Stock markets in South Korea continued to slide for a fourth consecutive trading day, setting a new low for 2018 yet again, amid persisting downward pressure on markets at home and abroad. Analysts noted the unhindered pace of monetary tightening in the United States, Korea’s sluggish economic growth prospect and an escalating trade war between the US and China bode ill for a momentum for a swift rebound in stock index performance and a turnaround from foreign investor outflow.  The t

Choson Exchange founder Geoffrey See chronicles decade of entrepreneurship training in NK, people’s passion for economic development, business autonomy

The South Korean economy slowed down in the July-September period, central bank data showed Thursday, fueling concerns of an economic downturn.In the three months, Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 0.6 percent on-quarter, the same as the 0.6 percent gain tallied in the second quarter and down from a 1 percent expansion in the first, according to the advance estimate by the Bank of Korea.The central bank lowered the earlier preliminary growth rate for the second quarter from 0.7 percent. From a

Kim Kyung-ho is the Sejong-based business editor of The Korea Herald. He can be reached at khkim@heraldcorp.com -- Ed.Shortly after taking office in May last year, in an initiative that was widely perceived as pro-labor, President Moon Jae-in vowed to turn all temporary jobs in the public sector into permanent positions.He made the pledge surrounded by workers at Incheon International Airport, saying he would “wipe away the tears from the eyes of non-regular employees.”That seemingly

South Korean stocks went further south Wednesday after reaching a yearly low in the previous session as foreigners and individuals dumped large-cap tech and bio shares.The local currency rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 8.52 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 2,097.58. Trading volume was moderate at 373.7 million shares worth 5.89 trillion won ($5.2 billion), with losers overwhelming winners 607 to 242. The local stock market started higher

Govt pledges for 60,000 new jobs, fuel tax cut, but fails to come up with detailed deregulation plans for industries

Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday the company will make a donation of $100,000 for the restoration of damages in Indonesia, which suffered enormously from a heavy earthquake that occurred in the area of Sulawesi Island and the resultant tsunami.The donation will be delivered to Indonesia via the Korea Red Cross and will be used for the fastest restoration of damages in the affected region and for support of relief supplies to help damaged residents maintain their existence.“We will

South Korea saw more jobless people seek financial assistance from the state pension fund amid the country's worsening unemployment situation, data showed Wednesday.According to the data from the National Pension Service and submitted to the National Assembly, 312,616 unemployed people applied for the "unemployment credits" in the January-August period, compared with 369,272 for the whole of 2017. South Korea introduced the unemployment credit system in August 2016 to help mitigate fin

Financial authorities plan to cut credit-card processing fees for small merchants by as much as 1 trillion won ($880 million) next year, an industry source said Wednesday. Financial authorities are expected to announce the plan next week after consultations with the ruling Democratic Party, according to the source. Last year, the nation's eight credit card firms reported an income of 11.6 trillion won from commission fees.In July, credit-card processing fees for small merchants with an annu

South Korea's government said Wednesday that it will provide more financial assistance and tax incentives to boost sluggish facility investment, accelerate deregulation, stimulate innovation-led growth and create jobs.The finance ministry said the current slump in the job market and facility investment could further worsen down the road due to the deepening trade war between China and the United States, a slowing down of China's economy and rising oil prices.Also, the rate hikes in the US could

Top 1 percent of South Korean taxpayers earned an average 4.45 billion won ($3.87 million) in investment income in 2016, data showed Wednesday. Their average investment income was 18.3 times bigger than the average income from salaries of top 1 percent earners, according to the data by the National Tax Service. In 2016, top 1 percent earned 243 million won in income from wages, the data showed.Investment income accounted for 34.1 percent of total earnings from top 1 percent earners, followe

Responding to protracted trade tension between the United States and China, South Korea should further diversify its trade channels and seek multilateral ties, the country’s top economic policymaker said Tuesday.“Seeking to actively respond to trade protectionism, (Korea) will take pre-emptive actions to diversify its investment and human interchanges,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon in a meeting of economy-related ministers.He then called for Seo

South Korea will firmly deal with the growing trade protectionism and actively seek to create new overseas markets via free trade pacts, the country's top economic policymaker said Tuesday.South Korea is seeking to join the fledgling Pacific trade pact, dubbed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.The agreement that aims to slash tariffs on goods to stimulate trade include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and Peru as its m

Measures need to be taken quickly to prevent a possible interest rate hike next month from making a deeper dent in the country’s economic growth and employment, economists say.Slowing growth and disappointing job figures led the Bank of Korea last week to decide to freeze its key rate at 1.5 percent for 11 consecutive months despite growing concerns that a rate increase may be overdue.Announcing the rate freeze, the central bank revised down its growth forecast for this year to 2.7 percent

A majority of local companies neglected to provide public information on their corporate management and governance three months into the adoption of a mechanism that enables the national pension operator to use the data in better exercising their voting rights as stakeholders, an analysis indicated Monday. CEO Score, which tracks corporate management, canvassed 159 local firms in which the National Pension Service own a stake of 5 percent or more. The results showed that only 36, or 22.6 percent