South Korea’s producer prices increased for the third consecutive month in August, mostly reflecting the rising costs of agricultural goods and oil products, central bank data showed Tuesday. The inflationary trend, attributed to the record-long rainy season and typhoons, is seen as adding pressure on coronavirus-hit consumers ahead of the Chuseok holiday. The producer price index -- an indicator of future consumer inflation -- stood at 103.19 in August, climbing 0.5 percent from a m

South Korea's private consumption is expected to recover at a slower-than-expected clip as the new coronavirus outbreak has dealt a blow to demand for offline services and foreign travel, the central bank said Tuesday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the recovery of face-to-face services and overseas consumption is expected to take a considerable period of time amid lingering concerns about a flare-up in virus cases. "During an economic crisis, consumption serves as a buffer for the economy.

SEJONG -- Cancer remained the top cause of death in South Korea, a government report showed Tuesday. In 2019, a total of 295,110 deaths were reported in South Korea, down 1.2 percent from a year earlier. It marked the first annual decline since 2013. The statistics agency said 574.8 deaths were reported per 100,000 South Koreans last year. It also said 158.2 per 100,000 people died of cancer last year. Cancer has been the No. 1 cause of death in the country since 1983. Heart disease is th

South Korea's sales of derivatives-linked securities fell 32.6 percent on-year in the first half of the year due to sharp declines in stock markets in major countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The combined value of equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivatives-linked securities (DLS) issued in the January-June period came to 42.1 trillion won ($36 billion), down 20.4 trillion won from a year ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The produ

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday a fourth supplementary budget would help small merchants navigate through the difficult time as they were hit by a recent resurgence of the new coronavirus. "The government has actively taken bold measures to overcome the economic crisis," Hong told Yonhap News TV. Hong said the fourth extra budget will become "welcome rain" for small merchants to overcome this crisis. Hong made the remarks as the ruling Democratic Par

Major South Korean lender Nonghyup Bank has applied for China's approval to open a branch in Beijing as part of its Asian push, industry sources said Tuesday. Nonghyup Bank, which lodged the application with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission late last month, is expected to receive preliminary approval by February at the latest. It usually takes six months to receive preliminary approval from the Chinese financial authorities to open a branch in the world's second-largest ec

The United States has nearly halved its anti-dumping tariffs on oil pipeline products from South Korean steelmakers, industry sources said Tuesday. The US Department of Commerce has decided to levy a tariff of 4.23 percent to 9.24 percent on South Korean oil pipelines, far lower than the 2018 ruling of up to 18.77 percent. The tariff reduction came after the Court of International Trade (CIT) ordered Washington to readjust its earlier duties in January following complaints from South Korean st

Interested parties form initial consensus on allowing ‘Korean Airbnb’ in rural areas

SEJONG -- South Korea plans to unveil rules to ensure fiscal soundness, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday.  The rules, which aim to keep the growth rate of government spending at a level of nominal growth of gross domestic product (GDP), will be announced by the end of this month, Hong told lawmakers. However, such rules will be exempted in time of a crisis, like the coronavirus pandemic, Hong said. The move comes amid concerns that this year's four extra budgets could strain fi

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Monday it has suspended two of its domestic plants for four days, as some of its workers were confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus. Kia halted the operations of two plants in Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, from Wednesday through Monday, with all of the 6,000 employees at the plants staying at home, a company spokesman said over the phone. "As of noon Monday, 11 assembly line workers were confirmed to have been in

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports rose 3.6 percent on-year in the first 20 days of September, marking the first 20-day rise in six months due to a sharp gain in exports of semiconductors, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $29.6 billion in the Sept. 1-20 period, up $1.02 billion from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The average daily exports during the 20-day period, however, dropped 9.8 percent. The coronavirus pandemic has

The amount of evaded income taxes from self-employed high earners in South Korea totaled nearly 10 trillion won ($8.58 billion) from 2010 to 2019, according to data compiled by the National Tax Service. The report, submitted to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and parliamentary finance committee member Rep. Yang Hyang-ja, showed that the nation’s tax agency investigated 7,760 business owners with high income. Over the past 10 years, these taxpayers reduced their accumulated

South Korea’s central bank warned Sunday that efforts by individual nations to prioritize their own citizens over others for access to a future coronavirus vaccine are likely to push back the time frame for the pandemic’s end. “There are projections that development of some of the vaccines will be complete by the second half of 2021,” the Bank of Korea said in its regular report on the global economy. “But there is a possibility that the end of the coronavirus p

Govt all set to hand out emergency cash upon parliamentary budget approval

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said Sunday it will hold a joint videoconference with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to forge closer ties in key technology sectors. Officials from the ministry and the OECD will exchange views on the upcoming post-coronavirus digital era, and how to handle advances in neurotechnology innovations in the online workshop, which runs from Monday through Thursday. "International cooperation in the digital tech realm