The government will clamp down on those suspected of taking expedient means to pass on wealth to their children as a part of measures to eradicate real estate speculation and fight corruption, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. Since March, the National Tax Service has been conducting a special investigation on suspected tax evasion by more than 800 people who sought to profit from speculative or illegal property transactions. The large-scale probe was launched in the wake of a scan

Experts say unlike Koreans, foreign home buying less regulated

South Korean businesses are beginning to paint a rosier outlook for the coming months with the government gearing up to treat COVID-19 more like seasonal influenza and to ease social distancing, a report from a think tank showed Wednesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute’s forecast for next month’s business survey index of the country’s top 600 companies by sales showed the reading gained 2.8 points on-month to 103.4 for October. A reading above 100 means optimists ou

The government said Wednesday that it would try to freeze utility fees until the end of this year in an effort to stabilize prices amid rising costs for raw materials such as oil. 　 The Finance Ministry said there had been no talk of raising railroad and road fees, which include train fares, highway tolls, intercity and express bus fares, and wholesale regional water supply costs. 　 “While rates of local utilities such as gas, water and sewage, transport and garbage bags are to be determi

South Korea's monetary policy is considered still loose although the Bank of Korea delivered its first pandemic-era rate hike in August, a member of the BOK's rate-setting board said Wednesday. The remarks by Suh Young-kyung are expected to reinforce market expectations that the central bank may again raise its key rate later this year or early next year. "In spite of a hike in the key rate in August, the current monetary policy is still loose," Suh told a forum in Seoul. The BOK must

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the fifth consecutive month in August due to a rise in prices of imported goods, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- declined 5 percent last month from a year earlier, according to 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 amount of imports a country can buy for each

South Korean stocks opened nearly 1.5 percent lower Wednesday, tracking an overnight plunge on Wall Street amid concerns about spiking bond yields and the US debt ceiling. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) dropped 45.27 points, or 1.46 percent, to 3,052.65 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite plummeted 2.83 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 2.04 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 1.63 percent. Investor senti

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is speeding up a plan to supply homes in Seoul and other regions, as it seeks to curb high-flying home prices. In February, the government unveiled the plan that eased building regulations and supported redevelopment projects in urban areas to increase the number of new homes by up to 836,000 nationwide in the next four years. Some residents in the designated areas in Seoul have already voted in favor of the redevelopment projects, makin

South Korea's exports contributed the most in three years to the country's economic growth in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. Overseas shipments contributed 0.6 percentage point to the country's economic growth last year, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The contribution rate of exports was higher than 0.5 percentage point in 2019 and 0.1 percentage point in 2018. Last year, South Korea's nominal exports fell 5.5 percen

South Korea's business sentiment improved for October on expectations of a possible rebound in domestic consumption amid an accelerating nationwide vaccination drive, a local think tank said Wednesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales rose to 103.4 for next month, up from 100.6 for September, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The business outlook stayed above 100 for a second straight month. The actual BSI stood at 98.9 i

A plan to adopt a critical ESG disclosure system by 2023 is lagging far behind other countries and should be implemented as soon as possible to foster environmental, social and governance investment, Ryu Young-jae, CEO of a leading ESG advisory firm said Tuesday. European countries adopted a sustainable finance disclosure system in 2018 and Japan in 2021. The US House of Representatives passed the ESG Disclosure and Simplification Act in June, according to Ryu. Under such a disclosure syste

Asia is projected to emerge as a destination for sustainability-driven investment, and integrating environmental, social and governance factors is key to discovering the less well-tapped investment opportunities in the region, a veteran investor said Tuesday. Spurred by rising secondary battery demand, combined with a projection of fast-paced electric vehicle adoption, Asian countries including South Korea are in a race to make good on their bid to achieve carbon neutrality and cultivate new e

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation’s leading mutual financial institution, said Tuesday it has managed to post strong profits despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of President Park Cha-hoon and Ryu Hyuk, chief executive officer of Credit & Insurance -- the KFCC’s business unit responsible for building strategies for the group’s financial management as well as operating deduction services -- the cooperative logged a net profit

South Korea’s chief economic policymaker vowed Tuesday to pursue environmental, social and governance-related policies with support, not regulations, to build a stronger cornerstone for the nation’s sustainable growth. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, in his congratulatory speech at the second Korea Herald Finance and Investment Forum, said that the government will make various efforts such as helping industries establish a market-oriented system, creating ne

The Korea Herald’s 2nd finance forum addresses hopes, realities of adopting ESG values in Asia’s 4th-largest economy