Amid a global economic recovery boosted by extended investment and trade, South Korea is expected to maintain its 3 percent growth momentum throughout year 2018 and 2019, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.In its interim economic outlook report issued Tuesday, the organization forecast global economic growth for this year at 3.9 percent, up from its previous suggestion of 3.7 percent. The figure for next year was also increased from 3.6 percent to 3.9 percent.

President Moon Jae-in urged the government Tuesday to quickly come up with measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as people and businesses in Gunsan, the region hit by the planned shutdown of the GM Korea plant there."Recently, our economy has been showing continued signs of improvement in indicators regarding exports, industrial output, investment and consumption, but the conditions actually felt by SMEs and small business people are still very difficult," the pr

Sales of wine rose sharply during the first two months of 2018 from a year earlier with the product becoming the best-selling alcoholic beverage in Korea's largest hypermarket chain, industry data showed Tuesday.Wine sales jumped 16.5 percent on-year during the January-February period this year, pushing up the share of wine to 24.3 percent of the total liquor sales at Emart Mall, figures provided by the company showed. The market share of wine was 18.2 percent last year.Industry watchers said th

Korea needs to move faster to join a Pacific trade deal signed by Japan and 10 other regional nations last week without the presence of the US, experts here say.Seoul officials have withdrawn their attention from the Japan-led process of reviving the Trans-Pacific Partnership since President Donald Trump pulled the US out of it to pursue his “America First” agenda shortly after taking office early last year. An interministerial task force formed to consider Korea’s entry to the

South Korea’s top policymakers are taking all efforts this week to lift the US President Donald Trump administration’s incoming tariff on steel imports, which is slated to take effect on March 23 and consequently deliver a heavy blow to local steelmakers and the nation’s export-reliant economy.Also, in relation to the increasing level of trade protectionism and tariff retaliation around the globe, they have gestured at soon joining a comprehensive free trade partnership in the

South Korea will decide whether to join the fledgling Pacific trade pact within the first half of the year after looking into its impact on the national economy and consulting with member states, Seoul's chief economic policymaker said Monday.A year after US President Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11 remaining member states last week signed a revamped deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), in Chile.The agreement that a

Korean steel stocks ended lower last week after the United States decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel products, as growing downside exerted pressure on steelmakers, analysts said Sunday.On Friday, the country's leading steelmaker, POSCO, fell 3.63 percent to end at 345,000 won ($322), with Hyundai Steel Co. was down 2.48 percent at 51,100 won and Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. backtracked 1.94 percent at 10,100 won. They all underperformed the broader Kospi, which rose 1.08 percent.

The number of employees at local shipbuilders plunged 22.1 percent in February from a year earlier due to an industry-wide crisis, data showed Sunday.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in February the number of employees at local shipbuilders was 37,800 lower than the same month a year earlier, marking the 11th consecutive month with a drop of 20 percent or more.The number of employees in the sector fell by 24.5 percent in Gyeongsang Province, the hub of the nati

Korea aims to attract more than $20 billion in annual foreign direct investment for the fourth year in a row in 2018, the government said Sunday.If the target is reached, some 10,000 high quality jobs will be created, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The goal was set at the inaugural meeting of the foreign investment committee held late last month, where policymakers approved a plan to stimulate FDI for the year, it said."The government wants to maintain last year's momentum

Breakdown in talks to resolve US safeguard measures against washers and solar panels will force Korea to take the case to the World Trade Organization, the government said Sunday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said bilateral negotiations failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion thus necessitating Seoul's pursuit of litigation at the world trade body. It said the government had made clear in advance that such an action would be taken if the United States did not withdraw the plan or

The state-run Korea Development Bank said Sunday it will thoroughly look into the cost structure of GM Korea Co. this week as it mulls whether to provide fresh loans to the loss-making South Korean unit of General Motors Co.In a meeting with GM Executive Vice President Barry Engle in Seoul on Friday, KDB Chairman and Chief Executive Lee Dong-gull agreed that the state bank will begin due diligence on GM Korea in a "fair and transparent" manner this week though the Detroit carmaker has

Stock prices of South Korean companies that have business ties with North Korea have risen sharply in recent months amid thawing inter-Korean relations, the Korea Exchange said Sunday.The two Koreas have exchanged high-level delegations on the occasion of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and agreed to hold summit talks in late April.US President Donald Trump also agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by the end of May as the South Korean delegation delivered Kim's offer for the summ

Korea's export growth rate ranked No. 6 among Group of Twenty nations last year, while its imports rose at the fourth-fastest clip, a report showed Sunday.According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Asia's fourth-largest economy shipped out $574 billion worth of goods, a gain of 16 percent on-year. This is some 6 percentage points higher than the 10 percent growth average reached by other systemically important industrialized and developing economies. The Paris-b

South Korea's ice cream market has been shrinking in recent years, industry data showed Saturday, apparently due to the falling number of children coupled with growth of cafes offering alternative desserts.   According to data compiled by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the country's ice cream market was estimated at1.6 trillion won ($1.49 billion) in 2017.    The data is based on the volume sold through retail stores. It marked a 14.2 percent drop from

Amid the fallout of the US administration’s latest tariff on all steel imports, the South Korean government is facing criticism for its “lax” countermeasures to an issue that is likely to cause multitrillion won losses to local industries over the upcoming years.The key problem, observers say, is the lack of a policy headquarters, as the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae remains reluctant to raise government-level conflicts with Washington amid ongoing denuclearization talks co