South Korea's economy is not negatively affected by the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering of quantitative easing, but its biggest risk stems from China's economic slowdown, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday."We see Korea's credit fundamentals are not adversely affected by the ongoing Fed tapering," Thomas J. Bryne, senior vice president at Moody's, told a group of reporters in Seoul.The executive at the international ratings agency said that Korea's long-running current account surplus and a

South Korea's fishery output inched down last year from a year earlier as stricter fishing regulations, low water temperatures and red tide in coastal areas hampered catch, data showed Thursday.Production of fisheries amounted to 3.16 million tons last year, down 0.9 percent, or 28,000 tons, from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.The output is valued at 7.2 trillion won ($6.7 billion) last year, which is also down 6 percent from 2012 when Korea registered 7.69 trillion won.The agency

South Korea needs detailed action plans in order to improve its economic fundamentals, the finance minister said Wednesday, adding that the next three to four years may be the “last opportunity” to determine the country’s future direction.“In order for our economy to make a leap forward again, we need to abandon the success equation of the past and make efforts to improve our economic fundamentals in an innovative manner,” Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told other policymakers in a meeting.“But t

Despite concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve winding down its massive bond-buying program coupled with forecasts of an economic slowdown in China, business leaders remained upbeat about the strength and resilience of Asian economies.“Asian economies have pursued sound macroeconomic policies and banks are well capitalized and financial regulations and supervision have been strengthened,” said Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao during an international conference in Seoul on Tuesday.

South Korea’s export volume grew at the third-fastest pace among the top 10 exporting countries in 2013, a traders’ report showed Tuesday.According to the findings by the Korea International Trade Association, the country’s export volume grew 6 percent on-year, trailing only Hong Kong and China in terms of growth. The two economies reported gains of 6.6 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, compared to 2012.The gains greatly exceed the 2.7 percent growth average tallied for the global economy a

President Park Geun-hye ordered broadcasting regulators Monday to ensure that the industry won’t fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates, saying diversity and fairness are key to revitalizing the broadcasting sector.Park issued the instruction during a joint policy briefing by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Korea Communications Commission.She said the broadcasting industry strongly influences the economy and is directly related to people’s everyday lives.“Cong

South Korean stocks closed higher on Monday thanks to net buying by foreign investors and institutions, who kept alive last week’s modest growth momentum. The South Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, starting the day in positive territory, gave up some of its gains to end at 1,946.36, up 0.31 percent, or 6.08 points, from Friday’s close. Trading volume on the main market was relatively light at 211.72 million shares, with 3.36 trillion won

South Korea, China and Japan will hold a fourth round of negotiations this week aimed at forging a trilateral free trade agreement, a Seoul diplomat said Monday, despite a diplomatic impasse over Tokyo's nationalist moves regarding historical and territorial issues.The three Northeast Asian nations kicked off formal negotiations earlier last year and have held three rounds of talks since, with Seoul officials describing the third round as being "productive.""The fourth round of Korea-China-Japan

Korean won headed for the best week since September as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s pledge to cut stimulus in “measured steps” increased demand for emerging-market assets. The currency was supported also by data from China, South Korea’s largest overseas market, which showed exports increased 10.6 percent from a year earlier in January, compared with the 0.1 percent gain projected in a Bloomberg News survey. The Bloomberg JP Morgan Asia Dollar Index (ADXY), which tracks the region’s 10 m

The South Korean government is set to announce a new three-year economic innovation plan that will include a negative list system for deregulation to help encourage investment, officials said Sunday.The plan, expected to be announced later this month, will see that regulations are not applied to areas not named on the list.The government will also introduce a limit on the total number of regulations, where the amount of government spending and economic impact from new regulations must be offset

South Korea and China remain divided over a number of issues such as illegal fishing that may prevent early conclusion of their negotiations for a free trade agreement, officials here said Sunday."We are hoping to include a provision that can effectively prevent illegal fishing in the FTA, but China maintains it will not even discuss the issue," a government official here said on condition of anonymity.Seoul is pressing the issue that has become a major diplomatic sticking point. The number of C

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction Co., which was placed under court protection early this year, has effectively secured three public work projects worth 107 billion won ($100.8 million), industry sources said Friday.The sources, who declined to be identified, said the orders issued by the state-run Korea Expressway Corp., and Pohang Regional Maritime Affairs and Port Administration are expected to be finalized next week.The construction projects include two sections of a highway connecting

Sales of homes in South Korea more than doubled in January from a year earlier, data showed on Thursday, indicating a recovery in the local property market.The number of home transactions came to 58,846 last month, up 117.4 percent from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The ministry attributed the increase partly to a base effect stemming from a large drop posted in January 2013.“Home transactions dropped by large margi

South Korea’s overseas direct investment dropped 11 percent on-year in 2013 amid instability in the financial market and lingering uncertainty over the global economy, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report compiled by the finance ministry, the country’s overseas direct investment totaled $35.12 billion last year, down from the $39.46 billion tallied a year earlier.Overseas direct investment refers to Korean residents’ equity investment in foreign countries or money spent to