SEJONG -- The average unit price of an old apartment complex built 31 years ago in Seocho-gu, Seoul, jumped to 1.64 billion won ($1.46 million) in November 2018 from 1.13 billion won in November 2016.The price increased 45 percent in only two years. Other apartment complexes in the district in southern Seoul and neighboring wards also saw their prices surge in the period.Although there have been signs of prices declining after reportedly peaking last summer, many households still appear skeptica

Home-backed loans from South Korean banks increased at the fastest pace in two years in November despite the government's anti-speculation measures, central bank data showed Wednesday.The total value of outstanding mortgages extended by banks came to 603 trillion won ($535 billion) as of the end of last month, up 4.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The gain marked the largest on-month growth since November 2016, when mortgage lending rose 6.1 tril

The number of infants born in Seoul came to an average of 179 per day last year, dipping below the threshold of 200 for the first time as more people are delaying or shunning marriage, data released Wednesday by the Seoul metropolitan government showed.According to the Seoul Statistics Annuals, the number of babies born per day in the South Korean capital reached the lowest level since the government began compiling data in 1961, compared with 257 in 2012, 230 in 2013 and 206 in 2016. A governme

The government's plans to cut credit card commission fees will cost credit card firms about 700 billion won ($619.8 million) per year in lost revenue, a government report showed Wednesday. Financial authorities unveiled two plans this year to reduce credit card commission fees for small merchants in a move to support self-employed business owners at a time when the nation's economy is showing signs of sluggish growth amid weaker consumption.Under the plans, credit card processing fees for small

Small businesses increasingly rely on loans, big players refrain from investment

The number of active enterprises expanded by the largest figure in 10 years last year, mainly bolstered by the real estate boom, data from Statistics Korea showed.Meanwhile, the enterprise death rate -- the number of enterprises that close their doors permanently in proportion to the population of active enterprises -- was highest among restaurants and lodging businesses.A total of 913,000 new businesses were created last year, an increase of 4.2 percent from 2016. The enterprise birth rate drop

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Tuesday that the new terminal at Kuwait International Airport managed by the South Korean operator has officially opened. Kuwait International Airport is wholly owned by the Kuwaiti government, handling some 12 million travelers last year. IIAC was chosen as the operator for the new Terminal 4 through a bidding process in April. It is the first time for a foreign company to operate the Kuwaiti airport. IIAC said it has dispatched 30 officials with relevan

South Korea's new finance minister on Tuesday urged companies to make investments and take the lead in creating jobs as the country makes every effort to bolster economic growth.In October, the Bank of Korea trimmed its economic growth outlook to 2.7 percent for 2018 from its earlier projection of 2.9 percent. It is lower than the finance ministry's 2.9 percent outlook and the International Monetary Fund's 2.8 percent prediction. The South Korean economy grew 3.1 percent in 2017 and 2.9 percent

A growing number of South Koreans shopping at overseas online malls are picking Chinese sites, a tally from a credit card firm indicated Tuesday.Purchase records from Nov. 1-26, compiled by the big data center at Shinhan Card, showed a 9.8 percent increase from last year in the monetary total of goods bought from overseas Internet sites. In terms of the number of purchases, this year's total was up 16.6 percent. The figures were derived from comparisons of the same period in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

South Korea and India will hold negotiations to upgrade their existing bilateral trade pact to lower barriers between the two nations, the government here said Monday.The two nations implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in January 2010 and have held six rounds of talks to push for further market liberalization.  The seventh round of CEPA talks will be held in Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss ways to further open up the goods and services market and ease coun

The wage gap between workers in large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises widened in 2014 amid a deepening polarization of the labor market, a report said Monday.According to the report published by the Bank of Korea, large businesses -- those with 300 or more workers -- paid wages 1.7 times greater than those paid to employees at smaller firms in 2014, widening from a 1.1-fold gap tallied in 1980. The large firms put a 46.1 percent wage premium on their highly-educated, skilled emp

South Korea's economy is showing signs of a gradual slowdown with export growth cooling amid sluggish private consumption, a state-run think tank said Monday. "The growth pace of exports slowed and domestic demand remained weak, implying that overall economic activity appeared to be gradually slowing," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions.Exports in November appeared to lose some steam, mainly due to weaker global demand fo

Almost half of South Korean women aged between 15 and 54 and married with under age children earn less than 2 million won every month, according to data released by Statistics Korea.The data revealed that there are 5.063 million married and working women with children under 18 as of April this year. Among them, 49.1 percent earned a monthly wage of less than 2 million won ($1,780). This was 10.8 percentage points higher than the percentage of overall workers -- both men and women -- earning less

SEJONG - South Korea is expanding its economic partnership with South and Central American countries, which involves co-development projects on maritime affairs in the logistics and tourism segment.Earlier this year Korea signed a free trade agreement with five Central American countries -- Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama -- which made it the first Asian country to reach the deal with a Central American trade bloc. And Guatemala is set to join the bloc after the bilateral

South Korea is forecast to have the highest proportion of fifth-generation smartphone usage in the world over the next couple of years, a market tracker said Sunday. According to Strategy Analytics' Service Provider Group, the adoption rate of 5G smartphones in South Korea is expected to reach 5.5 percent in 2019 and 10.9 percent in 2020, which will be the highest level among major global nations. The estimate is based upon the fact that South Korea is to commercialize 5G services in March next