The Korea Herald

[Graphic News] Conglomerates to pay W1.1tr in taxes under new tax scheme

Aug 7, 2014

Korea’s top 10 conglomerates may have to pay an additional 1.1 trillion won ($1.06 billion) in taxes under a new tax scheme that aims to make local companies raise their dividend payouts, capital spending and salaries for their workers, data showed.The Finance Ministry unveiled a set of tax revisions Wednesday to boost domestic demand. Under the new scheme, companies with paid-in capital of 50 billion won or more will be subject to a 10 percent tax on surplus cash when they spend less than 80 pe
Shares dip 0.3% as investors take breather

Aug 7, 2014

South Korean stocks ended 0.3 percent lower Thursday as investors sat it out after last week’s gains, analysts said. The South Korean won lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.22 points to 2,054.51. Trading volume was moderate at 283.9 million shares worth 3.74 trillion won ($3.6 billion), with decliners beating gainers 457 to 353.Analysts said the decline came as investors took a breather and locked in gains after the benchmark index set year
Seoul mulls counteractions on U.S.’ antidumping duties on steel tubes

Aug 7, 2014

The Seoul government is considering taking action to counter a recent decision from the United States to impose punitive duties on South Korean steel products, a ranking trade official here said Monday.“The government plans to come up with appropriate measures based on a legal review of the decision and the impact it will have on the country’s exports of the same product to the U.S.” Deputy Trade Minister Choi Kyong-lim said at a press briefing. The move follows the July 11 decision by the U.S.
S. Korea to levy taxes on unused corporate income, ease taxes on dividends

Aug 6, 2014

South Korea will levy taxes on firms not spending enough of their profits on investment and salaries, a move aimed at funneling corporate money into households and stimulating the overall economic growth in the process, the finance ministry said Wednesday.The ministry plans to lower tax rates on dividend income as another effort to induce money flows from companies to investors and small shareholders.The measures make up the crux of this year's tax code revisions proposed by the ministry. The re
Seoul shares end lower as investors take breather

Aug 5, 2014

South Korean stocks ended lower on Tuesday as investors took a breather following a recent rally and weak economic data from China, analysts said. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 14.16 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,066.26. Trading volume was moderate at 341.5 million shares worth 4 trillion won ($4 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 503 to 301.“Investors backed away from the temporarily overheated market and instit
Dormant credit cards fall to lowest level

Aug 5, 2014

The number of dormant credit cards in South Korea dropped below the 10 million mark last month, marking the first time it has done so since 2005 when the Credit Finance Association began tracking the data.About 9.7 million credit cards issued by 20 banks and card companies had remained idle for more than a year. The figure was down more than half from the 23.5 million a year earlier, according to the CFA on Tuesday.CFA officials explained that the decline is due in part to the government’s home-
More female workers can foster growth in S. Korea: report

Aug 5, 2014

South Korea can boost its potential economic growth by employing more women in the workforce, a report said Tuesday, urging lawmakers to come up with relative measures for the country where female labor participation is among the lowest in developed nations."Underemployment in some segments of the (Korean) population is an important labor market challenge and a factor contributing to lower potential growth," the report jointly written by the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of Korea said
[Graphic News] Female Chinese tourists become strong buying force

Aug 4, 2014

Around 574,000 Chinese tourists visited Korea in June this year, making up 45 percent of the total foreign visitors that month, according to data by Tourism Knowledge and Information System and banking investment firms. The ratio of Chinese women came to 59.6 percent in January and up to 63.2 percent in June, accounting for 305,886 among the 483,934 total Chinese tourists. It is approximately double the number of Japanese visitors, 173,000, in the same time period.Chinese women were seen mainly
Government to reduce size of FEZs

Aug 4, 2014

The South Korean government announced Monday that it will disband some districts and areas within the country’s free economic zones as they have failed to submit development plans and attract foreign investment.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that some 10 districts and portions of four districts in eight FEZs will no longer be part of the zones, beginning Tuesday.“Under the FEZ law, the designations of those areas in the zones will be automatically canceled as they have not shown
Personal bailouts up 10% through H1

Aug 4, 2014

South Koreans filing for a personal bailout program rose nearly 10 percent during the first half of 2014, data showed Monday, as local household debt shot up to its highest level since late last year. The number of people seeking a bailout went up 9.9 percent on-year to 57,069 during the January-June period, according to industry sources and court records. On an annual basis, the figure has been on the rise since 2010.The government’s personal bailout program is designed to provide people some l
Korea’s gender wage gap widest in OECD

Aug 4, 2014

South Korea topped the list of wage gaps between men and women among advanced countries with the gender pay gap hardly narrowing over the past decade, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea’s wage gap by gender stood at 37.4 percent, the highest among the 11 OECD member nations surveyed, as of 2012.The figure means that South Korean women are paid 37.4 percent less than their male counterparts.Japan came next wi
Shares end higher on stimulus plan hopes

Aug 4, 2014

South Korean stocks ended higher on Monday as investors pinned hope on positive sentiment stemming from the new economic team’s policy stimulus, analysts said Monday. The South Korean won gained ground against the U.S. dollar.After swerving in and out of positive territory, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.32 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,080.42. Trading volume was low at 249.47 million shares worth 3.86 trillion won ($3.75 billion), with gainers beating decliners 514 to 28
Gov't announces minimum wage for 2015

Aug 4, 2014

South Korea's minimum wage has been set at 5,580 won ($5.40) per hour for next year, up slightly over 7 percent from this year, the labor ministry said Monday.In late June, a trilateral council of government, labor and management representatives agreed to raise the country's minimum wage for 2015 by 7.1 percent from the current 5,210 won per hour.The hourly wage translates to 44,640 won a day for those who work eight hours a day and 1.16 million won a month for those who work 209 hours a month.T
Korea's gender wage gap widest among OECD nations

Aug 4, 2014

South Korea topped the list of wage gap between men and women among advanced countries with the gender pay gap hardly narrowing over the past decade, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea's wage gap by gender stood at 37.4 percent, the highest among the 11 OECD member nations surveyed, as of 2012.The figure means that South Korean women are paid 37.4 percent less than their male counterparts.Japan came next wit
Korea, New Zealand to resume FTA talks next week

Aug 1, 2014

South Korea and New Zealand will hold the eighth round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement next week, the South Korean government said Friday. “At the upcoming round of negotiations, we will work together for tangible progress by narrowing our differences in the area of market liberalization for products and by resolving other remaining issues, such as the country of origin, customs and investment,” the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.Next week’s t