South Korea will simplify customs clearance process to help local exporters do business more easily in a way to give further momentum to the country's exports which seems to have entered an upside cycle, the customs agency said Tuesday.The Korea Customs Service said those who sell goods to foreign customers through an online platform will face easier and faster customs regulations, as only 27 items will be subject to mandatory declaration, down from the current 57 items. The businesses will also

South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning on the back of the robust gains of major blue-chip shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 21.66 point, or 0.98 percent, to 2,227.10 as of 11:20 a.m.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics shot up 1.03 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix also advanced 2.41 percent. LG Electronics and LG Display gained 2.03 percent and 2.04 percent, respectively.Carmakers are also winners, with Hyundai Motor rising 4.51 percent and its auto

The combined net profit of South Korean banks for the first quarter of this year surged to a six-year high, thanks to a rise in interest income and a decline in loan-loss provisions, government data showed Tuesday. Banks in South Korea posted a combined net profit of 4.3 trillion won ($3.7 billion) for the January-March quarter, up 49 percent on-year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.It marked the biggest profit since the first quarter of 2011, when profit stood at 4.5

South Korea's consumer prices continued their rise in April, going up nearly 2 percent amid high-flying oil prices, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index gained 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing down from the previous month's 2.2 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Consumer prices have been hovering around 2 percent since the first month of 2016 due to a sharp gain in oil prices, following a 1.3 percent on-year gain in D

Retirees over 50 years old are most glad that they no longer have to deal with stress from work, but many feel that tight finances are dampening their post-retirement life, a survey said Tuesday.  In the survey by the National Pension Service, conducted between April and September last year on 4,816 respondents, 32.2 percent said the best thing about retiring was being free of work-related stress. Another 17.8 percent were happy they didn't have to worry about interpersonal relationships at

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on the back of robust gains by tech and financial shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.23 points, or 0.69 percent, to 2,220.67 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The market closed Monday for Labor Day.Tech shares led the gain, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics moving up 1.79 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics climbing 0.72 percent. Chipmaker SK hynix advanced 3.33 percent.Financial shares also kicked off higher

More than 200 South Korean children aged 7 to 13 have bank accounts with a balance of 100 million won ($88,000) or higher, with their average balance hovering well above the mean of local households' financial assets, government data showed Tuesday.According to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service, 224 bank accounts owned by children in the age bracket have a balance of 100 million won or larger, with the total balance reaching 54.9 billion won, and the average balance coming to 245 mil

Nearly 90 percent of financial firms worldwide said their businesses are at risk from rapidly expanding fintech rivals and they fear losing revenue to the financial innovators, according to a new study released on Monday, in the latest sign of the growing influence of financial technology, known as fintech.The study conducted by global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said that many fear losing business to innovators, starting with payments, fund transfers and personal finance. "The v

South Korea's state-funded corporations saw their debt ratio decline for four years in a row last year on the back of government-led efforts to improve their balance sheets, the finance ministry said Monday.The debt ratio of 329 public firms reached 167 percent as of end-2016, down 16 percentage points from a year earlier, with their combined credit totaling 499.4 trillion won ($437.9 billion), according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. It has been on a steady decline since 2013, when it

The household net interest income has recorded a deficit for the first time since 1975, while that of local banks has shown an increase last year.According to the Bank of Korea, total household interest income has decreased to 36.1 trillion won, the lowest in 20 years. However, its interest payments on loans have risen sharply to approximately 41.8 trillion won, creating a deficit of around 5.7 trillion won. On the other hand, the profits of domestic banks has increased by 900 billion won, resul

South Korea’s outbound shipments surged 24.2 percent in April from a year prior to $51 billion, mainly boosted by strong sales of ships and semiconductors, data by the Trade Ministry showed Monday. It marked the second most monthly exports, following $51.6 billion in October 2014. The figure saw the sharpest on-year rise in nearly six years, following 25.5 percent in August 2011.Meanwhile, inbound shipments also increased 16.6 percent, compared to the previous year, to $37.8 billion i

Coins worth more than 16.5 billion won ($14 million) were returned to South Korea's central bank in the first quarter, data showed Monday.The figure represents a 375 percent hike from 3.47 billion won tallied in the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.It also marked the highest amount since the second quarter of 1998 when South Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis. The central bank has been striving to retrieve coins in a campaign towards becoming a coinless society to help b

Samsung Electronics on Monday denied local reports that it aims to re-enter the car making industry, following government approval of a test run for a self-driving car.The Ministry of Transport and Land said it has approved a pilot run of Samsung Electronics’ autonomous car currently under development. The approval signals Samsung’s push into the self-driving car market, local reports said, quoting industry insiders. But the South Korean tech giant reiterated its earlier position tha

In a rare consensus, the five major candidates for next week’s presidential election have pledged to strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises as a way to increase employment.Whoever is elected president, they all say they will promote a governmental agency handling matters related to SMEs, now under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to an independent ministerial-level office. Experts share the presidential candidates’ perception that the country’s det