The Korea Herald

Do-it-yourself brewing catches on in Korea

May 15, 2015

Beer has not seen a solid footing in Korea over the past few years.Its market has been largely controlled by local titans, and the drink was largely seen by the public as nothing more than an ingredient for making the wildly popular “somaek” (beer with soju). When a 2012 Economist article claimed South Korean beers to be worse than those in North Korea, the hard truth was that they could not counter it.“I saw on TV that Japan had over 2,000 kinds of beer, like makgeolli (Korean traditional drink
[Weekender] Beer diversity accelerates evolution of drinkers’ flavor

May 15, 2015

Big brewers’ brands such as Miller, Michelob, Bud Ice and Corona gained great popularity among South Korean “X-generation” twenty-somethings in the early and mid-1990s.The import beers in a 330 (or 355)-milliliter bottle -- served at bars and Korea’s typical, alcohol sales-permitted cafes -- even attracted a large portion of female college students. The products were actively penetrating a niche in the domestic brewery-dominated market through cafes or convenience stores.But the import beer boom
[Weekender] ‘Love to brew’

May 15, 2015

The catchphrase, “Do what you love,” holds special significance when it comes to craft brewing, according to Brian Do, the operator of the Hand and Malt Brewing Co. “Running a craft brewery requires a great deal of passion and love for beer,” said Do, who calls himself chief beer taster. “If not, a brewer cannot produce beer with consistent taste and quality,” he stressed.Korea’s craft brewery business is still in an infant stage, with a limited number of mass produced insipid light lagers havin
Korea urged to focus on ICT infra projects

May 15, 2015

South Korea’s participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be beneficial if the country focuses on infrastructure-building projects in information and communications technology and other key areas, experts said. A recent report, titled “The Meaning of AIIB and Opportunity for ICT,” published by the KT Center of Business and Economic Studies, said that in order to Korea to benefit from the AIIB, it should focus on investing in ICT. “Investing in ICT in Asia could also pave the w
BOK freezes benchmark rate as expected

May 15, 2015

In a widely expected move, South Korea's central bank on Friday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second straight month in May, citing expectations for an economic recovery and soaring household debt. In the monthly rate-setting meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea (BOK) decided to hold the base rate steady at a record low of 1.75 percent. One of the seven board members voted for a rate cut. While sustaining its view that "the economy will show a modest
S. Korea logs trade surplus for 39th month in April

May 15, 2015

South Korea posted a trade surplus for the 39th month in a row in April as imports dropped at a faster pace than exports, customs data showed Friday.According to the data by the Korea Customs Service (KCS), the country's trade surplus reached $8.5 billion last month, up marginally from $8.4 billion in March and significantly higher than $4.4 billion a year earlier.Exports dropped 8 percent on-year to a little over $46.2 billion in April, while imports nosedived 17.8 percent to $37.7 billion, it
Biz leaders of S. Korea, Japan urge efforts for economic bloc

May 14, 2015

Business leaders of South Korea and Japan called for joint efforts to boost economic cooperation between their countries Thursday, while vowing support for ongoing negotiations to form a regional economic bloc through free trade pacts. The call came at the end of an annual meeting of businesspeople from the two countries, hosted by the Korea-Japan Economic Association. This year's meeting, held in Seoul from Wednesday, was attended by some 300 business leaders from both countries. The two-da
S. Korea seeks to begin FTA talks with Central America

May 14, 2015

South Korea will call on Central American nations this week to begin negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA), the foreign ministry said Thursday.First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong will deliver the call during a meeting with member nations of the Central American Integration System in Guatemala City on Friday, the ministry said in a press release.SICA, which was launched in 1991 to promote political and economic integration in the region, is made up of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras
Chinese firms urged to remain confident in N. Korea

May 14, 2015

China has encouraged its companies doing business in North Korea to remain confident, despite strained political ties between the two neighbors.The Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Li Jinjun, made the remarks at a meeting on Wednesday with a group of Chinese businessmen in North Korea, the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang said in a statement. Li told the Chinese businessmen that he has briefed North Korean officials on China's ambitious Silk Road project aimed at reviving the ancient trade route b
S. Korea's economy entering expansionary phase: OECD data

May 14, 2015

An index of South Korea's leading economic indicators hit a near four-year high in March, signaling the economy is entering an expansionary phase, data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Thursday.The Paris-based organization said the composite leading indicator for South Korea reached 102.0 in March, up 0.2 point from February and the highest since the 102.1 tallied in April 2010. March marked the ninth straight month of increase.A reading above 100 means a count
IMF cuts S. Korea's growth forecast this year to 3.1 percent

May 14, 2015

The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for South Korea's economic growth this year to 3.1 percent Wednesday, saying growth momentum has stalled since last year's Sewol ferry disaster.The latest forecast is down from the 3.3 percent growth the agency forecast in last month's World Economic Outlook report. The IMF has been cutting its forecast for South Korea's gross domestic product growth since October when it predicted 4 percent growth."Growth momentum that had been building since
S. Korea plans to keep fiscal expansion for economic growth

May 13, 2015

South Korea will maintain its expansionary fiscal policy stance for the time being to prop up economic growth, while taking steps to reduce unnecessary outlays, the government said Wednesday.The plan comes amid lingering concern over the economy's performance. Seoul originally set this year's growth target at 3.8 percent, up from 3.3 percent in 2014, but private economists are skeptical of the goal, citing still flaccid private consumption and slumping exports. Reporting the plan to the 2015 nat
S. Korea's jobless rate dips to 3.9 pct in April

May 13, 2015

South Korea's jobless rate edged down in April from a month earlier as more people were hired in the manufacturing and service sectors, a government report said Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.9 percent last month, down from 4 percent in March. The number remained unchanged from a year earlier.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for April also stood pat compared with the 3.7 percent in March.The number of employed people reached 25.90 million l
S. Korea's import prices fall in April

May 13, 2015

Import prices in South Korea continued to decline on-year in April in tandem with weaker global oil prices compared with a year earlier, data showed Wednesday.In local currency terms, import prices dropped 17.1 percent on-year last month, compared with a 17.1 percent fall in March, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It marks the 32nd straight month in which import prices declined.From a month earlier, import prices fell 2.4 percent, a turnaround from a 0.3 percent gain in
Korea, China and Japan resume trilateral FTA talks

May 12, 2015

South Korea, Japan and China began the seventh round of negotiations for the Korea-China-Japan joint FTA in Seoul on Tuesday, as the chief negotiators from each country vowed to make progress on the trilateral trade pact, emphasizing its benefits.The high-level discussion, which will continue until Wednesday, marks the first time that the head negotiators from the three states have come together to discuss the terms of the FTA. They will continue to expand upon a series of working-level discussi