South Korea’s LG Chem announced Monday it will invest some 2.61 trillion won to expand manufacturing facilities to raise the capacities of the Naphtha Cracking Center and high value metallocene polyolefin by 800,000 tons each at its Yeosu plant in South Jeolla Province. The production will begin by the second half of 2021.It will also invest some 200 billion won to create an industrial complex to manufacture future materials in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province. Through the latest invest

The Moon Jae-in administration’s expansionary fiscal policy will probably prove unsustainable in a couple of years due to a possible decline in tax revenue that might stem partly from reduced corporate profits, economists say.On the back of a continuous rise in tax revenue, President Moon’s government has been increasing fiscal spending at a steep pace to expand welfare and employment programs. It is also under growing criticism for squandering taxpayer money to cope with the uninten

DAR ES SALAAM -- South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon held talks with his Tanzanian counterpart and agreed to work together to further deepen economic cooperation between the two countries, officials said.Lee arrived in Tanzania on Saturday for a three-day visit in the second stop of his weeklong trip to the region that already took him to Kenya and will also include a visit to Oman later this week. Bolstering economic and business ties with the countries is a key purpose of the trip. In Sund

The average hourly payment for South Korea's listed firms was more than three times higher than the country's minimum level, market data showed Sunday.A total of 1,932 firms listed on the main KOSPI and tech-laden KOSDAQ markets were presumed to have paid an average of 22,472 won ($19.79) per hour last year to their 1.56 million employees, according to the data from Chaebol.com, a research firm specialized in large businesses.In 2017, South Korea set the minimum hourly wage at 6,470 won. The amo

South Korean delegates will head to Thailand to participate in the latest round of talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a proposed mega trade deal involving Asian nations, Seoul's trade ministry said Sunday. The RCEP is in essence a massive regional trade deal between 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the six countries with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements -- South Korea, China, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.Kim Jung-il, Se

North Korea’s annual real gross domestic product in 2017 retreated 3.5 percent on-year, marking the sharpest fall in over 20 years, as sanctions on the North appear to have taken a toll on its exports, data showed Friday. This comes in contrast to the secluded state’s 3.9 percent on-year economic growth in 2016, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The degree of decline is the steepest since 1997, when the real GDP decreased by 6.5 percent on-year.The central bank cited a

SEOGWIPO, Jeju -- The nature of the ongoing trade war between the US and China is in Washington’s ambition to open Beijing’s financial market, a Korean expert on China’s economy said Friday.China’s strengths in the manufacturing sector are too much even for the US, but it has its weakness in financial industry and Trump is targeting that, according to Jeon Byung-seo, head of Institute for China Economy and Finance.“The fundamental motive of the bilateral trade war i

Korea's minimum wage hike is feared to deal a harsh blow to jobs for elderly people as many of them are subject to the pay regulation, sources said Friday.The government jacked up the minimum wage by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won ($6.62) per hour on Jan. 1 this year, the biggest hike in nearly two decades. Next year's minimum wage has been set at 8,350 won, up 10.9 percent from this year.  According to Statistics Korea, nearly 205,000 Koreans aged 55 or older were employed by the business facil

South Korea and Canada have agreed to jointly deal with the United States' move to levy tariffs on foreign autos and put on a united front against the rising protectionism in global trade, Seoul's trade ministry said Thursday. South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong met with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa to discuss the latest trade issues and explore ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation. The two nations have mulled ways to defend their auto industries as the D

President Moon Jae-in’s recent outreach to the business community seems to have so far fallen short of gaining full confidence and cooperation from corporate officials.The local corporate circle is cautiously watching whether he will follow through with his encouraging signals to shift to business-friendly policies despite objections from civic and labor groups as well as many ruling party lawmakers. In a move that was seen as heralding changes in his stance to keep a distance from the cou

South Korea's government plans to increase spending to create more jobs and expand the social safety net, as Asia's fourth-largest economy is set to lose its steam down the road in the face of rising uncertainties, including the growing trade war between major economies and a slowdown in facility investment, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday.Charting out its second-half economic policy plans, the ministry cut its growth estimate to 2.9 percent this year from its earlier projected 3 percent

Govt, ruling party call for reinforcement of tax refunds, basic pension, job-seeking allowance

President stands by hike, albeit foregoing 10,000 won target, minister steps up objection, firms and workers remain largely split

The government is considering an increase in cash subsidies for smaller businesses in order to help ease the burden of higher payroll costs following the decision on an 11 percent minimum wage hike for next year, officials said Monday.The Minimum Wage Commission decided Saturday to raise next year’s minimum wage by 10.9 percent to 8,350 won ($7.37) per hour after an overnight meeting boycotted by business representatives. This year’s minimum wage is 7,530 won per hour, up 16.4 percen

A growing level of debt owed by self-employed businesses is becoming a ticking time bomb that hangs over the Korean economy, experts say.A continuous increase in the minimum wage amid sluggish domestic demand is set to add to precipitating the pace of debt growth.According to data recently submitted by the Bank of Korea to a lawmaker, the outstanding debt held by self-employed businesses in the country amounted to 549.2 trillion won ($487 billion) last year, up 14.4 percent from the previous yea