Most Popular
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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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What is Hybe’s next move?
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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[Herald Interview] Mom’s Touch seeks to replicate success in Japan
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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'Queen of Tears' finale sets record viewership ratings as tvN's most-watched series ending
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Police to open alleged stalking probe over pastor over Dior bag scandal
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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[News Focus] Lee tells Yoon that he has governed without political dialogue
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
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Govt. to step up readjustment of budget spending to boost job creation, innovative growth
SEJONG -- The government said Monday that it will continue its efforts to realign budget spending in a way to tackle the country's chronic low birth rate, boost job creation and facilitate innovative growth."The government will focus on the three key policies by improving the country's overall budget spending scheme," Deputy Finance Minister Kim Yong-jin said in a policy meeting.Kim said government agencies are urged to actively respond to changes in policy implementation and to do mor
June 18, 2018
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Job cuts most serious for 30s and 40s: data
While South Korea’s employment indexes continued to struggle amid controversies on increased minimum wage, the job decreasing rate turned out to be the most drastic for the primary labor force age clusters in their 30s and 40s, data showed Sunday. The number of newly employed people in their 40s stood at 669.7 million in May, down 88,000 from the same period last year and marking a decline for 31 consecutive months, according to data released by Statistics Korea.This was the longest period
June 17, 2018
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S. Korea's jobless rate rises in May, job creation lowest in over 8 yrs
South Korea's jobless rate rose slightly in May due to a fall in employment in the retail, manufacturing and educational service sectors, while job creation remained sluggish, government data showed Friday.The unemployment rate stood at 4 percent last month, up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier, marking the highest rate recorded for May in 18 years, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.The number of employed people reached 27.06 million in May, up 72,000 from a year earlie
June 15, 2018
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ECB to keep interest rates at record lows at least through summer
The European Central Bank on Thursday said it expected key interest rates to remain at their current historic lows "at least through the summer of 2019."The Frankfurt institution's main refinancing rate currently stands at zero percent, the rate on the marginal lending facility at 0.25 percent, and the rate on deposits at -0.4 percent, meaning banks pay to park money with the ECB. (AFP)
June 14, 2018
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US rate hike likely to have limited impact on Korea: officials
As the United States carried out its anticipated rate hike this week, South Korea faces mounting pressure to keep pace with the momentum amid prolonged slow growth and chronic household debt.In a largely defensive gesture, key fiscal and monetary officials here said that the impact of the US rate hike would be limited, though they vowed anticipative measures for the potential consequences of the faster-than-expected rate hike timeline that has been signaled. “The Fed’s latest rate hi
June 14, 2018
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Banks preparing for possible resumption of inter-Korean projects
South Korean banks have stepped up preparations for a possible resumption of economic projects in North Korea, as a historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un raised hopes of more reconciliation between Seoul and Pyongyang.After about five hours of talks in Singapore on Tuesday, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement committing to the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." But the statement fell short on details of how the North'
June 14, 2018
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Denuclearization talks may give momentum to new economic road map for 2 Koreas
President Moon Jae-in's "new economic road map" for the Korean Peninsula may get its needed momentum once North Korea's denuclearization gets on track, with details getting added to the unified market and economic cooperation belts that he envisioned, according to watchers here Thursday.Prospects of improved and even new economic tieups with the North brightened after the historic North Korea-US summit in Singapore on Tuesday. The premise is that the international sanctions imposed on
June 14, 2018
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Korea needs a boost to domestic demand
With the prospects for Korea’s exports in the coming years dimming, there is increased pressure to expand domestic demand, particularly by promoting service industries through drastic deregulation.A downturn in exports, which have shored up Asia’s fourth-largest economy in recent years amid sluggish domestic demand, could rattle it unless offset by an increase in local consumption and investment, experts say.According to recent data from the Bank of Korea, exports made a 1.8 percenta
June 13, 2018
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[US-NK Summit] Major research institutes, ministries join peace mood of US-NK summit
South Korea’s state-owned energy corporations and think tanks have recently been observed empowering their inter-Korean economic cooperation functions, in anticipation that the latest US-North Korea talks for denuclearization may open the door to the long-secluded northern part of the peninsula.While research institutes made gestures to expand their related research, ministries and state-owned entities largely remained cautious and settled for subtle personnel readjustments, keeping an eye
June 12, 2018
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Weak manufacturing increases employment woes
Korea is lagging behind in global competition to enhance the productivity and employment of manufacturing industries, experts here say.Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its manufacturing sector’s proportion of gross domestic product shrink from 31.36 percent in 2011 to 29.33 percent in 2016, according to data from the World Bank. The corresponding figure for member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development rose by 1.1 percentage points on average over the ci
June 11, 2018
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Seoul’s stock market buzzes ahead of Trump-Kim summit
Seoul’s stock market is expected to be highly active this week, with investors optimistic about the widely tipped momentum following the Washington-Pyongyang summit on Tuesday. All the while, monetary policymakers are tense over expected rate hikes by the United States and European Union later in the week.While guarding against excessive optimism, market observers suggested that the eased peninsular tension would encourage foreign investment by leading to a stronger won. “Should the
June 11, 2018
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Self-employed biz earnings growth falls to 6-year low in 2017: report
The earnings growth rate for South Korea's self-employed businesses fell to a six-year low in 2017 amid social and economic changes under way in Asia's fourth-largest market, official data showed Sunday.Profit growth by relatively small, self-employed businesses reached 1 percent last year compared with 2016, information provided by Statistics Korea showed. This is the worst showing after a 0.7 percent increase tallied in 2011.Industry watchers said the falling off of workplace-related eating an
June 10, 2018
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10 out of top 30 conglomerates cut number of workers in 2017: report
South Korea's leading business groups scaled back the number of employees on their payrolls in 2017 amid challenging market conditions and restructuring efforts undertaken by some industries, a report by a corporate information provider said Sunday.According to the data compiled by Chaebol.com., 10 out of the 30 largest conglomerates in terms of assets, had fewer workers last year than in 2016, with four cutting their workforces by more than 1,000.Of the groups that cut workers, Kumho Asiana, wh
June 10, 2018
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Finance minister calls for corporate support in job creation, innovative growth
HANAM -- South Korea's top economic policymaker on Friday asked companies to do more to create jobs and spearhead innovative growth in the latest appeal to the business community to join the government's efforts to push for a more balanced and sustainable economy.In a meeting with Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin and top executives of affiliates of the business group in Hanam, just southeast of Seoul, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon stressed the importance of cooperation between the private
June 8, 2018
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Finance minister vows actions for income inequality, tones down on wage
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon on Thursday vowed assertive fiscal measures regarding the nation‘s widening income disparity, extending his concerns for the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth initiative. The top economic policymaker, however, toned down on his disapproval of the nation‘s fast-paced legal minimum wage hike plan, which he regarded as a hindrance to employment and income distribution.“The decline in earnings in low-income
June 7, 2018
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NK thaw signals end to export-driven economy: Herald forum
A tectonic shift is unraveling in and around the Korean Peninsula, especially in the wake of rapprochement mood and signs of denuclearization in North Korea, as well as trade war threats in East Asia. But to businessmen here, the looming transformation in the world‘s most secluded state could translate into a change in environment to which they would be forced to adapt. Experts and veterans in economic fields in South Korea discussed ways to address the transformation, to some 200-strong a
June 7, 2018
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Key economic, political events could rock local stock market
Investors are keeping close tabs on various scenarios that could potentially lead to a "June crisis" amid key global market-moving and political events, observers here said Thursday.Increased volatility caused by rate hikes in the United States and eurozone risks, among other things, and the subsequent market adjustment are all likely, but it seems far-fetched to translate this as something that could lead to a financial meltdown, they pointed out.In May alone, the benchmark Korean Sto
June 7, 2018
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[Monitor] Disparity in private education spending widens
The amount of private tuition spent by the highest income group in South Korea is 27 times larger than those spent by the lowest income households, latest data by Statistics Korea showed.Private tuition spending by the fifth income quintile was 242,600 won on monthly average, compared to 8,925 won spent by the first quintile.An income quintile divides the population into five equal income groups. The first quintile refers to those with the lowest income, and the fifth, the highest.The agency poi
June 5, 2018
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Korea's current account surplus amounts to $1.77b for April
South Korea's current account surplus contracted to a six-year low in April due to a decrease in the goods account and a sharp rise in dividend payouts, but a turnaround in Chinese visitors helped narrow the deficit in the service sector, central bank data showed Tuesday.The country's current account surplus came to $1.77 billion in April, down from a surplus of $3.67 billion a year ago, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.From a month earlier, the April figure also lost gro
June 5, 2018
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Moon's wage hike plan could dampen employment: think tank
A major state-run think tank on Monday warned that the government’s minimum wage hike plan could hinder employment in the upcoming years, underpinning the uneasiness over drastic changes and the consequent impact on the market. The study also laid bare the recently suspected feud between the nation’s top two economic officials -- presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.The Korea Development Institute, affil
June 4, 2018