South Korea's financial watchdog said Wednesday that it will continue to prioritize a "soft landing" for soaring household debt and bringing debt growth down to pre-pandemic levels next year. In a report laying out its policy goals for next year, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) also said that it will "preemptively" manage vulnerability risks facing the financial sector amid worries that snowballing corporate and household debt and rising interest rates could hurt the

The volume of cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell nearly 2 percent in November due to delayed handling at major ports, government data showed Wednesday. Cargo handled at the country's ports stood at 128.5 million tons last month, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import cargo also declined 1.9 on-year to 108.8 million tons. Container cargo decreased 7.4 percent on-year to 2.39 million twenty-foot-e

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will closely monitor foreigners' real estate transactions in a bid to prevent cross-border flows of illegal funds and crack down on dubious deals. The government unveiled a set of measures to prevent foreigners from illegally buying real estate as some non-residents are found to have taken undue profits from property transactions. To monitor any illegal money flows, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Customs Service will set up an i

Corporate direct financing by firms in South Korea grew 1.6 percent in November from a month earlier due to an increase in bond sales, data showed Wednesday. Local companies raised a combined 19.45 trillion won ($16.3 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 300.3 billion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other fi

The Bank of Korea appears to be facing a dilemma ahead of its rate decision in January, as producer and consumer prices soar in defiance of anemic growth. Producer prices in November hit a record high, up 0.5 percent on-month and 9.6 percent on-year. The prices have been on a steady rise since November 2020, the longest since May 2011, when they ended a 19-month rally. “The base effect makes the (price) rises look worse than what they actually are. In November last year, oil and raw mate

South Korea's chief financial regulator said Tuesday that his agency will take "necessary" action if the spread between interest rates on loans and deposits widens beyond "reasonable" levels. Jeong Eun-bo, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made the remarks during an online press conference amid criticism that banks and other financial firms are quicker to increase their loan rates than raise rates on deposits. The rate hikes are in line with the central bank

Protracted global supply disruptions could send expected inflation higher and add larger-than-expected upward pressure on inflation in South Korea, a central bank report said Tuesday. The report by the Bank of Korea also said that the global "carbon neutral" initiative could rather exert pressure on inflation by causing imbalances in the supply of and demand for materials needed to produce clean energy. "The global supply bottlenecks have been impacting upward inflationary pres

South Korea on Tuesday suspended quarantine inspections of Canadian beef following the discovery of a mad cow case in the North American country. The agriculture ministry said the move effectively banning imports went into effect four days after Canada confirmed a cow in Alberta was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease. The ministry said the latest BSE case was the "atypical" type and less risky than "typical" cases as it doesn

South Korea plans to spend 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion) next year to help double the accumulated sale of hydrogen and electric cars, the finance minister said Tuesday, in the latest move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government plans to provide more subsidies and other incentives to increase the supply of zero-emission vehicles. Hong said the government aims to double the accumulated supply of eco-friendly vehicles to 500,000 units next year from an

South Korea's exports grew 20 percent on-year in the first 20 days of December on the back of solid demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.9 billion in the Dec. 1-20 period, compared with $30.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)

South Korea's producer prices increased for the 13th straight month in November as a rise in oil and energy prices drove up the costs of manufacturing products, central bank data showed Tuesday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 112.99 in November, up 0.5 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the 13th consecutive month of a rise. Compared with a year earlier, it jumped 9.6 per

South Korea’s four major bank holding firms are expected to hand out record-high dividends this year amid their highest net profit estimates buoyed by pandemic recovery, officials said Monday. The total dividends the four companies -- KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group and Woori Financial Group -- would pay is estimated to be 3.8 trillion won ($3.2 billion), about 26 percent of the combined net profit of 14.6 trillion won. “We were asked to refer to 2

South Korea's finance ministry on Monday revised up its 2022 growth outlook for the country's economy to 3.1 percent, saying that exports and private spending will likely gain ground despite heightened economic uncertainty. The government's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent growth forecast made in June, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry's outlook is more upbeat than the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Organization for Econ

65 technologies from chip, battery and vaccine sectors to be developed as national strategy in 2022

South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Monday it will freeze the country's electricity rates in the first quarter of 2022 amid rising inflation. KEPCO said it has decided to set the adjusted unit fuel cost at zero won per kilowatt-hour for the January-March period of next year, the same as that three months earlier. Late last year, KEPCO adopted a flexible electricity rate system linked to global fuel prices in a move to improve its profitability. It previously