Number of ‘extended-based’ unemployed up 1 million since Jan. 1

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday sharply revised down its 2020 growth estimate for South Korea, along with that for the entire Asian region, expecting Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1 percent from a year earlier. The revision marks a turnaround from a 1.3 percent on-year growth forecast in April. Last year, the Korean economy expanded 2 percent. "In a regular supplement to its annual flagship economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook 2020 released in April,

South Korea's trading volume with 21 countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War soared in the past 60 years on its economic growth and increased establishment of diplomatic ties with them, a local business lobby said Thursday. The trading volume with the 21 nations reached $314.6 billion in 2019, a dramatic hike from $200 million worth of trade with 12 participating nations in 1960, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said in a statement. "South Korea needs to expand fr

South Korea plans to impose tax on cryptocurrency, the country's finance minister said Wednesday, adding that his ministry will announce the details next month. The government "has continued to realign its tax system to reflect changes in market conditions, but it is especially working to refine its list of taxable items and types of tax this year," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while speaking before the parliamentary finance committee. In the past years, cryptocurrencies, such

Tighter mortgage rules, expansion of regulated areas and measures to halt speculative buying to take effect

North Korea’s recent demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong will have a limited impact on the domestic financial market, South Korea’s fiscal and monetary authorities said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea held a meeting Wednesday morning under the chairmanship of Deputy Gov. Yoon Myun-shik to review the global financial market’s response to the North Korean action and the impact on the domestic market. At around 2:50 p.m. on the previous day, North Korea dem

South Korea said Wednesday that it will further tighten lending rules and designate more areas subject to tighter regulations in an effort to stem a further rise in housing prices. The government also warned that it will take additional stronger steps to curb speculative demand, if needed. The government rolled out its toughest measures yet to stem rising housing prices in greater Seoul and some unregulated areas, as a series of steps, including tax hikes and loan regulations, failed to put a

South Korea will take steps to minimize negative economic fallout caused by North Korea's explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office, the country's finance minister said Tuesday. In the afternoon, North Korea blew up the office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean cooperative industrial zone in the North's city near the border, after cutting off all communication lines with South Korea. Pyongyang blamed the South for the deadlock in inter-Korean relations on June 13. Finance M

Fastest on-year climb in 20 years on improved government, business efficiencies

Govt. set to unveil 21st set of measures this week, zeroes in on ‘gap investment’

　 Major foreign investment banks and institutions have revised their economic growth outlook for South Korea, data showed Tuesday.  According to the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign investment banks -- Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, HSBC, Nomura and UBS -- forecast that the local economy will contract by 0.4 percent this year on average, slightly improved from the minus 0.9 percent growth estimated in late Apr

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to the highest amount in over two years last month, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid pandemic-triggered uncertainties that apparently prompted local businesses to stockpile hard currency. Foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $80.92 billion as of end-May, up $2.74 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since March 2018, when foreign curr

  Major foreign investment banks (IBs) and economic institutes have forecast South Korea's economy to shrink in 2020 due to the fallout of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, a report showed on Tuesday. According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance, nine foreign IBs and economic think tanks predicted that South Korea's economy may contract 0.4 percent this year, up from a contraction of 0.9 percent that they predicted in late April. Nomura raised its forecast t

Seoul to set up funds worth 3.7 trillion won to help companies clinch orders this year

South Korea is seeking to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Cambodia next month, hoping to increase its economic influence in Southeast Asia, according to top officials Monday. The announcement comes as Korea has been expanding its economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, amid predictions by experts that the novel coronavirus pandemic will likely accelerate rising trade protectionism, coupled with the diversification of global supply chains fro