South Korea's leading listed companies suffered bigger growth setbacks in 2013 compared to the post-global crisis year of 2009, a report compiled by conglomerates' lobbying group said Thursday.The report by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said sales growth numbers for the 148 large listed companies were poorer than those for the 1,536 non-financial sector businesses traded on the country's main and secondary stock exchanges.Large companies refer to businesses with annual sales exceedin

South Korea may need more time to decide whether to take part in ongoing negotiations for a regional free trade pact, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the country's deputy trade minister said Wednesday, noting it may also require additional bilateral talks with other countries."Holding preliminary talks with all participating countries does not mean we are ready (to make a decision). Different countries have different conditions, and thus some may require two or even three rounds of talks

Household loans extended by South Korean banks declined in January as households' balance sheets improved on the back of year-end bonuses, and mortgage lending also fell, the central bank said Wednesday.Outstanding household loans by local banks, including home-backed and credit loans, reached 477.8 trillion won ($448 billion) as of end-January, down 2.6 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The January figure also compares with the 2.9-trillion-won growth in Decem

South Korea on Wednesday called on foreign companies to expand investment and employment, promising that it will work hard to create the world's most investment-friendly environment.In a meeting with foreign business leaders in central Seoul, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok also promised to improve transparency of laws and implement its policies in a "stable" manner, eliminating any inconveniences foreigners could encounter in doing business here.The meeting was attended by heads of major business

South Korea and New Zealand will resume their negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement next week after a near four-year pause, the South Korean government said Wednesday.The fifth round of FTA negotiations between the two countries will be held in Wellington from Monday through Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The fresh round will mark the first of its kind since May 2010. The countries agreed to resume their negotiations late last year in a bilateral trad

South Korea's exports of food and agriculture products shrank slightly from a year earlier last month amid large drops in shipments to China and European countries, the government said Wednesday.In January, outbound shipments of farm products amounted to $445.9 million, down 1.5 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs."The drop in exports last month appears to have been caused by shrinking shipments of ginseng, sugar and processed c

The government has launched a task force aimed at mapping out plans to nurture the country's service industry that could result in more job creation, the finance minister said Wednesday."The government launched and started to operate a one-stop task force last month to nurture five promising service sectors -- health and medical treatment, education, tourism, finance and software," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said at a meeting with other economy-related policymakers in Seoul."We also plan to l

Foreign investors have outperformed local institutional and retail investors in profits in the South Korean stock market so far this year, even as the market has gone through a topsy-turvy correction period, data showed Monday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index has fallen 5.14 percent as of Friday since the first trading session of the year on Jan. 3 due to poor corporate earnings and woes over a financial crisis in emerging markets.But the average return on the top 20 shares bought

South Korea’s trade surplus in the information technology sector widened last month from a year earlier as its exports inched up while imports shrank, the government said Monday.Outbound shipments of IT products edged up 0.2 percent from the same month last year to $13.13 billion in January, partly on growing demands in European and Southeast Asian countries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.“Despite various external factors, such as the weak Japanese yen and financial ins

South Korea's economy is showing signs of recovery but still faces many structural problems such as inefficient resource distribution and restrictions that hamper entrepreneurship, the finance minister said Monday."Our economy is showing signs of recovery, but there are still many structural challenges that need to be resolved," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said at a meeting with experts of the state-run Korea Development Institute think tank here."Economic activity based on abnormality is stil

The South Korean stock market may gain ground this week on eased jitters over U.S. and emerging economies, analysts said Saturday.But such a gain may be capped due to lingering woes over weakened corporate earnings and continued uncertainty, they said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 1,922.50 this week, down 1.3 percent from a week earlier.The main index swerved in and out of the psychologically important 1,900-point level this week. The KOSPI dipped below the threshol