South Korea's job growth has remained anemic in recent months despite the national economy showing signs of a recovery with robust exports, according to data on Sunday.The South Korean economy added about 112,000 new jobs in March and 104,000 new jobs in February, the data by Statistics Korea showed.It is the first time in almost two years that the number of new jobs remained at the 100,000-mark for two consecutive months.South Korea's exports rose 6.1 percent in March from a year earlier, thank

Economic chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed to strengthen their policy coordination at a time when inter-Korean relations are facing a dramatic turn, Seoul's finance ministry said Sunday.South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon held a meeting with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin in Washington on Saturday on the sidelines of the G-20 finance ministers and central governors meeting.They shared the view that it is a critical time for the two countries to engage in close policy

Small and medium enterprises should take center stage in fueling future growth in the two Koreas once cross-border tensions recede, a local think tank said Sunday.According to a report by the Korea Small Business Institute, the Moon Jae-in administration needs to give priority to SMEs in its new economic roadmap for the Korean Peninsula.It added that Seoul should get ready to restart bilateral economic cooperation, which has been halted in the face of North Korea's nuclear ambitions."This i

South Korea's chief economic policymaker warned Friday that rising trade protectionism by major countries poses risks to global economic growth, calling for concerted efforts to promote free trade.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon made the remarks during a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from Group of 20 advanced economies in Washington. They gathered for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank."Protectionism will worsen the existing trade disputes

BEIJING -- South Korea and China on Friday held their first high-level economic cooperation meeting in two years following an improvement of bilateral ties damaged by a diplomatic feud over a US missile defense system deployed in the South.The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to closer economic and trade cooperation at the 22nd joint South Korea-China economic committee meeting in Beijing."I have high hopes for this meeting, since it is being held at this critical time for the two coun

South Korea will take proactive measures to boost exports to maintain growth momentum despite rising protectionist policies by major trading partners and uncertainties in the global financial market, the government said Friday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expected export growth to slow this month due to sluggish demand for ships, vehicle and auto parts. "The export outlook is not favorable for April due to protectionist measures in major trading partners, the strengthening loc

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday on foreign selling, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index  shed 9.5 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,476.6 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The decline followed overnight losses in the US market due to concerns over faster inflation growth and losses in tech shares.The Dow Jones industrial average retreated 0.34 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite index skidded 0.78 percent. Big-cap shar

South Korea's chief economic policymaker discussed currency market-related issues, such as how to reveal records of its market interventions, with the International Monetary Fund, the finance ministry here said Friday.Seoul said earlier that the country is considering the detailed disclosure of its interventions in the foreign exchange market as part of a broader move to boost transparency and clear itself of suspicion of exercising undue influence on exchange rates.South Korea's financial autho

Bank loans for rent payments in March increased 40 percent from the same period a year ago, data showed Friday, likely a side effect from the tightening of mortgages.Rent loans by the country's five leading commercial banks measured 50.77 trillion won ($47.8 billion) at end-March, up 3.61 percent from the previous month. The total is a jump of 40.99 percent from the same month last year. Comparatively, loans for rent came to 25.66 trillion won in March 2016 and rose to 30 trillion won in August

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon urged opposition parties Thursday to normalize the National Assembly and approve a supplementary budget the government proposed earlier this month in an effort to create more jobs for young people.The National Assembly has been idling despite the opening of an extraordinary session on April 2 as opposition parties have boycotted the session, demanding the ruling Democratic Party agree to pass a Broadcasting Act revision aimed at increasing opposition oversight of publi

A peace treaty that would finally end the 1950-53 Korean War, one of the growing prospects for the upcoming cross-border summit next week, may also end the chronic "Korea discount" in the stock market, analysts said Thursday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un on the southern side of the truce village Panmunjom on April 27. It will be the third such inter-Korean summit, and Seoul and Washington have indicated that a peace treaty could be an

This year’s sharp increase in the minimum wage applied to all workplaces around the country is pushing many small companies to cut their payrolls to cope with labor costs.The number of people receiving unemployment benefits reached a record high of 628,433 in the first quarter of the year, according to recent data from the state-run Korea Employment Information Service.The figure marks a 6.9 percent rise from a year earlier. Government officials claim the increasing number of unemployment

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister will attend the upcoming Group of 20 meeting later this week to discuss current global financial and economic issues, the finance ministry said Wednesday.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon will head to Washington, DC on Thursday for the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting that runs from Thursday to Friday (local time), according to the ministry.He will also participate in the International Monetary and Financial Committee conference to e

SEJONG -- The number of long-term unemployed jobseekers, those unable to find work for over six months, exceeded 150,000 in the first quarter of this year, the highest tallied in 18 years, Statistics Korea said Wednesday.The latest data showed a total of 1.181 million people did not have a job in the three month period.The latest figure for people out of work for more than half a year represents an 18.8 percent increase from the same quarter of 2017. The jobless number is the highest since 159,0

The South Korean commerce minister on Wednesday embarked on a weeklong trip to the United States to meet American policymakers and business leaders as part of efforts to expand economic ties between the two nations, his office said.Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, made his first trip to the US since taking office last year after the two nations agreed in principle on key issues to fix their six-year-old trade deal. The agreement came against the backdrop of negotiations to ge