The ailing South Korean economy grew 2.6 percent in 2015, the lowest in three years, largely due to slumping exports and manufacturing, the central bank said Tuesday.　The nation’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent from the previous three months, according to the Bank of Korea’s preliminary report.　“Private spending and investment in the construction sector expanded at a fast rate in 2015 and growth in facility investment was steady, but the exports and investment in intellec

The exports of South Korea's content industry exceeded US$5 billion in 2014 due mainly to its continued growth boosted by the global boom of Korean pop culture products, the government said Tuesday.The culture ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) said the industry's total exports in 2014 were a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year, with the computer game industry accounting the most of the total.According to a statistical survey by the two organizations, the increase in

South Korean products are losing their competitiveness against Chinese goods that could reduce their outbound shipments down the road, a central bank report said Tuesday.According to the report by the Bank of Korea, the competitiveness of South Korean products somewhat improved over the 2005-2013 period, but that the rate of improvement in Chinese goods, partly measured in terms of global market share, outpaced that of South Korean products."The country's global competitiveness has somewhat impr

Collective loans banks offer new apartment buyers rose sharply in the second half of last year, leading growth in total mortgage loans, official data showed Tuesday.Outstanding collective loans extended by local commercial banks totaled 110.3 trillion won ($91.8 billion) as of end-2015, up 10.1 trillion won from six months ago, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Tuesday. The total excludes "policy" mortgage loans by state-run Korea Housing-Finan

More Chinese companies are becoming major stakeholders of South Korean entertainment agencies, a trend that could be positive for the expansion of "hallyu," or the worldwide popularity of Korean culture, but worrisome for its long-term future.Chinese investors have injected 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) over the past five years into South Korean games, movies and entertainment, according to South Korea's Small and Medium Business Administration.That is a huge departure from even about a year ago

South Korea's finance minister asked government ministries and agencies on Tuesday to make all-out efforts to frontload their budget spending in the first quarter to preemptively cope with rising economic uncertainties at home and abroad."The government is pushing forward with the frontloading of fiscal spending in the first quarter as the South Korean economy is expected to face challenges like contracted consumption, a slowdown in China and fast-falling oil prices," Finance Minister and Deputy

          JS Communications, fully-owned by Lee Jae-hwan, the chairman of CJ Group’s younger brother, is being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission over deals with its sister firm CJ CGV, according to industry sources Monday. 　JS Communications, the screen advertising arm of the nation’s food and entertainment giant, has offered services to CJ CGV, the nation’s largest multiplex cinema chain, since its foundation in 2005. 　“We can only confirm that officials from the Fair Trade Commission c

The South Korean currency will likely keep falling against the U.S. dollar for some time and may drop as low as 1,300 won, with local authorities having little means or will to halt its slide, analysts here said Monday.The local currency closed at 1,200.1 against the greenback Friday after dipping to 1,214.00 won two days earlier, the lowest level in over five years since 1,215.6 won posted on July 19, 2010.The won's depreciation is largely attributed to a slowdown in the global economy, but als

South Korea's terms of trade improved from a year earlier in December as import prices fell at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Monday.The terms of trade index came to 100.83 last month, unchanged from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The December figure, however, marks an 8 percent increase from the same month last year.The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, showing how

South Korea launched a business center to support local firms exporting to Iran on Monday as the former reclusive country is opening its market following the recent lifting of international sanctions, the finance ministry said.Located in downtown Seoul, the support center, backed by related government agencies including the finance and trade ministries, the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and the Korea Export-Import Bank, will provide information and consulting services on trade and investment with

South Korea's imports of Japanese fishery products increased on-year in 2015, data showed Sunday, marking the first rise since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident sparked contamination concerns.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the country's imports of Japanese fishery products came to 38,724 tons, up 17.9 percent from a year earlier. After posting 84,018 tons in 2011, the figure dropped to a low of 32,844 tons in 2014. A devastating earthquake off the east

Business circles in Korea and Japan were the most eager to welcome an agreement reached between Seoul and Tokyo last month on resolving the issue of Korean women forced into pre-1945 wartime sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers.The Federation of Korean Industries, a major business lobby here, said in a statement at the time that it expected the two neighboring nations to usher in a new century of hope by putting an end to the most sensitive matter between them. Its Japanese counterpart, Keidanre

The government plans to adopt a performance-based salary system on a wider scale as part of its efforts to reform the public sector, government sources said Thursday.Public companies and government agencies frequently come under criticism for lax management and mounting debts usually covered by taxpayers’ money. In response, the government has pushed forward with the full introduction of a system to encourage competition among public servants since it has so far been applied only to the heads of

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on Thursday vowed to deliver “tangible” recovery in domestic demand and exports through a continued focus on structural reform and economic stimulus measures. 　“We will remove all obstacles that have hindered economic growth and job creation,” Yoo said in his first ministerial meeting with economic bureaucrats on Thursday. “The government will also try to reinvigorate the entire economy by reviving consumption and export.” Financial Minister Yoo Il-ho attends his first