Concerns are rising here over what has been deemed as increasing U.S. pressure on Korea to do more to alter its trade practices and business environment.The pressure, which is expected to escalate further in the lead-up to and beyond the U.S. presidential election in November, seems related mainly to the growing trade imbalance between the two sides. Korea’s trade surplus with the U.S. jumped to $28.3 billion last year from $15.2 billion in 2012, when a bilateral free trade agreement came into f

With the global economy in a low-growth trap, Korean exports are expected to remain in negative territory, affecting the growth prospect of Asia’s fourth-largest economy this year.Data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that the growth of Korean exports, which the country relied mostly on to expand on account of weak domestic consumption, has dropped since last year.(Yonhap)Although Korea ranked fourth in the OECD after Japan, Ireland and Mexico in January last y

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho suggested last week the government would no longer adhere to its projection that the country’s economy would grow by 3.1 percent this year.Yoo, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said the government would be “cool-headed” in adjusting the growth target when it announces in late June the economic policy directions to be pursued in the latter half of the year.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho (Yonhap)His remarks came a day after the Korea Development Ins

President Park Geun-hye’s administration has put top priority on increasing employment. In June 2013, it unveiled a roadmap to boost the country’s employment rate gradually to 70 percent by 2017.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, who also serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, last week acknowledged the goal might be unachievable.“To be candid, (I) think it may be a little difficult to accomplish the employment rate of 70 percent,” said Yoo during a lecture to a group of regional busines

OECD urges Korea to boost productivity through small businesses

In light of shipping and shipbuilding companies that are being swept up by debt after years of oversupply, Korea’s steel firms are seeking preemptive steps not to succumb to the same fate. Industry watchers say the steel makers will likely hasten restructuring moves after summer when a new law that eases regulations on small mergers, splits and asset sales takes effect. The act, dubbed the “one shot law,” would clear regulatory hurdles associated with tax codes, commercial code and fair trade la

Sales dropped, but profit margins edged up in Corporate Korea last year, the Bank of Korea said Friday. According to the central bank’s survey of business performance at nearly 20,000 companies in Korea, revenues were down 2.4 percent in 2015 from a year earlier, led by manufacturers, which posted an average 4.2 percent drop. Profit margins, as a ratio of operating profit to revenue, increased to 5.2 percent from 4.2 percent during the same period. This means the companies earned an operating pr

Corporate executives now seem as jittery as government officials about a controversial bill that will allow lawmakers to hold hearings more frequently.The revision to the National Assembly Act, which was passed by the outgoing parliament last week, gives parliamentary committees the right to hold hearings on all “pending” issues. Existing law stipulates that the hearings can be held if necessary for the deliberation of important matters and parliamentary audit or investigation.Speculation has be

It seems only a matter of time for Korea’s economic policymakers to revise down the country’s growth target for this year below 3 percent. This downward revision may come next month when the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announces directions of policies to be pursued in the latter half of the year.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this week cut its 2016 growth forecast for Korea to 2.7 percent from 3.1 percent, citing sluggish global trade and a slowdown in China. It w

No extra budget for corporate bailouts, finance minister says