A leading index that gauges the direction of South Korea's economy fell below the break-even 100 mark in the first two months of this year, which could bode ill for Asia's fourth-largest economy going forward, official data showed Sunday.According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's composite leading indicator, Seoul's reading stood at 99.8 in both January and February.The last time South Korea's CLI had dipped below 100 was in September 2014, when it stood at 99.8. Th

Foreigners turned net sellers of South Korean stocks in April from a month earlier, with their stock holdings on the local exchanges reaching 32 percent of all listed shares, the financial regulator said Saturday. Last month, foreign investors sold a net 2.204 trillion won ($2.1 billion) worth of local stocks, a reversal from net purchases of 123 billion won worth of stocks a month earlier, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed. By country, British investors sold the most, at a net

“Have you eaten rice?”It’s one of the most frequently used greetings in Korea, where the staple has long been considered a synonym for a meal. Even amid the rise of western food and snacks, rice continued to be appreciated as the prime source of sustenance and a symbol of the country’s traditional food legacy.But recent health trends increasingly consider rice -- and carbohydrates in general -- to be the main culprit of obesity and all sorts of other modern lifestyle dise

South Korea‘s economy is on a recovery path, although industrial output and investment are facing adjustments, a government report said Friday.A weaker job market and rate hikes in the United States pose downside risks to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the finance ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report.“The overall recovery pace is being maintained,” the ministry said. “Industrial output and investment faced correction in the first two months of the

Guaranteeing a living wage for everyone is important, and Hyun Sang-won (an alias), the owner of a convenience store in downtown Seoul, agrees in principle that people deserve fair pay for work rendered.But the harsh reality facing the 50-something retiree is that he is currently tinkering with the possibility of reducing part-time workers at his store amid a saturated market and increased costs, which he says partly stems from the recent hike in the country's legal minimum wage. Preaching an in

A war of words between the nation’s financial watchdog and Samsung BioLogics intensified Thursday over the legitimacy of authorities disclosing the biotech company’s alleged accounting fraud, further raising already heightened market fears.The Financial Supervisory Service found itself cornered, with officials at the upper echelon turning a cold shoulder, saying that its decision to reveal the content of a preliminary notice sent to Samsung has caused “market chaos.”On Ma

More than half of all salaries in 170 major South Korean companies are based on employee seniority, a new poll showed Thursday.The poll released by the Korea Economic Research Institute found that 51.2 percent of employees receive seniority-based salaries while 36.2 percent receive their salaries based on performance.Under the decades-old seniority-based wage system, employee pay rises every year regardless of productivity. This kind of hierarchical pay system has been cited for placing a financ

Recent economic data have pointed to the weakening vitality of the Korean economy, raising questions about the possibility it will grow more than 3 percent this year as predicted by policymakers.The country saw all economic indicators except for retail sales take a negative turn in March, the latest month for which official data are available.Economists here caution that the supply side of the Korean economy is falling apart as its key traditional manufacturing industries are losing competitiven

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 14th installment. - Ed.The advent of financial technology has minimized a South Korean smartphone user’s effort to manually collect personal information registered across the Web when submitting filings needed to buy a financial product online.Upon agreement by a user who logged on to a financial company‘s website, his or her set of private information from pu

Critics say measures a step-up but fail to address fundamental issue

It takes an average of 6.8 years of savings to own one’s first home in South Korea, as of last year, slightly longer than 6.7 years tallied in 2016, according to analyses on housing in the country conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The average number of years residing in one place came to eight years, also up from 7.7 years in 2016. While homeowners lived in their homes for an average of 11.1 years, those renting the place stayed for an average of 3.4 years.The

SEJONG -- The South Korean economy is on a firm growth trajectory under the Moon Jae-in government, but a dire job market situation, coupled with controversy over the effects of a raft of new economic policies, is posing daunting challenges for the liberal government that took office a year ago.South Korea's economic growth accelerated last year on the back of robust exports amid a global economic recovery. The nation's economy expanded 3.1 percent in 2017 from a year ago, when it grew 2.8 perce

Reformist scholar hints at FSS’ independence from top regulator FSC

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday it will take legal actions against Samsung Securities for failing to operate with due internal standards for safe electronic financial transactions, which had resulted in a dividend fiasco last month involving the trade of unauthorized shares worth tens of billions of won. Such flaws are respectively violations of the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, according to the Financial Sup

South Korea’s financial regulator is likely to decide the fate of Samsung BioLogics on May 23 at the earliest over allegations that the company had doctored its accounting books. The nation’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, said it would review the case by holding an in-house oversight panel next Thursday. If a breach of accounting regulations is found, the Securities and Futures Commission, a legal entity within the FSC, will decide the level of penalty i