Korea’s manufacturing industries have been losing their vitality, squeezed between worsening external conditions and domestic policies that are an increasing burden on them.Industrial facilities across the country ran at 71.6 percent of their capacities on average in the second quarter of this year, according to Statistics Korea.The figure is the lowest since the January-March period of 2009 when the Korean economy was struggling to pull out of the aftermath of a global financial crisis.&n

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency is running a job fair for international students from Wednesday to Thursday.Organized by KOTRA, the two-day event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Coex in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. More than 2,500 international students from some 50 countries signed up for the fair. In addition, 129 Korean companies including Cuckoo electronics and Daewoong Pharmaceutical are participating to connect with the job seekers.  Programs at the fair include one-on-on

South Korea’s single-person households saw an income drop for a third consecutive quarter in the second quarter this year, data by Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.The decline was attributed to a decrease in temporary jobs, many of which are taken by the elderly and young people. Elderly retired persons tend to make up a large portion of single-person households, according to the Statistics Korea official. The average monthly income in the second quarter decreased by 2 percent to 1,642,54

The average adjusted monthly wage for workers at South Korea's big businesses far exceeds those of their US and Japanese counterparts, although South Korea's per capita GDP is much lower than the two advanced economies, a report showed Wednesday.The average South Korean employee at companies with more than 500 workers earned $6,048 per month last year when adjusted by the purchasing power parity, according to the report written by the Korea Small Business Institute.The comparable figures were $4

South Korea's trade minister said Wednesday that taking China to the World Trade Organization is one option being considered in response to that country's apparent retaliatory actions against Seoul's decision to deploy a US missile shield.The Beijing government slammed the deployment of the defense system, called THAAD, on South Korean soil, claiming that the system will threaten its national security.It also seemed to have banned Chinese travel agencies from selling group tours to South Korea a

South Korean oil refiners, led by SK Innovation Co., traded higher Wednesday, after some small corrections in the past few days, on hopes that margin spreads on key products still run high and oil prices will remain high, industry sources said.SK Innovation, the No. 1 oil refiner, traded at 195,500 won ($177) on the Seoul bourse as of 1:40 p.m., up 2.09 percent, after touching a record high of 197,500 won at one point. No. 3 player S-Oil Corp. was quoted at 123,000 won, up 0.15 percent."The

Foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $3.25 billion in August due to security jitters and profit-taking, the central bank said Wednesday.Foreign investors sold local stocks and bonds worth $1.33 billion and $1.91 billion, respectively, the Bank of Korea said.It marked the first sell-off by foreign investors since November 2016, when foreign investors offloaded South Korean stocks and bonds worth $490 million.Tensions spiked on the Korean Peninsula in August as North Kor

South Korean shares traded slightly higher late Wednesday morning as institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks amid a massive selling spree by foreigners.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.73 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,367.2 as of 11:20 a.m.The index initially opened lower on losses in market heavyweights despite overnight Wall Street gains. However, the local index pared earlier losses as most market heavyweights turned higher. Top cap Samsung Electronics a

South Korea's semiconductor exports are expected to exceed $90 billion this year due to increased overseas chip demand and higher prices, an international traders organization said Wednesday.In the January-August period, outbound shipments of computer chips surged 52 percent on-year to $59.5 billion, the Korea International Trade Association said in a statement. "If the country reports an average of $8 billion a month in semiconductor exports for the rest of the year, the overall value (of

South Korean exports of information and communication technology products increased for the seventh month to hit an all-time high in August on brisk overseas sales of semiconductors and displays, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $17.4 billion worth of ICT products were shipped overseas, up 23.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.The monthly overseas shipments of ICT products is a new high surpassing the previous $16.53 billio

South Korea's single household income fell for the third consecutive quarter in the April-June period this year due to a drop in temporary jobs for the elderly and young people amid a sluggish pace of economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The average monthly income of a single household shrank 2 percent to 1,642,540 won ($1,455) in the second quarter from 1,676,003 won a year earlier, according to the figures provided by Statistics Korea.The number represents about 45 percent of th

South Korea's top financial regulator said Wednesday it will swiftly map out plans to loosen restrictions on financial firms, allowing them to easily make inroads into new businesses.Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a job fair for the financial industry. The official said the FSC will "fully review financial firms' business restrictions by sector and swiftly draw up measures for improvement."  By revamping a system of granting licens

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday despite overnight Wall Street gains as both institutional and foreign investors offloaded local large caps, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 2.56 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,362.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday (local time), the major Wall Street indexes hit record highs, with the S&P 500 Index adding 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gaining 0.12 percent.Large-c

The combined net profit of 165 investment advisory firms in South Korea more than tripled on-quarter in the fiscal first quarter of this year, thanks to a rise in commission fees as the stock market rallied, data showed Wednesday.The investment advisory firms reported a combined net profit of 28.4 billion won ($25.1 million) during the fiscal first quarter, which ended in June, compared to a profit of 8.6 billion won in the previous quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory S

South Korean savings banks' household loans have spiked 21 percent over the past year to hit a record high despite their high interest, data showed Wednesday.Savings banks' outstanding household lending came to 20.2 trillion won ($17.9 billion) as of end-July, up 20.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.It has surpassed the 20 trillion-won mark for the first time and represents the highest level since December 2007, when the central bank started to compile r