President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday instructed the government to quickly implement its extra budget to create more jobs and called for efforts to smoothly implement the cut in working hours."The working hour reduction that goes into effect as of July 1 will bring significant changes to our society. It will be a chance for our workers, who have been working over 300 hours more than the average working hours of OECD countries, to escape from overwork and start enjoying a full life by spending mo

South Korea's consumer confidence rebounded in May after five months of losses thanks to improved inter-Korean relations, a central bank poll showed Tuesday.The composite consumer sentiment index for this month stood at 107.9, up 0.8 point from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea. A reading above 100 means that people have an optimistic outlook, compared to the average sentiment over the past 14 years.The May figure ended the five consecutive months of losses that st

Ulsan, Geoje, Mokpo and other cities subject to additional relief plans

The parliamentary move to revise the labor act to expand the scope of the minimum wage marks a rare legislative step that works against the interests of waged workers in the country.Under an agreement reached last week by lawmakers on the parliamentary labor committee, monthly bonuses and lodging and transportation expenses will be gradually incorporated into minimum wage calculations by 2024. Next year, monthly bonuses that exceed 25 percent of the minimum wage and lodging and transportation ex

South Korea’s state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-Water, last week chaired a key regional council meeting to discuss Asia’s water problems, as part of its initiative to alleviate water scarcity and to promote jobs in the water industries.The sixth annual meeting of the Asia Water Council, the largest regional body dedicated to water-related problems, was held in Bangkok from Thursday to Saturday, officials said Sunday. The AWC, established in March 2016 under the leadership o

South Korea's economic growth rate ranked fifth among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the first quarter of the year, a sharp turnaround from three months earlier, OECD data showed Sunday.Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 1.1 percent in the January-March period from three months earlier, the fifth-highest among OECD member nations after Latvia (1.7 percent), Poland (1.6 percent), and Hungary and Chile (1.2 percent).South Korea tied with Finland and Mex

South Korea’s economy will remain on its course to a 3 percent growth this year, the nation’s top economic policymaker said Thursday, downplaying lower forecasts by think tanks on sluggish employment and investment.“As for now, we have no plans to revise the 3 percent growth target,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a morning radio interview with CBS.“The economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter this year, which is more or less o

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady for May amid signs of an economic downturn and low inflation pressure.In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at 1.5 percent, extending its wait-and-see stance to six months.In November last year, South Korea's central bank adjusted up the key rate for the first time in more than six years, citing economic recovery.Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the rate-freeze decisio

The combined value of shares owned by South Korea's 30 richest stockholders dropped 5 percent compared with the beginning of the year, industry data showed Tuesday. As of Monday, the combined value of shares owned by the stockholders stood at 85.8 trillion won ($79 billion), down 4.49 trillion won from 90 trillion won on Jan. 2, according to market tracker Chaebul.com.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, compared with the closing price of 2,479.65 of the first trading session of this

Key economic officials have recently expressed different views on the performance of the Korean economy, leaving market watchers confused about their intended policy direction. Last week saw the three top economic aides to President Moon Jae-in and the central bank head strike different tones on the current state of the economy and the effect of minimum wage hikes on employment.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, came forward Thu

SEJONG -- South Korea will make use of an extra budget as soon as possible to create new jobs for young people and help industrial regions grappling with massive layoffs, the finance ministry said Monday. With the National Assembly having passed the 3.83 trillion won ($3.54 billion) supplementary budget, an extraordinary Cabinet meeting will be held later in the day to approve a budget implementation plan.As it took 45 days to pass the bill submitted by the government due to political wrangling

The number of foreign funds investing in the South Korean stock market has more than doubled over the decade, exceeding the 20,000 mark this year, the financial watchdog said Monday.A total of 21,328 foreign stock investment funds were registered with the Financial Supervisory Service as of the end of March, up 112.7 percent from 10 years earlier and accounting for slightly over 62 percent of foreign institutions operating in South Korea.Equity investment funds were followed by pensions and othe

The total number of people finding work in the country's small retail and wholesale sectors fell in the first quarter, a report by a local think tank showed Sunday. The findings by the Korea Institute of Finance said that the number of jobs in the key service sector was down 86,000 from a year earlier. Small businesses refer to businesses that employ one to four workers, and have generally been seen as reflective of the number of people setting up their own businesses.KIF said that this year's d

The government will look into the impact of the minimum wage hike on employment, amid a heated debate over whether the increase is actually hurting entry level jobs and weighing down the local economy, the head of a special commission said Sunday.Ryu Jang-soo, the chairman of Minimum Wage Commission under the labor ministry, said his commission will delve into the real impact of the 16.4 percent raise in the minimum wage on the local economy since it went to effect in January."The minimum w

South Korea's central bank is expected to freeze its policy rate at the current 1.5 percent at its upcoming monetary meeting due to low inflation pressure and the sluggish job market, a market watcher said Sunday.Scheduled to take place Thursday, the seven-member monetary policy panel under the Bank of Korea will decide whether to keep or adjust the key rate. The May meeting is the fourth round out of eight sessions set for this year.The BOK has maintained the present level in the previous three