Concerns are growing over the weakening vitality of the Korean economy as facility investment continues to decrease, with consumer sentiment and business confidence sluggish.Government data released last week showed facility investment fell 0.6 percent on-month in July, marking a decline for five consecutive months. It was the longest straight decline since the foreign exchange crisis, when investment fell for 10 straight months from September 1997. Analysts at the state statistics office a

South Korea is facing another set of brawls this year concerning taxation equity and wealth distribution, as the government and ruling party signaled at further toughening tax rules for affluent property owners, according to officials Monday.Detailed prospects, however, remain unclear as related ministries held different stances over the reduction of benefits for lease business operators -- an action that may deliver a blow upon the government’s policy credibility.“We will begin disc

Following the recent replacement of the statistics office chief, the ongoing dispute concerning the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth initiative has now expanded into an argument on the credibility of key economic indicators here.While the presidential office and the ruling party held the statistics office liable for a sampling flaw, the opposition camp claimed that the administration was deceiptfully trying to cover up its thwarted economic strategies.“Statistics cannot

The richest people in South Korea earned nearly 1,000 times more than the lowest wage earners last year, a parliamentary report said Sunday, highlighting the country's widening income disparity.The average earned income of the top 0.1 percent bracket reached 660 million won ($590,000) per person last year, according to the report submitted to the National Assembly by the National Tax Service.Their combined annual income of 11.7 trillion won accounted for 2.66 percent of the country's total earne

Earned income support provided by the government to offset low wages will rise a sharp 260 percent from this year to near 5 trillion won ($4.47 billion) in 2019, official data showed Sunday.The increase in earned income tax credit comes as payment method changes will go into effect along with the move to offer assistance set aside for the first half for next year in advance, the finance ministry said.Seoul provided 1.34 trillion won in credit this year, which went to encourage people to work and

President Moon Jae-in called Saturday for an unswerving reform drive despite a falling approval rating and controversies over his economic policy.He was speaking at an unprecedented gathering of all ruling party lawmakers, Cabinet members and presidential officials.It came two days after Moon's first Cabinet shake-up to replace five ministers, including the defense chief and the top education policymaker. Late last month, the Democratic Party of Korea picked Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a seven-term

South Korea's exports increased 8.7 percent in August compared with a year ago on upbeat sales of semiconductors and petrochemical products, government data showed Saturday.Outbound shipments reached $51.2 billion last month, a record high for August, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports surged 9.2 percent on-year to $44.3 billion last month for a trade surplus of $6.9 billion, marking 79 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded

The following is the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision for August. The central bank's monetary policy board decided Friday to hold its base rate steady at 1.5 percent for the month.-----------------The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 1.50 percent for the intermeeting period.Based on currently available information the Board considers that the global economy has continued its robust growth. In th

South Korea's central bank on Friday froze its policy rate for August on sluggish economy data and low inflation pressure.The monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at 1.5 percent as widely expected.The BOK has taken a wait-and-see stance since November last year, when it adjusted up the key rate for the first time in more than six years, citing the economic recovery.Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the July decision was not unanimous as Lee Il-houng, part of the

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday urged local governments to step up their own efforts to create more jobs while promising increased support from the central government."The people's concerns are growing due to a drop in recent job indicators. Many regions are also facing difficulties from the fallout of restructuring. Creating jobs, especially good jobs, is the current issue facing both the central and local governments," the president said in a meeting with the heads of 17 provincial

A senior presidential official raised the need to curb speculative demand in the property market Thursday, vowing to take stronger measures if needed.Jang Ha-sung, the presidential chief of staff for policy, made the remark at a meeting with senior officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party over the economy."The government will step up its efforts to thoroughly curb speculative demand in the property market while protecting real buyers," Jang said at the start of the

President Moon Jae-in again sought to promote his much disputed income-led growth policy Wednesday, calling it a matter of survival, not choice."We can never ensure sustainable growth with the current (economic) structure that creates polarization," the president said in a special meeting with the heads of and other officials from some 240 public organizations, including state-run firms and government commissions."Change is not a matter of choice but a matter of survival," Mo

South Korea’s trade minister will be attending key economic meetings with his counterparts in Southeast Asian countries this week as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen economic ties with the emerging region, his office said Tuesday.Minister Kim Hyun-chong is to visit Singapore from Thursday to Saturday to attend a series of meetings: the ASEAN economic ministers’ meeting, ASEAN plus three (along with China and Japan), the East Asia Summit and the Regional Co

Major South Korean discount chain Homeplus has been speeding up its move to open more big-box and retail hybrid stores here, to strengthen its sales and enhance competitiveness. Homeplus said Tuesday that it has seen outstanding sales growth from its Homeplus Special stores, which sell products in bulk and also offer individually packaged food and other goods like those found in grocery stores.The company has been converting its outlets into Homeplus Special stores since opening its first store

The South Korean tax agency said Tuesday it will beef up its crackdown on offshore tax evasion by local companies and individuals as part of efforts to boost fair taxation.The National Tax Service will also probe tax evasion by nonprofit organizations run by conglomerates.The NTS collected 1.32 trillion won ($1.23 billion) in taxes from suspected offshore tax evaders last year, slightly more than the 1.3 trillion won collected the previous year. Offshore tax evasion has been on the rise in recen