Korea's fiscal soundness is one of the most sustainable among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a recent report by the Paris-based body showed Sunday.According to the report unveiled by Seoul's finance ministry, South Korea belongs to eight OECD member countries that do not need to take measures to cut spending or to make their fiscal health sounder.The eight nations include Australia, Norway, Switzerland and Luxembourg.The ministry quoted the OE

Korea's leading state think tank will likely revise down the country's growth estimate to below 3 percent for the year, following earlier downgrades by local and overseas institutions, a source said Sunday.The Korea Development Institute (KDI) plans to unveil a revised version of its gross domestic product growth forecast for 2015 and 2016 on Nov. 23, according to the source who asked not to be named.In its earlier outlook released on May 20, the KDI said Asia's fourth-largest economy will likel

South Korean and Japanese antitrust watchdogs agreed Friday to expand cooperation on anti-cartel activities and better review cross-border business mergers.  At the annual competition policy coordination meeting in Seoul, the Fair Trade Commission said it emphasized the importance of fueling competition in the information and communication technology sector, and the need to better monitor cartel activities.  The FTC also outlined the need to enhance efficiency in the way mergers and acquisition

South Korea plans to thoroughly check the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and determine what impact it will have on Asia's fourth-largest economy, the government said Friday.  A day before the plan was unveiled at the trade promotion committee meeting in Seoul the countries that inked the multinational deal began releasing the full text of the agreement.  The mega trading bloc pact between the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, New Zealand,

U.S. President Barack Obama touted the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement as the "highest standard trade agreement in history" on Thursday, as his administration released the full text of the deal in a first step toward congressional approval.  Obama also formally notified Congress later in the day that he intends to sign the 12-nation free trade agreement, kicking off a 90-day waiting period, after which he can sign it and seek ratification from Congress.  "It's the highest standard trade agre

The level of market liberalization of the recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is similar to the free trade pact reached between South Korea and the United States, although more time is needed to determine what impact it will have on Asia's fourth largest economy, the government said Thursday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that the text of the agreement reached between 12 Asia-Pacific countries early last month has to be checked in detail, and claimed there were no bi

The income gap between regular and nonregular employees further widened this year amid continuous increase in the number of temporary and part-time jobs, data of the state-run statistical office showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly wage of regular workers came to 2.69 million won ($2,380) as of August, up 92,000 won or 3.5 percent, from a year earlier.In contrast, the on-year increase of the average wage for nonregular workers stood at 14,000 won or 1 percent growt

Overseas investors believe South Korea's global trading network established by free trade agreements makes the country an attractive investment destination, a poll showed Wednesday.  According to the survey conducted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, 18 percent of foreign investors said the country's vast free-trade network makes the market favorable over other destinations in Asia.  The poll was conducted from Oct. 13-15 on 111 foreign investors during Foreign Investment Week 2015

South Korea's exports are expected to contract in the fourth quarter due to a lingering slump in global demand, but its pace will slightly slow down, a think tank said Wednesday.  The Korea Exim Bank Oversea Economic Research Center said the value of outbound shipments by Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely decrease 9 percent on-year in the October-December period.  The country's exports reached US$128.3 billion won in the July-September period, dropping 9.5 percent from a year earlier.  T

South Korean stocks edged up 0.12 percent late Wednesday morning amid optimistic U.S. economic data.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.4 points to 2,045.53 as of 11:20 a.m.  Oil refiners led the increase, with industry leader SK Innovation rising 2.13 percent and No. 3 S-Oil adding 1.29 percent.  Leading automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.62 percent after revealing its plan to launch a new global brand, while its sister Kia Motors moved up 1.03 percent.  Big-cap Samsung Group

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves grew slightly from a month earlier in October, largely on an increase in overseas deposits, the central bank said Wednesday.  The country's foreign exchange reserves came to $369.6 billion as of the end of October, gaining $1.49 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.  South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose for the second consecutive month in October, with the amount increasing $180 million in September from the previous month. 

South Korea is seeking to expand investment in Uzbekistan as the Central Asian country moves to privatize state-run enterprises, the government said Wednesday.  According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a delegation of government officials and businessmen will visit Tashkent on Friday to take part in an international investment forum.   The forum will outline Uzbekistan's effort to privatize 68 state-run enterprises in the chemical, oil and gas and electricity fields. Foreign comp

South Korean stocks started higher Wednesday as petrochemicals rallied on the back of a rise in crude oil prices.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.28 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,052.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading.          Refiners were up as crude oil prices rose about 4 percent as a rally in U.S. gasoline and diesel added support to oil markets.  Top refiner SK Innovation increased 2.13 percent and No. 3 S-Oil surged 1.59 percent.  SK, the de facto holding firm