South Korea on Wednesday sought international cooperation on its efforts to secure a stable supply of urea solution following a recent supply crunch, the industry ministry said. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request during a "networking day" event for official development assistance (ODA), which brought together ambassadors and charge d'affaires from 27 developing countries in Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energ

The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country declined for the 10th straight month in October amid decreased housing transactions, data showed Wednesday. The number of people who changed their residences fell 10.7 percent on-year to 540,000 last month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the 10th consecutive month the number has dropped and represented the sharpest on-year decline since a 10.9 percent fall in June 2019. The decline was

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the seventh consecutive month in October as prices of imports grew at a faster pace than export prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- stood at 91.26 last month, down 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the a

The South Korean economy is likely to expand 3.2 percent on-year in 2022 on the back of a recovery in private consumption and brisk exports, a local think tank said Wednesday. The Korea Capital Market Institute (KCMI) also forecast the gross domestic product of Asia's fourth-largest economy to increase 4 percent this year from a year earlier. "Private consumption is expected to show a marked upturn in the first half of next year thanks to a shift in anti-coronavirus measures and improving

The top trade officials of South Korea and Costa Rica met in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed ways to further boost bilateral trade and investment, Seoul's industry ministry said. During the meeting, Seoul's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and Costa Rica's foreign trade minister, Andres Valenciano Yamuni, checked the implementation of the South Korea-Central America Free Trade Agreement and agreed to work more closely to further facilitate bilateral trade and investment, according to the Ministry of

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on advances in tech and financial shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 16.47 points, or 0.55 percent, to 3,013.8 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Bank and insurance shares went up amid expectations the Bank of Korea might raise the key interest rate Thursday. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.53 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 0.84 percent. Internet portal operator Naver slippe

Large South Korean companies' social contributions plunged nearly 37 percent in the first nine months of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. CEO Score, which tracks corporate management, said 255 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales donated a combined 1.01 trillion won ($850 million) to charities during the January-September period, down 37.1 percent from a year ago. CEO Score said the tumble came amid the new coronavirus pandemic, though those co

Dunamu, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, said Tuesday that it has launched a new trading platform for nonfungible tokens, further expanding its footprint in the virtual asset space. NFTs are blockchain-based digital counterparts of real-world assets, mostly in the areas of visual arts or music. The blockchain company opened its Upbit NFT Beta service on Upbit’s website, where its users can sell and purchase NFTs at auction. Using the “Drops” function, users ca

Companies across the globe will see their earnings return to pre-pandemic levels next year and European equity markets in particular could offer good investment opportunities, Dutch insurer NN Group’s asset management arm said Tuesday. Marco Willner, head of investment strategy at NN Investment Partners, said inflation fears, along with supply disruptions and a potential energy crisis triggered by the pandemic, still pose challenges, but inflation is transitory and the global economy has

South Korea’s JB Financial Group received an overall “A plus” rating for the firm’s environmental, sustainable and governance values by the nation’s leading proxy advisory institution for the second consecutive year. JB Financial said Monday it has received the second highest level of a seven-tier ESG rating from the Korea Corporate Governance Service, citing the firm’s recent progress in adopting ESG values in management. This year, KCGS’ ESG rating

South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday it might impose tax on nonfungible tokens, adding fuel to controversy surrounding virtual asset taxation in the country. NFTs refer to the digital counterparts of real-world assets, mostly of visual art or music, that guarantee ownership through the blockchain technology. Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang recently said that the government could collect taxes on NFTs under the current Act on the Specified Financial Tran

SEJONG -- The Finance Ministry has unveiled its plan to support microbusiness owners, including the self-employed, in use of tax revenue surplus and the national budget. This is regarded as a sort of bailout for small businesses, which were severely hit by the pandemic in terms of sales and financial conditions. While they will have the opportunity of taking out state-led loans on low rates, the government’s support package does not include cash grants. “The support scale would rea

Emro, a supply chain management software company in Korea, said Monday its third-quarter net profit rose 21 percent from a year ago on expansion of clients and business. According to the company’s regulatory filing, its net profit stood at 3.98 billion won ($3.3 million) in the July-September period. Its operating income jumped 42 percent on-year to 4.04 billion won, and revenue expanded 11 percent to 11.2 billion won in the cited period. Emro said its net profit grew thanks to the incr

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to sell smaller-than-planned state bonds for next month in a bid to help stabilize the bond market and improve fiscal soundness. To that end, the finance ministry plans to use excess tax revenue of 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion) for the shortfall of the planned sale of Treasurys. This means the ministry will issue state bonds that are around 2.5 trillion won less than its planned sale for next month. The government sold Treasurys worth 164 trillion won in th

An absolute majority of bond mavens in South Korea predict the country's central bank to raise its key interest for November in an effort to curb rising inflation and household debt, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 100 bond experts by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 90 of the respondents forecast the Bank of Korea (BOK) to jack up its policy rate at a rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday. The number of experts expecting a rate increase was up from 13 percent r