The Korea Herald

Korean youth ranked third in giving up seeking jobs

Aug 4, 2015

South Koreans aged between 15 and 29 grabbed a disgraceful third place in the ratio of “neither employed nor in education or training” among the corresponding age groups of 33 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.　The proportion of the so-called NEET generally points to people who have been unemployed for so long that they have become economically “inactive” and are no longer seeking jobs. (123RF)　Those in education include those attending part-time or full-time
Ruling party lawmaker summoned over alleged sexual assault

Aug 4, 2015

A ruling party lawmaker has been summoned for questioning over a sexual assault allegation, police said Tuesday.Rep. Sim Hag-bong of the ruling Saenuri Party is suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in her 40s at a hotel in Daegu, a major city in North Gyeongsang Province, on July 13. The woman accused Sim of raping her, but later said there was no coercion.According to the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, Sim denied that he tried to persuade the woman to change her statement.The 54-year-old
S. Korea's consumer prices grow less than 1% for 8th straight month in July

Aug 4, 2015

South Korea's consumer prices grew less than 1 percent for the eighth month in a row in July, a government report showed Tuesday, as Asia's fourth-largest economy grapples with deflation concerns.The country's consumer price index inched up 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the report by Statistics Korea showed. The latest number remains unchanged from 0.7 percent on-year growth tallied in June."Weak international crude prices are continuing to influence overall consumer inflation," sa
Presidential office rules out tax hike

Aug 3, 2015

The presidential office Monday ruled out a tax hike as it renewed calls for the reform of South Korea's rigid labor market to help create jobs for young people."The government's position remains unchanged that a tax hike is the last resort," An Chong-bum, the senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, told reporters.He said the government is making efforts to expand sources of tax revenue, noting a tax hike could cause many side effects, though he did not elaborate on what these could b
Retail sales backtrack on MERS scare in June

Aug 3, 2015

South Korea's retail sales edged down in June as the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome caused people to stay away from large retail outlets, a government report showed Monday.Retail sales reached little over 29.34 trillion won ($25.15 billion) in June, down 0.6 percent from the 29.51 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. It was also down from 31.48 trillion won reached in May."The MERS outbreak caused shoppers to shy away from large markets
Mortgage loans continue to soar in July

Aug 3, 2015

Mortgage loans extended by major South Korean banks continued to increase in July on the back of a recovery in the local housing market and a low rate trend, industry data showed Monday.The outstanding mortgage lending by seven commercial banks, including Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, reached a combined 321.57 trillion won ($275.67 billion) at the end of July, up 527 billion won from the 321.44 trillion won a month earlier, according to the data.The banks also sold 2.84 trillion won worth of as
S. Korea's current account surplus hits new high in June

Aug 3, 2015

South Korea's current account surplus soared to a fresh record high in June as an increase in the surplus in the goods balance offset a widening service account deficit caused by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, data showed Monday.The current account surplus reached US$12.19 billion in June, compared with a revised $8.62 billion surplus in May, according to the provisional data released by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.With t
Top 10 conglomerates' overseas sales down 4.6 pct in 2014

Aug 2, 2015

South Korea's top 10 business groups' exports fell 4.6 percent on-year in 2014, data showed Sunday, with only three experiencing an increase in overseas sales. The combined revenue from exports for the conglomerates came to 546.4 trillion won ($466 billion) last year, compared to 573.1 trillion won posted in 2013, the data compiled by industry tracker Chaebul.com showed. The overseas market was responsible for 51.1 percent of the groups' combined revenue in 2014, down 2.2 percentage points fro
S. Korea's exports shrink for seventh consecutive month in July

Aug 1, 2015

South Korea's exports again shrank from a year earlier in July, posting an on-year drop for the seventh consecutive month, the government said Saturday. The country's overall outbound shipments came to US$46.61 billion last month, down 3.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. However, the country's trade surplus jumped from $2.34 billion in July 2014 to $7.76 billion last month as imports plunged 15.3 percent on-year to $38.85 billio
Foreign banks cut Korea’s growth outlook to 2.6%

Jul 30, 2015

Global investment banks recently revised down their outlook on South Korea’s economic growth, despite the favorable financial indexes for exporters compared to earlier this year.According to the Korea Center for International Finance, the projection of 10 major IBs since June on the nation’s 2015 gross domestic product growth is set at 2.6 percent on average.Though the IBs shared the view that Korea would see a recovery from the third quarter after bottoming out in the second quarter, they cut t
BOK hints at lowering inflation target band

Jul 30, 2015

South Korea's central bank said Thursday that downside pressure on consumer prices will persist on the demand side, hinting that it may possibly lower its three-year inflation target range."On the demand side, downside pressure will persist, with the output gap remaining in negative territory on slowing growth. On the supply side, the impact of low oil prices will continue," the Bank of Korea said in its semiannual report on consumer inflation.The forecast comes as Asia's fourth-largest economy
Offshore investors cut S. Korea's growth estimate: report

Jul 30, 2015

Global investment banks have lowered their growth forecasts for South Korea as it faces a double whammy of lethargic consumption and sluggish exports despite a series of rate cuts and plans to jack up fiscal spending, a report showed Thursday.The average growth estimate by 10 major investment banks for this year reached 2.6 percent, lower than earlier forecasts, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. The figure is lower than the government's 3.1 percent projection
Samsung Q2 net drops 8 pct on weak smartphone sales

Jul 30, 2015

Samsung Electronics Co. posted a near 8 percent drop in second-quarter net profit Thursday as its smartphone business remained sluggish on lackluster Galaxy S6 sales and harsh competition from Chinese rivals.Net income came to 5.75 trillion won ($4.95 billion) in the April-June period, 7.97 percent down from 6.25 trillion won a year earlier, the world's top smartphone maker said in a regulatory filing.Sales fell 7.29 percent on-year to 48.53 trillion won in the second quarter, and operating prof
LG Electronics Q2 net plunges on weak smartphone sales

Jul 29, 2015

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, said Wednesday its second-quarter net profit tumbled 45 percent on-year due to lackluster sales of its flagship G4 smartphone and unfavorable currency rates.Net profit came to 226.4 billion won ($195.7 million) in the April-June period, compared with 411.8 billion won a year earlier, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing.Operating profit came to 244 billion won, also down 60 percent a year earlier, while sales shed 7.6 percent to 1.39 tri
Real estate market thrives in Q2

Jul 29, 2015

Korea’s home transactions in the real estate market skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year on rising house rent fees and record-low loan rates, a state-run economic research institute said Wednesday. 　According to the report by the Korea Development Institute, the number of residential property transactions nationwide in the April-June period jumped to 340,743, up 39.1 percent from a year ago. The growth rate more than doubled from the first quarter’s 18.3 percent. 　By region, the number