South Korea's financial authorities have called on local banks to tighten their screening for unsecured loans as part of efforts to cope with rising household debt, sources said Thursday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently required all commercial lenders to submit their plans to adjust caps on credit loans extended to individual borrowers by Friday. Banks have thus come up with or are mapping out plans to cut back on caps on unsecured loans, according to the sources. Nonghyup Ba

Skeptics call snowballing household debt in overheated markets a recipe for disaster, but others deny bubble exists

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will focus on supplying homes as planned in the second half in a bid to curb high-flying home prices. The minister said a tight supply for homes has somewhat eased since August as more people have begun to move into newly built apartments. "Increasing housing supply sufficiently is a key to stabilizing the property market," Hong said at a government meeting on the housing market. "The government will do its best to prov

Unionized workers at GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., accepted the company's revised wage proposals for the year, the union said Tuesday. In their second vote held Monday and Tuesday, some 65 percent of GM Korea's unionized workers agreed to accept the revised proposals that newly include 300,000 won ($260) worth of repair coupons for Chevrolet brand vehicles and 200,000 won worth of gift certificates for traditional markets, union spokesman Cho Ha-soo said over the p

South Korea plans to draw up another record-breaking budget of some 605 trillion won ($518.4 billion) for next year to strengthen the nation’s social safety net largely hurt by the prolonged pandemic, the ruling Democratic Party and the government said Tuesday. The so-called “super budget package” allows the Moon Jae-in government and his party to financially assist self-employed, small-business owners and low-income families, and to provide full college tuition from the thir

South Korea's tax agency said Tuesday it has launched probes into suspected tax evasion by 59 people who allegedly pocketed illegal profits or increased wealth in an improper manner. Of them, 29 people earned money in an illegal or dishonest fashion while misusing corporate funds to buy luxury goods, according to the National Tax Service (NTS). The agency also cracked down on people and entities that gave damage to pandemic-hit merchants and individuals to increase their assets. Since last ye

South Korea's household credit grew at a faster pace in the second quarter as non-banking financial firms increased loans, central bank data showed Tuesday. Household credit reached a record high of 1,805.9 trillion won ($1.54 trillion) as of June, up 41.2 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Household credit refers to credit purchases and loans for households that have been extended by financial institutions, including commercial lenders

The number of employed people in minor cities and counties in South Korea rose in April from a year earlier as slumps in the job market eased amid the economic recovery, data showed Tuesday. The number of employed people for 77 smaller cities in nine provinces reached 13.1 million as of end-April, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The corresponding number for 77 counties across the nation grew 1.4 percent on-year to 2.07 million, the data s

South Korea's market for convenient coffee beverages expanded nearly 6 percent in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, a market tracker said Tuesday. The size of the local ready-to-drink coffee market stood at 672.9 billion won ($574 million) in the January-June period, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Nielsen Koreanclick. Canned coffee accounted for the largest portion at 258.6 billion won, followed by cup coffee with 217.5 billion won and bottled coffee w

South Korea's consumer sentiment dipped in August over a spike in COVID-19 infections, marking the second consecutive monthly decline, central bank data showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 102.5 for August, down 0.7 point from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the second monthly decline since June, when the index stood at 110.3. The

South Korea's corporate direct financing fell 3 percent on month in July due to a decline in sales of bonds, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised a combined 21 trillion won ($17.9 billion) by selling stocks and bonds in July, down 657.6 billion won from a month ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Corporate stock sales soared 73.3 percent to 4.05 trillion won, with the value of initial public offerings jumping to 3.08 trillion won. Local businesses

South Korea’s economy will grow 3.9 percent this year, an Asian regional macroeconomic surveillance organization said Monday, presenting a more pessimistic outlook than what the government forecast citing growing household debts. The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office said Asia’s fourth-largest economy continues its strong rebound in 2021 buoyed by a sustained global recovery and robust demand for electronics and autos. But it warned that the country’s growing household d

Soaring food prices have pushed South Korea’s low-income families to spend more on food, fueling an increase in the number of households running a deficit, data showed Monday.  According to data from the Korean Statistical Information Service, monthly expenditures on food and nonalcoholic beverages by households in the lowest income quintile, or the bottom 20 percent, stood at 244,000 won ($208) on average, during the second fiscal quarter, up 12 percent from a year earlier. 

Almost 40 percent of South Korea’s top 200 listed companies have established committees to deal with environmental, social and corporate governance issues, with a majority of them having caught on to the trend this year, a report from consulting firm Samjong KPMG showed Monday. Out of the Kospi200 companies, which make up 93 percent of the total market of the country’s main bourse, 76 companies or 38 percent have set up ESG committees, including one that has two councils. Out of t

South Korean manufacturers' business confidence fell for the fifth consecutive month in August due to the economic fallout from the prolonged virus pandemic, a poll showed Monday. The country's professional survey index (PSI) for the manufacturing sector's business conditions came to 109 this month, down from 114 in July, according to the poll carried out by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET). A PSI reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The survey