South Korea's exports and imports will likely outperform those of major economies this year but face a slump due to sluggish demand in major economies caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's central bank said Thursday. "Global demand for imports is expected to greatly drop this year due to the stronger-than-anticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a report submitted to the National Assembly. "However, when considering better-th

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports soared in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, mainly due to a calendar effect but raised hopes for a recovery in global trade as more nations eased coronavirus lockdown measures. The country's outbound shipments jumped 20.2 percent to $12.3 billion in the June 1-10 period from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period, however, fell 9.8 percent on-year. Compared

South Korea will help private firms create more jobs, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday, in the latest effort to protect jobs that have vanished due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move came after the government has pushed to create 550,000 jobs in the public sector as the nation's job market remained grim due to falling exports and consumption. The government will encourage private firms to open 50,000 jobs for young people in July, and smaller firms will be given benefits for jo

The state coronavirus relief funds have been spent mostly on dining out and grocery shopping, the interior ministry said Wednesday, based on an analysis of credit card data.    The Ministry of Interior and Safety analyzed credit and debit card transactions from May 11-31 from eight financial firms to find out about spending behavior with the relief money.    As of May 31, a total of 5.67 trillion won in relief money was spent, and restaurants were the biggest spending dest

Nation’s economy will only shed 1.2-2.5% in 2020, while global economy will face a 6-7.6 percent contraction

   The number of unemployed in South Korea in May hit the highest level in more than a decade as businesses continued to freeze jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday.  According to data released by Statistics Korea, the number of employed totaled at 26.93 million last month, shedding 392,000 jobs compared with a year earlier, which marked the third consecutive monthly loss.  This was the first occurrence since the country reported job losses for four s

South Korea's household debt continued to grow at a steady pace in May, but the rise in corporate loans sharply slowed from a month earlier, possibly reflecting ample liquidity for local firms, central bank data showed Wednesday. Fresh bank loans extended to local households came to 5 trillion won ($4.17 billion) in the month, slightly up from 4.9 trillion won the month before, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rise in home-backed loans slowed to 3.9 trillion won from 4.

South Korea's money supply grew by the largest amount ever in April on a sharp increase in funds held by local companies apparently seeking to prepare for the shock from the new coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2 came to 3,018.6 trillion won ($2.51 trillion) as of end-April, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks a 1.1 percent, or 34 trillion won increase from a month before, which is the largest on-month gain sinc

SEJONG -- South Korea's financial authorities are closely monitoring the property market as ample liquidity could fuel a rise in home prices, Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said Wednesday. South Korea has promised to spend some 270 trillion won ($225 billion) to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, with the Bank of Korea (BOK) cutting its key rate to a historic low. "The government will closely monitor the market to prevent asset prices from excessively rising

SEJONG -- South Korea's jobless rate surged to a 10-year high in May as the coronavirus pandemic hammered job markets, data showed Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.5 percent in May, marking the highest level since January 2010, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people fell by 392,000 to 26.93 million in May, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. It was the first time that the nation lost jobs for the third str

Multilateral agency cites Seoul’s successful COVID-19 response

SEJONG -- Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan called Tuesday for the National Assembly to swiftly approve the third extra budget to help revive an economic recovery as the coronavirus pandemic resulted in contractions across industrial sectors. Last week, South Korea proposed its third extra budget worth 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) meant to help key industries cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic and protect jobs. "The effectiveness of this extra budget depends on it

South Korea's top 100 companies posted a 10 percent on-quarter decline in their overseas earnings in the January-March period due to the new coronavirus impact on industries, an industry association said Tuesday.  The 100 biggest companies in terms of sales reported their combined overseas sales fell to 170.42 trillion won in the first quarter from 190.17 trillion won in the fourth quarter, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said in a statement. Companies hit hard by the COVID-19

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to develop new ready-to-eat products utilizing local fishery goods to take advantage of the rising demand for processed food items as more people refrain from dining out amid the new coronavirus pandemic across the globe. Under the plan, the country will join forces with local businesses and develop at least nine different kinds of new processed fishery products that can be easily prepared at households by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Oce

South Korea collected 46.8 trillion won ($38.8 billion) in taxes in April, down 3 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday. Income tax revenue amounted to 6.6 trillion won in April, up 1 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Dues collected from companies reached 6.4 trillion won in the month, up 3.7 trillion won from a year earlier. Value-added tax revenue reached 14.5 trillion won in April, down 2.6 trillion won from