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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Public backlash against division of Gyeonggi Province under 'corny' name
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids go gold in US with ‘Maniac’
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S. Korea unveils W35.3tr extra budget plan to brace for post-coronavirus era
South Korea has finalized the single-largest supplementary budget worth 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion), marking its third set of extra fiscal spending in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. The supplementary budget bill was approved in an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held at Seoul Government Complex to overcome the economic crisis and brace for the forthcoming post-coronavirus era. It is slated to be submitted to the National Assembly on T
June 3, 2020
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Korean companies' revenue, profitability down in 2019
South Korean businesses suffered a heavy setback in their profits last year due to a sharp decline in sales partly caused by a prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, central bank data showed Wednesday. The combined sales of South Korean firms dipped 1 percent from a year earlier in 2019, marking a turnaround from a 4.2 percent on-year increase the year before, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The sharp drop in sales is apparently attributed to
June 3, 2020
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S. Korea proposes largest-ever extra budget to battle pandemic
SEJONG -- South Korea on Wednesday proposed another extra budget plan worth 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) that will help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. The biggest-ever budget, which is subject to approval from the National Assembly, will raise the total of the nation's stimulus packages to 270 trillion won as the government has stepped up fiscal and monetary responses to the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
June 3, 2020
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S. Korea’s GDP shrinks by 1.3% amid falling per capita income
South Korea’s real gross domestic product shrank 1.3 percent on-quarter in the first quarter of this year, nearly missing its previous forecast of 1.4 percent, data from the Bank of Korea showed Tuesday. Through the contraction was 0.1 percentage point lower than the earlier estimate, it marked the largest on-quarter drop since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the country was reeling from the global financial crisis and the corresponding figure stood at 3.3 percent. The country’s
June 2, 2020
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Korea faces first dip in annual inflation in 8 months
South Korea’s consumer prices shed 0.3 percent on-year in May, marking the first annual contraction in eight months, due to the fall in global oil prices and the persisting COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The consumer price index for May stood at 104.71, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier and down 0.2 percentage point from a month earlier, according to data tallied by Statistics Korea. This was the second time that the annual inflation rate fell below zero since th
June 2, 2020
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S. Korea's corporate loans rise at over decade high rate in Q1
Loans extended to companies in South Korea jumped at the fastest rate in more than 10 years in the first quarter, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently on a rise in demand from businesses hit by the fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic. The outstanding amount of corporate loans came to 1,259.2 trillion won ($1.03 trillion) at end-March, up 51.4 trillion won from three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the largest on-quart
June 2, 2020
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Pork price on rise amid pandemic
The price of pork increased in May from a year earlier as a growing number of people preferred preparing meals at home amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The average wholesale price of pork reached 5,115 won ($4.18) per kilogram in May, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of pigs slaughtered in May reached 1.4 million units, up 1.5 percent from the month's average, it added.
June 2, 2020
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S. Korea, Australia to broaden ties in green energy segment
South Korea and Australia agreed Tuesday to beef up cooperation in the energy segment to continue to expand the use of environment friendly resources despite the rising uncertainties stemming from the new coronavirus pandemic. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo and his Australian counterpart, Keith Pitt, held a virtual meeting, and they vowed to forge deeper ties especially as the pandemic has put strain on and caused uncertainties in the global resources market, according to the Ministry of Trade,
June 2, 2020
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Korea's inflation dips 0.3% in May, first fall in 8 months
SEJONG -- South Korea's consumer prices fell 0.3 percent on-year in May due mainly to a fall in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first annual decline in eight months, data showed Tuesday. The May tally compares with a 0.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. The nation's inflation fell 0.2 percent on-month, the data showed. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, rose 0.5 percent from a year earli
June 2, 2020
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Korea's Q1 growth revised up, but further contraction in store in Q2
South Korea's economy shrank at a slightly less-than-expected rate in the first quarter but is projected to face a deeper contraction in the current quarter due to the growing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Tuesday. The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.3 percent from three months earlier in the January-March period, 0.1 percentage point lower than the expected 1.4 percent contraction in advance data, according to the Bank of Korea
June 2, 2020
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S. Korea to invest $15m in ADB funds
The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday they will invest $15 million (18.4 billion won) in the Asian Development Bank’s upcoming new fund program to help early-stage startups here to expand their business into Southeast Asia regions. The Ventures Facility Investment Fund is aimed at financing small and medium-sized companies in business sectors like agriculture, public sanitation or fintech that foster sustainable economic growth in Southeast A
June 1, 2020
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S. Korea sharply cuts this year's growth outlook amid pandemic, but expects strong rebound in 2021
South Korea on Monday sharply slashed its growth estimate for the year, but expected a strong economic rebound next year on the back of massive fiscal spending, vowing to adopt "all possible means" to help Asia's fourth-largest economy chug along amid the pandemic. The finance ministry revised down its growth outlook to 0.1 percent from the 2.4 percent forecast late last year. Such a sharp cut follows the outbreak of the new coronavirus that has infected more than 6 million people g
June 1, 2020
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‘Single-largest extra budget’ sought to deal with COVID-19 fallout
South Korea’s government and ruling party on Monday vowed to effectuate “the single-largest supplementary budget ever” within this month to head off the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeking synergy with the upcoming “mega budget,” the country also rolled out its economic policy road map for the second half of the year, including its own version of the “New Deal” package. “The government plans to submit the supplementary budget bill
June 1, 2020
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S. Korea’s exports fail to recover in May
South Korea’s exports continued to fall in May, marking a double-digit percentage decline for the second consecutive month, according to a government report on Monday. The extended decline was largely due to the global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry explained. Shipments of semiconductor products, however, bounced back, which alleviated the extended decline, it added. The nation’s outbound shipments in May dropped by 23.7 percent on-year to $34.8 bill
June 1, 2020
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Businesses, households borrow W75tr in loans during COVID-19 period
T he outstanding loans extended to local companies and households here increased by a combined 75.4 trillion won ($73 billion) from February to April, when the economic risks stemming from the novel coronavirus pushed them to the brink, data showed Sunday. The figure has increased nearly triple on-year, rising from when businesses and households borrowed a combined 21.9 trillion won, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the policymaking Financial Services Commission. The outsta
May 31, 2020
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Idle funds hit record-high amid COVID-19, low rate trend
South Korea’s volume of short-term floating capital -- so-called “idle funds” -- surpassed 1,100 trillion won ($901 billion), hitting a record-high amid the prolonged COVID-19 crisis and the continued low rate trend, data showed Sunday. The volume of cash, demand deposits, money market funds and other types classified as idle funds reached 1,106.3 trillion won as of end-March, up by around 10 trillion won on-month, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the Korea
May 31, 2020
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Japan keeps mum on S. Korea's call to lift trade curbs as deadline looms
Japan has not responded to South Korea's renewed call to swiftly retract export restrictions imposed in a row over wartime forced labor, officials here said Sunday, as the deadline for an answer neared. Earlier this month, Seoul gave Tokyo until the end of May to lift the export curbs imposed in July last year on three key industrial materials in apparent retaliation over a row surrounding the wartime forced labor. Japan also removed South Korea from its list of trusted partners. "We ha
May 31, 2020
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S. Korea’s economy to contract this year amid COVID-19 impact: BOK
South Korea’s central bank on Thursday slashed the country’s economic growth outlook for this year, forecasting a 0.2 percent on-year contraction amid the persisting COVID-19 pandemic. It also cut the policy rate to an unprecedented 0.5 percent, further down from the previous record low of 0.75 percent, keeping pace with the government’s expansionary fiscal actions to shore up the virus-hit economy. The Bank of Korea’s decision-making body -- Monetary Policy Board --
May 28, 2020
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S. Korea to set aside W500b in guarantee fund program for auto parts firms
South Korea’s government will establish a guarantee fund program worth 500 billion won ($405 million) to provide extra loans to auto parts firms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the nation’s fiscal chief on Thursday. “(The government) will protect the automobile industry’s ecosystem by providing cash to small and medium-sized auto parts firms that struggle to secure loans in spite of outstanding technology or sound contract delivery performances,” Deputy
May 28, 2020
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Number of paid employee jobs rises 3.2% in Q4 last year
The number of jobs for wage and salary workers in South Korea gained 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to increased social welfare and public administration jobs, government data showed Thursday. South Korea's economy had 19.08 million paid worker jobs in the October-December period, up 592,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Jobs in the social welfare sector came to 2.02 million, up 8.6 percent from a year ago, with public administration
May 28, 2020