Korea not likely to face massive job losses despite 4th industrial revolution

South Korea will not likely suffer from massive job losses with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution -- which will bring production automation and a streamlined governance system -- due to preemptive investments, a report said Thursday.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said recently his government will pursue state-run R&D funds and deregulation to improve the country's economic and social systems and make them more suited for the fourth industrial revolution.A file photo of South Korea's Fin

March 9, 2017

Five years into effect, Korea-US FTA helps both

Contrary to what many in the United States may believe, the country's bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea has been mutually beneficial, if not more so for the United States, since its enactment five years earlier, a report suggested Thursday.According to the report from the Institute for International Trade, the combined share of American products in South Korea's import market came to 10.64 percent last year, up 2.14 percentage points from 8.5 percent in 2011, a year before the Kore

March 9, 2017

Economic recovery remains sluggish due to faltering private consumption

Faltering private consumption is dragging down South Korea's flaccid economic recovery, which has shown some signs of an upturn in exports and investment, a government report said Thursday."An upside mode of exports is expanding to production and investment, but domestic demand, such as consumption, continues to slow down and limit the recovery for the entire economy," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment report called the "Green Book."An image depicting the sluggish econo

March 9, 2017

Real estate trust firms post record net income

The net income of South Korea's real estate trust companies hit an all-time high last year, with interest rates staying low and newly built apartments selling like hotcakes, data showed Thursday.Eleven such firms here reported combined net profits of 393.3 billion won ($343 million) last year, up 77 percent from 2015, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Apartments under construction in Korea (Yonhap)It marks a record high, boosted by increases in operating and non-operating income al

March 9, 2017

Households spend nearly 7% of their monthly income on education

South Korean households spend nearly 7 percent of their monthly income on education, a survey showed Wednesday, a sign that underscores the education zeal in Asia's fourth-largest economy.The average monthly income of South Korean households came to 4.68 million won ($4,000) as of late last year. Of the total, 310,000 won was set aside for education, accounting for 6.6 percent of the the income, according to the survey conducted by Shinhan Bank, the country's fourth-largest lender by assets.Stud

March 8, 2017

Korea's finance minister meets with AMCHAM president

South Korea's finance minister held a meeting with the representative of US businesses on Wednesday to discuss ways to expand understanding on economy and trade between the two countries.At the meeting with James Kim, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, Yoo Il-ho said it is necessary to establish a favorable economic and trade partnership under the new Donald Trump administration, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (

March 8, 2017

Decline in economically active population to affect growth potential

South Korea's economically active population is set to decline in the coming years, a local think tank said Wednesday, a chronic trend that could undermine the growth potential of Asia's fourth-biggest economy. The number of the country's economically active population aged between 15 and 64 is expected to reach 37.62 million in 2017, down from 37.63 million a year earlier, according to government data.The number of the country's economically active population is showing a decreasing trend. (Yon

March 8, 2017

Sluggish household spending drags down economy

A set of measures unveiled by the government last month to boost private consumption included the designation of a family day once a month to encourage workers to leave work earlier and have more time to go shopping and travel with family members.Many dismissed the idea as unrealistic, saying ordinary people were compelled to tighten their belts as incomes stagnated and prices continued to rise.(123RF)According to recent data from Statistics Korea, household consumption spending decreased 0.5 pe

March 8, 2017

Mega real estate deals in Jeju stalled amid THAAD row

Large-scale real estate developments funded by Chinese investors on South Korea's resort island are struggling to move forward amid deepening diplomatic tension between China and Korea over the deployment of a US anti-missile defense system.A subcontractor for the development of a resort hotel on Jeju Island, led by Shanghai-based Greenland Holdings Corp., pulled all their construction equipment from the site last week in protest of overdue payments.An image depicting the real estate market in K

March 8, 2017

Korea's economic growth may slow on THAAD impact

South Korea's annual growth could be slashed by as much as 0.5 percentage point should China continue its economic offensive against the South's decision to install a US missile defense system on its soil, analysts said Wednesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy is predicted to suffer some $7.3 billion in losses -- a 0.53 percent on-year drop of its annual GDP -- should it end up losing about half of its Chinese travelers on an annual basis, Credit Suisse said in its latest report. Large Korean cor

March 8, 2017

State-run firms hired over 20,000 new recruits in 2016

State-run firms and public organizations employed more than 20,000 new recruits last year, data showed Wednesday, as the government focused on providing more jobs in the public sector to contain the rising unemployment rate.It is the first time the number of new employees recruited by state-run corporations and organizations surpassed the 20,000 mark, the data by All Public Information In-One run by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.A file photo of a job fair in Seoul. (Yonhap)The number

March 8, 2017

Korea's finance minister vows economic, diplomatic efforts to resolve tension with China

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Wednesday that the government will make economic and diplomatic efforts to soothe the tensions stemming from China's apparent retaliation against Seoul's plan to deploy a US-led missile defense system."We are keeping close tabs on what is going on in China," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in an economy-related ministers meeting in Seoul. "The government will strengthen economic and diplomatic efforts to minimize damage that our businesses and people a

March 8, 2017

Reshoring could be answer to high unemployment in Korea

Reshoring may be just what South Korea needs to deal with its high unemployment rate, especially for the youth, a report said Wednesday, urging additional government efforts to bring back South Korean firms that have gone offshore.According to the report from the Korea Economic Research Institute, 11,953 South Korean companies had gone offshore as of June 2016, employing a combined total of nearly 3.4 million people in their host countries. An assembly line at a production facility of Ssangyong

March 8, 2017

Govt. announces housing support for 1.11m households in 2017

The South Korean government announced its annual public housing plan Wednesday, under which it will provide financial and other support to more than 1.1 million households.The government support may come in monthly allowances for low income households but also in actual houses at special rates for up to 120,000 families, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Houses on sale in Korea (Yonhap)Under the annual government program, worth more than 22.1 trillion won ($19.26 b

March 8, 2017

China's retaliations shed light on inconsistencies with own free trade policy

China's economic retaliations against South Korea over Seoul's deployment of an advanced US missile defense system bring to light inconsistencies in the free trade and investment policy that Beijing has publicly advocated, industry and government sources said Tuesday.South Korea's Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said Monday Seoul will "seek international action against possible violations of the World Trade Organization and the Seoul-Beijing free trade agreement" in connection with the "retaliator

March 7, 2017

Govt. to revamp major insurance, pension schemes

The country will draw up mid- and long-term measures to cope with expected deterioration in the financial health of the country's key national insurance schemes and major national pension funds as they are expected to run into the red in the coming years due to the rapidly aging of the country's population, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The National Health Insurance Service, which logged a net profit of 3.1 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in 2016, will likely swing to a deficit in 2018 and its r

March 7, 2017

Korea's economic recovery loses momentum due to faltering private consumption

The South Korea's modest economic recovery bolstered by the uptick in construction and facility investment is losing steam in the face of a slowdown in private consumption, a state-run think tank said Tuesday."The Korean economy exhibited improved investments, but private consumption weakened slightly, implying only modest growth," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. "Construction investment continued the rapid growth and facilitie

March 7, 2017

Finance minister holds meeting with experts on THAAD issues

South Korea's chief economic policymaker on Monday held a meeting with local experts to discuss ways to deal with China's measures taken on some South Korean firms, in an apparent retaliation for Seoul's plan to deploy a US-led missile system.At the round-table meeting in Seoul, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and 11 professors and researchers including Hyun Jung-taik, president of the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, reviewed the current pending trade and economic issues

March 6, 2017

China ranks as one of the least open markets in the world

China stood at the bottom in terms of market openness, a global report showed Monday, spawning concerns over its protectionist stance amid heightening tension with South Korea over the deployment of a US missile defense system. China ranked 126th out of a total of 136 countries in terms of market accessibility, according to the latest Global Enabling Trade Report, a biennial finding published in November by the World Economic Forum. Image representing the Chinese economy (123RF)It stood 61st in

March 6, 2017

Measured response to reduce risks from China, US

South Korea is facing the possibility of renegotiating a bilateral free trade deal with the US while coping with increasing economic pressure from China over its planned hosting of an advanced American missile defense system.Washington on Thursday called China’s retaliation against South Korea “unreasonable and inappropriate” in its first official denunciation of Beijing’s moves to make Seoul pay the economic price for taking a step that it views as undermining its security interest beyond deter

March 6, 2017