Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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S. Korea's economy to expand 1.9% in 2019: KERI
South Korea's economy is expected to expand 1.9 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, a local research institute said Sunday, posting sluggish growth due to the protracted trade dispute between the United States and China.The figure marks a decrease of 0.3 percentage point from the previous outlook of 2.2 percent suggested in June, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI).The organization attributed the lackluster growth to the prolonged feud between the world's top two economies
Sept. 8, 2019
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Korean won likely to further ascend on eased trade tensions, hope of US rate cut
The South Korean won is expected to further advance against the US dollar for some time on what analysts called long-awaited but unanticipated positive developments that helped remove some uncertainties facing Asia's fourth-largest economy.The local currency closed at 1,196.90 won to the greenback on Friday, up 3.30 won from Thursday's close, extending its gains to a third consecutive session. It marked the first time since Aug. 1 that the won-dollar exchange rate breached the 1,200-won mark.Fri
Sept. 7, 2019
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S. Korea eyes record budget in 2020 to boost exports
South Korea plans a record budget spending next year to help boost the country's exports, which have been lackluster for months in the face of growing trade frictions, such as that between the United States and China, the trade ministry said Friday.The budget of 1.07 trillion won ($891 million), earmarked to promote exports and diversify overseas markets, will be the first to break the 1 trillion-won mark, according to the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Energy.The country also plans to provid
Sept. 6, 2019
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[News Focus] Korean firms flock to ‘Asia’s last frontier’ Myanmar
In line with President Moon Jae-in’s tour of Southeast Asia this week, South Korean business leaders and ranking officials visited Myanmar, the reclusive country bordering China -- that is opening up now. Several of them chose to visit Myanmar exclusively –- from Tuesday to Thursday -- skipping Moon’s other destinations such as Thailand and Laos. Eyeing its economic potential and geographical attractiveness, they clinched new deals and partnerships with the country called
Sept. 5, 2019
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Korea's current account surplus jumps to 9-month high in July
South Korea's current account surplus grew for a third consecutive month to a nine-month high in July on an increased trade surplus and a narrowing deficit in the service sector, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's current account surplus came to $6.95 billion in the month, the highest since October 2018, when the country posted a $9.35 billion surplus, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The country's current account balance has been in the
Sept. 5, 2019
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S. Korea, China ink advance pricing agreement
South Korea and China on Wednesday signed a deal that would ease tax audit burdens for several South Korean companies doing business in the world's second-largest economy, South Korea's tax agency said.The advance pricing arrangement is an ahead-of-time agreement between the tax authorities of the two countries to specify a pricing method that a South Korean company will apply to its transactions with its subsidiary in China. The arrangement can make it possible for tax officials to verify if a
Sept. 4, 2019
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Public institutions to expand investments to W55tr this year
South Korea’s top fiscal policymaker said Wednesday that public institutions will expand the size of their combined investments to 55 trillion won ($45.5 billion) this year as part of the government’s continued struggle to revitalize domestic economy amid growing uncertainties.“(The government) will ensure that public institutions make investments of 55 trillion won within the year, by advancing the timeline of some incoming investment projects,” said Deputy Prime Ministe
Sept. 4, 2019
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Policymakers deny deflation despite negative consumer price growth
Inflation in South Korea hit a record low of zero percent in August, with prices remaining unchanged from a year earlier, government data showed Tuesday.According to Statistics Korea, inflation in August recorded precisely minus 0.038 percent growth from a year earlier, dipping below zero for the first time since the government started to tally such data in 1966.While the reading was mostly attributed to on-year price falls for agricultural and petroleum products, fiscal and monetary policymaker
Sept. 3, 2019
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Govt. job creation budget to rise to record volume next year
The government plans to increase its job creation budget by over 20 percent to a record volume of nearly 26 trillion won ($21.4 billion) next year, with unemployment benefits accounting for a record 40 percent of the total, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday.The government will spend 25.77 trillion won in 2020 on job creation, marking a rise of 21.3 percent from this year, the ministry said, citing a government budget proposal for next year that was endorsed by the Cabinet last Th
Sept. 3, 2019
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Consumer price growth hits record low in August
South Korea's consumer price growth hit a record low in August, remaining flat compared with a year earlier, due mainly to declines in prices of agricultural and petroleum products, government data showed Tuesday.South Korea's consumer prices remained unchanged in August from a year earlier, staying below the 1 percent threshold for the eighth consecutive month, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The reading marked the lowest since 1965, when the statistics agency started compiling dat
Sept. 3, 2019
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S. Korean economy grows revised 1% on-quarter in Q2: BOK
South Korea's economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter from three months earlier on sluggish exports and government spending, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's gross domestic product expanded 1 percent in the April-June period, rebounding from a 0.4 percent on-quarter contraction the previous quarter, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.The latest reading marks a slight decrease from an earlier estimate of a 1.1 percent on-quarter expansion estim
Sept. 3, 2019
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Korea to complete ratification of FTA with UK before Brexit
South Korea is set to complete the ratification of a free trade deal with the UK at the National Assembly before the Brexit deadline of Oct. 31, officials said Monday. Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, the Korean government has pushed for a bilateral deal with the UK to prevent the rupture of trade relations and ensure continuity. On Aug. 22, the two nations signed a trade agreement that would allow businesses to keep trading freely after Brexit, marking the fir
Sept. 2, 2019
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Financial regulator seeks W3.1tr in 2020 budget
South Korea's financial regulator said Monday it has requested 3.1 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in budget for next year, in order to focus on providing funds for small- and medium-sized firms and underprivileged people. The budget proposal by the Financial Services Commission is part of a budget bill of 513.5 trillion won for next year, which was drafted by the finance ministry last week. The lion's share of the FSC budget proposal, or 2.1 trillion won, will be set aside for the retrieval of
Sept. 2, 2019
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[News Focus] Concerns grow over prospects for economy
SEJONG -- Nearly half of South Koreans responded that their economic situation had worsened since President Moon Jae-in took office in May 2017, a poll showed.According to the survey by the Opinion Research Justice, which was released on Aug. 29, only 17 percent of the 1,000 sampled respondents said their economic situation had improved under the Moon administration, compared to the previous government.In contrast, 48.8 percent of them responded that their economic situation has worsened over th
Sept. 1, 2019
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‘S. Korea will struggle to meet economic growth target this year’
South Korea’s top fiscal policymaker said Sunday that South Korea will struggle to achieve its economic growth target this year but has enough fiscal space to handle its plans to increase expenditure.“Domestic investments and exports are supposed to recover in the second half of the year (in order to reach the growth rate target) but (we are) experiencing difficulties,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a live television interview with KBS.In July,
Sept. 1, 2019
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Two BOK board members call for rate cut: BOK chief
Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday two BOK board members cast a dissenting vote in the August rate-freeze decision. Cho Dong-chul, who is considered the most dovish among the seven-member monetary policy board, and another dovish member, Shin In-seok, called for the central bank to cut its key rate by a quarter percentage point, Lee told reporters, after freezing the key rate at 1.5 percent. Many analysts view that a dissenting vote could signal a change in the BOK's policy in the c
Aug. 30, 2019
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BOK signals rate cut after standing pat at 1.5%
South Korea's central bank has room for a further rate cut to deter a longer skid in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the bank's chief said Friday, with analysts eying a rate reduction in October.The Bank of Korea's monetary policy board voted to leave the bellwether rate steady, after in July the bank carried out the first quarter percentage-point reduction in three years. The BOK's wait-and-see stance had been widely expected as it needs to gauge the impact of the rate cut on Asia's fourth-large
Aug. 30, 2019
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Industrial output up 1.2% on-month in July
South Korea's industrial output rose 1.2 percent in July from a month earlier due to increased auto output and facility investment, government data showed Friday. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries also went up 2.6 percent in July from a month earlier, while the output of the service sector increased 1 percent on-month.From a year earlier, industrial output grew 0.5 percent. (Yonhap)
Aug. 30, 2019
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[News Focus] Kospi loses more than 100 points in a month
SEJONG -- Stock prices on the nation’s first-tier bourse have been on a bearish run amid the trade war between South and Japan that began late last month.The Kospi has stayed under 2,000 points for the 18th consecutive trading session since August 2, when it fell to 1,998.13 from 2,017.34 a session earlier.The benchmark index closed at 1,941.09 on Aug. 28, down 8.8 percent or 189.53 points from two months earlier in June 28, when it reached 2,130.62. It also marked more than a 100 point dr
Aug. 29, 2019
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S. Korea’s fiscal spending to climb 9.3% in 2020 amid uncertainties
South Korea’s fiscal spending will climb 9.3 percent on-year in 2020, amid the government’s expansionary policy measures in response to growing economic uncertainties such as US-China friction and Japan’s trade curbs, according to officials.The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday laid out next year’s state budget bill and a five-year fiscal road map at a Cabinet meeting, as a preliminary step to parliamentary submission slated for Tuesday. If the budget bill
Aug. 29, 2019