More South Koreans choose to go for cheap but quality brands at places like dollar-shop chain Daiso and second-hand shops in search of good deals amid a prolonged economic slump, industry officials said Thursday.Japan-based Daiso, which sells products priced from 2,000 and 5,000 won ($4.36), operates over 1,000 outlets across the country, a jump from 850 in 2012, the company said. (Daiso)"More consumers choose Daiso as the company has a team of officials who strictly maintain the product's quali

South Korea’s consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in over four years in January, driven up by sharp price hikes in fresh food and oil, government data showed Thursday.The consumer price index gained 2 percent in January from a year earlier, the highest level since 2.1 percent in October 2012, according to Statistics Korea. The on-year growth of the index had stayed just above zero percent since May last year and started to increase from September in the 1 percent range, hitting 2 percent la

South Koreans consumed more American and other foreign beef than expensive local beef last year, a move that has lowered the country's self-sufficiency rate for beef to below 40 percent over 13 years, a state-run think tank said Thursday.Last year, South Koreans consumed 362,000 tons of foreign beef, accounting for 62.3 percent of the total beef consumption in the country, according to the Korea Rural Economic Institute.(Yonhap)Australian beef came to 178,000 tons, making up 49 percent of total

Despite a fall in shipments of durable goods, South Korea's retail sales posted moderate growth in December on increased spending by people who dine or drink alone, government data showed Thursday.The country's retail sales index expanded 1.6 percent in December from the same month a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)The gain was bolstered by a 4.9 percent on-year increase in sales of nondurable consumer goods, though shipments of cars and other durable goods shran

Downward risks remain amid sluggish consumption

The shares of many countries’ populations who are on middle incomes has fallen and particularly in advanced countries, statistics gathered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed.The share of South Korea’s population that was in the middle income group -- defined as those with household disposable income of between 75 and 200 percent of the median -- came in at 60 percent, lower than the OECD average.The middle income groups have been declining since 1980. Countries s

Former Finance Minister Kang Bong-kyun, who led the ministry at the heart of the financial crisis in the late 1990s, passed away Tuesday. Kang suffered from pancreatic cancer for three years before he died at the age of 74.  Kang led the finance ministry for two years after the nation asked the International Monetary Fund to borrow $58 billion in a bailout package in late 1997. He led the reform of conglomerates and financial institutes alike. After heading the ministry under the Kim Dae

South Korea’s policymakers are scrambling to cope with rapid changes in global trade conditions as new US President Donald Trump has put into practice his protectionist pledges.Measures drawn up at their meeting last week focused on expanding the country’s network of free trade agreements with the rest of the world, increasing imports from the US and winning more contracts to build massive infrastructure facilities abroad. (Yonhap)An escalation in the trade conflict between the US and China, Kor

Seven out of the 10 most expensive houses in South Korea are located in the popular foreigner-heavy neighborhood of Itaewon in the heart of Seoul, government data showed Wednesday.Among them, Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of South Korea's retail giant Shinsegae Group, owns the most expensive house, according to the survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This file photo shows the house of Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of South Korea's retail giant Shinsegae Group. (Yonhap)Lee's 2,8

South Korea's state-funded trade agency has signed a contract with a US lobbying company to deal with the Donald Trump era, officials said Wednesday.Ever since Trump has stated his protectionist policies, a sense of alarm has grown here over trade pressure from the new US administration. Kim In-ho, chairman and CEO of the Korea International Trade Association, in a photo provided by KITA (Yonhap)"(We) recently inked a contract with the US lobbying firm K&L Gates," an official at the Korea Intern

Following the recent inauguration of US President Donald Trump, economic tensions are soaring as the new US administration’s tougher trade policy stance and “America first” approach may drastically impact the terms of the current Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. 　This year is already shaping up to be a monumental period for the two countries' economic and political relationship with a new US president, the pending election of a new South Korean president, as well as a new US Ambassador to Korea fo

The government said Wednesday that it will double research and development  spending on the local service sector in five years in search of a new growth engine, amid a deep slump in the manufacturing sector. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it will pour an R&D budget of 1.25 trillion won ($1.07 billion) into the service sector, including software, medicine and tourism industries, in 2021, compared to 664.7 billion won allocated for this year.  Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho visi

When it comes to bequeathing a fortune, South Korea’s superrich prefer stocks over real estate or cash, according to the country’s tax agency on Tuesday. The superrich who transferred at least 5 billion won ($4.3 million) in assets between 2011 and 2015 made combined taxable transfers of assets worth 8.3 trillion won to their children or spouses, the National Tax Service said. The most preferred form of their wealth transfer was in stocks, followed by cash and real estate. Nearly

South Korea's national debt surpassed 900 trillion won ($770 billion) last year largely due to the government's expansionary fiscal policy to cope with a years-long economic slump, data showed Tuesday.The conservative administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye have favored the issuance of debts to finance the fiscal expansion, instead of hefty taxes. This composite image alludes to South Korean government bonds. (Yonhap)The country's debt, which covers the central government's general an

With US President Donald Trump exuberating execution of controversial policies in the first two weeks in office, his “America First” goal would hurt emerging markets including South Korea, financial service company Nomura said in a report published on Friday. Rising US trade protectionism, tougher immigration rules and a reassessment of US foreign policy positions, which seem to be at the heart of President Trump’s “America First” goal, would make emerging markets