The Bank of Korea forecast Thursday that Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely expand at a faster pace than its earlier growth target of 3 percent this year on a modest upturn in global trade and domestic demand."The near-term growth rate is likely to be slightly higher than that forecast in October, supported by sustained trends of moderate improvements in both consumption and facilities investment, while exports also picked up, fueled by the global economic recovery," the central

South Korea will hold a second public hearing on the free trade agreement with the United States, the trade ministry said Thursday, after the first gathering was disrupted by angry farmers and livestock breeders.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will host the public hearing on Friday at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul. Policymakers, trade experts and citizens will take part in the talks to discuss issues related to the five-year-old deal.  The ministry last w

South Korea's central bank on Thursday raised the key rate by a quarter percentage point for the first time in more than six years amid clear signs of an economic recovery.In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to increase the base rate to 1.5 percent from a record low of 1.25 percent, ending 16 straight months of its wait-and-see stance after the last rate cut made in June last year.It also marked the BOK's first monetary tightening action since June 201

Pyongyang’s provocations raise concerns over imminent key rate hike

The head of the nation’s antitrust watchdog, Kim Sang-jo, assured foreign businesses here that he is confident the South Korean market will remain strong despite concerns over North Korea’s latest missile launch Wednesday. 　The chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission also said his organization is devoted to increasing transparency to raise the market’s credibility for foreign businesses operating here.　“When looking at the stock market conditions and economic outlook,

South Korean business leaders met with the president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday to seek cooperation in expanding their presence in the South Asian market, a local corporate lobby said.Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena attended a luncheon meeting in downtown Seoul with a group of Korean entrepreneurs who operate businesses in the South Asian country or plan to make forays into the region.  "Many South Korean businesspeople are interested in Sri Lanka as part of a South Asian trio

South Korea needs a balanced and sophisticated strategy to cope with efforts by China and Japan to take the lead in building a free trade framework for Asia and the Pacific amid the US’ strengthening protectionism, experts here say.At a summit in Manila earlier this month, the leaders of 16 countries involved in talks on launching the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreed to complete the negotiating process by the end of 2018.RCEP encompasses the 10-member Associatio

The Korean government will provide 1 million homes as part of its "housing welfare" road map for young people, newlyweds, the elderly and the underprivileged, the infrastructure ministry said Wednesday. The Moon Jae-in government, which seeks a paradigm shift from a provider-oriented housing market to one that focuses on the needs of homebuyers, announced the housing road map to give customized support for people in different stages of life, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastru

South Korea's economy is forecast to continue to expand 3 percent on-year in 2018 on growing exports, investment and private consumption, a private think tank said Wednesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to achieve the growth rate in the coming year following a 3.2 percent on-year expansion this year, according to the Woori Finance Research Institute affiliated with Woori Bank."Private consumption is expected to be better in 2018 than this year, and growth of exports and investmen

The business sentiment gap between conglomerates and smaller firms has widened, suggesting recent signals for economic recovery were mostly limited to the market’s upper clusters, data showed Tuesday. The business survey index of domestic companies for December stood at 80, up two points from the previous month, according to the central Bank of Korea. The given figure for manufacturing firms was 83, also up two points from a month earlier.A BSI figure below 100 indicates an overruling

BEIJING/SHANGHAI/SEOUL  -- China's tourism authorities decided Tuesday to partially lift its bans on group tours to South Korea, sources said, as Seoul and Beijing move to repair bilateral relations badly frayed by the deployment of a US defense system in South Korea. At meetings earlier in the day, China's National Tourism Administration made a decision to allow offline tourist agencies in Beijing and Shandong Province to sell package tours to South Korea, the industry sources said. "

Business associations said Tuesday they are expecting the biggest economic delegation so far to accompany President Moon Jae-in on his China trip next month.The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea International Trade Association opened their websites to accept applications from companies who want to join the delegation. This was a change in practice for the KCCI, which usually conducts the process through separate contacts.The application period ended Monday.Moon is scheduled to

South Korea's single-person households saw their income drop at the fastest clip in about four years in the third quarter due to the country's rapid population aging, government data showed Tuesday.The average income of such households stood at 1.68 million won ($1,540) in the July-September period, down 3.51 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.It marks the biggest on-year drop since the 3.54 percent decline during the fourth quarter of 2015.

Recent data showing a continuous decrease in Korea’s real household income has strengthened calls for balancing the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth policy with regulatory and labor reforms to help create more jobs.The average monthly income earned by households with two and more members across the country stood at 4.53 million won ($4,165) in the July-September period this year, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier on nominal terms.Adjusted for inflation, however, the fi

South Korea‘s third quarter economic growth was the second highest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, on the back of strengthening exports, data showed Monday.　Korea’s economy grew 1.4 percent from July to September of this year compared to the previous quarter, the data showed. The figure marked the second-highest on-quarter jump among all OECD members behind Latvia, which edged out Korea at 1.5 percent. 　The country’s strong economic grow