Multinational companies generating sizable revenue and profits have managed to avoid paying corporate taxes by taking advantage of loopholes in the present taxation system, a report said Thursday.According to data provided by the National Tax Service to Rep. Lee Man-woo's office for the parliamentary audit, of the 9,532 foreign companies in the country, 4,752 paid zero corporate taxes in 2013.Of those that did not pay, 15 may have had annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won ($839 million) and also

Growth in South Korean banks' household lending gathered pace in August from the previous month on robust property trade and a seasonal increase in demand for holiday spending, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding household loans extended by local lenders totaled 609.6 trillion won ($508.8 billion) as of the end of last month, increasing 7.8 trillion won from July, according to the Bank of Korea.The monthly gain is slightly bigger than a 7.3 trillion won gain in July but still smaller t

Mergers and acquisitions in South Korea jumped on-year in the first half as conglomerates consolidated affiliates to streamline their operations, the antitrust watchdog said Thursday.The value of reported M&As reached 127.7 trillion won ($107.2 billion) in the January-June period, up from 88.1 trillion won the year before, the Fair Trade Commission said in a report. The number of merger cases also surged to 313 from 286 over the cited period."There was a rush of M&As and intra-group consolidatio

South Korea's job creation plunged to the lowest level in six years in August, casting a cloud over the outlook for employment down the road as the economy struggles with weak demand both at home and abroad.   Citing the low growth stemmed mainly from seasonal factors, however, government officials painted a rather rosy picture of the labor market, predicting employment will likely gather ground in September.According to latest government data, Asia's fourth-largest economy added 256,000 jobs in

Arirang TV, a South Korean all-English cable network, said Wednesday it will host a session of the World Economic Forum in China later this week.The session, titled "Asia's Energy Option," will be broadcast live on Arirang's website (www.arirang.com) at 1 p.m., local time, on Thursday.The Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2015, which is part of the World Economic Forum, kicked off in Dalian, China on Wednesday for a three-day run.The session will discuss the Chinese energy demand slowdown, com

South Korea has the largest wage gap between native and foreign workers among the world's leading developed economies with high income, data showed Wednesday.The 2015 employment outlook by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that South Korean employees get paid 1.55 times more than foreign-born workers on average.It is the highest wage gap among OECD members that compile related data, which analysts said can be interpreted as a sign that South Korea remai

Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions continued to grow at a fact clip in July, central bank data showed Wednesday, adding to growing concerns over the country's bulky household debt.Outstanding household lending by local lenders and non-banking institutions totaled 763.3 trillion won ($639.1 billion) as of the end of July, up 3.3 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The July reading excludes the 6.2 trillion won that was tran

South Korea's home transactions climbed to a new high for the month of August, the government said Wednesday, in the latest sign of recovery in the real estate market here.The number of home transactions came to 94,110 last month, up 23.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The figure marks a 15 percent drop from a month earlier, but it is the largest number for the month of August since the government began compiling such data i

South Korea saw its profit from tourism slump 11 percent in the first half of this year as the number of visitors plummeted following an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, central bank data showed Wednesday.Foreign visitors to the country spent 6.6 trillion won ($5.5 billion) in the January-June period, down 10.8 percent from the 7.4 trillion won spending posted in the second half of last year, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The data covers the spending of foreigners w

South Korea's unemployment rate inched down in August on increased hiring by the manufacturing and hospitality sectors, but its job creation lost ground sharply due to layoffs by slump-hit wholesalers and retailers, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent last month, down from 3.7 percent in July. The number, however, represents a 0.1 percentage point rise from a year earlier.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for

Job dismissals have emerged as a key dispute between labor and management, casting a pall on the government's efforts to produce a deal on reforming South Korea's rigid labor market.At issue is whether companies should be allowed to let go of workers who are either negligent or underperforming.Under the current labor law, companies can terminate an employee's contract if they are either involved in a corruption or an embezzlement case. Companies are also allowed to layoff a number of workers at

Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday sharply lowered its growth outlook on the South Korean economy for this year, citing the fallout from the slowing Chinese economy.In a report, the rating agency expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 2.5 percent this year, sharply lower than its earlier estimate of a 3.1-percent expansion. Moody's also cut its 2016 projection on the economy to 2.5 percent from its previous 3.4 percent on-year gain.   The downward revision comes as