Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Monday the government will make efforts to avoid tax hikes that may burden the people and businesses, amid calls by the opposition parties to raise corporate taxes."Increasing tax will emerge as the burden for the people and should be the last thing the government should consider," Hwang said during his parliamentary interpellation session. He stressed that Seoul has no plans to raise corporate and income tax for the time being."Rather than increasing taxes, we

The number of foreign cruise tourists visiting South Korea nearly doubled in the first six months of 2016, with the number expected to reach 1.5 million at the end of the year, the maritime ministry said Monday.Some 724,000 foreigners arrived in the country on cruise ships over the January-June period, up 88 percent from 385,000 tallied a year ago, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.For all of 2016, 1.5 million cruise tourists are expected to flock to the country's shores, with 84

The average home price in Seoul has surpassed 500 million won ($434,103) last month, with analysts expecting more price jumps within this year to reach a new high, a market study by KB Kookmin Bank showed Monday.The average home price in the capital city hit 501.98 million won in June, up 2.94 million won from the previous month, according to the bank which serves as the leading tracker of the local housing market.  The figure is the highest since the bank began compiling related data in Decembe

South Korea is quickening negotiations and implementations of its free trade agreements as one way of alleviating the economic confusion from Brexit, finding new markets through the trade deals and making sure it is not falling out of regional pacts, officials said Monday.After signing its first FTA in 2004 with Chile, South Korea now has agreements with 52 countries through 15 agreements. Officials say while last year's efforts were more on bilateral agreements, concentration this year will be

The rate of Korea’s export decline was the smallest in a year, as it slowed from minus 6.0 percent in May to minus 2.7 percent in June, according to the Trade Ministry Friday. The export amount in June recorded $45.3 billion, while imports marked $33.7 billion.

Brisk sales of passenger cars have led South Korea's domestic consumption in the February-May period on the back of the government's tax-cut programs, government data showed Sunday, raising concerns over a possible drop in demand following the end of such benefits.The South Korean government started the excise tax benefits from September last year to bolster retail sales, along with nationwide discount events to offset faltering exports, which have posted negative growth since January last year.

 South Korea joined the so-called Paris Club as its 21st member country on Friday, the finance ministry here said, a step that acknowledges the country's transition into a creditor country.The membership was endorsed at the club's meeting to celebrate its 60th anniversary in Paris, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok attended the ceremony, it added.The Paris Club is an association of creditor countries with the major aim of finding

[THE INVESTOR] The UN-operated Green Climate Fund has decided to inject US$ 256.6 million in climate change projects in nine developing countries, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said July 1. The decision was made during the 13th board meeting of the GCF, held at its headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, from June 28 to 30. The newly approved projects include solar energy development program in Chile, projects to make coastal communities in Vietnam more resilient to climate change impacts and su

A worker at the Korea Exchange looks at a screen showing the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index that rebounded close to a pre-Brexit level of 1,990 on Friday in Seoul.(Yonhap)

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s benchmark interest rate could be slashed to below 1 percent this year due to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, Nomura Financial Investment said on July 1. Kwon Young-sun, an economist at the firm said that the Bank of Korea is likely to cut the key rate by 25 basis points twice within 2016 to 0.75 percent from current 1.25 percent. On June 9, the BOK took its key seven-day repo rate to 1.25 percent from a previous level of 1.5 percent, the first cut in 12 mon

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s consumer prices increased by less than 1 percent for the second month in a row in June, according to government data on July 1.The country’s consumer price index rose 0.8 percent last month from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.The figure also climbed 0.8 percent on-year in May, after rising 1 percent or more for the previous three months.From a month earlier, the June figure stayed flat.Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, increased 2

The decision-making board of South Korea's central bank gave its final approval Friday to the establishment of a 10-trillion-won ($8.7 billion) fund to help finance the government-led restructuring in the troubled shipping and shipbuilding industries.The decision came at a special meeting of the monetary policy board, the Bank of Korea said.The money will be used to extend fresh loans to the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea, which in turn will provide necessary funds to local companies undergo

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s exports may be on the recovery path, with the rate of year-on-year drop decreasing to a 12-month low. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the country’s June exports showed an on-year drop of 2.7 percent -- the smallest decrease recorded since June 2015 -- to come in at US$ 45.3 billion. Since January 2015, Korea’s monthly exports have been declining, with the rate of decrease rising to 19.1 percent in January this year. The figure recorded in the

South Korea's exports shrank for the 18th month in a row in June, falling 2.7 percent from a year ago to $45.3 billion, the trade ministry said Friday.But the rate of export decline was the smallest in a year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The rate of decline slowed from a 6-percent drop in the previous month and posted the smallest on-year fall since June last year when it fell 2.7 percent.Imports continued to shrink at a faster clip, falling 8 percent on-year to $33.