South Korea’s central bank on Thursday cut the nation’s policy rate to 1.5 percent, amid mounting external uncertainties, officials have announced.It also decided to sharply slash the country's growth pace this year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.2 percent from 2.5 percent.The Bank of Korea held its rate-setting Monetary Policy Board and decided to cut the base interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent.The rate cut decision came a step earlier than the US Fed’s largely anti

The Bank of Korea slashed its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.50 percent Thursday in a surprise move to help spur growth amid prolonged trade tensions.The rate cut is the first since November when the central bank raised the rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent.The unexpected rate cut follows seven consecutive months of decline in the country's exports, which could face further downward momentum in the future due to Japan's export curbs on key materials for the production of se

With boycotts of Japanese products becoming more widespread in South Korea in response to Tokyo’s export restrictions, accompanied by calls to stop visiting the neighboring country in a show of protest, data showed that Koreans were the second-largest group of visitors to Japan, the largest being Chinese travelers.The data from the Japan National Tourism Organization showed that almost 7.54 million Koreans traveled to Japan in 2018, making up 24.1 percent of all visitors to the country. It

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday released details of its “catch-all system” for the country’s trade controls for security, refuting one by one Japan’s claims that South Korea’s system is insufficient.The ministry reiterated that Korea has been controlling exports of both strategic and nonstrategic items under stricter conditions than Japan.Japan has raised as a reason for its export restrictions of key materials for South Korea’s tech fi

SEJONG -- A large proportion of self-employed people have closed their businesses and joined the growing number of jobless people over the past two years. Simultaneously, the state payment of unemployment benefits has climbed to an all-time high.The Moon government started providing some young jobless people with 3 million won ($2,540) for six months per individual, while the number of people who lost jobs has been drastically increasing among those in their early 50s, 40s and late 30s. The

South Korea's total wealth grew at a fast pace from a year earlier in 2018 but largely on rapid increases in real estate and housing prices, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's national assets came to 15,511.7 trillion won ($13.13 trillion) as of the end of last year, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the national balance sheet released by the Bank of Korea.The annual report is jointly compiled by the central bank and the statistics office. The 2018 tally is 8.2 times

South Korea's government and ruling party are considering a move to lower the extra-high rate levied on inheritance tax for top shareholders of big companies, a ruling party official said Monday. South Korea's top inheritance tax is set at 50 percent, but it could go up to as high as 65 percent if the rate is increased in cases that involve the largest shareholders.The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government have been in discussions to lower the extra-h

There is consensus on a likely rate cut in August, but views differ on further action this year

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in government has introduced stern regulations on rebuilding old apartments or redeveloping old areas in Seoul. Housing redevelopment projects have been effectively blocked in the capital.The city authorities have also fallen behind in increasing housing supply for citizens.The central government has bolstered rules on mortgages under the guise of curbing apartment prices in the city. The ceiling of bank loans for housing purchases has sharply been lowered as part of a set

Japan's export restrictions on advanced tech materials that could undermine South Korea's production of semiconductors will be formally discussed at the World Trade Organization, South Korea's commerce ministry said Sunday.The issue has been named a formal agenda item of the WTO General Council, the highest decision-making body of the WTO in Geneva, and will be discussed when the council meets from July 23-24, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The move comes at a request fr

Tokyo’s export curbs to negatively impact global economy due to correlated trade structure

Seoul’s exports slip amid global price changes, US-China trade war

The Bank of Korea is likely to experience further delays in the reconstruction of its headquarters as a disputed builder asserted its rights as the successful bidder, challenging the procurement office’s plan to carry out a re-tendering process.The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday granted a provisional injunction filed by Kyeryong Construction Industrial, demanding that the Public Procurement Service halt its re-tendering process for the reconstruction of the BOK’s annex, BOK

The South Korean economy is increasingly facing uncertainties stemming from the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China amid weak business spending, the finance ministry said Friday."Despite the gradual improvement in domestic consumption, the country's exports and investment continued to remain dull," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly economic assessment report. The report, called the "Green Book," is based on the latest economic ind

South Korea decided Friday to raise the minimum wage for next year by 2.9 percent, the slowest growth in a decade, as it took into account an economic slowdown and sluggish job growth.The Minimum Wage Commission, involving labor and business representatives and experts, set the minimum wage at 8,590 won ($7.32) per hour for next year, compared with 8,350 won for this year.The growth rate sharply slowed from a 10.9 percent rise for 2019 and is the slowest gain since the minimum wage for 2010 rose