The government and ruling Democratic Party agreed Thursday to seek a package of measures to ensure fair transactions among large and smaller companies, including bolstering negotiating power for subcontractors.During their policy consultation meeting, they stressed the need to address "imbalances in power" among local firms, citing them as the root cause of unfair business practices that have gnawed at subcontractors' competitiveness.The ruling bloc has recently been striving to better

A record number of South Koreans who quit their jobs more than a year ago remained unemployed in November amid a severe job crunch, government data showed Thursday.According to the data from Statistics Korea, those people accounted for 30 percent of the country's total jobless tallied at 874,000 last month.It marks the first time that the ratio has reached the 30 percent mark since the agency started to compile related data in June 1999. The figure had stayed in the 10 percent range before excee

Impressive trade figures logged by Korea this year have veiled the weakening competitiveness of its major manufacturing industries, analysts here say.The country’s outbound shipments in the first 11 months of the year reached a record-high $524.8 billion, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Riding on the surge in exports, Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its annual trade volume exceed $1 trillion last week. Korea&rsq

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon said Wednesday the country needs to tackle unemployment, foster innovative growth and address the low birthrate and aging population, a week ahead of releasing the economic policy direction for next year.While Kim assured that Korea would achieve economic growth of 3 percent this year and maintain a robust uptrend in the wake of the improving Korea-China relationship, he said the country would face persistent economic threats from within th

South Korea will build more solar and wind farms nationwide to nearly triple its renewable energy ratio by 2030, a project estimated at 110 trillion won ($101 billion), the energy ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the detailed plans for its new energy road map, which aims to increase the ratio of renewable energy from the current 7 percent to 20 percent by 2030. The increase will allow renewable energy output to reach 63.8 gigawatt capacity. To achieve

The government expects the economy to grow in the 3 percent range in 2018 following an estimated expansion of more than 3 percent this year, informed sources said Wednesday.It would mark the first time in seven years that Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely achieve a growth rate of 3 percent or more for two straight years.According to the sources, the finance ministry is slated to unveil its 2018 economic policy a week later, which may target an economic growth rate of 3 percent or higher.

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it has decided to reopen its probe into local humidifier sterilizer firms as its task force found some procedural loopholes in the previous investigation regarding their failure to inform consumers of possible health hazards.In 2016, the Fair Trade Commission closed an inspection of two local humidifier sterilizer manufacturers, citing a lack of evidence, amid a ballooning toxic disinfectant scandal that has resulted in numerous deaths and illne

South Korea’s Trade Ministry said Monday that it will seek to start talks with the United States on amending the bilateral free trade deal as early as within a month, and take guard against Washington’s anticipated pressure in the auto and steel sectors.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy submitted its Korea-US Free Trade Agreement road map to the National Assembly, wrapping up the domestic procedure that precede the actual renegotiation of the trade deal.“There is a pos

South Korea's trade ministry said Monday it will push to start talks to amend the free trade agreement with the United States within a month or so and expected Washington to engage in hardball tactics, especially in autos.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported its FTA plan to the National Assembly, wrapping up the domestic procedures required for beginning the renegotiation of the five-year-old trade deal. The latest move comes as Seoul accepted US President Donald Trump's demand to

More than 1 out of 10 South Korean workers were paid below the minimum wage in 2016, with many being teenagers, elderly or female workers, government data showed Sunday. Out of 19.62 million workers, 2.66 million, or 13.6 percent, were paid below the minimum wage as of August 2016, up from 1.89 million in 2007, Statistics Korea said.The ratio of the underpaid workers stood at 4.9 percent in 2003, but the level has steadily risen to over 10 percent over the past decade, the national statistics of

A growing number of South Koreans were holding excessive amounts of loans compared with their income levels, raising concerns over their debt service capability, central bank data showed Sunday. One out of 10 borrowers held loans of more than their five-year income at the end of September, which means their loan-to-income ratio exceeded 500 percent, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The LTI ratio refers to the portion of outstanding loans to annual income. An increase in the r

outh Korean shares could rise next week on eased market uncertainties, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is expected to test 2,520 next week. The main index rose 0.73 percent for the whole of this week. The U.S. Federal Reserve marked up its key rates for the third time this year to 1.5 percent on Wednesday, although, having been expected, the move had little impact on the overall market.Political tensions between Seoul and Beijing over a U.S. mi

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the South Korean banking system's outlook to "stable" from "negative," citing stronger economic growth and stabilizing asset quality in Asia's fourth-largest economy."The outlook change reflects our assessment that the overall creditworthiness of Korean banks will be stable over the next 12-18 months," the global ratings agency said in a report released on Friday. "Stronger economic growth in Korea has resulted in an impro

South Korea's annual trade volume surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in three years, driven by upbeat exports of memory chips and petrochemical products, the government said Thursday.The total amount of trades by Asia's fourth-largest economy reached the threshold as of Thursday afternoon, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Customs Service.Annual trade volume surpassed the $1 trillion mark for four consecutive years from 2011, but i

A record number of South Koreans in their 20s gave up their search for work in November amid a severe job crunch, government data showed Thursday.A total of 284,000 South Korean 20-somethings were outside the labor force and did nothing to look for jobs last month, according to the data from Statistics Korea.The tally was up 48,500 from a year earlier and marked the highest-ever level for November.  The number of 20-somethings giving up looking for work had been on the rise over the past se