Tokyo’s export curbs to negatively impact global economy due to correlated trade structure

Seoul’s exports slip amid global price changes, US-China trade war

The Bank of Korea is likely to experience further delays in the reconstruction of its headquarters as a disputed builder asserted its rights as the successful bidder, challenging the procurement office’s plan to carry out a re-tendering process.The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday granted a provisional injunction filed by Kyeryong Construction Industrial, demanding that the Public Procurement Service halt its re-tendering process for the reconstruction of the BOK’s annex, BOK

Kakao Bank, one of the first internet-only banks launched in South Korea nearly 2 years ago, said Friday that its customer count surpassed 10 million the previous day. Launched in July, 2017, the online bank owned by Kakao Corp. has been outperforming its industry rival K-Bank in terms of popularity and users. Kakao and K-Bank are the nation’s only internet banks at the moment, with financial authorities currently mulling the approval of the nation’s third and fourth candidates. 

The South Korean economy is increasingly facing uncertainties stemming from the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China amid weak business spending, the finance ministry said Friday."Despite the gradual improvement in domestic consumption, the country's exports and investment continued to remain dull," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report. The report, called the "Green Book," is based on the latest economic ind

South Korea decided Friday to raise the minimum wage for next year by 2.9 percent, the slowest growth in a decade, as it took into account an economic slowdown and sluggish job growth.The Minimum Wage Commission, involving labor and business representatives and experts, set the minimum wage at 8,590 won ($7.32) per hour for next year, compared with 8,350 won for this year.The growth rate sharply slowed from a 10.9 percent rise for 2019 and is the slowest gain since the minimum wage for 2010 rose

South Korea's exports fell 2.6 percent in the first 10 days of July mainly due to decreased shipments of semiconductors, one of the country's key items, customs data showed Thursday.The country's exports stood at $13.6 billion in the July 1-10 period, compared with $13.9 billion in the same period last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.  By product, exports of semiconductors and petroleum products fell 25 percent and 3 percent, respectively.Meanwhile, outbound shipments of passen

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Wednesday the government will seek parliamentary approval for more than 120 billion won (US$101 million) in extra budgetary funds to cope with the impact of Japan's recent restrictions on exports of high-tech materials."The government plans to politely request at least 120 billion won from the National Assembly for an early implementation (of the necessary measures)," the prime minister said in a parliamentary interpellation session. "I hope the opp

Global rating agency Standard & Poor's has sharply slashed its growth forecast for South Korea's economy this year to 2 percent due to rising uncertainty about the global trade outlook and weaker consumption.The latest estimate represented a sharp downward revision from its previous forecast of 2.4 percent in April.S&P said high inventories, particularly in the electronics sector, and rising uncertainty about the global trade outlook will continue to weigh down production and private inv

Country adds 281,000 jobs on-year, but also faces record-high jobless population

Shares of Lotte Group subsidiaries continued to stagger Wednesday following anti-Japanese sentiments due to trade restrictions on exports of key raw materials to local tech conglomerates. The retail giant with its owner family’s roots in Japan is in hot water due to its association with popular Japanese brands including Uniqlo and Asahi.Shares of Lotte Corp., holding company of Lotte Group, closed nearly 1.5 percent lower from the previous session at 40,400 won ($34.19). Lotte Shopping, wh

Caught in the crossfire of the China-US trade war, export-reliant South Korea saw a steep decline in overseas shipments, and a consequent decline in the wealth among the members of the rich-list, Forbes said Wednesday.A total of 37 list members saw their net worth take a hit in the volatile economic environment. The combined net worth of Korea’s 50 richest declined 17 percent to $110 billion from $132 billion a year ago, the magazine said citing the latest Forbes Rich List.With the slump i

South Korea's jobless rate rose to 4 percent in June from a year earlier, and job additions again exceeded the 200,000 mark, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate increased 0.3 percentage point on-year.The jobless rate marked the highest level for any June since 1999, when the corresponding figure stood at 6.7 percent.The number of employed people reached 27.4 million in June, a rise of 281,000 from the same month in 2018, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The

Representatives of labor and management are escalating a feud over whether to increase the nation's legal minimum wage next year ahead of their final negotiations at the Minimum Wage Commission.The 27-member Minimum Wage Commission, a trilateral panel composed of nine representatives each from labor, management and the general public, was to begin its final round of negotiations at the Sejong Government Complex in Sejong on Tuesday before setting the hourly minimum wage for 2020 on Thursday. But

South Korean stocks suffered extended losses Tuesday, likely the result of Japan’s decision to place export restrictions on key semiconductor materials along with the growing possibility that the US Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged this month. The benchmark Kospi closed 0.59 percent lower from the previous trading at 2,052.03, despite opening higher. It fell more than 2 percent Monday, the worst decline in two months, amid a strong mood of lowered anticipation of an aggr