Seoul, Incheon among 4 cities where unemployment payouts have increased the most

SEJONG -- Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan on Tuesday urged the National Assembly to swiftly approve the third extra budget to help revive the virus-hit economy, saying the budget is desperately needed to protect jobs amid the pandemic. Earlier this month, South Korea proposed the extra budget of 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion), the third batch meant to help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. Lawmakers, however, have failed to begin a bu

SEJONG -- South Korea, China, Japan and 10 Southeast Asian nations strengthened their emergency liquidity program to better cope with possible financial crises, Seoul's finance ministry said Tuesday. The move came after a revised agreement of the regional financial safety net, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), went into effect earlier in the day, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement. The 13 nations agreed to revise the agreement in May last ye

Banks and other financial institutions' social contributions hit a record high in 2019, industry data showed Tuesday. The data released by the Korea Federation of Banks showed 22 financial institutions, including five major retail banks, spent a total of 1.13 trillion won ($935 million) on social contribution activities in 2019. The figure represents a 15 percent hike from 2018 and the highest since 2006, when the Korea Federation of Banks began to collect related data, according to the feder

The South Korean government said Tuesday it will seek to sell its 17.25-percent stake in Woori Financial Holdings Co. in the second half of this year, depending on financial market conditions. Last year, the government set up a blueprint for completing the privatization of Woori Financial by 2022 in a bid to recoup public funds that were used to bail out the financial holding group in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial Crisis. The public funds oversight committee, which handles state ass

South Korea and Singapore on Monday kicked off negotiations toward a digital trade deal, Seoul's trade ministry said. South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her Singaporean counterpart, Chan Chun Sing, announced the start of negotiations during their videoconference earlier in the day, the ministry said. A digital trade deal includes provisions for non-discriminatory treatment for electronic transactions, easing of barriers on cross-border data flow and consumer protection. If Sout

South Korea's drug safety agency said Monday that illegal meat imports have fallen off sharply since October last year on the back of stepped-up screening efforts to stem the inflow of African swine fever (ASF). The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has inspected a total of 1,417 offline food import businesses in the country since October 2019 and found no breaches of the law over meat imports. Prior to the inspections, there were a total of 43 violations between August 2018 and Septem

South Korean businesses struggled to stay afloat amid new coronavirus-caused slump in the first quarter, either by borrowing more money or selling their assets to secure much-needed liquidity, a report showed Monday. According to the report from the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), the outstanding debt owed by 623 listed firms here came to 386.7 trillion won ($318.6 billion) as of end-March, up 20 trillion won from three months earlier. The report is based on the analysis of financia

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 7.5 percent on year in the first 20 days of June amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $25 billion in the June 1-20 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 20-day period also slipped 16.2 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is denting exports by South Korea's economy. The

South Korea's household debt to the gross domestic product grew at the fastest pace among 43 countries in the world last year, leading the country's overall private-sector debt to also expand at one of the biggest rates, data showed Sunday. The ratio of the country's household debt to GDP reached 95.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 1.6 percentage points from 93.9 percent the previous year, according to data provided by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Hong Kong had the

South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 15.3 percent on-year in the first three months of the year, weighed on by the coronavirus pandemic, with investments to China and Hong Kong having fallen the most, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance showed Friday. Local companies invested a combined $12.6 billion in the cited period, compared with $14.9 billion reported for the same quarter last year. This year’s first quarter also marked the first time the figure turned int

Fiscal chief presses for swift passage of 3rd extra budget bill

South Korea's current account surplus with the United States and China sharply narrowed in 2019 from a year earlier amid a prolonged trade dispute between the world's largest economies that undermined its exports, as well as its current account balance, central bank data showed Friday. South Korea posted a current account surplus of $22.05 billion with the United States in 2019, compared with a $24.67 billion surplus posted in 2018, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Its curr

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Friday renewed calls for the National Assembly to approve the third extra budget to help revive the virus-hit economy, saying the government will spare no efforts to achieve positive growth this year. Earlier this month, South Korea proposed its third extra budget of 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) meant to help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. "I earnestly ask the National Assembly to appr

Criticism grows over new rules for depriving homebuying opportunities from non-speculative investors, ‘exception clauses’ in the works, officials say