Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the government will provide more support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their exports this year. Hong made the remarks as he visited a ventilator maker in the city of Hwaseong, south of Seoul, earlier in the day.South Korea's exports have dropped for 13 consecutive months since December 2018. Hong said the government expanded its contract-based loan guarantees for SMEs to 200 billion won (US$172 million) this year, compa

Samsung Electronics shares hit a record high Thursday on expectations of a faster-than-expected recovery in global chip demand and prices. The world's largest chipmaker closed at 58,600 won ($50.53), up 3.17 percent from the previous session's close.The adjusted stock price is the tech giant's highest since it was listed on the Seoul bourse in 1975. The previous record was 57,220 won on Nov. 1, 2017.  Samsung Electronics' preferred stocks jumped 3.64 percent to a yearly high of 48,400 won.

The state-run Korea Minting and Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. added 69 new intellectual property assets in 2019, bringing its total to 830, officials said Thursday. The affiliated technology research institute applied for 77 IP registrations, including 32 patents, 17 design rights, 16 computer programs, and nine trademarks in 2019. Of them, 69 were approved by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.The accumulated IP assets of KOMSCO as of end-December were up 9.1 percent from

Banking group continues efforts to expand alternative investment capacity

SEJONG -- Government officials actively publicized that the number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 29 and the corresponding unemployment rate had dropped during the Moon Jae-in administration.They used a variety of figures held by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in their online policy briefing in December 2019, dismissing arguments in the market that the youth jobless rate has become severe.A government official cited the figure that the number of jobless Koreans aged 15-29 was abo

South Korea‘s state-owned lender Korea Development Bank and state-led fund-of-funds management company Korea Growth Investment (K-Growth) are looking for partners to earmark a combined 400 billion won ($344.9 million) to support materials and components sectors here and ensure national self-sufficiency in manufacturing supply chains.With the state backing 220 billion won, the funds are intended to foster the growth of Korean firms dedicated to materials components and equipment and ultimat

Reflecting the slower-than-expected recovery of trade, the World Bank has lowered its forecast for this year’s global economic growth pace by 0.2 percentage point, South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.In its biannual Global Economic Prospects report issued in Washington, the World Bank predicted that the world economy will expand 2.5 percent in 2020, down from its earlier outlook in June 2019.This annual growth rate is anticipated to rise gradually to 2.6 perce

South Korea's economy remained sluggish in November due to a slump in manufacturing and investment, but the slump showed signs easing as business confidence improved, a state-run think tank said Thursday. "The Korean economy is still exhibiting slow growth although some indicators imply that the slowdown is easing," the Korea Development Institute said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication."The growth in retail sales and services production ticked up and lead

The head of South Korea's central bank will head to Switzerland this week to attend a Bank for International Settlement meeting, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will head to Basel on Friday for the meeting of governors from 60 BIS member central banks. The bimonthly meeting will be held Sunday and Monday."During the meeting, Gov. Lee will discuss current conditions facing the global economy and financial market," the bank said."Also as a member of the BIS Boar

Shares of Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest messaging app, Kakao Talk, climbed to a yearly high on the Seoul bourse Thursday, helped by a rosy quarterly earnings outlook. Kakao stocks closed at 164,000 won ($141.56), up 2.82 percent from the previous session's close.The tech firm's stock rally came amid high hopes for the firm's earnings last year. NH Investment & Securities estimated Kakao's quarterly sales to grow 26.4 percent to 85.1 billion won in the October-December pe

South Korea faced more trade barriers last year amid growing protectionism around the globe spearheaded by the US-China trade war, with steel and chemical industries being primary victims, data showed Thursday.The number of newly added import regulations targeting South Korean goods reached 41 cases in 2019, doubling from just 20 cases a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association.The trade barrier includes anti-dumping tariff, countervailing duty an

Antitrust agency’s review of $4b deal likely to redefine boundary of fast-evolving industry

Korea’s financial authorites bolster monitoring amid Iran’s retaliation

Without new listing firms, number of big caps fell

But government reduces amount of budget to be spent in first half, citing time constraints