The South Korean central bank on Thursday said it will start to buy or sell securities with non-banking finance institutions in open markets, expanding the scope of entities subject to its key monetary policy instrument to control the money supply in the economy. With the latest change in the Bank of Korea's open market operations, local asset management firms, mutual savings banks and credit unions will now be eligible to engage in repurchase agreements (repos) for securities transaction

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Thursday that it has launched a Saudi Arabia desk to ramp up support for local firms expanding their businesses in the Middle East. According to the bank, the new desk will take charge of coordinating and supporting the private sector, not just within Saudi Arabia, but in the Middle East overall. While the team will be based in Seoul, an employee will be dispatched to Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, and will collaborate closely to discover new

World Bank chief says gender pay gap must be resolved to boost fertility rate

The total face value of damaged bills and coins discarded by the Bank of Korea reached nearly 4 trillion won ($2.98 billion) last year, marking a sharp rise from previous years as more in-person business transactions occurred with the end of the pandemic, the central bank said Wednesday. A total of 483.85 million damaged bills and coins were pulled out of circulation by the central bank due to damage in 2023, up 71.17 million from 412.68 million tallied a year earlier. The face value of the de

The Korean government plans to expand tax incentives for the nation’s strategic technologies such as advanced chips and displays as part of a tax revision that takes effect next month. The Finance Ministry on Tuesday unveiled a set of tax reform plans, including tax cuts worth up to 950 billion won ($711 million) per year, in a bid to attract more investment into new growth drivers and boost the local economy. The chip and display sectors have already been protected as strategic industries

South Korea's producer prices moved up 0.1% on-month in December due to the higher cost of agricultural products and gas, the central bank said Tuesday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, came to 121.19 last month, up from 121.02 tallied in November, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It marked the first rebound in three months, as the index fell 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent on-month in October and November, respectively. From a year earlier, it gai

The South Korean government said on Monday that it has decided to abolish a policy mandating twice-a-month breaks for large discount stores, citing the change as one intended for the convenience of the people. The Office for Government Policy Coordination held a civic-government discussion in Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul, where it narrowed down a number of potential changes to be made. These included allowing large supermarkets to take their two monthly obligatory breaks on weekdays and allowing them

Samsung Electronics is the largest employer with 124,000 workers, followed by Hyundai Motor, Kia

South Korea's exports fell 1 percent on-year in the first 20 days of January due to a smaller number of working days, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments reached $33.3 billion in the Jan. 1-20 period, compared with $33.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports fell 18.2 percent on-year to $35.9 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.6 billion. The number of working days came to 15.5 over the period, compared wit

Renault Korea Motors and two other carmakers will recall more than 104,000 vehicles due to faulty components, the government said Thursday. The three companies, including Kia Corp. and domestic electric van manufacturer Jeis Mobility, are voluntarily recalling a total of 104,120 units of three different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The problems that prompted the recall include a faulty component in the anti-lock braking system module in over 83,

Five financial holding firms in South Korea have submitted their plan to financial authorities to curb the growth of household debt to less than 2 percent this year, informed sources said Thursday. The financial holding firms set the voluntary goal in a recent meeting with financial authorities, according to the sources. The government "asked the financial holding firms to help maintain household debts within the economic growth rate, and they each said they will limit their household debt

Government to ease energy cost burdens amounting to 290 billion won for over 3.6 million households

South Korea's industry ministry unveiled a plan Tuesday to invest 3 trillion won ($2.26 billion) in the robot sector with private businesses by 2030, with a goal of supplying 1 million robots to local industries. The plan for intelligence robots will focus on securing 80 percent of key robot parts locally by 2030, compared with the current estimate of 44 percent, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The country will also promptly lift around 50 regulations to pave the wa

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology products rose 8.1 percent in December from a year earlier mainly thanks to a recovery in global chip demand, government data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $18.3 billion last month, compared with $16.9 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The December tally marked the highest monthly figure for 2023 and the second consecutive month of on-year ga

11Street Co., a South Korean e-commerce company, said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with the anti-trust regulator over its bigger rival Coupang, Inc.'s alleged unfair practices. New York-listed Coupang has recently released the comparison between the maximum commission rates it receives from its product suppliers and competitors' rates to show its rates are lower than theirs. The comparison comes after a local newspaper report that Coupang receives hefty commissions from its supplie