SEJONG -- The number of South Koreans outside the labor force edged down 0.6 percent from a year earlier amid signs of an economic recovery, data showed Thursday. The number of non-economically active people, or those who have no willingness to work, came to 16.76 million as of end-August, down 106,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. People outside the labor force accounted for 37.2 percent of all South Koreans aged 15 and older, down 0.4 percentage point from

South Korea has established a new task force at the foreign ministry to support the pan-governmental campaign to build resilient supply chains of key items and tackle pandemic-driven economic challenges, Seoul officials said Thursday. The "economic security" team was launched earlier this week to collaborate with other government agencies in helping local companies' efforts to resolve ongoing supply chain issues, which has emerged as a hot-button global issue, especially amid the prot

The US Federal Reserve's latest decision to start to taper its bond purchases is expected to have limited impacts on the South Korean financial markets as the move was widely anticipated, a senior government official said Thursday. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the government plans to take measures to stabilize the market, if needed, as market volatility could increase if global inflation fears persist longer than expected. At the latest policy meeting, the Federal Reserve on W

The risk of Korea entering a long-term economic recession is relatively low as Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to gradually recover from the pandemic under the “living with COVID-19” strategy, experts said Tuesday. “Many worry that the Korean economy would suffer long-term recession due to huge government debt. But the country is on the move to actively recover from the pandemic by taking its first step, lowering the social distancing measures,” said Lee K

Foreigners’ real estate transactions hit record high in contrast to locals struggling for homebuying under strict lending rules

A slowdown in China's economy will have a negative impact on South Korea's exports but its fallout could be eased thanks to strong demand for Korean-made chips, a central bank report showed Wednesday. China's economy is showing signs of slowing down, with its growth rate falling to 4.9 percent on-year in the third quarter from 18.3 percent and 7.9 percent in the first and second quarters. A recent debt crisis of a major Chinese property developer has also clouded the outlook for China's econom

Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in September, led by solid demand for food delivery services and electronics goods amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, data showed Wednesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.2 trillion won ($13.7 billion) in September, up 17 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The September reading marked an all-time high since the agency began to compile related data in 2001. The value of online

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday offered incentives to attract foreign investors as South Korea kicked off its largest foreign investment forum meant to create new opportunities amid economic recovery during the pandemic. Invest Korea Week 2021, which runs through Friday, is expected to bring together 3,000 officials from major domestic and international companies, governments and related organizations for investor relations sessions and other events, according to the Ministry of Trade, Indus

South Korea's finance minister has said the country's economy is expected to extend its recovery momentum on the back of the accelerating COVID-19 vaccine rollout and efforts to gradually return to normal life. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks during his meeting with Marie Diron, managing director of Sovereign Risk Group at global credit appraiser Moody's Investors Service, in London on Tuesday (local time), according to the finance ministry. The meeting was held to discuss South

Members of the central bank's rate-setting board voiced concerns over heightened uncertainties over economic recovery and called for more time to analyze the effect of an interest rate hike in August before seeking additional measures to tame inflation and household debt, minutes from the latest policy meeting showed Tuesday. On Oct. 12, the seven-member board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.75 percent, but the central bank hinted at an additional rate hike in

South Korea plans to buy back 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) worth of government bonds in a bid to tackle a sharp hike in bond yields, a senior government official said Tuesday. Second Vice Finance Minister Ahn Do-geol said the government will actively seek policy coordination with the Bank of Korea (BOK), when needed, to stabilize the bond market. "The stable management of the government bond market has become more important than at any time to support the fiscal policy's role and the smo

LONDON/SEOUL -- South Korea plans to again push to win developed market status from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the finance minister has said, amid expectations that a possible upgrade could help dispel the undervaluation of the Korean stock market. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks Monday (local time) in London at an investor relations session with global investors to explain his country's economic situations. Hong said the government will make efforts to win the

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to the country has surged more than 5,000 times in 60 years, which helped play a key pillar of now Asia's fourth-largest economy, the industry ministry said Tuesday. In 1962, a local carmaker reported receiving $3 million in foreign investment, the first of its kind for the country, and the total FDI amount that year stood at $4 million, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The foreign investment then spiked drastically to come to $20

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest clip in almost a decade in October due to last year's low base effect and surging oil prices, data showed Tuesday, raising expectations that the central bank will hike its key rate this month. The consumer prices rose 3.2 percent in October from a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.5 percent on-year gain in September, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation inched up 0.1 percent. I

New home permits in South Korea jumped nearly 23 percent in the first nine months of the year amid high housing prices, government data showed Tuesday. Construction permits issued for new homes came to 358,990 units in the January-September period, up 22.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. New construction permits in the South Korean capital of Seoul spiked 62.2 percent to 62,516 over the cited period. New home permits issu