Most Popular
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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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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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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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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Korea's jobless rate drops to 3.6% in May
South Korea's jobless rate dropped slightly in May as Asia's fourth-largest economy shows some signs of recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent last month, down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it fell 0.6 percentage point. The number of employed people reached a record 26.82 million in May, up 375,000 from a year earlier.The unemployment rate for young peo
June 14, 2017
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Korea vows to take concentrated measures against US trade barriers
The South Korean government vowed Tuesday to take all necessary measures to deal with growing US barriers against its trade surplus and steel products."As the US government has been moving to strengthen trade restrictions and raise barriers, all government ministries need to formulate countermeasures against such developments," Deputy Trade Minister Lee In-ho said at a policy meeting in Seoul. "We have to be fully prepared as Washington's latest moves may affect its policy roadmap
June 13, 2017
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Korea's top fiscal and monetary policymakers vow coordination
South Korea’s top fiscal and monetary policymakers vowed to coordinate in carrying out economic policies at a rare meeting Tuesday, highlighting that their views on the economy were near identical.Just one day after taking office, new Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon visited the Bank of Korea’s head office in Seoul to have a lunch meeting with BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol. It was the first time in four years that a finance minister had an exclusive meeting with the central bank’s governo
June 13, 2017
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Korea's money supply up 6.6% in April: BOK
The money supply in South Korea jumped 6.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the central bank said Tuesday.The nation's "M2" totaled 2,450.2 trillion won ($2.16 trillion) in April, compared to 2,299 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Month-on-month, the money supply gained 0.6 percent, the statement said.The growth rate of the money supply has been on the decline since October 2015 as companies decreased domestic credit.M2 is a measure of the money
June 13, 2017
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Korea's auto exports rise for fourth straight month in May
South Korea's auto exports rose for four months in a row in May on an upturn in global demand, government data showed Tuesday.The total value of vehicles shipped overseas reached $3.51 billion last month, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The number has remained in positive terrain since February when it rebounded to a 5.3 percent rise from a 4.8 percent fall in the previous month.Total vehicles shipped abroad also c
June 13, 2017
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Tax revenue continues to rise through April
South Korea's national tax revenue continued to rise in the first four months of the year bolstered by an increase in corporate and value added taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The government collected a total of 105.3 trillion won ($93.1 billion) in dues in the January-April period, up 8.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The amount is equal to 43.5 percent of the 242.3 trillion won in tax revenue earmarked for 2017. Taxes collected so
June 13, 2017
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Tougher lending rules to adversely affect economy: think tank
A move to tighten South Korea's lending rules to curb household debt could adversely affect the overall economy, a local think tank said Monday. In a report on the impact of lending rules and household debt, the Korea Economic Research Institute warned against stricter regulations involving the debt-to-income ratio as changes will force borrowers spend less and further drag down the already fragile economy."In South Korea, home prices are higher than the norm for an economy of this si
June 12, 2017
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Korea's direct investment in Vietnam tops $50b in 2016
South Korea has provided over $50 billion in foreign direct investment to Vietnam, data from Vietnam’s State Capital Investment Corp. showed Monday.The accumulated FDI by South Korean businesses in one of the fastest-growing economy in Asia reached $50.6 billion, spanning 5,773 projects from 1988 to 2016.In 2016, the volume of investment from South Korea reached some $6.9 billion, a 2.53 percent increase from 2015. It made up 30.8 percent of the entire FDI inflow into Vietnam. Japan a
June 12, 2017
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[Monitor] Next year’s budget plan up 6%
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has drawn up the government’s proposal for next year’s spending on Monday, at a size of 424.5 trillion won, 6 percent larger than that of this year‘s.One of the largest increases of 8.9 percent is to be made on public welfare, health and employment, boosting the spending to 141.1 trillion won.On the other hand, environmental and cultural spending will be cut by 3.9 percent and 5 percent. The largest budget decrease will be made on social ove
June 12, 2017
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[Photo News] Visitors gather at model house for new town in Yangcheon-gu
June 12, 2017
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[Photo News] Onion prices surge over 50%
June 12, 2017
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Korea's finance minister to meet his Indian counterpart
Top economic policymakers of South Korea and India will hold talks later this week to discuss ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, the finance ministry here said Monday.In the fifth Seoul-New Delhi finance ministers' meeting to be held on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea's Kim Dong-yeon and his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley will share views on current macroeconomic situations facing both countries and economic policies being pursued to fuel growth. They will also talk about issues li
June 12, 2017
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Korea joins privacy rules on corporate transfer of data among APEC economies
South Korea has acceded to a single privacy framework for the corporate transfer of data across Pacific Rim border nations, known as the Cross-Border Privacy Rules system, government officials said Monday.The CBPR system, endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2011, is aimed at facilitating e-commerce among the APEC countries and making the safe transfer of privacy data involving e-commerce and free movement of data. Under the system, participating businesses are required to implem
June 12, 2017
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BOK chief hints at monetary tightening
South Korea’s central bank chief said Monday he may consider monetary tightening if the economic recovery accelerates, in an indication of a more hawkish stance.“Uncertainties about growth remain still high and inflation pressure from the demand side is not strong. Thus, we need to maintain expansionary monetary policy for the time being,” BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a speech to celebrate the bank’s 67thh anniversary.“However, if economic recovery continues and sho
June 12, 2017
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Controversy brews over tax increases
The 11.2 trillion won ($10 billion) extra budget unveiled last week is set to be funded mostly by excessive tax revenues without issuing state bonds and thus increasing the national debt that currently stands at 680 trillion won.This may help President Moon Jae-in persuade opposition lawmakers to agree to the additional fiscal spending plan, which was proposed less than a month after he took office to implement programs designed to create more jobs and boost the livelihoods of low-income familie
June 12, 2017
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Korea to extend $1b loan to Philippine leader's infrastructure program
South Korea will extend a soft loan of $1 billion to a massive infrastructure development plan in the Philippines over the coming six years, industry sources said Monday.The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) will provide lower-interest, long-term loans under the state-run economic development cooperation fund President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to spend $168 billion on big-ticket items such as railways and ports over the next six years as part of his ambitious socioeconomic ag
June 12, 2017
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Korea unlikely to achieve 3% growth this year
South Korea is unlikely to achieve economic growth of 3 percent this year, according to analysts and foreign brokerages on Monday, as mounting household debt crimps private consumption. The Bank of Korea has predicted that the economy would grow 2.6 percent this year, compared to a 2.8-percent expansion last year.Japanese investment bank Nomura Securities, in a research note released last Tuesday, raised its forecast for South Korea's economic growth this year to 2.7 percent, from a previous for
June 12, 2017
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Govt. seeks 6% expansion in 2018 budget
Government ministries and other public entities are hoping to boost their annual spending by 6 percent next year to better meet social welfare, education, and research and development outlays, the finance ministry said Monday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, government offices have submitted preliminary requests for their 2018 budget that totaled 424.5 trillion won ($377.1 billion), compared with 400.5 trillion won earmarked for this year. The request, if finalized, will mark t
June 12, 2017
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Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio rises 3rd-fastest on-year
South Korea showed the third-highest rise of household debt compared to gross domestic product on-year at the end of last year out of the 43 nations surveyed by the Bank for International Settlements, data showed Sunday.South Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio came to 92.8 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2016, up 4.7 percentage points compared to the previous year, according to data from the Basel-based financial institution.Before South Korea came Norway, which rose at the steepest r
June 11, 2017
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Korea's exports plunge 12.2% in first 10 days of June
South Korea's exports plunged 12.2 percent in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, the latest customs data showed Sunday, after posting seventh straight months of growth.Total outbound shipments reached $12.2 billion during the cited period, down 12.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the findings compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The decrease comes partly on the back of huge increases of ships exported in early June of last year, the agency said."The numbe
June 11, 2017