The government said Tuesday that it will inspect railroads, airports and other infrastructure to strengthen safety and preempt any possible accidents.The government said it could mobilize about 100 safety personnel for safety checks of infrastructure, including power plants, the power grid, storage facilities for chemicals and oil, and hospitals. "We must cut off the vicious cycle of recurrent accidents," Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, said in a Cabinet meeting in Se

South Korea’s short-term sovereign bond yield has hovered just above the base rate, due to lingering market impact from the government’s plan to repurchase bonds before maturity and market uncertainties at home and abroad.The three-year sovereign bond yield came to 1.795 percent at the Monday session’s close, showed data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. On Friday, the bond yield recorded its lowest figure since September 2017 at 1.781 percent.The bond yield move

The Gangwon provincial government’s Legoland project is finally back on track after a seven-year delay. The provincial legislature approved a plan on Dec. 14 to build Chuncheon Legoland by 2021. The new park will occupy 1.06 million square meters on Hajung Island in Chuncheon. It will be equipped with a theme park, resort and shopping facilities. The construction costs have been estimated at 300 billion won ($265 million). The prolonged delay stemmed from the discovery of cultural heritage

S. Korea’s growth rate set at 2.6-2.7% for 2018, 2019　

Lotte Group is poised to sell its financing unit Lotte Capital and discuss the matter in the respective board of directors meetings of its shareholding Lotte subsidiaries this week, according to a news report Monday. Lotte Capital is a privately held finance service provider dedicated to installment financing and facility leasing. Nearly 90 percent of shares are owned by Lotte subsidiaries and affiliates. Hotel Lotte owns 39.37 percent of stocks, Lotte Corporation has 25.64 percent, Lotte Engine

The financial watchdog said Monday it has strengthened guidelines on sales of equity-tied securities to better protect investors. Equity-linked securities, which are hybrid debt securities whose returns are determined by the performance of underlying equities, have become one of best-selling alternative investment products in South Korea amid record-low interest rates. The products are structured to track the performance of underlying assets and not guarantee the principle, as investors pre

A change in US monetary policy has relatively little impact on commodity-importing countries, like South Korea, a report said Monday.According to the report published by the Bank of Korea, when the US Federal Reserve raises its policy rate, the world's largest economy witnesses a contraction in demand for crude oil and other raw materials. The decreased US demand pushes down international commodity prices, which consequently leads to a decline in exports by resource-rich countries.At the same ti

South Korea's consumer prices have been on the rise in recent months, which has weighed down domestic consumption, government agencies said Monday.The development has been cited one of the causes holding back growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. Among others, the prices of rice, the staple food in South Korea, and fried chicken, one of the most popular delivery foods, have jumped to record levels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Rice prices soared 28 percent

The South Korean economy has one of the highest portions of individuals running their own stores and shops, and they are getting pushed to the brink by a slumping economy and policy missteps, market watchers said Monday.Data from Statistics Korea put the number of self-employed people at some 5.63 million as of November this year, a number equal to 20.7 percent of all job holders. The figure is about double the 10 percent average in advanced nations.According to a 2017 report from the Organizati

The government plans to offer loans to people with the lowest credit ratings as a way to save them having to borrow from loan sharks, officials said Monday.Financial authorities operate a number of loan programs for people with bad credit scores, lending them money at a maximum 10.5 percent annual interest rate. Because the rate is fixed, however, those with the worst credit ratings at the bottom and who needed to be charged higher interest, were left out of the programs.Financial regulators and

President Moon Jae-in on Monday indicated that his government may slow down the pace of legal minimum wage hikes given the strong backlash from businesses amid a sluggish economy."It is important that new economic policies such as the minimum wage hike and workweek cut are pursued under a general consensus based on the tolerance and harmony of interested parties," Moon said during an extended meeting of economy-related ministers. "If necessary, we need to devise ways to make adjus

The South Korean market operator’s decision to delist a local pharmaceuticals company is raising questions about the fairness in authorities’ action against firms accused of accounting errors, with investors comparing the case to that of Samsung BioLogics. A panel led by the Korea Exchange, the nation’s sole market operator, suggested Friday the removal of Kyung Nam Pharm, a Seoul-headquartered pharmaceutical company, from the second-tier Kosdaq market, putting the fate of the

South Korea, China, Japan and their partners in Southeast Asia amended a regional financial safety net on Friday in the latest move to better cope with possible financial crises.The agreement was reached in a meeting of finance and central bank deputies of South Korea, China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,

South Korea's government aims to create 55,000 new jobs in the healthcare services sector by 2022 and the plan includes the hiring of 9,300 nurses to help upgrade quality of medical services, officials said Friday.The Presidential Committee on Job Creation finalized the new policy goal, saying demand for healthcare workers will steadily rise due to population aging and greater public attention to health. The committee said the healthcare industry has a great deal of job creation potential, as it

Foreign currency deposits at South Korean banks rose at the fastest pace in 12 months in November as people increased holdings of the weakening US dollar, central bank data showed Friday.The balance of foreign currency deposits held by local lenders reached $75.05 billion at the end of last month, up $6.94 billion from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. The on-month gain marked the largest since November last year, when foreign savings rose $7.13 billion from the previo