SEJONG -- The nation’s economy is heading toward uncertain territory due to a variety of factors at home and abroad which could restrict its growth, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday. In a meeting for economic policies at the Government Complex Seoul, Hong cited three main factors-- quarantine, external factors and fiscal situation -- that may weigh on the g...

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki raised the possibility that the housing market could be swayed by pledges of presidential candidates, and suggested he would try to block any speculative actions in particular regions via close monitoring. During a meeting of ministers in charge of real estate policies on Wednesday, Hong said there are symptoms that “home prices in...

SEJONG -- A large portion of startups and the self-employed failed in less than five years while suffering from fears of possible financial insolvency due to heavy debt, data from Statistics Korea and credit rating firm NICE showed Tuesday. Their unstable status was found to have started years before COVID-19 hit the nation. According to Statistics Korea, the median individual startup stayed in ...

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has expressed his commitment to raising accuracy and transparency in generating figures on tax revenue, reiterating his apology for the government’s excess revenue beyond its earlier estimate. In his meeting with reporters on Monday, Hong said the Finance Ministry would “focus on raising transparency (in operation and forecast of t...

SEJONG -- The number of self-employed workers declined by 18,000 in South Korea last year, despite improvement in employment indices, state data showed Monday. Self-employed workers refers to non-salaried people who operate businesses without hiring employees or do so with several employees, mostly less than five. The country has a dominant portion of self-employed people engaging in sectors suc...

SEJONG -- The Ministry of Economy and Finance has unveiled its policy to draw up a supplementary budget worth 14 trillion won ($11.7 billion), most of which will be used to support small business owners including the self-employed. Under constitutional government in Korea since 1948, this will mark the second time a supplementary budget bill has been submitted to the National Assembly in January...

SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have lagged far behind major countries in the latest economic growth, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Thursday. According to the French-based organization, Korea’s gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent -- as a provisional figure -- in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the previous quarter. This placed Asia’s fo...

SEJONG -- The number of employed people increased the most in seven years in 2021 on the back of the base effect after the coronavirus pandemic dealt a severe blow to the hiring market in 2020, state data showed Wednesday. But the number of jobs in sectors such as wholesale-retail and food service-lodging continued to decline last year, following the previous year. About 516,000 jobs disappeared...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s brisk export performance, which started in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a rebound or recovery, has continued during the first 10 days of 2022, state customs data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the nation’s exports reached $13.9 billion during the period of Jan. 1-10, up 24.4 percent compared to $11.2 billion over the same period of 2021. By main...

SEJONG -- South Korea has surpassed the average of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in gross domestic product per capita, for the first time, data showed Monday. According to the French-based organization, Korea ranked 18th among the 38 members in GDP per capita with $45,363 in 2020. This exceeded the estimate of the OECD average at $45,182, while the nation h...

SEJONG -- South Korea ranked second among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the ratio of property tax to gross domestic product in 2020, with its on-year growth posting No. 1 and ranking in terms of the ratio climbing by four notches from a year earlier. According to a recent analysis by the Paris-based organization, Korea recorded 3.97 percent in the ratio ...

SEJONG -- Foreign direct investment in the nine free economic zones in South Korea surpassed a cumulative $20 billion mark since the nation started operating the FEZs 18 years ago in 2003. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nine FEZs attracted FDI worth $1.31 billion in 2021, up 42 percent from a year earlier. This was a bounce-back after recording declines for two con...

SEJONG -- The average trading price of homes in Seoul posted 39.99 million won ($33,500) per 3.3 square meters, which is equivalent to 1 “pyeong,” at the end of 2021, data from KB Kookmin Bank and Naver showed. This indicates that the price for an 84-square-meter unit, a popular size in Korea, in the capital has surpassed 1 billion won on average. In the capital’s priciest district of Gangnam-g...

SEJONG -- The on-year growth of consumer prices has reached the highest level in 10 years in 2021, aggravating the burden on the debt-saddled household sector. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed 2.5 percent this year compared to 2020. After reaching 2.2 percent in 2012, the growth ranged between 0.4 and 1.9 percent during the 2013-2020 period. The 2021 figure marked the high...

SEJONG -- Korean businesses, including those in the manufacturing and service industries, saw the index for their retail sales decline sharply last month despite brisk industrial output, state data showed Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also commented on the weakening sentiment index over private consumption, picking negative factors like bolstered quarantine aga...