South Korea's finance ministry is planning to float more long-dated Treasurys next year, in a bid to finance an increase in state spending, a senior government official said on Thursday.Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the issuance of long-term state bonds is expected to be raised by about 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) next year. Koo made the remarks at a meeting with senior economic officials to discuss plans on next year's Treasury bond sales.  "As the supply of long-term bo

The number of working South Koreans who used their parental leave reached nearly 100,000 in 2018. Among them, the number of men taking child care leave surged nearly 47 percent on-year, data from Statistics Korea showed.Last year, the number of workers who used parental leave marked 99,199, up 10.1 percent from the previous year. Of them, 82.2 percent were females, a jump of 4.4 percent on-year. Only 17.8 percent of the male workers used their paternity leave, but the figure soared 46.7 percent,

Since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea’s gross national income per capita had increased nearly 500-fold as of 2018, data provided by the nation’s central bank showed Thursday. The figure is part of the Bank of Korea’s latest data, as it changed its reference year from 2010 to 2015. According to the updated data, the nation’s GNI per capita stood at $33,434 in 2018, which was 503 times more than the corresponding figure in 1953 of $76. Before the BOK adopted

The number of immigrants, including naturalized citizens, in South Korea topped 1.3 million as of May this year, government data showed Thursday. The number of immigrants, including naturalized citizens, in South Korea has been rising steadily, reaching 1.32 million this year, up 1.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.However, the number of naturalized citizens fell 6.7 percent on year to 49,000 as of end-May, the data showed.  By nationality, Chines

Government envisions 100 trillion won worth of new investment projects

The net asset value of exchange traded funds hit a record high on the back of the bullish run on the local stock market, fueled by eased uncertainties over the Sino-American trade tussle, data showed on Thursday.The net asset value of ETFs reached 48.83 trillion won ($41.89 billion) as of Wednesday, the highest on record since 2002, when the investment vehicle made a debut on the local stock market, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange.An ETF refers to an investment fund traded o

South Korea said Thursday it plans to expand its global network of free-trade agreements in 2020 by establishing deeper ties with emerging countries to ease its reliance on the world's top two economies and seek a balanced portfolio."We need to ease our export dependence on specific countries and diversify our basket," Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said during a meeting with related ministries held in Seoul. "Thus, we need to discover business opportunities that can benefit trading

South Korea’s credit default risk fell below its 10-year low, following trade talk progress between the US and China and the latest result of the British election, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday.The country’s credit default swap premium for foreign exchange stabilization bonds with a five-year maturity stood at 22.2 basis points as of Tuesday, marking the lowest since the 22.1 basis points observed on Oct. 15, 2007.While the United States and Japan respectively sa

As South Korea’s overheated real estate market continued to reel from the repercussions of the Moon Jae-in administration’s rigorous anti-real estate deal regulations announced earlier this week, a civic group released data showing that major businesses are responsible for the investment hype.According to the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, land owned by five major conglomerates -- Hyundai Motor, Lotte, Samsung, SK and LG -- saw their property value surge 61 trillion

SEJONG -- As the 2010s is due to expire in two weeks, South Korea continues to face heightened economic uncertainties.The year 2000 was a new starting point for the fourth-largest economy in Asia. After overcoming the 1997-98 financial crisis, Korea posted 8.9 percent economic growth in the last year of the 20th century.The nation’s gross domestic product growth was robust in the early 2000s. Following a 7.7 percent rise in 2002, buoyed by the Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup

South Korea's credit default risk has plunged to a more than ten-year low on a much-awaited trade deal between the US and China and the outcome of the British election, which effectively green lights the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The credit default swap premium for South Korean foreign exchange stabilization bonds with a five-year maturity came to 22.2 basis points, marking the lowest since the 22.1 basis points recorded on Oct. 15, 2007.

South Korea's research and development spending was the fifth largest among OECD nations in 2018, the country's science ministry said Wednesday. South Korea spent 85.7 trillion won ($73.3 billion) on R&D activities last year, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. In terms of the proportion of R&D spending to gross domestic product, South Korea was the leading nation in the world, the ministry said, reaching 4.81 percent in 2018, up 0.26 percent

The amount of cash generated by major listed firms via business operation declined in the first three quarters of the year, portending a decline in their dividend payments and capital spending going forward, an industry tracker said Wednesday.According to CEO Score, the combined free cash flow of 258 out of the top-500 listed companies in the January-September period reached a combined 12.05 trillion won ($10.33 billion), down 58 percent, or 16.6 trillion won, from last year's 28.7 trillion won.

About 1 million households in South Korea received a total of 421 billion won ($361 million) in employment promotion allowance for the first half of this year, government data showed Wednesday. The allowance for employment promotion has been offered to low-income workers since 2009 as part of the government's initiative to narrow wage inequality. During the January-June period, 960,000 households received an average 440,000 won per home in employment promotion allowance, the National Tax Service

South Koreans' weekly working hours fell slightly in 2018 from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, as a growing number of people are seeking to strike a balance between their work and personal life.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that South Korean men and women worked 41.5 hours a week on average in 2018, compared with 42.8 hours in 2017.South Koreans' weekly working hours have been gradually declining since 1990, when they worked 53.8 hours a week. Nevertheless, South