Among 63 nations, Korea’s talent competitiveness ranked 33rd with a score of 62.32 out of 100 points according to the International Institute Management Development in Switzerland. Switzerland topped the list with a perfect score of 100, followed by Denmark, Norway, Austria and the Netherlands. Korea’s ranking rose six places from 39th last year, mostly due to a jump from 38th to 20th in the investment and development sector. In Asia, Singapore ranked the highest at 13th, the same as

South Korea's weak spending on labor market policies and inflexible employment rules have limited youth employment to some extent, a report said Thursday.According to the report published by the Bank of Korea, South Korea spent 0.231 percent of its gross domestic product on policies like job creation, vocational training and start-up incentives from 1985-2013. It ranked second from the bottom out of 21 advanced countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, ahead of the

South Korea's household income rose in the third quarter from a year earlier, but the income gap between the haves and have-nots widened, a government report showed Thursday.An average household earned 4.74 million won ($4,200) per month in the July-September period, up 4.6 percent from the previous year, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The inflation-adjusted real income increased 3 percent on-year over the one-year period, the data showed.The latest statistics showed households' in

The number of foreigners who visited South Korea rose 31.1 percent in October from a year earlier mainly due to a base effect after visits by Chinese nationals plunged in 2017, the local tourism promotion agency said Thursday.A total of 1.53 million foreigners visited South Korea last month, up from 1.17 million tallied the same month a year ago, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The number of Chinese tourists shot up 37.6 percent.In March last year, China banned group tours to South

South Korea's economy is expected to grow 2.7 percent this year, the same pace predicted in September, a Paris-based international organization said Wednesday.In its economic outlook, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand 2.8 percent next year, also unchanged from its earlier projection three months ago. In September, the OECD cut its growth outlook for South Korea from its previous estimate of 3 percent made in May.&quo

The Moon Jae-in administration’s employment policy has precipitated the weakening of the Korean economy’s ability to create new jobs, experts say.According to the Bank of Korea, the country’s employment elasticity, which is calculated by dividing the rate of increase in the number of employees by the economic growth rate, is estimated to fall to a nine-year low of 0.11 this year. The higher the figure is, the more jobs are added by economic output.The central bank recently fore

South Korea said Wednesday that it will spend 2 billion won ($1.8 million) next year to develop technology that can detect and block obscene materials from Internet streaming websites and videos.The Ministry of Science and ICT made the announcement as government officials and experts held a meeting and discussed ways to effectively deal with the online circulation of pornography, obscene and harmful materials.The move comes after a series of so-called revenge porn incidents, in which people, mos

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Wednesday that the government will ceaselessly seek deregulation and provide support for startups, which are key to innovation-led growth.Attending a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said his successor shares the view that smaller firms should play a leading role in the innovation-led growth strategy. "Startups, their growth and deregulation are very important (for innovation-led growth), and the government will continue

South Korean shares closed lower Wednesday after the US stock market finished bearish for the second session in a row, analysts said. The Korean won closed lower against the dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.03 points, or 0.29 percent, to end trading at 2,076.55. Trading volume stood at a low 262 million shares worth 4.95 trillion won ($4.37 billion). Gainers outpaced losers 433 to 379. The drop came after the Dow Jones industrial average backtracked 2.21 percent, and

The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China is adding uncertainties to the global agriculture market, but it could create a favorable business environment for South Korean farmers, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. The Korea Rural Economic Institute said the tit-for-tat tariff conflict between Washington and Beijing could affect price competitiveness and overall conditions in the agro-food markets of the two countries, which could open up more opportunities for products fr

As the global economy faces an inevitable slowdown next year, major economies should lay emphasis on structural reforms to respond to the decline in labor productivity and growth potential, according to a top-level official of the Bank for International Settlements.“I agree with the International Monetary Fund’s revised forecast in September, when it cut down the global economic growth for next year to 3.7 percent from the former 3.9 percent,” Agustin Carstens, general manager

South Korean stocks closed lower on Tuesday after rising to a four-week high in the previous session as overnight losses on Wall Street, where investors were concerned over trade tension between Washington and Beijing, analysts said.The South Korean currency gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 17.98 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2082.58. Trading volume was relatively light at 274 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.26 billion), wi

South Korea's financial regulator formally asked state prosecutors on Tuesday to launch a criminal probe into accounting breaches at Samsung BioLogics Co., a move that is expected to deal another blow to the biotechnology unit of Samsung Group.After months of regulatory review, a panel of the Financial Services Commission ruled last Wednesday that Samsung BioLogics intentionally inflated the value of its affiliate, Samsung Bioepis Co., ahead of its listing in 2016.  Trading of Samsung BioLo

KIEP forecasts 3.5 percent growth for world economy next year

Combined sales by South Korean companies rose for the second-straight year in 2017 on better performances in the manufacturing, telecommunication and retail sectors, government data showed Tuesday.The combined sales from 12,579 companies, excluding financial firms, reached 2,343 trillion won ($2.07 trillion) last year, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It is based on a survey of the companies that have more than 50 regular workers and paid-in