South Korea's 10 most valuable companies account for nearly 37 percent of the country's stock market capitalization, but the portion has inched down this year, data showed Monday.The combined market value of Samsung Electronics Co. and the nine other largest-cap firms came to 569 trillion won ($506 billion) as of last Monday, up 14.7 percent from the end of last year, according to the data by the Korea Exchange. Over the cited period, the total market capitalization jumped 17.2 percent to 1,534

Government ministries and other public entities are hoping to boost their annual spending by 6 percent next year to better meet social welfare, education, and research and development outlays, the finance ministry said Monday.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, government offices have submitted preliminary requests for their 2018 budget that totaled 424.5 trillion won ($377.1 billion), compared with 400.5 trillion won earmarked for this year. The request, if finalized, will mark t

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors continued to take a breather amid the recent rally on the main bourse.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dipped 10.66 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,371.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Large cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was down 1.48 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, lost 1.54 percent. Top IT service firm Naver dipped 4.17 percent.Medical and financial shares, however, star

South Korea showed the third-highest rise of household debt compared to gross domestic product on-year at the end of last year out of the 43 nations surveyed by the Bank for International Settlements, data showed Sunday.South Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio came to 92.8 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2016, up 4.7 percentage points compared to the previous year, according to data from the Basel-based financial institution.Before South Korea came Norway, which rose at the steepest r

Housing prices in major metropolitan cities in South Korea have soared so far this month on-year, showing a stark contrast to drops in provincial regions, data showed Sunday. Busan, the second-largest city in Korea, showed an 11 percent surge in real estate prices on-year in June, the highest among cities in the nation, according to data by real estate market tracker Budongsan 114.The average apartment price per square meter in Busan reached 2.93 million won ($2,600), while the average in June l

South Korea's exports plunged 12.2 percent in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, the latest customs data showed Sunday, after posting seventh straight months of growth.Total outbound shipments reached $12.2 billion during the cited period, down 12.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the findings compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The decrease comes partly on the back of huge increases of ships exported in early June of last year, the agency said."The numbe

South Korea ranked fifth among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in the growth of food prices in the first quarter, OECD data showed Saturday. In the January-March period, Korean food prices jumped 3.9 percent from a quarter earlier, following Turkey with 9.7 percent growth, Latvia's 5.9 percent, the Czech Republic's 4.1 percent and Estonia's 4 percent, the data showed.  Local officials say the spread of avian influenza and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth

South Korea's rapidly aging society is expected to fuel growth in the country's agricultural and fisheries sector, and health care services, a local think tank said Sunday, calling on the country to better prepare for changes down the road.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the number of local households whose head is aged over 60 will jump from 28.7 percent as of last year to 40.7 percent in 2026 and reach 57.8 percent in 2045. The state-run

 South Korea is expected to become the world's 15th largest producer of rice this year, a report by the United Nations food organization showed Sunday.According to the Food Outlook by Food and Agriculture Organization, South Korea is set to produce 4.1 million tons of rice this year, down 3.1 percent from 4.2 million tons in 2016.The total should be equivalent to 0.8 percent of all rice to be harvested this year around the world that could reach 502.6 million tons, the report said. Numbers

South Korea's trade surplus with the United States has been on a steady decline for the past 13 months amid the Seoul government's efforts to reduce the imbalance, customs data showed Sunday.A trade surplus with the world's largest economy reached $915 million last month, more than halving from $2 billion tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The monthly numbers have been falling since May last year when they backtracked 14.9 percent on-year to $1.78 bi

The number of applicants for “unemployment credit” has surpassed 300,000 in the past 10 months since its launch last August, said the National Pension Service Friday.The unemployment credit is a program for job-seekers in which the government pays up to 75 percent of their national pension fees. This enables the jobless to maximize the amount of pension they receive in the future since their unemployment period is recognized as the duration of entitlement to the national pension just

South Korean stocks closed at a record high Friday as investors' sentiment was boosted by receding global uncertainties, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 18.12 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,381.69. Trade volume was high at 511 million shares worth 7.1 trillion won ($6.32 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 464 to 340.It marked the first time that the Kospi closed at 2,380 levels.The Kospi even hit 2,385.15 at

South Korea is expected to face difficulty in achieving an annual economic growth of 3 percent in the coming years as consumption is crimped by the aging population and rising household debts, a Bank of Korea board member said Friday.Cho Dong-chul also voiced worries that the country's economy could move in the direction of the long-drawn slump seen by Japan in the 1990s.The central bank has predicted that the nation's economy could grow 2.6 percent this year, compared with 2.8 percent growth re