Korea, India hold meeting to expand economic cooperation

South Korea's finance ministry said Friday that it held a meeting with its Indian counterpart and discussed ways to bolster bilateral economic and financial cooperation.At the working-level talks in New Delhi on Thursday, South Korea and India agreed to work launching the $10 billion Seoul-New Delhi financial program in the near future, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.(123RF)In a summit in 2015, heads of the two countries reached an agreement on the program, aimed at helping de

March 31, 2017

[Herald Interview] Mexico’s Oaxaca eyes economic ties with Korea

Oaxaca, a state in Mexico, hopes to learn from South Korea‘s economic miracle and is eager to boost economic ties with the country, its economic secretary told The Korea Herald Thursday. Mario Jesus Rodriguez, the secretary of economy of Oaxaca, and his team, are on a four-day visit to Korea where they hope to learn from the country’s economic development model, he said. “South Korea is important because we know the success of South Korea,” Rodriguez said. “The

March 30, 2017

Number of unfair trade practices tumbles in 2016

The number of unfair trade practices in South Korea plunged in 2016 from the previous year due largely to a drop in newspaper companies' violations of the nation's fair trade, officials said Thursday.The Fair Trade Commission, the country's antitrust watchdog, imposed sanctions on 60 unfair business practices last year, down 43 cases from the previous year.  (Yonhap)The number covered violations for which the FTC issued administrative warnings or stricter penalties. It marked the first time in 2

March 30, 2017

Marginal households, firms hinder economic recovery

Korea needs to move faster to prevent a possible economic disruption stemming from a rising number of marginal households and businesses, economists here say.The predicament of the country’s households and enterprises struggling to service their growing debt is set to be exacerbated down the road as interest rates will likely climb.(123RF)Since June, the Bank of Korea has held its key rate at a record low of 1.25 percent to help bolster the sluggish economy, which is forecast to grow below 3 per

March 29, 2017

[Monitor] Korean households post first interest balance deficit

Households paid more in interest than gaining interest from their deposits, posting the first such deficit in 2016, Bank of Korea said Wednesday.The so-called interest balance came to a minus as the households’ interest payments grew at a faster pace than interest income, and as financial institutions charged more interest on loans to boost their earnings. The income from interest on deposits at banks and financial institutions reached an estimated 36.1 trillion won, up 5.4 percent from 2015. In

March 29, 2017

Korea advised to sign FTA with Japan to overcome global protectionism

South Korea should move to sign a free trade deal with Japan to more effectively deal with growing protectionist trends in the global economy, local economist said Wednesday.The Trump administration has withdrawn from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and blamed the North American Free Trade Agreement and the free trade agreement with South Korea for job losses, triggering concerns over the possibility of Washington withdrawing from the deals or at the very least demanding revisions. (Yonh

March 29, 2017

[Monitor] Judges most satisfied with career in Korea

A recent survey showed that judges have the greatest job satisfaction in South Korea. The satisfaction level was deemed based on the potential for growth, pay, sustainability, working environment, social reputation and overall job performance satisfaction. In second place were coast pilots. The KEIS said that jobs as a means to carry on with daily life are directly connected to an individual’s personal motivation to contribute to society.

March 28, 2017

Korea’s GDP slightly up, per capita income still below $30,000

South Korea’s annual economic growth was slightly revised up to 2.8 percent last year but the nation’s per capita income failed to reach $30,000, the Bank of Korea’s data showed Tuesday.According to the central bank, the real gross domestic product expanded 2.8 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, 0.1 percentage point up from the previous estimate of 2.7 percent, due to larger-than-expected construction spending in the fourth quarter.“We had previously expected that the construction spending in

March 28, 2017

Exporters rosy on Q2 biz conditions

A majority of South Korean exporters are optimistic about their business conditions in the second quarter of this year on the back of a recovery in global trade, a poll showed Tuesday.The export business survey index (EBSI) of 828 exporting companies polled came to 106 for the April-June period, up sharply from 93.6 the previous quarter, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).  (Yonhap)It marks the first time in 13 months that the EBSI has exceeded the benchmark 100 level.

March 28, 2017

Korea to focus on 4th revolution in mapping out 2018 budget

South Korea will focus its fiscal policy on pushing forward with the fourth industrial revolution next year, as well as improving job creation, tackling a low birthrate trend and economic polarization, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The 2018 budget guidelines, which were approved by the Cabinet, are aimed at improving fiscal efficiency and allocating government funds to pressing issues and boosting growth potential moving forward, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)Bas

March 28, 2017

Koreans evenly divided on issue of income redistribution or growth

South Koreans are almost equally divided on the sticky issue of whether the country's policy priority should be income redistribution or economic growth, a poll said Tuesday.According to the survey of 3,443 South Koreans, 50.4 percent of the respondents said redistribution matters more than growth, with the remaining 49.6 percent replying growth is more important. (Yonhap)Nearly 54 percent of low income earners answered income redistribution is more important than economic growth, according to t

March 28, 2017

Rising exports to China portend greater risks

Despite China’s retaliatory moves against Seoul’s hosting of a US missile defense system, South Korea has seen its exports to the world’s No. 2 economy increasing in recent months.The country’s shipments to China rose by 16.4 percent from a year earlier during the first 20 days of this month, following four consecutive months of on-year increases, according to the latest customs data. In February, the growth rate was 28.7 percent, the highest since late 2010.(Yonhap)This continuous increase in s

March 27, 2017

[Monitor] Korea’s Engel coefficient hits record low

South Korea’s monthly average household spending on food and non-alcoholic beverage items reached 349,000 won last year, with the Engel coefficient against the total spending coming at 13.7 percent, the lowest since 2003.The average consumer spending was 2.55 million won. The drop was attributed to a decline in food prices that brought down the overall spending amount.The coefficient, however, differed significantly among different levels of income, with the index for the low-income households m

March 27, 2017

Korea's 10 biggest groups own W74tr worth of land

The estimated value of land owned by South Korea's 10 biggest business groups rose to a record high last year due in part to the purchase of the headquarters of the Korea Power Electric Corp. (KEPCO) by Hyundai Motors Co. and its affiliates, a market researcher said Monday.Hyundai Motor Co. and some of its affiliates purchased the 79,345-square-meter plot in southeastern Seoul for 10.55 trillion won ($8.96 billion) in late 2015 to build a Seoul landmark featuring the country's tallest skyscraper

March 27, 2017

Number of self-employed soars in Feb. amid slump

The number of self-employed South Koreans rose at the fastest clip in more than a decade in February as more people opted to set up shop amid a prolonged economic slump and subsequent difficulty finding jobs, data showed Monday.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the country's self-employed numbered 5.52 million in February, up 213,000 from the same month a year earlier. (Yonhap)It marked the largest on-year increase since the 220,000 people recorded in April 2002.Of the total, one-man op

March 27, 2017

Korea's farmland area down 2.1% in 2016

South Korea's farmland area contracted 2.1 percent in 2016 from a year earlier due to construction of buildings and other facilities, government data showed Friday.The total area of South Korea's rice paddies and fields came to 1.64 million hectares -- about half the size of Maryland -- in 2016, compared with 1.68 million hectares in 2015, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)South Korea's farmland accounted for 16.4 percent of the country's total land areas in 2016, down

March 24, 2017

Office workers dissatisfied with rise in pay

South Korean office workers' pay has increased well below what they had hoped for this year, a poll showed Friday.According to the survey of 883 salaried workers taken by local education service institute Hunet, 51.5 percent of the respondents wanted their 2017 pay to rise in a range of 5 to 9 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The median is 7 percent, which is much lower than the actual rise of 2.7 percent for this year.Slightly over 24 percent hoped their salary would increase in a band of 3

March 24, 2017

Consumer sentiment improves in March on exports

South Korea's overall consumer sentiment improved this month from a month earlier helped by improving exports and eased political uncertainties, central bank data showed Friday.The composite consumer sentiment index for March came to 96.7, compared with 94.4 a month earlier.  (Yonhap)A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.A BOK official attributed the improved consumer sentiment to increased exports and the Constitutional Court's recent decision to oust President Park Geun-hye

March 24, 2017

Air pollution costs Korea at least W10tr a year

Dangerously polluted air in South Korea currently costs the country at least 10 trillion won ($8.91 billion) a year and 6-9 million of the nation’s population could suffer premature deaths by 2060 if the bad air quality is not properly tackled, recent reports warned.The nation has suffered from fine dust for months this year, even before yellow dust from the deserts in northern China usually hit the Korean Peninsula during the March to May spring period. (123rf)Fine particle pollutants in the ai

March 23, 2017

BOK chief underlines efforts to avoid being labeled currency manipulator

The head of South Korea's central bank called Thursday for preemptive efforts to ensure Seoul will not be designated as a currency manipulator."I don't think that there is a high possibility that South Korea will be labeled as a currency manipulator," Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol told reporters. The Bank of Korea's building (Yonhap)Still, he sounded a cautious note on the looming US decision, noting South Korea's possibility of being branded as a manipulator cannot be ruled out.He said Sou

March 23, 2017