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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Declining investment holding back growth
A steep decline in domestic investments is becoming a main drawback on the country’s economic growth, with projections suggesting it is likely to fall short of the government’s target of 2.9 percent this year.Investments in facility, construction and intellectual property production dropped on-quarter in the April-June period, according to data released by the Bank of Korea last week. It marked the first time investments had fallen simultaneously in the three segments since the secon
Sept. 10, 2018
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PM leaves for visit Russia's Vladivostok for economic forum
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon left for Vladivostok on Monday to attend an annual international economic forum and hold meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.About 6,000 people are expected to attend the Eastern Economic Forum that Putin has hosted in Vladivostok every year since 2015, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Abe and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga. The three-day trip will be Lee's first to Russia as prime minister.During the visi
Sept. 10, 2018
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Current account surplus hits yearly high on growth in semiconductors
South Korea’s current account surplus reached a yearly high in July on the back of strong global trade and sturdy growth of the local semiconductors business, central bank data showed Thursday.Also, the travel account deficit contracted from a year earlier amid a rise of inbound travelers from China and Japan, as well as a slowdown in the number of outbound travelers.Seoul’s current account surplus stood at $8.76 billion as of end-July, up from $7.25 billion in the previous year, acc
Sept. 6, 2018
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Korea, India hold talks on trade remedies
South Korea and India have discussed ways to reduce the use of trade remedy measures and promote investment opportunities between the two nations, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday.Senior officials of the Korea Trade Commission under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a meeting in New Delhi to explore ways to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.Seoul officials asked the Indian government to fairly conduct trade-related investiga
Sept. 6, 2018
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Job market expected to improve in earnest next year: official
South Korea's job market is expected to improve in earnest next year, with more than 200,000 new jobs likely to be created in the second half of 2019, the vice chief of the presidential job commission said Thursday.Rhee Mok-hee made the remark at a meeting of officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party to discuss ways to create jobs by fostering new growth industries. "I expect that the job market will improve to some degree in the second half," Rhee said at the start
Sept. 6, 2018
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US imposes anti-dumping duty on Korean power transformers
The United States Department of Commerce has decided to impose an anti-dumping duty on power transformers made by South Korea's Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co., industry sources said Wednesday.In its latest, fifth review, the US government upheld its earlier ruling that levies an anti-dumping duty of 60.81 percent on large power transformers manufactured by Hyundai Electric shipped to the US, according to the sources. The final decision will be made in March next year.As it did in earl
Sept. 6, 2018
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Trump says revised Korea trade deal may be signed in 'couple of weeks'
WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a revised trade deal between the US and South Korea may be signed "in a couple of weeks."Speaking at the White House, Trump indicated the signing could take place when he meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month."It may be signed during the United Nations conference in a couple of weeks," he said. "The deal is done. It's been done with South Korea
Sept. 6, 2018
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Soaring debt among self-employed puts economy at risk
A steep rise in debt owed by self-employed people with faltering businesses is a ticking time bomb for the South Korean economy, experts warn.Outstanding loans to the self-employed increased 77 trillion won ($68.9 billion) on-year to 598 trillion won at the end of last year, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service.The figure is now estimated to be close to 615 trillion won, given that banks extended 15.8 trillion won more in loans in the first seven months of this year, with fig
Sept. 5, 2018
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Bank loans soar in August amid heated housing market
South Korea’s major banks saw their household loan balance climb at the fastest pace in almost two years in August, propelled by the mortgage loan uptrend amid the robust real estate market here, said industry officials on Tuesday.The household loan balance of the nation’s top five banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana and Nonghyup -- stood at 552.39 trillion won ($495.7 billion) as of end-August, up 4.65 trillion won from a month earlier. This on-month increase was visibly h
Sept. 4, 2018
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Consumer prices remain unstable ahead of Chuseok
South Korea's consumer prices remain unstable ahead of the Chuseok holiday due to soaring vegetable prices stemming from weeks of hot weather and the recent downpours, data showed Tuesday.The prices of 21 vegetables had increased 4.1 percent as of Aug. 31 compared with a week earlier, according to the Korean Consumer Agency's price chart.Of the total, the cost of 15 items gained over the cited period as an unprecedented heat wave damaged crops and caused diseases in leafy vegetables, while six w
Sept. 4, 2018
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Korea's consumer prices up 1.4% in August
South Korea's consumer price growth continued to stay above 1 percent in August on a rise of agricultural goods and the service sector, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index climbed 1.4 percent last month from a year earlier, decelerating from the previous month's 1.5 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the index rose 0.5 percent.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, grew 0.9 percent on
Sept. 4, 2018
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Korean economy grows revised 0.6% 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 construction investment, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent in the April-June period, slowing down from a 1 percent on-quarter increase in 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 0.7 percent gain in July.The BOK explained t
Sept. 4, 2018
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Indicators point to weakening economy
Concerns are growing over the weakening vitality of the Korean economy as facility investment continues to decrease, with consumer sentiment and business confidence sluggish.Government data released last week showed facility investment fell 0.6 percent on-month in July, marking a decline for five consecutive months. It was the longest straight decline since the foreign exchange crisis, when investment fell for 10 straight months from September 1997. Analysts at the state statistics office a
Sept. 3, 2018
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Signs emerge of stronger real estate tax
South Korea is facing another set of brawls this year concerning taxation equity and wealth distribution, as the government and ruling party signaled at further toughening tax rules for affluent property owners, according to officials Monday.Detailed prospects, however, remain unclear as related ministries held different stances over the reduction of benefits for lease business operators -- an action that may deliver a blow upon the government’s policy credibility.“We will begin disc
Sept. 3, 2018
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Income statistics dispute extends to credibility of govt data
Following the recent replacement of the statistics office chief, the ongoing dispute concerning the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth initiative has now expanded into an argument on the credibility of key economic indicators here.While the presidential office and the ruling party held the statistics office liable for a sampling flaw, the opposition camp claimed that the administration was deceiptfully trying to cover up its thwarted economic strategies.“Statistics cannot
Sept. 2, 2018
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Richest people make 1,000 times more than poorest
The richest people in South Korea earned nearly 1,000 times more than the lowest wage earners last year, a parliamentary report said Sunday, highlighting the country's widening income disparity.The average earned income of the top 0.1 percent bracket reached 660 million won ($590,000) per person last year, according to the report submitted to the National Assembly by the National Tax Service.Their combined annual income of 11.7 trillion won accounted for 2.66 percent of the country's total earne
Sept. 2, 2018
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State support for low wage earners to jump 3.6 times to near W5tr in 2019
Earned income support provided by the government to offset low wages will rise a sharp 260 percent from this year to near 5 trillion won ($4.47 billion) in 2019, official data showed Sunday.The increase in earned income tax credit comes as payment method changes will go into effect along with the move to offer assistance set aside for the first half for next year in advance, the finance ministry said.Seoul provided 1.34 trillion won in credit this year, which went to encourage people to work and
Sept. 2, 2018
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Moon says reform is call of 'the times'
President Moon Jae-in called Saturday for an unswerving reform drive despite a falling approval rating and controversies over his economic policy.He was speaking at an unprecedented gathering of all ruling party lawmakers, Cabinet members and presidential officials.It came two days after Moon's first Cabinet shake-up to replace five ministers, including the defense chief and the top education policymaker. Late last month, the Democratic Party of Korea picked Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a seven-term
Sept. 1, 2018
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S. Korea's exports up 8.7 pct in August
South Korea's exports increased 8.7 percent in August compared with a year ago on upbeat sales of semiconductors and petrochemical products, government data showed Saturday.Outbound shipments reached $51.2 billion last month, a record high for August, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports surged 9.2 percent on-year to $44.3 billion last month for a trade surplus of $6.9 billion, marking 79 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded
Sept. 1, 2018
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Full text of BOK's statement on monetary policy decision for Aug.
The following is the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision for August. The central bank's monetary policy board decided Friday to hold its base rate steady at 1.5 percent for the month.-----------------The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 1.50 percent for the intermeeting period.Based on currently available information the Board considers that the global economy has continued its robust growth. In th
Aug. 31, 2018