More than one out of four instructors at private institutes lost their jobs during the course of the new coronavirus pandemic, predominantly without unemployment benefits, a survey showed Monday. In an online survey on the effect of COVID-19 on 500 instructors released by Gabjil 119, a workers' advocacy group, 27 percent of the respondents said they experienced unemployment in the past 10 months since the virus outbreak. Commissioned by Gabjil 119, the survey was conducted from Nov. 20-24 on

Gold prices in South Korea have been on the skids in recent months amid a soaring local stock market, data showed Monday. A gram of gold changed hands at 64,320 won ($59.23) on the domestic market Friday, down 0.80 percent from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The closing prices were down 19.7 percent from an all-time high of 80,100 won per gram recorded on July 28 this year. International prices of the yellow metal have also dropped to the $1,800 range per ounce from th

South Korea's imports of Japanese beer spiked in October from a year earlier due to stepped-up marketing activities amid a weaker local boycott of goods from the neighboring country, data showed Monday. Seoul brought in $370,000 worth of Japanese beer in October, up a whopping 873.7 percent from the same month last year when the boycott was in full swing, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the liquor industry. Imports of Japanese beer had been on the upswing in recent mon

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared to other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, reflect on changes being made, and explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. -- Ed. In the face of the unprecedented pandemic crisis, improved gender equality is no long

The high-income group should spend more to revive South Korea's public consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report said Sunday. Public consumption has recovered slightly from the second quarter of the year, but it is still lackluster compared with before the new coronavirus pandemic occurred, said the report by the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF). According to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), private consumption rose an average 0.7 percent from 2017 to 2019. But the first quarter o

South Korea's economy is predicted to recover from the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half of next year unless the pandemic resurges, a report said Sunday. But the report by the Hyundai Research Institute said the South Korean economy is expected to face another downturn in the first quarter of next year if the pandemic resurges. A resurgence of the pandemic next year would cause the economic recovery of the country to be delayed till the first half of 2022, the repor

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to fine 11 logistics firms a combined 5.45 billion won ($4.98 million) for colluding to fix their bidding prices for transportation of imported agricultural products. Leading logistics firms CJ Logistics, its rival Lotte Global Logistics and 10 other firms colluded to fix their quotations in 2006-2018 for 60 rounds of bidding over distributions of imported agricultural goods, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). They

A majority of South Korean exporters expect their business conditions to improve in the first quarter of next year on the back of the growing hope over the post-pandemic economic recovery, a survey showed Sunday. The country's export business survey index (EBSI) for the January-March period in 2021 came to 112.1, according to a survey carried out by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). It marks the first time since 2017 that the EBSI has exceeded 110. A reading above 100 means op

South Korea’s current account surplus, a key barometer of the nation’s trade, surpassed $10 billion for two consecutive months and hit a three-year high in October, the central bank said Friday. The surplus increased 48.9 percent on-year to $11.6 billion in October on the back of recovering exports, despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the largest surplus since September 2017, when the corresponding figure stood at $12.3 billion, and the t

The number of working mothers with underage children fell by the most during the six-month period ending in April as the job market remained sluggish amid the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The number of working mothers with children aged under 18 reached 2.67 million as of end-April, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest decline since 2016, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. The fall was ma

Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.2 percent in the first half of 2020 from the end of 2019, the land ministry said Friday. Foreigners owned 251.6 square kilometers -- slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan -- at the end of June. It represents 0.25 percent of South Korea's total land area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The value of land held by foreigners increased 1.4 percent to 31.21 trillion won ($28 billion) over the cited

South Korea's current account surplus hit a three-year high in October as exports showed signs of a modest recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Friday. The current account surplus reached $11.66 billion in October, widening from a surplus of $10.13 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. It marked the largest surplus since September 2017. Since the country logged a deficit o

Online shopping in South Korea grew 20 percent in October from a year earlier as the new coronavirus outbreak prompted people to buy goods via e-commerce platforms, data showed Thursday. The value of online transactions stood at 14.2 trillion won ($12.9 billion) in October, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The use of online shopping has been on the rise this year amid the pandemic as people refrained from visiting offline stores on

South Korea plans to nurture 100,000 talented individuals in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector by 2025 by supporting related graduate schools and colleges centering on software development, the finance minister said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also said the country plans to spend more than 23 billion won ($21 million) next year to support software firms' marketing in and forays into overseas markets. "Through AI-related graduate schools and colleges focusing on software d

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 7.5 percent in November from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,436 units last month from 25,514 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. From January to November, foreign carmakers sold 243,440 autos, up 13 percent from 214,780 in the