Korea's top economic policymaker on Wednesday asked companies to do more to create jobs and boost investment in the latest appeal to the business community to combat the chronic unemployment of young people."I hope that SK and other companies will pay more attention to investment and hiring," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told reporters ahead of his meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at the SK headquarters in central Seoul.The minister also said job creation for young people

SEJONG -- South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly in February due to a rise in employment in the construction and public service sectors, but the number of newly added jobs fell to the lowest level in eight years, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent last month, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.From a month earlier, it remained unchanged.The number of employed people reached 26.08 million i

Amid a global economic recovery boosted by extended investment and trade, South Korea is expected to maintain its 3 percent growth momentum throughout year 2018 and 2019, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.In its interim economic outlook report issued Tuesday, the organization forecast global economic growth for this year at 3.9 percent, up from its previous suggestion of 3.7 percent. The figure for next year was also increased from 3.6 percent to 3.9 percent.

The Korea Post designated Monday 15 post offices in areas with a high number of foreign residents, offering overseas money transfer options via MoneyGram.Officials of the national postal service have announced that so far Seoul’s Itaewon Post Office, Uijeongbu Post Office in Gyeonggi Province and 13 other places will operate as “special MoneyGram post offices” to meet the high demand of money transfers in those specific areas. MoneyGram lets customers send money for cash pick-u

Shin Chang-jae, chief executive officer and chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, received over 34 billion won ($32 million) in stock dividend last year, ranking first among top officials of the insurance industry. The life insurer decided to allocate 5,000 won per common stock for the fiscal year 2017 and to pay 102.5 billion won in total dividends, up 25.6 billion won or 33.3 percent from the previous year, officials said Tuesday.Shin, who is also the insurer’s largest shareholder with 6.9 m

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday launched a special investigation into misconduct at Hana Financial Group and its subsidiary KEB Hana Bank in hiring entry-level employees.The move came a day after the watchdog’s former governor, Choe Heung-sik, offered to resign amid growing allegations that he was involved in the scandal during his stint at the banking group in 2013. A 15-day special in-house counsel team headed by FSS Deputy Gov. Choi Seong-il was launched Tuesday to loo

President Moon Jae-in urged the government Tuesday to quickly come up with measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as people and businesses in Gunsan, the region hit by the planned shutdown of the GM Korea plant there."Recently, our economy has been showing continued signs of improvement in indicators regarding exports, industrial output, investment and consumption, but the conditions actually felt by SMEs and small business people are still very difficult," the pr

Sales of wine rose sharply during the first two months of 2018 from a year earlier with the product becoming the best-selling alcoholic beverage in Korea's largest hypermarket chain, industry data showed Tuesday.Wine sales jumped 16.5 percent on-year during the January-February period this year, pushing up the share of wine to 24.3 percent of the total liquor sales at Emart Mall, figures provided by the company showed. The market share of wine was 18.2 percent last year.Industry watchers said th

Korea needs to move faster to join a Pacific trade deal signed by Japan and 10 other regional nations last week without the presence of the US, experts here say.Seoul officials have withdrawn their attention from the Japan-led process of reviving the Trans-Pacific Partnership since President Donald Trump pulled the US out of it to pursue his “America First” agenda shortly after taking office early last year. An interministerial task force formed to consider Korea’s entry to the

South Korea’s top policymakers are taking all efforts this week to lift the US President Donald Trump administration’s incoming tariff on steel imports, which is slated to take effect on March 23 and consequently deliver a heavy blow to local steelmakers and the nation’s export-reliant economy.Also, in relation to the increasing level of trade protectionism and tariff retaliation around the globe, they have gestured at soon joining a comprehensive free trade partnership in the

The chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, Choe Heung-sik tendered his resignation Monday, amid allegations of him arranging recruitment favors during his stint at Hana Financial Group, according to the FSS.The news came hours after a decision by the FSS to launch a probe into a scandal involving hiring at Hana Financial Group. Gov. Choe, who took office in September 2017, had served as Hana Financial Group chief executive from 2012 to 2014. While denying involvement in any wrongdoing,

South Korea will decide whether to join the fledgling Pacific trade pact within the first half of the year after looking into its impact on the national economy and consulting with member states, Seoul's chief economic policymaker said Monday.A year after US President Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11 remaining member states last week signed a revamped deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), in Chile.The agreement that a

In the wake of signs of US-North Korea and inter-Korean thaws, spearheading the latest rally of South Korean markets were stocks that previously had business ties with North Korea effectively severed. These firms, locally dubbed “inter-Korean business cooperation-themed stocks,” had either operated production facilities at Kaesong industrial park, been involved in joint efforts to build cultural parks at Mount Kumkang in the North or the Korean Demilitarized Zone, or been seen as lik

Korean steel stocks ended lower last week after the United States decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel products, as growing downside exerted pressure on steelmakers, analysts said Sunday.On Friday, the country's leading steelmaker, POSCO, fell 3.63 percent to end at 345,000 won ($322), with Hyundai Steel Co. was down 2.48 percent at 51,100 won and Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. backtracked 1.94 percent at 10,100 won. They all underperformed the broader Kospi, which rose 1.08 percent.

The number of employees at local shipbuilders plunged 22.1 percent in February from a year earlier due to an industry-wide crisis, data showed Sunday.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in February the number of employees at local shipbuilders was 37,800 lower than the same month a year earlier, marking the 11th consecutive month with a drop of 20 percent or more.The number of employees in the sector fell by 24.5 percent in Gyeongsang Province, the hub of the nati