In order to carry forward financial innovation next year, it is crucial to induce market funds into innovative industries, instead of the oversupplied housing mortgage sector, according to the top financial regulator Monday.“The funds (in the domestic capital market) are excessively focused on household lending, which mostly comprise housing mortgage loans,” said Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo at a financial policy meeting held at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp

South Korea’s exports inched down 2 percent in the first 20 days of December from a year ago, data from the Korea Customs Service showed Monday.The drop was mainly due to decreased shipments of semiconductors and ships -- 16.7 percent and 51.2 percent, respectively.Exports of passenger cars and wireless equipment, on the other hand, increased by 2.7 percent and 3 percent, respectively.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

South Korea's tax agency said Monday that it will launch an investigation into buyers of expensive homes over alleged tax evasion, a week after the government unveiled tougher regulations to rein rising home prices.  The National Tax Service said it will start the probe into 257 people who are suspected of evading taxes or illegitimately raising money to buy homes.  Debt accounted 69 percent of 512.4 billion won ($440 million) spent in 531 home transactions, which have been under scrut

South Korea's exports fell 2 percent in the first 20 days of December mainly due to decreased shipments of semiconductors and ships, customs data showed Monday. The country's exports stood at $30.4 billion in the Dec. 1-20 period, compared with $31.06 billion in the same period last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.By product, exports of semiconductors and ships fell 16.7 percent and 51.2 percent, respectively.  In contrast, outbound shipments of passenger cars and wireless equi

The number of South Koreans overqualified for their current jobs has reached a record high of over 30 percent this year, a central bank report showed Monday, suggesting overeducation may be adding to the country's overall costs and that the nation may also be running out of quality jobs.According to the report from the Bank of Korea (BOK), the number of people underemployed has breached the 30 percent mark for the very first time this year. "Underemployment occurs when a worker has higher a

Large-scale concerts held by Korean boy band BTS held in October has generated nearly 1 trillion won of economic impact, a study by Korea University Business School showed.The three concerts held at the Seoul Olympic Stadium appear to have created around 922.9 billion won of both direct and indirect economic effects, equivalent to the annual revenue generated by six typical medium-sized companies in Korea. Direct economic effect was calculated with ticket sales, costs for the venue and live broa

South Korean exports of information and communication technology products dropped for the 13th straight month in November on sluggish demand for chips, displays and mobile phones, trade data showed Sunday.The value of outbound shipments totaled $14.31 billion last month, plunging 21.8 percent from a year ago, according to findings compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.South Korea's ICT exports have been on the decline since November last year, with overseas shipments consistently falling b

Home sales in South Korea rose 42.6 percent in November from a year earlier amid a rise in housing prices, data showed Friday.The number of housing transactions across the country came to 92,413 in November, compared with 65,000 during the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of home sales in Seoul jumped 85.7 percent on-year to 17,313 in November. It represents a 22.4 percent hike from October. Financial Services

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that South Korea will spare no efforts to boost economic recovery next year as it seeks to boost corporate investment and consumer spending. "There should be an economic rebound next year to put the economy on a growth track," Hong told a KBS radio program earlier in the day. The nation's economy is expected to grow 2.4 percent next year, following this year's estimated 2 percent expansion, on the back of an anticipated recovery in the memory ch

S. Korea's overseas direct investment fell 5.8 percent on year in the third quarter due to sluggish investment by the manufacturing sector, data showed Friday.The value of investments made by South Korean companies came to a total of $12.7 billion in the July-September period, compared with $13.5 billion for the same quarter last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The US accounted for the largest share of South Korea's overseas investments, with $2.85 bi

The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. has been selected as one of three potential investors for a nuclear plant project in Bulgaria, according to the Balkan nation's energy ministry on Friday.The South Korean energy firm, along with Russia's Rosatom and the China National Nuclear Corporation, were selected as strategic candidates for the new nuclear energy plant project in northern Bulgaria, its ministry said.The decision was based on the candidates' experience in building nuclear pl

TOKYO -- South Korea, China and Japan will hold a trade ministers‘ meeting in Beijing over the weekend ahead of their trilateral summit in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu next week, reports said Thursday.China’s Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told a press conference that the ministers‘ meeting was set to take place in the Chinese capital on Sunday, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.   South Korea‘s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung

Soaring housing prices in South Korea have emerged as the biggest headache for policymakers, and now the country‘s officialdom is under growing pressure to actively join the Moon Jae-in administration’s drive to rein in a hike in home prices.On Wednesday, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said it is desirable for high-ranking officials to sell extra homes they own in Seoul and all but one neighboring areas in order to help stabilize home prices. His remarks came two days after the governm

SEJONG -- South Korea’s benchmark interest rate ranged between 3 percent and 5.25 percent per annum from 2000 to 2008.Though the monetary policy committee of the Bank of Korea cut the key rate to 2 percent in 2009 in the wake of the 2008-09 global financial crisis, the figure went into normalization in the early 2010s to reach 3.25 percent during the 2011-2012 period.Most analysts shared the view that the Korean economy had been resilient to negative external factors on the back of its rob

Bond prices in South Korea remain relatively strong on expectations that the country's central bank may further cut its policy rate early next year, data showed on Thursday. From Friday through Wednesday, bond yields, which move inversely to prices, fell despite Washington's Friday announcement of the phase-one trade deal with China, which cleared one of the major drags on the global economy as well as the world's financial markets.Over the four trading sessions, the benchmark three-year Treasur