Committee urges participation of citizens, private sector

South Korea's trade ministry said Monday it will hold talks with China to expand the scope of the two countries' free trade agreement to the service and investment sector in a way to create new business opportunities for local companies in the tourism, culture, legal and medical industries.  The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a meeting with industry officials and trade experts to collect their opinions before launching the follow-up FTA negotiations with Beijing. South Korea a

The economic chiefs from South Korea and China will meet in Beijing this week to discuss an array of issues, including further boosting economic cooperation.During the gathering slated for Friday, Seoul's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, will seek ways to flesh out the outcome of December summit talks between leaders of the two countries, according to the ministry. President Moon Jae-in and Chine

While accelerating its moves to tighten control over the overheated cryptocurrency market, the South Korean government now faces another dilemma: Can the disputed virtual currency be incorporated into the nation’s tax system?The greatest challenge is that, in order to impose tax, the government has to first recognize the disputed cryptocurrency as a legitimate financial product -- a view which a number of key policymakers have so far refused to adopt.The pressure weighs upon Deputy Prime M

A large number of South Koreans are interested in starting their own businesses and earnings are their top consideration, a poll conducted by a public start-up support foundation showed Sunday.The latest findings from the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development revealed that 53.5 percent of the respondents said they are examining the possibility of founding a business, compared to 46.5 percent who said they are not contemplating such a step.The data was based on questions h

South Korea and the United States plan to hold the second round of talks to amend their free trade pact in Seoul next week, Seoul's trade ministry said Friday, amid mounting US trade pressure.The two-day talks -- set to begin Wednesday -- come days after US President Donald Trump again denounced the free trade deal as "a disaster" for the US, claiming the deal cost 200,000 American jobs.Trump signed a set of safeguard measures earlier this week against imported large residential washin

The top Israeli envoy to Seoul hopes South Korean companies will actively participate in his country's infrastructure projects, such as gas field development, the finance ministry said Friday.Ambassador Chaim Choshen met with Ko Hyoung-kwon, vice minister of strategy and finance, and discussed economic cooperation, according to the ministry. During the talks, the envoy also suggested cooperation between Israel's information-technology solutions with South Korea's auto manufacturers, as an exampl

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Friday the government is "cautiously" considering raising property taxes in yet another attempt to tame rising home prices.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said there are speculative demands in some areas such as the wealthy Gangnam Ward and adjacent districts."We have been reviewing many options in regard to a hike in property ownership tax," Kim said in a session with senior journalists at the press center in central Seoul.There h

A majority of South Koreans favor banning the import of Japanese fishery products, a survey showed Friday, underscoring lingering safety concerns about possible radioactive contamination.Radioactive water leaked following the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011.The Consumers Union of Korea polled 1,023 adults across the country last year, and the results showed 55.3 percent want stronger import restrictions. Another 37.2 percent said the restrictions should be "very he

In a country where apartments are generally and mostly the preferred form of residence, the prices of detached, single houses have been showing a rapid surge, data by the Land Ministry showed.Of the 25 districts in Seoul, Mapo and Yongsan displayed significant increase in prices, as the two areas have diverse large-scale development plans in store. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

South Korea's state-run power exchange said Thursday it has ordered local companies to cut their power use to maintain a stable electricity reserve rate for the second consecutive day as the bitter cold gripping most of the nation was driving up heating demand.The Korea Power Exchange said it issued a demand response order to companies to cut electricity use between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. as the country's power use soared to 86 million kilowatts earlier in the morning. The order, the fourth this

A ruling party lawmaker said Thursday he has submitted a bill requiring high-level government officials and lawmakers to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings when they report their assets every year under an anti-corruption law.The revision to the Public Service Ethics Act, submitted by Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the Democratic Party, calls for officials subject to annual wealth disclosure to report their virtual currency holdings worth 10 million won ($9,388) or more.Under the current act, assets

South Korea's economic growth accelerated last year on the back of robust exports amid a global economic recovery, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.The nation's economy expanded 3.1 percent in 2017 from a year ago, when it grew 2.8 percent, the BOK said. It was the first time since 2014 that the economy grew above the 3 percent level. For the final quarter of last year, however, the economy contracted 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, mainly due to fewer working days over the long Chuseok ho

South Korean people suffer from rising ratios of household debt to income, as more people are aging, due mainly to early retirement and the lack of an effective pension system, a report said Wednesday."People face rising household-debt-to-income ratios as they are getting older in South Korea, unlike other advanced countries," the Bank of Korea report said.South Korea, Spain and the Netherlands were the only countries where people aged 75 and older have higher ratios of household debt

Korea remains increasingly vulnerable to possible disruptions in overseas supplies of critical minerals used in everything from batteries to semiconductors and smartphones.Global demand for critical minerals continues to rise in keeping with the advancement of the “fourth industrial revolution,” resulting in a sharp increase in their prices.According to data from Korea Resources Corp., the prices of cobalt, tungsten, lithium and nickel jumped 124.7 percent, 63.2 percent, 31.7 percent