The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes detected here last year reached a 20-year low, the central bank said Wednesday.The Bank of Korea said a total of 605 fake bills were found in 2018, down a sharp 63.5 percent from 1,657 a year earlier. It was the lowest figure since 1998, when 365 forged notes were discovered.The BOK said the decrease was driven by the arrest of two big-time counterfeiters in the country. As a result, the number of counterfeit 10,000-won bills (worth around $8.95 e

President Moon Jae-in was set to hold a meeting with his top economic advisers Wednesday as his government is apparently struggling to keep the local economy from slowing down.The meeting will be held over lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, attended by Moon's new special adviser for science and economy Lee Jeong-dong and the new vice chair of the National Economic Advisory Council, Lee Jay-min. The luncheon comes one week after the president appointed the two, but it marks a very ra

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it has won approval from its Australian counterpart to ship Korean Kyoho grapes there starting this year.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has paved the way for South Korean farms to ship Kyoho grapes, which are normally larger than typical breeds, to Australia under a simple procedure. The ministry has been requesting Australia ease regulations in terms of quarantines since 2017.Starting this year, the grapes can be sh

The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency has decided to withdraw from Venezuela amid the escalating political turmoil, sources said Wednesday.According to official insiders, KOTRA plans to shut down its Caracas-based office March 1. Its business center located in Panama will continue to oversee Venezuela-related affairs. Officials from KOTRA said the move came as the South American country has been facing political instability, threatening the safety of the staff."KOTRA maintai

Cabinet waives feasibility test for nonmetropolitan SOC projects, citing balanced regional growth

SEJONG -- The government and the business sector are closely watching indexes related to exports amid signs that the nation’s export volume is going downhill.Though yearly exports hit a record of more than $600 billion in 2018, monthly export growth on-year suffered a slowdown in November (4.5 percent) and posted negative in December (minus 1.2 percent) after achieving a 22.7 percent increase in October, according to the Korea Customs Service.The decline has continued at the begi

South Korea’s Meritz Securities said Tuesday that its annual net profit surged 22.1 percent to a record high last year, amid local securities firms’ continuing struggle to survive competition with giant investment banks. The firm said its 2018 net income amounted to 433.8 billion won ($388.4 million) compared with 355.2 billion won a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 20 percent to 532.3 billion won, while net operating income rose 21.9 percent to 1.3 trillion won.  &ldqu

Refinitiv, a financial data company co-owned by Blackstone Group and Thomson Reuters, said it is introducing its risk-management business to South Korea this year for financial risk control and crime prevention.The firm was formerly the financial and risk business division of Thomson Reuters. It became independent under a new name, Refinitiv, when private equity group Blackstone purchased a 55 percent stake in the business from Thomson Reuters in October 2018.The company highlighted it

The South Korean central bank said Tuesday that it has no plans to issue authorized digital currency in the near future despite heated debate over virtual money across the world.The Bank of Korea has completed a study on the prospects for the introduction of a central bank digital currency, referring to a form of fiat money that is issued by central banks and governments. Its final report said there is no urgent need for the BOK to introduce CBDC in the close future, while other leading central

BET coin is BitParadise’s own version of bitcoin, which the company says can be used in lieu of currency on the new cryptocurrency exchange that encompasses the traits of trade mining and gaming. BET coins can also be viewed as points that can be earned though depositing bitcoins in the exchange. It is programmed to be used like complimentary items or services at offline casinos. The firm specifically compared the system to the comp system adopted by Kangwon Land, a state-owned casino in G

Despite new direction, Korea remains a pivotal market for SoftBank’s venture capital unit dedicated to funding early-stage tech startups, says CEO

South Korea's four major cryptocurrency exchanges have joined forces to tackle money laundering via the digital currency market, sources here said Monday.The four entities -- Bithumb, Upbit, Corbit and Coinone -- recently established a hotline to share information on a real-time basis on any unusual trading or transactions that are suspected to involve criminal acts, such as voice phishing and pyramid schemes.  "They are now able to instantly check any wrongful transactions made at oth

SEJONG -- South Korea began to seek free trade deals in 1999, when it started negotiations with Chile, its first partner for a free trade agreement that took effect in April 2004.Over the past 20 years, 15 FTAs between Korea and its counterparts have taken effect, with 52 partner countries in total. The 15 FTAs include those with three continental economic blocs: the European Free Trade Association (four countries), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (10) and the European Union (28).Kore

Sales of cigarettes in South Korea fell 1.5 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance showed.A total of 3.47 billion packs were purchased last year, down slightly from 3.52 billion packs. One pack contains 20 cigarettes.Sales in 2018 also saw a 20.4 percent decline from 2014, the year before the government raised the prices of cigarettes 80 percent from 2,500 won ($2) per pack to 4,500 won. In December 2016, the government started requiring tobacco compan

Foreign investors have net purchased nearly 3 trillion won ($2.66 billion) worth of South Korean stocks on the main bourse this month so far, data showed Sunday, adding fuel to a bear market rally. The foreign net purchase volume on the Kospi through Jan. 25 amounted to 2.9 trillion won, climbing to a 15-month high.  The recent buying spree helped lift the Kospi, which closed at 2,177.73 Friday, rising 136.69 points or 6.7 percent overall since the beginning of the year. It was the highest