South Korea's import prices grew for the second straight month in February as crude oil and other commodity prices jumped, central bank data showed Tuesday. The import price index gained 3.5 percent in February from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rise followed a 4.4 percent rise in January. The rise came as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has sent oil and other commodity prices even higher. The average monthly import prices of Dubai crud

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products soared 24 percent in February on the back of strong global demand for chips and displays, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of ICT products reached $18.88 billion last month, up 23.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure represents the largest ever for any February and the 11th consecutive month of on-year gains since April last year. ICT imports sto

Six out of 10 South Korean companies want the incoming government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to focus on creating jobs to support the economic recovery, a survey showed Sunday. Of 157 local companies, 95, or 60.5 percent, picked job creation as the top policy priority for the new government, according to the Mono Research poll commissioned by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's top business lobby. The Feb. 18-March 1 survey also showed resolving social conflicts ranked

Will W1.05b loan be possible for purchase of W1.5b apartment?

Trade volume of goods between South Korea and the United States grew nearly 70 percent, and bilateral investment more than doubled over the past decade since their free trade agreement, Seoul's industry ministry said Friday. The Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) marked its 10th anniversary this month, as the trade deal came into force in March 2012. The bilateral trade of goods stood at $169.1 billion last year, up 67.8 percent from $100.8 billion logged in 2011, according to the Ministr

South Korea's exports rose 14.9 percent in the first 10 days of March from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $18.7 billion in the March 1-10 period, compared with $16.3 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 15.3 percent on-year to $20.1 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.39 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By s

South Korea continued to post a current account surplus in January, but the surplus sharply declined compared with a year earlier as imports expanded sharply amid soaring oil and commodity prices, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus came to $1.81 billion in January, marking the 21st straight month that the current account has remained in the black, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure, however, was much smaller than the same month a

Household loans extended by banks in South Korea shrank for the third straight month in February as the central bank delivered a series of interest rate hikes to rein in inflation and household debt, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding bank loans to households came to 1,060.1 trillion won ($865.4 billion) as of the end of February, down 100 billion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the third straight month that the banks' ho

South Korea's central bank said Thursday that it cannot rule out the possibility of inflation running high for a longer period due to sky-high energy prices that could further rise amid heightened geopolitical risk from Ukraine. In a report submitted to the National Assembly, the Bank of Korea (BOK) also said that the country's exports growth could slow slightly this year due to continued global supply chain disruptions but the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine will not be significant in affe

Gasoline prices in South Korea rose to the highest level in more than eight years Thursday as the deepening conflict between Russia and Ukraine pushes global oil prices higher amid growing supply concerns. The average retail gas price had reached 1,904.35 won ($1.55) per liter as of 9:10 a.m., up 11.95 won from the previous day, according to Opinet, a crude oil price provider run by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. It marks the first time since October 2013 the countrywide average has surp

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday cited the Ukraine crisis, high inflation and currency volatility as the biggest risks to the South Korean economy, his office said. Hong called for thorough policy efforts to better tackle the economic fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cope with growing inflationary pressure amid surging energy costs. He also called attention to increased external economic risks as the Korean currency has sharply weakened against the US dollar on investors' dema

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SEJONG -- Concerns are growing over the possibility that the nation’s import prices will further shoot up in the wake of the continuously weakening Korean currency against the US dollar amid the Ukraine-Russia war. The unfavorable scenario has come to the fore amid the recent situation that import prices of raw materials, including crude, had already sharply climbed over the past several months. According to Statistics Korea, import prices grew 30.1 percent in January on-year. Amid inves

Government to provide up to W1b to companies with 30% or more of their exports to Russia, Ukraine