The government will slash fuel taxes by 20 percent and cut tariffs on liquid natural gas to near zero in November for six months to fend off inflationary pressure further building up with rising energy prices. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, taxes on gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas will be cut by 20 percent starting Nov. 12, marking the highest tax cut in history. The temporary cut will end in April, the ministry said after a meeting with the ruling party. Autho

Loan guarantees among affiliates of South Korea's conglomerates soared this year from a year earlier due to the addition of more large business groups to the corporate watch list, the antitrust regulator said Tuesday. Of 40 conglomerate affiliates on the list, the total corporate debt payment guarantees by eight units reached 1.16 trillion won ($993 million) as of May 1, up 1,242 percent from 86.4 billion won the previous year, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). The jump was

South Korean stocks advanced for a second consecutive day Tuesday, backed by expectations for strong corporate earnings. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) advanced 28.54 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 3,049.08 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 547 million shares worth some 9.2 trillion won ($7.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 574 to 271. Foreigners bought a net 106 billion won, while retail investors

South Korea’s economy has expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the July-September period due to lackluster private consumption despite recovery in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday. The economy grew 0.3 percent in the third quarter, compared with a 0.8 percent growth in the second quarter and the corresponding figure of 1.7 percent in the first quarter, preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea showed. The third quarter reading falls short of the BOK’s Se

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Tuesday said it will implement stricter lending calculations for mortgage loans, called the “debt-service ratio,” or DSR, months earlier than expected as part of additional debt control measures.  The DSR gauges how much borrowers pay for principal and interest in proportion to yearly income.  Since July, a 40 percent DSR has been applied to borrowers seeking to receive loans for buying properties valued at over 600 million w

South Korea's trade volume for this year surpassed the $1 trillion mark Tuesday on the back of solid export growth amid the global recovery from the pandemic, reaching the milestone at the fastest pace ever, the trade ministry said. The country's accumulated exports and imports totaled $1 trillion so far this year, with outbound shipments coming to $512.2 billion, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea made the achievement within the shortest period of

The Korea Teachers’ Credit Union, an institutional investor responsible for 40 trillion won ($34.3 billion) of assets as of end-June, denied Tuesday rumors that it was considering exposure to bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, through an exchange-traded fund created by a Korean external partner. “The KTCU has never reviewed an investment in a bitcoin-related ETF, and will never have a plan to do so,” KTCU said in a statement. The remark came after it was rep

South Korea's exports are expected to rise over 26 percent on-year this month on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, a poll showed Tuesday. Exports are forecast to reach $54.18 billion in October, marking a 26.14 percent on-year growth, according to the survey of six brokerage houses by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. Imports are anticipated to advance 38.59 percent on-year in October to $54.18 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.36 billio

The proportion of temporary workers in South Korea rose to over 38 percent of all salaried workers in August in the wake of the fallout from the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The number of non-regular workers, including part-timers and outsourced laborers, came to 8.07 million as of August, up 640,000, or 8.6 percent, from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. They accounted for 38.4 percent of the country's 20.99 million salaried workers. The percentage was up from 36

South Korea and Chile will hold their sixth round of negotiations this week on updating their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) that went into effect in 2004, Seoul's trade ministry said Tuesday. The three-day talks, set to begin later in the day via teleconferencing, will focus on expanding the scope of free trade and updating terms of the 15-year-old FTA to better reflect changing trade and economic circumstances, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two sides will

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to resume discount coupon programs aimed at boosting domestic demand as the country is preparing to move into a phase of "living with COVID-19" in early November. The country has suspended the coupon programs in six sectors, including sports, accommodations, tourism and cultural performances, due to the resurgence of virus cases. Only online use of some discount coupons, such as food delivery and agricultural products, has been allowed. Finance Minis

South Korea said Tuesday it will enforce stricter lending rules based on borrowers' repayment capability at an earlier date than initially scheduled to curb soaring household debt that has emerged as one of the most serious potential risks on the economy. Loans for home rentals, however, will not be subject to the government's tightened lending rules until the end of this year as part of efforts to supply credit for those in actual need of borrowing. Those are part of a string of measures the

South Korea and Cambodia officially signed a free trade agreement (FTA) Tuesday in a move to deepen their economic ties, Seoul's industry ministry said. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and his Cambodian counterpart, Pan Sorasak, officially signed the pact during a virtual ceremony earlier in the day, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea struck the deal with Cambodia in February this year and wrapped up domestic procedures, including parliamentary approval. Under the

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street that stemmed from expectations for strong corporate earnings. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 14.33 points, or 0.47 percent, to 3,034.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.9 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18 percent. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.43 percent to 70,500 won, and No. 2 chipmaker

The value of derivatives-tied securities issued in South Korea plumbed a near eight-year low in the first half of the year amid the bullish run of major global stock markets, data showed Tuesday. The amount of equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) outstanding came to 80.2 trillion won ($68.5 billion) as of end-June, the lowest level since the end of 2013, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Those products are structured to track the pe