South Korea’s central bank on Thursday revised up the nation’s economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from the previous January projection of 2.5 percent, citing improved exports and a turnaround in facility investment.It is the first time that the Bank of Korea has raised the nation’s growth forecast in three years since April 2014, when it revised it up to 4 percent from 3.8 percent.In an updated quarterly economic outlook report, the BOK said a recovery in the global econom

The Financial Services Commission of Korea rolled out plans Thursday to strengthen the role of private equity firms in carrying out corporate bailout measures, a move aimed to discourage the practice of credit banks being reluctant to declaring insolvencies of financially distressed firms.The projected 8 trillion won ($7.09 billion) fund, where state-owned lenders would first contribute half of the funds, to be matched by private equity firms, will be used to refinance mid-sized enterprises.This

The following is the first in a series of articles breaking down the presidential candidates’ major economic pledges in a simulated question-and-answer format by gathering their answers from official websites, media interviews, public speeches, books and more. The first installment delves into proposals on chaebol reform. -- Ed.The upcoming May 9 presidential election is unusual in the sense that it has been brought forward seven months due to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-

South Korea's finance minister said Thursday that the recent signs of a recovery in world trade will help Asia's fourth-largest economy make a rebound despite lingering uncertainties at home and abroad."As the South Korean economy highly depends on exports and global demand, the upside trend in the world economy will be a boon for the country," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a ministerial meeting in Seoul.Hopes are high that the South Korean economy has entered a positive cycle on

South Korean shares traded slightly higher late Thursday morning as investors still remained cautious in making bets on risky assets.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 3.14 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,132.05 as of 11:20 a.m.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics lost 1.09 percent after starting out on a strong note. The company announced earlier in the day that preorders for its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8, have surpassed a whopping 720,000 units in just seven days.SK

South Korea's central bank on Thursday revised up its growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent for 2017.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol announced the estimate in a news conference after the BOK Monetary Policy Board kept its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent in April.The BOK's gross domestic product growth estimate for 2017 is 0.1 percentage point higher than the central bank's estimate released in January. (Yonhap)

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady for April to support the country's growth, despite a recent US rate hike.The Bank of Korea kept its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent for the 10th consecutive month in April after dropping the rate to its lowest level to bolster Asia's fourth-biggest economy.Last month, the US Federal Reserve raised its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a target range of 0.75 to 1 percent. It also signaled that additional h

South Korea's funds market grew big in size, gaining some 100 trillion won ($8.73 billion) in just two years, but the gain has not been all healthy with bigger lumps of money going to non-stock investments, industry data indicated Thursday.The Korea Financial Investment Association put the country's net fund assets at a record amount of 500.63 trillion won as of Friday. The value had just surpassed 400 trillion won in March 2015.A detailed look, however, showed that the largest sum of 28.84 tril

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday on the back of robust gains in tech firms.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 4.95 points, or 0.2 percent to 2,133.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board, with tech shares leading the gain.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics added 0.24 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix moved up 0.61 percent. LG Electronics advanced 1.45 percent.Naver, the top Internet portal operator, was up 1.56 p

South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly last month on the back of increased employment in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 4.2 percent last month, edging down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.From a month earlier, the rate fell 0.8 percentage point from a seven-year high of 5 percent.The number of employed people reached 25.27

Kookmin Bank launched a group to help the company gather feedback from its expat customers Wednesday.The group is made up of 12 expats, non-Korean online community users and bloggers. It is expected to compile feedback from the foreign customers of Kookmin Bank for a year. An event to celebrate its launch took place at the main branch of Kookmin Bank in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Wednesday.  The move comes in line with the launch of an in-house department for international customers by teaming up

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it will deal with mounting household debt in a stable way through strengthening risk management capabilities, as the debt delivers a blow to Asia's fourth-largest economy amid higher interest rates."The issue of household debt is closely linked with the finance sector and the real economy," said Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn in a meeting in Seoul with the heads of government agencies including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the

South Korean stocks closed slightly higher Wednesday ending a six-day losing streak, although the rise was limited due to heightened geopolitical tension surrounding the Korean Peninsula, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 5.06 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 2,128.91. Trade volume was moderate at 405.1 million shares worth 3.8 trillion won ($3.32 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 399 to 395.Analysts said the increase came as investors became le

The on-year job growth in South Korea hit a 15-month high in March on the back of more hiring in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed people increased by 466,000 in March from a year ago to reach 25.27 million. The on-year growth was the fastest since December 2015.The unemployment rate in Asia’s fourth-largest economy fell to 4.2 percent in March from a seven-year high of 5 percent in the previous month

South Korea's household loans extended by local banks rose 10 percent in March from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Wednesday.Outstanding household loans from local lenders came to 713.9 trillion won ($621 billion) as of end-March, compared with 649 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with February, the amount rose by 2.9 trillion won. Mortgages climbed 2.6 trillion won on-month to 538.5 trillion won in Marc