The government and the ruling party agreed Monday to retroactively apply a proposed tax cut on home purchases as part of efforts to encourage transactions in the sluggish property market, a ruling party lawmaker said.The proposal, announced by the government on Aug. 28, calls for lowering the acquisition tax rate on houses valued at less than 600 million won ($565,000) to 1 percent from the current 2 percent. The tax levied on homes valued at between 600 million won and 900 million won would rem

South Korea's household debt problems are feared to worsen as the Federal Reserve's possible stimulus tapering is likely to spur foreign capital outflows, raising market rates, a report showed Monday.If the U.S. central bank begins to taper its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, foreign capital is likely to exit from the Korean market, raising concerns that subsequent rises in market rates would worsen household debt problems, Jeong Young-sik, an economist at the Samsung Economic Research In

Korea’s current account surplus is likely to surpass that of Japan for the first time this year.Korea recorded an account surplus of $42.2 billion in January-August, compared to Japan’s $41.53 billion during the same period, according to the Bank of Korea on Sunday.By the end of the year, Korea’s surplus is expected to reach $63 billion in total, outperforming its neighbor by almost $2 billion, sources said.This is the first time that Korea has topped Japan in terms of accumulated account surplu

Korea’s economic competitiveness is expected to be severely affected by an increasing number of workers moving from high value-added industries to low value-added ones, analysts at the Bank of Korea warned.Almost 53 percent of employees of high value-added sectors such as manufacturing and information technology moved into low value-added services industries over the last decade, according to a BOK report by a group of analysts.The figure, which compares 2003 and 2013 data, increased from turnov

Korea’s current account surplus is likely to surpass that of Japan for the first time this year.Korea recorded an account surplus of $42.2 billion in January-August, compared to Japan’s $41.53 billion during the same period, according to the Bank of Korea on Sunday.By the end of the year, Korea’s surplus is expected to reach $63 billion in total, outperforming its neighbor by almost $2 billion, sources said.This is the first time that Korea has topped Japan in terms of accumulated account surplu

South Korea’s exports surged to a new monthly high last month on growing shipments to the United States and Europe, posting a trade surplus for the 21st consecutive month, the government said Friday.The country’s total outbound shipments came to $50.5 billion last month, up 7.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The previous monthly record was at $48.95 billion posted in July 2011. It also marks the first time the country’s monthly expo

A consortium of Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony filed a lawsuit against Google, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Pantech, HTC, ASUS, Huawei and ZTE over former patents of Nortel Networks at the U.S. District Court in Texas on Friday (Korean time), industry sources revealed.The consortium, dubbed Rockstar, had purchased 6,000 patents belonging to the telecommunication company during its four-day bankruptcy auction in 2011.Google had attempted to attain this same portfolio with

South Korea's finance minister Friday voiced his opposition to the idea that increasing the salaries of workers could boost overall economic conditions, apparently objecting to a similar policy being undertaken by Japan.Japan has provided tax incentives for companies whose spending on salaries expanded -- a policy intended to raise income levels and boost domestic demand and economic recovery. Seen as successful in bolstering its slumping economy, the country is reportedly considering expanding

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that it has decided to maintain its previous 2014 growth outlook for South Korea at 3.7 percent but expressed concerns over the relatively weak domestic demand caused by "debt overhang" in the household and corporate sectors. The decision was made by an IMF team led by Isabelle Mateos y Lago, the deputy chief of the IMF's Asia-Pacific bureau. It completed its two-week-long annual meeting here with South Korean policymakers to assess its overall economi

Overseas credit card purchases by South Koreans rose 41.7 percent over the past five years, data showed Friday, raising concerns that the trend may spark a social disharmony amid the economic slump.Overseas credit card bills totaled 5.5 trillion won ($5.1 billion) last year, rising sharply from the 3.1 trillion won tallied in 2008, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association submitted to parliament.The number of cardholders making purchases overseas doubled over the cited pe

South Korea's exports surged to a new monthly high last month on growing shipments to the United States and Europe, posting a trade surplus for the 21st consecutive month, the government said Friday.The country's total outbound shipments came to $50.5 billion last month, up 7.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The previous monthly record was at $48.95 billion posted in July 2011. It also marks the first time the country's monthly expo

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the slowest pace in 14 years in October, affected by falls in costs of farming products, a government report showed Friday.The country's consumer price index rose 0.7 percent on-year in October, decelerating from a 0.8 percent on-year gain tallied in the previous month, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The October figure marked the slowest consumer price growth since July 1999 when it increased 0.3 percent. It was also the second straight month th