The business outlook of South Korea's smaller firms inched up for December on eased social distancing measures and hopes of higher year-end domestic demand, a poll showed Monday. The survey of 3,150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showed that the small business health index amounted to 83.5 for the coming month, up 2 points from November. It marks a turnaround from November's decrease that came after the second straight month of increase, but the reading remains below par. A reading

South Korea will closely monitor global and local financial markets for any impact from the emergence of the omicron variant of the coronavirus and take action in a preemptive and active manner, if necessary, to reduce market volatility, a senior finance ministry official said Monday. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon made the remark at a meeting to discuss macroeconomic issues amid concerns that financial market volatility could intensify due to the spread of the potentially more transm

South Korea kicked off annual consultation meetings with global rating appraiser Standard & Poor's Global Ratings (S&P) on Monday to discuss the country's credit valuation and economic outlook, the finance ministry said. The delegation, led by Kim Eng Tan, senior director of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at S&P, visited South Korea for four days of consultations through Thursday, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It will be the first face-to-face meetings between th

Nearly half of South Korean hospitality companies were unable to service their debts with earnings in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Monday. The report from the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the lobby for South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates, showed 45.4 percent of firms in the local hospitality industry had an interest coverage ratio below 1 last year. The figure is up 11.3 percentage points from 2018, indicating those companies have been hit h

It’s presidential election season and none of the two frontrunners are talking about pension‘s ticking time bomb

South Korean brokerage firms saw their combined net profits rise 10.5 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier, due to increased income from their proprietary trading, data showed Sunday. The combined net profit of 58 brokerages stood at 2.52 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in the July-September period, compared with 2.28 trillion won three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The gain was mainly driven by profits from proprietary trading, tra

South Korea's exports of agricultural and fishery goods exceeded the $10 billion mark for the first time this year, led by the popularity of "hallyu," the Korean wave of pop culture, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of foodstuffs came to $10.13 billion in the Jan. 1-Nov. 25 period, up 16.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It marked the first time that exports of agricultural and fishery goods

A day after South Korea’s central bank chief strongly hinted at another rate hike within the first quarter of 2022 following its decision to raise its base rate by 25 basis point to 1 percent, analysts on Friday projected the expected move to come as early as January. The BOK’s monetary policy board on Thursday carried out its second pandemic-era rate hike amid growing inflationary pressure and snowballing household debt. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol in a press briefing explained that the

The total amount of land foreigners held as of June this year rose 1.3 percent, compared to December last year, to 256.7 square kilometers. That is equivalent to 0.2 percent of South Korea’s entire land area, according to the Land Ministry on Friday. The total value was 31.6 trillion won ($26.5 billion). Foreign ownership spiked in 2014 and 2015, jumping 6 percent and 9.6 percent on-year respectively, but the annual increase has remained between 1 and 3 percent since then. US nationals

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea National Oil to offer the state-run oil company financial support worth about 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion). KNOC, established in 1979 after the energy crisis in the 1970s to oversee oil storage businesses for the country, will use the fund to invest in overseas oil exploration and production, while working to find new energy sources like wind power, the company said. “We expect to cre

Foreign ownership of South Korean land expanded 1.3 percent in the first half of the year from six months earlier, the land ministry said Friday. Foreigners owned 256.7 square kilometers of land here as of end-June, up 3.39 million square meters from the end of December last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The amount accounts for 0.26 percent of South Korea's total land area and is slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan in New York. The valu

NongHyup among Korean lenders jumping on digital bandwagon, but resistance persists

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Thursday the country will come up with measures to win developed market status from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). South Korea has been pushing for the upgrade from the current position on the emerging markets list, as the global index provider will have its annual review in June next year. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki earlier said the country deserves to win the developed market status "in light of its economic situation and fo

South Korean insurance firms' earnings jumped more than 37 percent in the first nine months of this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and a bullish stock market, data showed Thursday. The combined net profit of insurance companies operating in South Korea came to 7.63 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the January-September period, up 37.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Life insurers saw their combined net profit expand

BOK chief hints at another rate hike soon, saying current rate remains dovish