Naver, Kakao reportedly to join bid for central bank’s pilot program that kicks off in August

South Korea's business sentiment slightly fell for June due to deteriorating profitability in the manufacturing industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local think tank said Monday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 102.6 for next month, down 5.1 points from May, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The index stayed above 100 for the fourth straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has launched a pilot project to build a smart farm in Kazakhstan, as the country seeks to boost exports of smart-farming solutions. The construction is expected to be completed in October, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The smart farm, sized 1 hectare, will be used to cultivate popular produce in Kazakhstan, including tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries. The smart farm was specifically designed to cope with

It has been a long time since the hide-and-seek of foreign property by some wealthy people has become a serious problem worldwide. As most of them aim not to pay taxes, tax authorities around the world are focusing their capabilities on finding foreign hidden properties of tax evaders. The representative case took place in Switzerland in 2009. In 2009, the US Internal Revenue Service found that UBS Bank had concealed assets of wealthy Americans in secret accounts and helped tax evasion. The US

The volume of container cargo processed at South Korea's seaports rose 5.7 percent on-year in April amid hope for global recovery from the economic fallout of the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's oceans ministry said Sunday. Container cargo processed at the seaports reached 2.58 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in April, compared with 2.44 million TEUs, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Processed export-import container cargo jumped 6.3 percent on-year to re

The South Korean government has been reviewing whether to turn Korea Land and Housing Corp. into a holding company and spin-off key businesses to prevent further information leaks from the company, sources close to the matter said Friday. The reports come amid a nationwide crackdown on a massive land speculation scandal centered on LH employees who abused insider information concerning large-scale state funded land development projects. According to the sources, the Ministry of Economy and Fi

South Korea's exports jumped 53.3 percent on-year in the first 20 days of May on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $31.1 billion in the May 1-20 period, compared with $20 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Over the period, imports also moved up 36 percent to reach $31.4 billion. By sectors, South Korea's outbound shipments of chips, the mainstay export product, advanced

South Korea's producer prices increased 0.6 percent on-month in April due to a modest rise in commodity prices, extending their monthly gains for the sixth straight month, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 107.68 in April, compared with 107.04 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index advanced 5.6 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods fell 8.2 p

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government will roll out changes to housing policies which may include real estate taxation reforms as early as next month. While maintaining the key framework and the stance of the real estate policy announced on Feb. 4, which focuses on easing building regulations and supporting redevelopment projects in urban areas to shore up the number of new houses, “some changes will be presented within the next month after collecting public opi

South Korea's household income edged up in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, but the gain was mostly attributable to the government's emergency handouts aimed at tackling economic fallout of the new coronavirus pandemic. The average household earned 4.38 million won (US$3,860) per month in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Household income earned through wages, on the other hand, slipped 1.3 percent

South Korea's trade dispute agency on Thursday held a public hearing on anti-dumping cases of flat-rolled stainless steel imported from three countries, prior to its final ruling slated in July. The move came after South Korea decided to launch an investigation against Chinese, Taiwanese and Indonesian flat-rolled stainless steel products in September last year, according to the Korea Trade Commission. South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO filed the complaint with the commission over anti-dumping

South Korea's oceans ministry said Thursday it has won a deal worth 58.7 billion won ($51.8 million) to export dried laver products to Japan. Dried laver, called "gim" in Korean, is usually roasted with sesame oil and fine salt and served as a side dish with Korean meals. Exports of dried laver products reached $600 million in 2020, up 3.6 percent on-year, amid growing popularity of Korean food in the Asian market. Of the volume, Japan accounted for the largest share of 22.2 percent.

World’s 10th-largest economy still has long work hours, high poverty rate for older adults, according to report

South Korea's six major travel agencies cut some 15 percent of their workforce over the past year as travel demand has taken a massive hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. At the end of March, six listed travel firms had a total of 4,268 employees, down 15.4 percent from a year ago, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Industry leader HanaTour shed 13 percent of its workforce, and Mode Tour cut 10.7 percent, the data showed. In the first quarter of thi

The South Korean government will support the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies and set up a climate response fund next year to achieve the goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday that preparation for the scenario to achieve net zero emissions is “in full swing,” while stressing the importance of a preemptive policy response related to climate cooperation. South Korea plans to bolster its original target of reduci