South Korea's current account extended its black figure performance to 80 straight months in October thanks to solid exports, central bank data showed Thursday.The country's current account surplus came to US$9.19 billion in October, up sharply from $5.72 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The number, however, decreased from September when it stood at a 12-month high of $10.83 billion. Also, Asia's fourth-largest economy has maintained a current acc

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday failed to adopt a report on the finance minister nominee, a move that could cast a pall over the nomination process.The main opposition Liberal Korea Party boycotted the parliamentary finance committee as the rival parties were at odds over how to handle next year's budget.The opposition party questioned whether Hong Nam-ki is a right person to tide over South Korea's grave economic situation, though it stopped short of opposing the adoption of a committee

Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan is among thousands of people who failed to pay more than 200 million won ($179,000) in dues, tax authorities said Wednesday.The National Tax Service made public the names of 5,021 people and 2,136 companies, and the amount of money they have not paid, on its website in an attempt to pressure them into paying their dues. The agency said those on the list owed the government a combined 5.24 trillion won in taxes.Among them, 4,300 people -- or 60.1 percen

The consumer price index in November reached 104.73, up 2.0 percent from a year ago, according to data released by Statistics Korea.Prices of agricultural goods rose 14.4 percent on-year, while livestock product prices dropped 1.5 percent. Due to reduced fuel surcharges, prices of industrial goods dropped. But as the impact from last year’s cut in gas prices diminished, overall consumer prices continued to increase within the 2 percent range in November for the second consecutive month, th

GWANGJU -- The Gwangju job project, intended to create thousands of new low-paying jobs to help fight unemployment in provincial areas, appears to have hit a snag in the face of resistance from laborers, officials said Wednesday.The project calls for Hyundai Motor to build a new assembly plant in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, and hire up to 12,000 employees at half the wages the automaker's workers currently receive at its main plant in Ulsan, with the Gwangju government offering

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s largest institutional investor, saw the total value of its stock holdings drop drastically this year despite a slight increase in the number of investment targets, data showed Wednesday.The overall downturn was attributable to the stock market trend which has recently been reeling under uncertainties such as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, as well as the prolonged slow growth of the domestic economy. According to local corpora

The total value of online shopping in South Korea reached a record high in October, a government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of South Koreans are using computers or mobile devices to buy things ranging from clothes to electronic goods.Total online transactions reached 10.04 trillion won ($9.03 billion) in October, up 36 percent, or 2.65 trillion won, from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The reading marked the highest amount

Escalating trade tensions between the United States and China are the biggest risk that South Korea's financial system is now facing, a central bank survey showed Wednesday.According to the poll of 86 market watchers, financial officials, researchers and investors conducted by the Bank of Korea, 81 percent said intensifying trade disputes are the biggest problem that could harm stability in the financial system.  South Korea is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, as it depend

An economic slowdown and a rapidly aging population have resulted in more South Korean youths being jobless in recent years, a report said Wednesday.South Korea's unemployment rate of those in their late 20s was 9.5 percent as of 2017, up sharply from 6.9 percent in 2010, according to the report published by the Bank of Korea. The report noted that the steep gain in the youth jobless rate came as South Korea's gross domestic product growth number dropped to below 4 percent after 2011.Its GDP gre

South Korean stocks started lower Wednesday following sharp overnight losses on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slid 23.6 points, or 1.12 percent, to 2,090.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.1 percent overnight, and the Nasdaq composite moved down 3.8 percent.No. 1 tech giant Samsung Electronics plunged 1.19 percent and chipmaker SK hynix slid 1.3 percent. LG Display fell 0.57 percent and LG Electronics lost 1.64 percent.

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves edged up in November on a slight depreciation of the US dollar, the central bank said Wednesday.The total value of its foreign currency holdings came to $402.99 billion as of end-November, up $240 million from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It slightly lagged behind the all-time high of $403 billion tallied in September.Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as Internationa

Overseas spending by South Korean tourists ranks among the top of advanced economies, research data showed Wednesday.Figures provided by the Korea Economic Research Institute, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Industries, put the proportion for South Korea at minus 1.9 percent in 2016, ranking it the fifth highest among 32 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The institute derived the proportion by subtracting overseas expenditures by South Koreans f

South Korean savings banks reported a 3.6 percent rise in their combined net profit for the nine months that ended in September thanks to a modest gain in interest income, data showed Wednesday.The combined net income of the 79 savings banks came to 851.3 billion won ($767.8 million) for the January-September period, compared with a profit of 821.8 billion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Their nine-month interest income rose 13.3 percent on-year to

The unemployment rate among elderly and middle-aged workers between 55 and 64 years old in Korea reached 2.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, up 0.4 percentage points from a year ago. This was higher than the rate of 2.7 percent in the US in the same period, according to data released by Statistics Korea and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.In the third quarter, the rate inched up further to 3 percent, while the US recorded 2.9 percent.Korea’s worsening

Confirmation hearing overshadowed by prolonged brawl over budget bill delay