A noticeable part of the 2016 economic policy directions announced by the government in December was the planned establishment of regulation-free zones across the country. Under the scheme, 14 metropolises and provinces were to rezone areas devoted to developing 27 strategic industries that fit their specific conditions.Among the selected industries were drones, self-driving cars, the Internet of Things and other segments, which are expected to serve as new growth engines for the Korean economy,

South Korea‘s corporate watchdog will take strict action against intra-affiliate transaction practices by large business groups as part of its efforts to root out illegal business deals arranged by conglomerate-controlling families, its chief said Tuesday.Local business groups, or chaebol in Korean, have been criticized for helping their owning families increase personal profits by funneling orders and contracts to subsidiaries owned by other family members or relatives. Since the antitrust law

Korea opened its largest startup complex near Seoul on Tuesday as part of its efforts to boost promising local startups and attract foreign companies.The "startup campus" in Pangyo, just south of Seoul, houses more than 200 local and foreign institutions to offer workspace and consulting services for capital funding, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. Opening ceremony of Pangyo startup campus (Yonhap)They include the Yozma Group, an Israel-based global venture capital

Korea saw the second fastest increase in household debt among emerging economies in 2015, a new study shows. The study, released by the Institute of International Finance, put Korea only behind China in the expansion of household debt relative to gross domestic product. Apartment complex in Seoul (Yonhap)Korea marked a 3.45 percentage point increase in its household debt-to-GDP ratio, ranking second after China out of 19 developing countries. China’s debt ratio gained 3.49 percentage points.By p

The number of full-time housewives is decreasing as more and more elderly women join the workforce to help with household income, according to Statistics Korea on Monday. The agency’s report on the breakdown of the country’s economically active population showed that the number of full-time housewives last year was 7.08 million, down 0.8 percent from the previous year.Despite the number of stay-at-home housewives consistently increasing since 2000, the decreasing trend began in 2014 with a 2.1 p

A large majority of Korean exporters see their respective markets as being too mature to deliver profits or sales increases, and want to find new lines of business, a survey indicated Monday.When the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently polled 300 local manufacturers of the country's 13 mainstay export products, 66.3 percent said their markets have ripened to the point that growth has dulled and profit is falling. Another 12.2 percent assessed the markets as being on downward s

South Korea and China have agreed to better implement the bilateral free trade agreement and ease non-tariff barriers for Korean companies operating businesses in China, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday. On Thursday, South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Gao Hucheng, to evaluate the implementation of the FTA that took effect in December and seek ways to step up business ties between the two nations.  They also touched on the ongoing anti-dumpin

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Federal Reserve is keeping a key interest rate unchanged in light of global pressures that risk slowing the U.S. economy.  As a result, Fed officials expect to raise rates more gradually this year than they had envisioned in December. The officials now foresee two, rather than four, modest increases in their benchmark short-term rate during 2016. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy has continued to grow moderately but that the global economy and financial markets still

The government recently struck an upbeat tone on the outlook for the country’s economy in an abrupt change of stance that many economists think is not backed by solid evidence.In its latest economic assessment report published last week, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance forecast Korea’s industrial output and domestic demand, which have remained sluggish for months, to show a slight recovery later this year. The report, called the Green Book, said that a protracted slump in the country’s expo

The income share of Korea’s top 10 percent earners to total earnings is the highest in Asia, according to a report released by the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday.The IMF’s Analysis of Inequality in Asia report said Korea’s top 10 percent income class accounted for 45 percent of the country’s total income.In 2013, the top 1 percent in emerging Asia earned 32 percent of the income share, compared to 30 percent in 1990. The share for the top decile in South Korea rose 5 percentage points

Income equality in South Korea was the highest among 22 countries in Asia, according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund. The findings showed that the top 10 percent of earners in South Korea accounted for 45 percent of the nation’s total income. A view of an alley at a slum in eastern Seoul (Yonhap)Income equality, measured by the net Gini coefficient, rose in 15 of the 22 countries from 1990 to 2013, the report said, with sharp increases witnessed in countries with large popu

Korea’s youth unemployment soared to its highest level on record in February, as economic slowdown takes its heaviest toll so far on fresh and inexperienced job candidates. According to Statistics Korea, the jobless rate for workers aged between 15 and 29 was 12.5 percent last month, up 1.4 percentage points from the same month in 2015. From a month ago, the unemployment rate grew by 2 percentage points. The jobless rate among the young tends to be higher in February when most college students g

Korea and China held their first official round of bilateral talks Wednesday aimed toward removing nontariff barriers.“The Korea-China FTA went into effect late last year, but various nontariff barriers such as excessive quarantine and safety regulations continue to keep our key export items, such as food and cosmetics, from the Chinese market,” Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a meeting with a group of local exporters earlier this week. Former Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick (left) shake

The Bank of Japan has quite a lot of room to cut its key interest rate further and theoretically it could go to minus 0.5 percent, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in parliament Wednesday.While the BOJ kept policy unchanged on Tuesday, Kuroda underscored in a press conference a readiness to move on any of three fronts: a reduction in the present minus 0.1 percent rate, an acceleration in boosting the monetary base or an expansion in purchases of riskier assets.Questioned by a lawmaker in parliament

Korea's top 10 percent of income earners account for 45 percent of total earnings, the highest level among 22 countries in Asia measured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to a March report seen on the institution's website on Wednesday.Income equality, as measured by the net Gini coefficient, rose in 15 of the 22 countries from 1990 to 2013, the report said, with sharp increases witnessed in countries with large populations such as China, India and Indonesia.For Korea, the Gini