The Chinese market for direct trading of the Korean won and Chinese yuan will be launched next week, the finance minister here said Friday.The won-yuan direct trading market will start operation in Shanghai on Monday, with the state-run Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System to take charge of the management, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance."South Korea and China are important trade partners for each other," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in an official opening ceremony held i

Korea will consider a bilateral free trade deal with Britain in response to its exit from the European Union, Seoul's top diplomat said Friday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told lawmakers during a session of the parliamentary foreign affairs and unification committee that his ministry, in coordination with the trade ministry, will draw up "various measures," including a Korea-Britain free trade agreement, after Britons opted to leave the EU in a landmark referendum Thursday."Some experts at home

The soaring popularity of lunch boxes has made it one of the top-selling products at Korea’s convenience stores, according to data Friday.Convenience store chain CU said that for the first time, a lunch box product recorded the most sales at its outlets. The retail chain’s “Baek Jong-won Hanpan Lunch Box” raised the most sales out of all its products this year.  A customer walks into a CU outlet promoting its Baek Jong-won lunch boxes. (Yonhap)From January to June, sales of lunch boxes at CU tri

Korea on Friday said it will use all means to stabilize the local financial market following the unexpected result of the historic British referendum to leave the European Union.As the world's fifth-largest economy got ready to leave the 28-member economic bloc, South Korea's financial market suffered a severe setback. Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok (center) speaks at an emergency meeting in Seoul to discuss the impact of the Brexit on June 24, 2016. (Yonhap)The benchmark KOSPI sank 3.09 pe

[THE INVESTOR] The government will roll out all possible measures in responding to the effects of Brexit, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok said on June 24. Speaking at an emergency meeting in Seoul, Choi said that a pan-government effort will be orchestrated to “minimize the negative effects” of UK leaving the European Union. Saying that the government will closely monitor the foreign exchange market, Choi said that the authorities will take steps to stabilize the market. Yoon

Korea's economic and financial authorities held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss ways to fend off any possible fallout from the British withdrawal from the European Union.Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok presided over the meeting, with other officials from the Financial Services Commission, the Bank of Korea and the Financial Supervisory Commission attending. The BOK also held a separate meeting to discuss ways to calm the financial market.In the morning, the vice minister said the Sout

[THE INVESTOR] The Ministry of Strategy and Finance called an emergency meeting of economic and financial authorities on June 24 over growing concerns for the UK’s exit from the European Union.The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. in Seoul, and will bring together deputy chiefs of the Finance Ministry, Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Bank of Korea and the chief of the Korea Center for International Finance. Earlier in the day, economy-related government bodies held a c

South Korea's terms of trade improved from a year earlier in May due to steeper declines in import prices compared to drops in export prices, central bank data showed Friday. The terms of trade index for products came to 101.73 last month, compared with 100.75 a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.  The index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of its exports, showing how the country's exports are doing in comparison with those of ot

 [THE INVESTOR] Korea has cut its annual economic growth rate outlook in 2016 to 2.8 percent from the previous 3.1 percent, the government said on June 24.During a meeting with the ruling Saenuri Party, government policymakers said growth is expected to slow in the second half of 2016. “If the second-half economic policy plan is executed as expected, this year’s growth will decrease from initial 3 percent-level to around 2.8 percent,” a government policymaker said. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho at

The Korean government said Friday it has revised down the annual economic growth outlook by 0.3 percentage point to 2.8 percent, in the face of sluggish global economic conditions and troubles facing certain industries.During a meeting with the ruling Saenuri Party, government policymakers said growth is expected to slow in the second half of 2016. They, however, added that every effort will be made to revitalize growth so Asia's fourth largest economy can pull off 3 percent growth next year.At

The Korean government said Friday that it will take market stabilizing measures if the foreign exchange market becomes wildly volatile due to the results of the landmark British vote."As South Korea has low exposure to Britain in terms of trade, a final decision (to quit the European Union) will have a limited impact on the South Korean economy," Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said at an emergency meeting with officials of the financial authorities and the central bank.Vice Finance Minister

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s high economic dependence on China is a double-edged sword, a report said on June 24.In a report titled “China’s choice,” McKinsey Global Institute ranked Korea fourth in the world in terms of economic dependence on China. According to the report, Korea is fourth in the world in terms of the proportion of gross domestic product raised from exports to China. Oman showed the highest dependence followed by Angola and Malaysia. China national flag.Korea’s economy is highly trad

[THE INVESTOR] The government will invest 10.5 trillion won (US$9.1 billion) into renewable energy in collaboration with the private sector, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on June 23. In a press release before a parliamentary briefing on the same day, the ministry said that it will focus on issues concerning electric vehicles, solar power, energy storage systems and other energy-related fields. The ministry said that it will roll out measures to improve conditions for electric v

Korea’s exports to China continued to shrink from a year ago in May, recording 11 months of decrease, industry data showed Thursday.

Korea's top economic policymaker will visit China later this week for the first annual general meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the opening ceremony of the won-yuan direct market there, the ministry here said Thursday.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho will depart Friday to attend the first AIIB General Assembly in Beijing slated for Saturday, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.Yoo will deliver a keynote speech at the meeting about the role and future of the China-l