SEJONG -- South Korea plans to expand the coverage of its employment insurance program to self-employed people, as part of efforts to boost social safety nets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said Wednesday. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom, in an interview with Yonhap News TV, said the labor ministry has started initial work to expand the insurance's coverage to self-employed people. Kim made the remarks a day after the government announced details of expanding

SEJONG -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to South Korea dipped 22.4 percent on-year in the first half of the year as the global virus pandemic limited trades across borders amid a global economic slump, data showed Wednesday. South Korea received $7.66 billion worth of FDI commitments from January to June, falling from $9.87 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The country posted a record high FDI in the same period of 2018 at

South Korea's export prices rose for the second consecutive month in June on rising international oil costs, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, rose 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It represents the second straight on-month gain. In May, won-based export prices increased 0.6 percent from the prior month. From a year earlier, however, the index fell 6

SEJONG -- South Korea lost about 352,000 jobs in June, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline in the number of employed people as the coronavirus pandemic hammers job markets, data showed Wednesday. The country's jobless rate rose by 0.3 percentage point on-year to 4.3 percent in June, and the number of employed people fell to 27.05 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the first time since October 2009 that the nation lost jobs for the fourth straight mo

Moon says it will mark country’s paradigm shift, new blueprint for next 100 years

South Korea’s Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee on Tuesday refuted growing criticism over the government’s focus on raising taxes rather than dealing with housing supply shortage. In its latest effort to curb the heated real estate market, the Moon Jae-in administration rolled out its 22nd set of policy actions dubbed the “July 10 measures” last week, which centers on increasing taxes for multiple-home owners. But it was immediately hit with waves of criticisms from both

South Korea’s “economic uncertainty” is precarious amid clear signs of a downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The latest index of think tank Economic Policy Uncertainty indicates South Korea’s rate reached 428.82 in May, up sharply from 239.36 estimated in November 2019.  This marked the highest level since August last year, when the figure surged to 538.18 as tensions between the US and China escalated over trade issues. The index

An absolute majority of bond mavens in South Korea expect the central bank to hold its key interest steady for July despite the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 200 bond experts by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 99 percent of respondents said the Bank of Korea (BOK) will likely freeze its policy rate at a rate-setting meeting slated for Thursday. The remaining 1 percent projected the BOK Monetary Policy Committee to c

South Korean investors in gold have posted sky-high returns this year amid strong safe-haven demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Gold changed hands at 261,423 won ($217) per 3.75 grams on the Korea Exchange as of Friday, up a whopping 23.3 percent from the start of the year, according to the data from Daishin Securities Co. Gold marks the highest-yielding investment vehicle over the cited period, far outperforming time deposits, bonds, the US dollar and stocks. Su

The Asian Development Bank’s 53rd annual meeting, which was slated to be hosted in Incheon’s Songdo in September, has been canceled due to the persisting COVID-19 situation, Seoul’s government said Friday. South Korea will seek to take its hosting turn in 2023, instead. The event, originally set for May, had already been delayed once in March amid hopes that the epidemic situation may improve. The Ministry of Economy and Finance made an official request to the ADB headqu

Reflecting the Moon Jae-in administration’s stubborn efforts to steady the bubble-prone real estate market, the 22nd set of policy actions were rolled out last week to curb prices. The “July 10 measures” focused on increasing the tax burden for multiple-home owners, but was also seen as part of its series of flustered responses to underperforming measures. Despite a series of restraint measures, housing prices in Seoul and major cities across the country have been on a ste

Banks in South Korea will likely reduce their lending to local businesses and households in the third quarter due to the sluggish economy prompted by the new coronavirus pandemic, a central bank poll showed Monday. In the quarterly survey conducted by the Bank of Korea, the index measuring the banks’ attitude toward fresh loans came to negative 11 for the July-September period, marking a sharp turnaround from 1 for the second quarter and 11 for the first three months of the year. Such a

South Korean exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products rebounded in June, data showed Monday, as robust shipments of computers cushioned weak demand for displays and mobile devices. Outbound shipments of ICT products moved up 1 percent on-year to $14.9 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. It marked a sharp improvement from 15.3-percent on-year drop posted in April, which was followed by a 2.7-percent decline in May. Th

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 1.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July, but a slower pace of contraction signaled a recovery in shipments as more nations lifted coronavirus lockdown measures, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $13.3 billion in the July 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period also declined 1.7 percent. In the first 10 days of June, exports jumped 20

South Korea’s central bank is expected to keep its base rate frozen near-zero at its regular monetary policy meeting scheduled Thursday, to avoid further aggravation of the local housing market, experts said Sunday. According to experts, the Bank of Korea will maintain its policy rate at the current record-low of 0.5 percent for the time being, despite rate cut pressures stemming from economic downturns due to the coronavirus pandemic coupled with the trend of low inflation. This is main