SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have conducted longer closures of on-the-spot classes at schools than other countries amid the pandemic situation, a state-run statistics agency said Friday. According to Statistics Korea, Korea closed elementary, middle and high schools for 68 weeks (77.3 percent) of the 88 weeks from March 2020 to October 2021. The closure includes partial or full-fledged (al...

SEJONG -- Deputy prime minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that home prices in some districts of Seoul and others nationwide have stabilized. During a meeting with real estate-related ministers, Hong said prices of some apartments in Seoul have “stabilized to the level before entering a possible downhill phase.” His remarks indicate that some districts of the capital might b...

SEJONG -- The nation’s economy has faced downside risks in the wake of global industrial output and trade scaling back amid the ongoing pandemic, a state-funded research agency said Tuesday, casting concerns over a recent surge in manufacturers’ inventories. According to a report from the Korea Development Institute, the South Korean economy has been facing uncertainty with negative factors such...

SEJONG -- Homeowners will enjoy an increased capital gains exemption when they sell their homes after a law was passed. The National Assembly has passed the bill on raising the upper level for the tax exemption from the current 900 million won to 1.2 billion won. The revised law -- which is not applicable to multiple homeowners but to those owning only one home -- will take effect in the coming ...

SEJONG -- The growth in consumer prices posted the highest in almost a decade last month with prices of daily necessities such as diesel and agricultural products surging, sparking concerns over its impact on households. Statistics Korea said Thursday that consumer prices climbed 3.7 percent on-year in November, which marked the highest increase since the 4.2 percent growth in December 2011. Co...

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has maintained its outlook on the South Korean economy this year, while revising down its growth predictions for major countries. In a report released Wednesday, the Paris-based organization maintained its earlier forecast in September of a 4 percent growth in gross domestic product for Korea this year. “The Korean economy cont...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s monthly exports surpassed $60 billion last month for the first time on the back of the brisk outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemicals. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports posted an all-time high of $60.4 billion in November, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier. “After initially surpassing $50 billion in October 2013, the monthl...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s industrial output and facilities investment declined on-month, though the two sectors also recorded positive growth on-year, reflecting economic uncertainty under constant pressure of the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The industrial output decreased by 1.9 percent in October from a month earlier, which marked the highest negative growth since it posted minus 2 percent in...

SEJONG -- Banpo-dong, Seoul, is likely to see the average trading price of homes exceed 100 million won ($83,800) per “pyeong” in the coming months. Apgujeong-dong, Seoul is poised to follow suit. In the nation, a pyeong is a basic unit used for real estate prices, equal to 3.3 square meters. These two districts in the capital’s Gangnam-gu, located just south of Han River, are the priciest in S...

SEJONG -- The number of paid jobs for South Koreans in their 30s has declined for a seventh consecutive quarter. This could indicate a lack of job security for the core working age bracket, despite recent improvement in hiring indexes for other age groups. Statistics Korea said Thursday that the tally for salaried jobs increased by 681,000 on-year for all age groups in the second quarter. By age...

SEJONG -- The tally of those subject to the comprehensive real estate holding tax -- individuals or corporations -- exceeded 1 million this year for the first time since the nation introduced the tax in June 2005. According to the National Tax Service, almost 1.03 million individuals and corporations are supposed to pay comprehensive real estate taxes in 2021. The figure consists of 947,000 home...

SEJONG -- The Finance Ministry has unveiled its plan to support microbusiness owners, including the self-employed, in use of tax revenue surplus and the national budget. This is regarded as a sort of bailout for small businesses, which were severely hit by the pandemic in terms of sales and financial conditions. While they will have the opportunity of taking out state-led loans on low rates, the...

SEJONG -- The government’s move to levy comprehensive real estate taxes on a certain portion of homeowners is likely to face severe backlash, amid the growing tax burden of households in proportion to high growth in apartment prices. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, those subject to the comprehensive real estate tax are people owning two homes or more -- whose collective propert...

In Korea, nonregular workers refer to temporary workers, part-timers and others in an underemployed status. Data showed that the wage gap has continued to widen in recent years, while the proportion of workers in nonregular jobs increased by 5.5 percentage points during the 2017-2021 period. Further, 88.8 percent of regular workers were national pension policyholders as of this year, while the ...

While the situation is causing weakening job security, data showed that the growth pace in the nonregular job share was particularly fast in metropolitan cities. Except for Seoul, Sejong and Gwangju, they -- five other metropolitan cities -- saw the portion grow faster than the nationwide average of 5.5 percentage points. Daejeon had contrasting fortunes with neighboring Sejong. It posted an 8....