Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said on Friday the government intends to propose revisions to Korea’s Labor Standards Act in an effort to further clarify the legal scope regarding ordinary wages, amid intensifying legal confrontation between the labor and the management.　“We plan to further strengthen business roadmaps and add support to the wage system restructuring in order to prevent any unnecessary labor-management disputes,“ Ki

Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said Friday he will reinforce the manpower and conduct a reorganization of the Office of International Trade and Investment to effectively cope with possible revisions to the trade deal with the United States.Kim held a video conference with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last month to exchange views on Washington's request for revisions to the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.The conference was held as Lighthizer requested a meeting a month earlier to

South Korean stocks finished lower Friday, as investors continued to remain cautious in betting on risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 5.5 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,357.69.Trade volume was a moderate 277 million shares worth 4.67 trillion won ($4.16 billion), with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 405 to 401.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Stree

South Korea's central bank said Friday that it has picked four more companies for its coinless society project in the latest move aimed at enhancing convenience for ordinary people.Under the project that began in April, consumers can deposit small change left from purchases of goods into prepaid mobile cards that can be used at convenience stores, discount stores and department stores, according to the Bank of Korea. It means that consumers won't have to carry coins in their pockets after making

South Korean stocks traded slightly lower Friday morning as foreign investors continued to unload local shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 3.33 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,359.86 as of 11:15 a.m.Bourse heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics up 0.39 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, fell 0.44 percent, and POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, declined 0.58 percent.Naver, the country's top Internet portal operator, lost 0.26 percent, while Hyu

South Korea has asked China to remove economic sanctions imposed on South Korea due to the diplomatic row over the deployment of a US missile defense system here, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday.China has been retaliating economically against South Korea since early this year over the stationing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.South Korea says the missile defense system is not aimed at China but is to combat North Korea's missile and nuclear threats.

South Korea's top financial regulator on Friday urged credit card firms to cut marketing spending and provide safer and more convenient payment services. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remark at a meeting with top executives of credit card companies as the industry has been under pressure over competition with online payment services and a cut in credit card processing fees for small merchants. Choi said credit card firms "need to revamp their high-cos

The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in July, due to a slight rise in people who could not pay off their debts, government data showed Friday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.48 percent at the end of July, up 0.05 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.Compared to a year ago, however, the rate was down 0.3 percentage point, it said.  "In July, newly delinquent l

South Korea's economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter from three months earlier on decreased manufacturing and construction, central bank data showed Friday.The country's gross domestic product expanded 0.6 percent in the April-June period from the previous quarter, decelerating from a 1.1 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.From a year earlier, the local economy grew 2.7 percent in the second quarter, compared with

South Korea's exports extended their double-digit growth to eight straight months in August on record shipments of semiconductors, government data showed Friday.Outbound shipments came to $47.1 billion in the month, up from $40.1 billion tallied a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Korea Customs Service.The country's exports have been on a steady rise since November led by an upturn in oil prices and recovering global trade. August mar

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.97 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,369.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.60 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, fell 0.15 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, opened flat, while AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, advanced 0.69 percent.The local currency was trading at 1

An average wedding in South Korea costs nearly 46 million won ($40,000), excluding the price of buying or renting a home, a survey showed Thursday, with more people opting for smaller ceremonies.Of the 45.9 million won total, the proportion spent on essential items like home furnishings accounted for 32 percent or 14.6 million won, followed by spending on presents and the wedding ceremony, according to the survey by the Korea Consumer Agency.  The survey was conducted on 2,000 respondents w

Internet-only bank K-Bank said Thursday it posted a net loss of 40.5 billion won ($35.9 million) in the first-half of this year, hit by a jump in spending as it launched operations in April. K-Bank said it attracted deposits worth 643 billion won and made loans worth 600.3 trillion won as of the end of June. K-Bank, which is led by KT Corp., the nation's biggest fixed-line Internet operator, spent about 90 billion won in setting up infrastructure for its Internet banking system, the lender

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a leading business lobby group, on Thursday expressed support for the government’s recent decision to restructure the nation’s fiscal policy for a fundamental paradigm shift.　“The economic community agrees that it is necessary to shift the fundamental paradigm of the economy,” said its Chairman Park Yong-maan, during a meeting with Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, and other chamber officials in Seoul. 　&ldquo

Central bank cites ‘geopolitical risks’ as reason of rate freeze