South Korea's commerce minister on Monday raised cautious hopes for getting an exemption from the United States over proposed tariffs on Korean steel products, as negotiators engage in last-minute lobbying to minimize the impact on the local industry.Paik Un-gyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, said South Korea has been negotiating with US officials through multiple channels to earn a reprieve from the 25-percent steel duties, which are set to go into effect on March 23.South Korean trad

The Moon Jae-in administration’s employment policy, which relies on fiscal spending and is unaccompanied by regulatory and labor reforms, will do little to ease Korea’s deteriorating situation of youth joblessness, experts say.What is further concerning is that a set of pro-labor measures taken by the administration is pushing an increasing number of local firms to move production abroad, reducing jobs at home.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance is drawing up a supplementary budget

SEJONG -- Korea's finance minister has proposed an economic consultative body with Latin American countries as a means to strengthen cooperation, the finance ministry said Monday.In a meeting with Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday, Seoul's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon contended that the consultative body is necessary to bolster ties between Korea and the Latin American region.The two sides also agreed to expand a progra

The burden of buying a house in Seoul has risen to a 6-year high as demand for homes in the affluent Gangnam district surged despite the government's measures to cool the property market, data showed Monday.The Korea Housing Affordability Index rose to 116.7 in the fourth-quarter of last year, up 6.4 percentage points from a quarter earlier, according to the Korea Housing-Finance Corp.It was the highest quarterly figure since the fourth-quarter of 2011, when the index stood at 119.4. The index r

Over the past three decades, the employment increase rate and the proportion of paid workers who are women increased noticeably to surpass those of men, according to data by the Korea Employment Information Service.The number of female employees in South Korea that had stood at 6,771,000 in 1988 increased 67.7 percent to 11,356,000 last year. The increase rate for men was 52.2 percent.The economic activity rate of women also surged from 45.0 percent to 52.1 percent in the same time span. The pro

South Korea and the United States made some progress in the third round of negotiations to amend their free trade agreement (FTA) on key issues, and will continue to talk about Washington's proposed steel tariff, Seoul's trade ministry said Saturday. Yoo Myung-hee, a South Korean deputy minister for FTA negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, ended two-days of talks with her US counterpart, Assistant Trade Representative Michael Beeman, in Washington, D.C. amid heightened tra

SEJONG -- Korea's state-run companies are planning to hire over 28,000 employees this year, up 5,000 from their earlier planned figure, as part of efforts to address the country's chronic youth unemployment, the finance ministry said Friday.Early this week, the government said it would extend financial and tax incentives to young jobseekers and plan to put together 4 trillion won ($3.75 billion) in extra budget to finance a variety of projects to jack up the employment of young people.President

SANTO DOMINGO -- South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon has met with Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina on Thursday and discussed ways to increase trade and investment, as well as cooperation in energy, infrastructure and other areas, between the two countries.Lee arrived in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, on Wednesday for a three-day visit, becoming the first South Korean prime minister to visit Dominican Republic since the two countries established diplomatic rel

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States were holding a third round of talks Thursday to amend their free trade agreement as Washington took a series of protectionist actions.The two sides, led by senior trade officials, met at the US Trade Representative's office in Washington to continue negotiating terms for a new trade pact that will address US complaints about a widening deficit and alleged unfair trade in the auto sector.US President Donald Trump has slammed the 2012 agreement

Apartment lease prices in Seoul dipped by the largest margin in five years and eight months this week, according to statistics released Thursday. Apartment lease prices in Seoul have been on a steady decline for the past four weeks, and prices fell 0.08 percent this week compared to the previous week, according to a weekly report released by the Korea Appraisal Board. The figure is the largest since a 0.09 percent dip in the third week of July in 2012. The drop in lease prices stems from the sur

SEJONG -- The government on Thursday unveiled a set of measures, including bolder financial and tax incentives, to tackle the chronic unemployment of young people with the aim of stabilizing the country's youth jobless rate at the 8 percent range by 2021.The measures center around extending direct financial and tax incentives to young jobseekers. The measures also include broader support to startups launched by young people, according to the finance ministry.Under the measures, 9 million won ($8

The chief of Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday the government's financial support will be possible if General Motors Co. outlines a "long-term and sustainable" plan to turn its loss-making Korean unit around.In a press conference held in Seoul, Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku said the government and the state-run Korea Development Bank understood that GM strongly wants to maintain its production facilities in Korea."The government's financial support d

Calls are rising for President Moon Jae-in’s administration to be more strategic and flexible in coping with mounting US trade protectionism, which is casting a broadening shadow on Korea’s exports.Moon instructed his aides last month to confidently and resolutely deal with what he called “unreasonable” US protectionist measures. The instruction came days after the US Department of Commerce released a report recommending President Donald Trump impose stiff tariffs on stee

Korea's top economic policymaker on Wednesday asked companies to do more to create jobs and boost investment in the latest appeal to the business community to combat the chronic unemployment of young people."I hope that SK and other companies will pay more attention to investment and hiring," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told reporters ahead of his meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at the SK headquarters in central Seoul.The minister also said job creation for young people

SEJONG -- South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly in February due to a rise in employment in the construction and public service sectors, but the number of newly added jobs fell to the lowest level in eight years, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent last month, down 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.From a month earlier, it remained unchanged.The number of employed people reached 26.08 million i