China continued to block massive amounts of South Korean cosmetics and other imports in December in what was earlier believed to be a move to retaliate against South Korea's planned installation of a US missile defense system, market sources in Beijing said.According to the sources, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine blocked shipments of 19 cosmetics products from South Korea in December. (Yonhap)The number accounted for about 28 percent of the total

South Korean households benefited less from the country's economic growth in 2015 than a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, as their income stagnated amid corporate reluctance to invest.According to the data by the Bank of Korea, households and nonprofit organizations serving them recorded a combined income of 970.4 trillion won ($853 billion) in 2015, or 62 percent of the country's gross national income at 1,565.8 trillion won. Park Seung, former chief of the Bank of Korea, speaks during an eco

South Korea's rapid population aging may make the country's monetary policy virtually ineffective down the road by neutralizing its ripple effect on the real economy, a report said Tuesday.According to the report based on the data of 25 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development between 1995 and 2014, an interest rate hike led to the conventional ripple effects of dwindling household consumption, a fall in stock prices and declining household debt in countries, with the

Business for office cafeterias boomed to its highest point in nearly two years in the last quarter as people looked for cheaper places to eat, statistics showed Monday.As expected, the restaurant business logged its worst output in more than four years in the same quarter, the most recent numbers from Statistics Korea showed. This photo, taken on Feb. 6, 2017, shows a cafeteria at a downtown office building. Statistics Korea said cafeterias logged their best business in nearly two years in the f

Faltering private consumption is dragging down the recovering momentum of the South Korean economy, with the country's production side remaining in the doldrums, a state-run think tank said Monday."The Korean economy exhibited a modest recovery in investment, but faltering private consumption is limiting the recovery of economic activities," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. (Yonhap)"Private consumption growth slowed on deteriora

South Koreans expect consumer prices will rise further this year due to possible increases in utility and raw materials costs, the central bank said Monday.Consumers' perceptions of increases in consumer prices in the past year came to 2.7 percent in January, the highest level in 26 months, according to data from the Bank of Korea.  (Yonhap)Meanwhile, the consumers' expected inflation rate for the next 12 months came to 2.8 percent in January, the highest level in 28 months, the BOK data showed.

South Korean motorists pay much higher oil taxes than their counterparts in the United States and Japan, a report said Monday, sparking calls for the government to lower them.According to the report by online crude price provider Opinet, gasoline prices in South Korea averaged 1,455 won ($1.28) per liter in December last year, with taxes accounting for 62.3 percent of the price, or 905.75 won. Customers look at oil prices listed at a gas station in Seoul on Jan. 8, 2017. (Yonhap)South Korea impo

With many of South Korea's households piling on debt, concern has grown about potential risks facing Asia's key economy already in the doldrums.Some economists warn that private household debt in the country may increase to as much as 1,500 trillion won ($1,310 billion) at the end of this year, close to four-fold of South Korea's yearly budgets set at around 400 trillion won. A sign of the mortage loan service department at a South Korean bank in a file photo. (Yonhap)Simply calculated, it means

South Korea‘s self-sufficiency rate of grain, beef and seafood sharply fell last year as imported food items appealed to consumer tastes with their lower prices and variety of flavors, according to government data on Sunday.The nation’s self-sufficiency rate of grain, excluding feed for animals, dropped to 48.4 percent in 2016, from 55.6 percent in 2010, showed the data by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.  (Yonhap)South Korea imports most of its animal feed. Including animal

South Korea’s current-account surplus narrowed in 2016 from a year ago, central data showed on Friday. The country‘s current account surplus stood at $98.68 billion in 2016, down from a surplus of $105.94 billion a year earlier.  The surplus was the second-largest since the government started to compile the data, but came as a decline in imports is greater than a decrease in exports, an official at the central bank said. “The exports declined last year but imports fel

The government is facing criticism for losing control of major policies amid a political maelstrom stemming from the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal in December, analysts said Friday.As if defying a government vow to rein in inflation, businesses are scrambling to jack up product prices. Also, the government has irked small merchants and self-employed people by requiring them to stick to stricter rules on the safety of electric appliances and daily goods. People

South Korea's antitrust watchdog will make public a set of data on price comparison regarding price-fixing cases to help customers take legal action, government officials said Friday.The information contains data on prices before and after suspected companies engage in price collusion collected by the Fair Trade Commission, according to the officials. (Yonhap)Customers who seek compensation from the price-rigging practices can submit the price comparison data as powerful evidence to the court, t

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in January from a month earlier due to increased gains from investment in foreign assets and an increase in the dollar-converted value of non-dollar currencies, central bank data showed Friday.As of the end of January, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $374.04 billion, up $2.94 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. (Yonhap)Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated

In one corner of a bustling street in Seoul's Hongdae district popular with young people, 30-something office worker Lee Choon-han's face is glued to the glass of a coin-operated claw machine. For about $1, Lee can drop the claw twice to try to grab prizes such as plush toys, key chains or cheap watches. After three failed attempts, his skill pays off and he captures a Pokemon doll.  (Yonhap)"Every time I go past this street, I play it. If I win, I feel as though it awards a small fortune to me,

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will speed up renegotiation of the North America Free Trade Agreement, slamming the deal as a "catastrophe" for the US."I have very serious concerns about NAFTA. NAFTA has been a catastrophe for our country. It's been a catastrophe for our workers and our jobs and our companies. They're leaving our country. I want to change it," Trump said at the start of a meeting with some members of Congress. (Yonhap)Trump said the letter F in NAFTA should mean not o