.13 trillion) as of the end of last year, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the national balance sheet released by the Bank of Korea.The annual report is jointly compiled by the central bank and the statistics office. The 2018 tally is 8.2 times

Jul 17, 2019
Economy
S. Korea considers lowering extra-high inheritance tax rate for top shareholders

South Korea's government and ruling party are considering a move to lower the extra-high rate levied on inheritance tax for top shareholders of big companies, a ruling party official said Monday. South Korea's top inheritance tax is set at 50 percent, but it could go up to as high as 65 percent if the rate is increased in cases that involve the largest shareholders.The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government have been in discussions to lower the extra-h

Jul 15, 2019
Economy
Market closely watches timing, pace of BOK’s upcoming rate cut

There is consensus on a likely rate cut in August, but views differ on further action this year

Jul 16, 2019
Economy

The Korea Herald by Herald Corporation

Address : Huam-ro 4-gil 10, Yongsan-gu,Seoul, Korea
Online newspaper registration No : Seoul 아03711
Date of registration : 2015.04.28
Publisher. Editor : Kwon Chung-won
Juvenile Protection Manager : Yang Sung-jin
Tel : 02.727.0114