South Korea's exports of kimchi touched an all-time high in the first quarter of the year thanks to its popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Overseas shipments of kimchi came to $46.57 million in the January-March period, up 54.3 from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. It represents the largest-ever quarterly figure and breaks the previous yearly record of $42.08 million registered in the second quarter of last

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is guarding against potential instability in the housing market as home prices in Seoul picked up amid expectations for eased rules on redevelopment housing projects. The minister also said the government plans to unveil measures next month to overhaul the Korea Land and Housing Corp., the public housing developer at the center of a land speculation scandal involving public officials. Housing prices in Seoul recently jumped after new M

South Korea's wine imports more than doubled in the first quarter of the year as more people enjoyed drinking at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Wednesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy imported $109.7 million worth of wine in the January-March period, up 115.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. It represents the first time for the value of first-quarter wine imports to exceed the $100 million mark. The volum

South Korea's producer prices gained 0.9 percent on-month in March due to a modest rise in oil prices, extending their monthly gains for the fifth straight month, central bank data showed Wednesday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 106.85 in March, compared with 105.91 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index advanced 3.9 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods fell 2.1 percent on

SEJONG -- South Korea will become a non-regional partner of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), a regional lender of Central American nations, in August, officials said Tuesday. In January last year, South Korea joined the multilateral lender and provided $630 million to the CABEI for a 9 percent stake in the lender. A non-regional member could become a partner of the CABEI if its stake is above 8 percent, according to Seoul's finance ministry. South Korea and the CABE

Overseas branches of South Korean securities companies saw their combined net profit rise 5.6 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due mainly to increased earnings from commission fees, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of 70 overseas branches of 14 securities companies stood at $197.3 million in 2020, up $10.5 million won from 2019, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The hike in net profit came on the back of increased interest income and earnings from com

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it plans to cooperate with major trade partners to cope with the growing number of technology barriers in the global market. Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued 1,023 technical barriers to trade (TBT) over the January-March period, up 7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. TBTs, which include consumer safety standards, energy and environmental requirements, are often

South Korea will keep close tabs on the impact of possible greater global financial volatility on the country's economy and private-sector debt, a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday. Concern has been escalating over the possibility of rising interest rates and consumer prices across the globe, which could make world financial markets more volatile. "The global financial market, which has long been accustomed to low prices and rates, could suffer from a tantrum if worries over h

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) lapsed into a complete capital erosion in 2020 as its liabilities exceeded assets due to continued losses, data showed Tuesday. KNOC's liabilities stood at 18.64 trillion won ($16.7 billion) as of the end of last year, up nearly 514 billion won from a year earlier, according to the data posted on the state portal All Public Information in One (ALIO). In contrast, its assets amounted to 17.5 trillion won, down 1.12 trillion won from the previous yea

Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea plunged more than 30 percent in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. The value of ELS issues came to 18.8 trillion won ($16.8 billion) in the January-March period, down 31.9 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The figure was also down 10.3 percent from the 20.9 billion won floated during the same period a year earlier. ELS refers t

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose for the second straight month in March as exporters increased dollar holdings amid robust overseas shipments, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $92.7 billion as of end-March, up $2.67 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The FX deposits rose for the second consecutive month in March after they declined for the first time in four

South Korean banks plan to extend loans worth 3.5 trillion won ($3.1 billion) this year to low-income people with lower creditworthiness to help them cope with the fallout of the pandemic, the financial watchdog said Monday. The 2021 plan represents a rise of 100 billion won compared with 3.4 trillion won initially planned for last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Last year, local banks extended a larger-than-expected 3.7 trillion won in such loans to 210,000 borrowe

South Korea said Monday it has revised the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) system to have power companies utilize more sustainable resources, in line with the country's green energy drive. Under the new rules, power companies are requested to produce up to 25 percent of all their power output from renewable sources, up from the previous 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The policy will be implemented in October. It marked the first time for the ceiling to

South Korea's first-quarter economic growth is widely estimated to have recovered to pre-pandemic levels on a rapid rebound in exports and investment, experts said Monday. South Korea's gross domestic product came to 468.8 trillion won ($419 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2019, about a month before the new coronavirus hit Asia's fourth-largest economy. As the economy shrank 1 percent on-year in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the country's GDP dwindled to 463.4 trillion

South Korea's official development assistance for foreign countries fell 8.7 percent to $2.25 billion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has shown. According to the data on the tentative tally of 29 members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee released Tuesday, South Korea's bilateral ODA for 2020 stood at $1.76 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago, while its multilateral contributions slumped 19.9 percen