South Korea’s Finance Ministry said Wednesday that it has no plans to raise taxes on gasoline and diesel this year, despite its vows to go carbon neutral by 2050, and hinted that it will likely maintain the inheritance tax at its current level. In a briefing on the revised taxation rules previously announced in July, Im Jae-hyun, a senior official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the government “currently has no plans to adjust the transportation-energy-environment tax

South Korea’s top financial regulator has vowed to eliminate regulatory hurdles and outdated rules that hinder local financial companies from rolling out innovative services. “The year 2021 is a crucial time for the country as we need to overcome the economic fallout from COVID-19 and carry out future strategies for taking a lead in the post-COVID era,” Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang said during an online meeting on the future outlook and competitiv

South Korea plans to provide a huge chunk of its emergency handouts to smaller merchants hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak by the Lunar New Year's holiday in early February, the finance minister said Wednesday. The country plans to provide 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in relief funds to small businesses stung by state-imposed shutdowns over virus cases and the self-employed reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic. "The government will start to provide the emergency han

South Korea and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to expand their bilateral economic ties in on-going energy projects in the South Asian nation. The two nations held the third round of the Korea-Pakistan Joint Trade Committee virtually, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, Seoul requested that Islamabad consider using South Korean consortiums in the planned construction of two hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 470 megawatts (MW) and 215 MW, respectiv

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 4.5 percent last December from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 31,419 units last month from 30,072 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. For the whole of 2020, foreign carmakers sold 274,859 autos, up 12 percent from 244,780 in the

South Korea's exports of kimchi reached an all-time high in the first 10 months of 2020, data showed Wednesday, on the back of growing global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Outbound shipments of kimchi over the January-October period of last year came to $119 million, rising 36.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The export volume also set a fresh high of 32,000 tons during the ci

South Korea's foreign reserves rose for the ninth straight month in December last year, supported by an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's foreign reserves came to a record high of $443.1 billion as of end-December, up $6.72 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights a

South Korea’s monetary policy chief on Tuesday called for the nation to brace for potential risks stemming from the financial authorities’ decision last year to funnel massive liquidity into the market and extend loan forbearance periods, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We must focus on risk management and accelerating innovation, and debt issues and the excess flow of capital into the asset markets – which are the side effects of the coronavirus crisis – need to b

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Tuesday called for banks and other financial firms to channel more funds into sectors like green cars and biotechnology to help the virus-hit economy come back strong. The country’s top economic policymaker underlined the importance of the financial industry’s role in helping the nation‘s economy rebound this year and moving toward becoming a pacesetting economy. “There is abundant liquidity in the market. But inflows into future growth

Home prices in South Korea rose at the fastest pace in nine years in 2020 despite a set of government measures to rein them in, data showed Tuesday. Housing prices in Asia's fourth-largest economy gained 5.36 percent last year from a year earlier amid low interest rates and ample market liquidity, according to the data from the Korea Real Estate Board. It represents the steepest on-year increase since the 6.14 percent hike recorded in 2011. Home prices in the South Korean capital of Seoul exp

If the aging population continues to rise, the ratio of value-added taxes to the nation’s gross domestic product will sharply drop, raising calls for the government’s tax rises to meet the costs of supporting the economy, a recent study showed Tuesday. A value-added tax is a type of indirect tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services by the government, with the purpose of raising funds to operate public programs, including construction of social infrastructures or soci

South Korea's exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high of $7.57 billion last year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed Tuesday. The record amount represents a 7.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By category, outbound shipments of fresh products rose 3.4 percent on-year to $1.43 billion. Those of processed goods also increased 8.8 percent to hit $6.14 billi

South Korea's top economic policymaker and the chief of the central bank said Tuesday that more prudent risk management is necessary as much of the idle money is flowing into assets, such as property and stocks. "The financial market showed stability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are growing concerns over the growing gap between the real economy and the financial sector," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a message for the new year to financial firms. "More

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street losses over jitters from the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.28 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,942.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a muted start, with the global coronavirus infections exceeding 85 million and the new COVID-19 variant spreading concerns in major economies. Investors' desire for profits also increased after a five-session record-

South Koreans' spending on liquor and cigarettes reached an all-time high in the third quarter of 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday. Local households spent 4.3 trillion won ($3.96 billion) on alcohol and cigarettes in the July-September period, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It represents the largest quarterly figure since 1970, when the central bank began tracking related data. The on-year increase is the h