Seoul vows to speed up efforts for Korea-Britain bilateral trade deal, bracing for post-Brexit era

South Korea plans to spend 537 billion won ($478 million) to help nurture the country's traditional markets, the government said Wednesday.According to the Ministry for SMEs and Startups, around half of the earmarked budget will be spent to help expand parking space and related facilities in a way to provide visitors with easy access and other amenities. Also, the budget will be spent to remodel empty spaces at traditional markets into leisure-related facilities, refurbish restrooms and enhance

South Korea posted a higher unemployment rate than the United States in the third quarter of last year for the first time in 17 years amid a sluggish job market here, data showed Wednesday.South Korea's seasonally adjusted jobless rate came to 4 percent in the July-September period of last year, higher than 3.8 percent for America, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. South Korea's third-quarter unemployment rate was up 0.2 percentage point from t

Owners of the world’s two largest memory chipmakers -- Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong and SK Group’s Chey Tae-won -- boasted of their business confidence during a walk with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. The conglomerate chiefs were among eight business representatives that took a 25-minute walk around the Cheong Wa Dae garden after a more official business meeting.　 In response to Moon’s expression of concerns about a slowdown in the semiconductors market, Sa

SEJONG -- The atmosphere on the streets at year-end was not the same in 2018 as what people remembered from past years. To explain it, they pointed to the large number of struggling small business owners amid a sagging economy burdened by weak private consumption.Another barometer of consumption during a short period is the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall Feb. 2-6 this year, a time on which many industries are pinning their hopes.One question is whether Chinese tourists will visit South Kore

DRAM export price marks 5-month decline amid industry slowdown

South Korea will continue its efforts to encourage banks and other financial institutions to direct more loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, a senior financial regulator said Monday. Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a regular meeting of the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities around the world, in Switzerland earlier this week.  The outstanding loans f

President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting this week with the leaders of the country's largest businesses, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The meeting will be held Tuesday at Cheong Wa Dae, involving top executive officers of about 130 major businesses, including vice chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics Co. The scheduled meeting follows the president's meeting with small and medium-sized business leaders last week."As in the meeting with small, medium-sized busines

The value of South Korean stocks offloaded by foreign investors last year reached $5.66 billion, the largest in seven years, driven by US-China trade war and uncertainties tailing US interest rate hike, data from the Bank of Korea showed. They have become the net sellers for the first time in three years. But they remained strong buyers in the bond market, purchasing $13.91 billion worth of bonds last year.On a monthly basis, foreigners remained net buyers in the securities market for two consec

The volume of fixed deposits at local banks marked the steepest growth in eight years in 2018, on the back of increased policy rate and the banks’ efforts to reinforce liquidity, central bank data showed Sunday.The total balance for fixed-term deposits as of the end of last year stood at 668.4 trillion won ($599 billion), up 72.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.This on-year increase was the largest since the 95.7 trillion won observed in 2010, when the bank

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range next week on lingering uncertainties, such as the Brexit vote and the release of 2018 earnings results from major firms, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed up 12.29 points, or 0.60 percent to 2,075.57 on Friday. This week, the main index gained 3.2 percent helped by optimism over US-China trade talks.While eyeing new developments in the trade negotiations between the world's top two econo

South Korea's exports fell 7.5 percent in the first 10 days of January from a year earlier due largely to a sharp decline in shipments of semiconductors and ships, customs data showed Friday.The country's outbound shipments reached $12.7 billion in the Jan. 1-10 period, compared with $13.6 billion in the same period of last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.The office said that daily average exports, which reflect working days, also fell 7.5 percent on-year to $1.69 bill

Employees working for small and medium-sized companies in South Korea were paid, on average, 65.1 percent of the earnings of employees of a large firm in 2017, a report showed Thursday. The average monthly wage of SME workers stood at 3.35 million won ($3,154) in 2017, compared with 5.14 million won paid to those working for big enterprises, according to the report by the Korea Federation of SMEs. The wage discrepancy between large and smaller companies has shown no signs of narrowing over

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday its operating profit plunged 28.7 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago due to weak memory demand, falling far short of market expectations. Operating profit came to 10.8 trillion won ($9.66 billion) in the October-December period, the South Korean tech behemoth said in a regulatory filing. This is down 38.5 percent from 15.1 trillion won posted a quarter earlier.  The operating profit was the lowest since the first quarter of 2017. Sale

SEJONG -- South Korea is mapping out mid- and long-term plans to become a global logistics hub by introducing “smart” harbors across the country, a project that is expected to last a decade from 2021 to 2030.The focus of these plans will be 31 harbors designated for trade and 29 for domestic logistics, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.The harbors that will handle exports and imports include Gyeongin, Incheon, Daesan, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, Boryeong, Janghang, Gunsan, Mo