South Korean households' spending on restaurants and hotels dropped in the fourth quarter of last year amid a resurge of coronavirus infections, central bank data showed Thursday. Household spending on eating out and hospitality services came to 18.9 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in the October-December period, dropping below the 20 trillion-won mark for the first time in five years, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The corresponding figure amounted to 19.9 trillion won in the firs

South Korea's imports of Japanese beer climbed for the fifth straight month in January, data showed Thursday, amid signs of a weaker local boycott of goods from the neighboring country. Asia's fourth-largest economy brought in 1,072 tons of Japanese beer in January, up a whopping 670.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the liquor industry. Industry watchers said the consecutive increase is due to weakening anti-Japan sentiment in So

South Korean banks’ total outstanding mortgages extended to households gained 6.4 trillion won ($5.6 billion) on-month in February, central bank data showed Wednesday, with the figure marking the second-largest increase for the month. Outstanding mortgages stood at 733.3 trillion won as of end-February, according to the Bank of Korea. The 6.4 trillion-won gain was the second-largest increase in the month of February the BOK has seen since it started compiling such data in 2004. Of the

South Korea said Wednesday it plans to achieve annual exports of $700 billion by 2025 by expanding financial support for exporters while fostering new growth engines, particularly in the health care segment. To meet the goal, the country plans to spend 20 trillion won ($17.4 billion) on trade financing for exporters through 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "The global trade environment has been facing changes due to the rising awareness of carbon neutrality,

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in January from the previous month, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.31 percent at the end of January, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.1 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly bec

South Korea plans to invest more than 200 billion won ($176 million) in developing automotive chip-making technology by 2022 in an effort to nurture the next-generation vehicle sector, the finance minister said Wednesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government plans to cooperate with local automakers to find ways to ease a current supply shortage of automotive chips that may last until the third quarter. "As automotive chips are key parts of the car industry and demand for futur

The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday purchased 2 trillion won ($1.76 billion) worth of government bonds as part of its market-stabilizing efforts amid the coronavirus crisis.    According to an announcement posted on its website, an auction of the first batch of BOK's 7 trillion won bond purchase program within the first half was closed after attracting bids of more than 4.2 trillion won.    The bank bought three-year government bonds at 1.17 trillion won, five-year Treasury

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday revised up its 2021 growth outlook for the South Korean economy as the country's exports remain robust amid the pandemic.    The OECD expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.3 percent this year, up from its December estimate of 2.8 percent. Still, the Paris-based organization revised down its 2022 growth forecast for South Korea to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent.    The upward revision for

The amount of lineally inherited and gifted assets has reached nearly 113 trillion won ($99 billion), surging about 42 percent in the last five years, according to data compiled by the National Tax Service Tuesday. The report, submitted to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party, showed that the accumulated amount of inter-family asset inheritances and gifts came in at 112.98 trillion won in 2019. It was up by 33.27 trillion won or 41.8 percent from some 79.68 trillion won marked in

The recent surge in the US Treasury yields, if prolonged, could lead to a decline in asset prices, South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said Tuesday, saying that the government would keep an eye on market volatilities. “If the US bond yields continue to rise, volatilities including change in asset prices over avoidance of risky investments and an outflow of emerging market capitals could materialize,” Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said during a macroeconomics meeting. &

South Korea's economic activity remains stagnant as the country has continued to suffer heavy job losses despite improving consumption and robust exports, a state-run think tank said Tuesday. Revived consumption of durable goods and solid exports have provided some defense against the economic slowdown, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "The Korean economy continues to be sluggish with rapidly contracting employment due to COVID-19

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to lift a set of regulations in the agricultural sector to harness more state-of-the-art technologies and foster new growth engines for the industry. Under the blueprint, South Korea will establish new smart farming clusters for a wider scope of areas covering livestock, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country previously focused on adopting the solution for greenhouses. The concept of smart farming centers on the applicat

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Tuesday that it has signed a combined 835 billion won ($731 million) worth of orders from Liberia, Oceania and Europe to build eight ships. The orders include four container carriers and three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, Korea Shipbuilding said. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, will build four 15,900-twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers and deliver them to buyers from the second half

South Korea's tax revenue rose 2.4 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in January from a year earlier due largely to an increase in the collection of capital gains taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 38.8 trillion won in taxes in January, compared with 36.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The rise in tax revenue was mainly attributable to an increase in capital gains tax income from housing transactions and fund investments.

A recent jump in international oil prices and recovering refining margins are raising expectations for a rebound in South Korean oil refiners' earnings down the road, industry sources said Tuesday. Industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players registered their worst performances ever last year, stung by slumping crude prices, weak refining margins and tumbling demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a boon to local refiners, however, international oil prices have been rising rap