Amid ambiguity regarding the US President Donald Trump administration’s vow to alter certain terms of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, Tami Overby, senior vice president for Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce, reiterated her stance that the trade deal continues to be mutually beneficial to both nations. 　“What the Korea-USA FTA provides to American companies in Asia is a launching pad,” Overby said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday.　“US businesses

Kakao Bank, South Korea's second Internet-only bank, has emerged as the leading provider of household loans this month, far outpacing its sole competitor and traditional lenders, data showed Wednesday.According to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service, Kakao Bank saw its household lending increase by 540 billion won ($473 million) in the first 11 days of this month, the largest amount among 19 lenders in the country.It accounted for 24.9 percent of the 19 lenders' combined household le

South Korea's finance minister and central bank governor pledged Wednesday to take measures to stabilize financial markets, if necessary, amid lingering tensions between North Korea and the United States."The government and the Bank of Korea plan to make aggressive efforts to stabilize financial markets by closely monitoring domestic and foreign financial markets," BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a meeting with Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon in Seoul.Kim also said the government will take

South Korean shares traded higher late Wednesday morning on positive economic data from the United States.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.19 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,347.41 as of 11:20 a.m.Large caps traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 2.8 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix up 2.61 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker here, rose 0.35 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 1.12 percent lower.POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker,

The ratio of long-term unemployed people to the total jobless in South Korea reached an 18-year high in July, data showed Wednesday, as companies were reluctant to offer quality jobs amid uncertainties over their future.The long-term unemployed numbered 180,000 in July, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total jobless and marking the highest figure since 19.7 percent for September 1999, shortly after the country's foreign exchange crisis, according to the data from Statistics Korea.Long-term une

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday as a bitter verbal war between the United States and North Korea seems to have eased. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 19.03 points, or 0.82 percent, to 2,353.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 2.8 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.35 percent, and top steelmaker POSCO declined 1.23 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,134.55 won against th

South Korea's credit default risk has hit an 18-month high amid saber-rattling between the United States and North Korea over the latter's weapons program, data showed Wednesday.The credit default swap (CDS) premium for South Korean foreign exchange stabilization bonds with a five-year maturity reached 70 basis points as of Monday, the highest level since 71 basis points on Feb. 25, 2016, according to the data by the Korea Center for International Finance.The CDS premium jumped 13 basis points o

Offshore investors remained net buyers of South Korean stocks for the eighth consecutive month in July, with their stock holdings exceeding 600 trillion won ($526.4 billion) for the first time, official data showed Wednesday. Foreign investors boosted their holdings of local stocks by a net 579 billion won in July to 605.7 trillion won, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. For the first seven months of this year, offshore investors bought a net 11.4 trillion won worth of s

Although the proportion has continued to decline, 1 in 5 of those employed in South Korea work at least 54 hours a week, data from Statistics Korea showed.Average weekly working hours have been falling since the introduction of the five-day workweek in 2004, but the decline rate has become stagnant since the system was fully adopted in 2010.

Households in South Korea have still appeared to flock to mortgage loans so far this month, despite the government’s strong measures on Aug. 2 to tighten mortgage borrowing, data showed Tuesday.The average volume of household mortgage borrowings per day reached 407.1 billion won ($356.6 million) from 3,167.6 cases during Aug. 7-11, according to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. That was larger than the daily average in July, which came to 288.5 billion won from 2,509 borr

South Korea's government said Tuesday that it will provide 100 billion won ($87.6 million) in special credit guarantees to young entrepreneurs that are setting up new companies and hiring workers.The plan made possible by the passage of the extra budget through parliament last month, is being pushed forward by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and aims to create good jobs by launching competitive venture businesses. The ministry said business owners who are 39 years old and younger, and have hi

South Korea's trade surplus remained in the black for the 66th month in a row in July amid brisk outbound shipments, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's trade surplus came to $10.3 billion last month, slightly down from a surplus of $10.7 billion tallied a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.Asia's fourth-largest economy has posted a monthly trade surplus since February 2012. It logged $6.7 billion in trade surplus with Southeast Asian countries in July, inc

South Korean stocks are expected to experience some corrections over the next couple of months due to the geopolitical risks coming from North Korea and the recent bull market, local observers said Tuesday.The prediction follows the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang over the latest UN sanctions and threats by the North to fire off missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam. Observers also said that some sort of adjustment is inevitable following eight straight months of stock

A recent string of economic indicators point to the weakening recovery of the Korean economy, casting doubts over the government’s expectation that this year’s growth rate will reach 3 percent.In its monthly economic assessment report released last week, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the recovery pace “was not solid,” as an upturn in exports and facility investment was offset by weak industrial output.The cautious assessment followed analysis made earlier by t

South Korea’s stock market indexes swung back to positive territory Monday, recovering from a bearish trend last week fueled by the United States’ verbal saber-rattling at North Korea in response to its plans to attack US territory with ballistic missiles.　The top-tier Kospi closed at 2,334.22, up 0.63 percent from Friday’s close, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq rose 0.16 percent.Foreign investors maintained the selling trend for four consecutive days on the main bourse Monday, but