South Korea will create an 85 billion won ($75.2 million) global infrastructure development fund to address the key constraints of private investment in overseas projects, the land ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation signed an agreement with the Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea to shoulder 40 billion won, 25 billion won and 20 billion won, respectively, for the “Global Infra Venture Fund.”The state investors will rai

Air traffic in South Korea rose slightly in the third quarter on strong demand for outbound travel and increased routes to Southeast Asia, government data showed Friday. A total of 195,355 planes flew into and out of South Korea in the July-September period, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said. Air traffic was the busiest on Sept. 30, the first day of the long Chuseok holiday when local airports served 2,259 flights.  The number o

The number of potential job seekers jumped in the third quarter of this year, data showed Friday, in an indication of a tougher employment market even though the nation's economy grew at a solid pace. Potential job seekers, who are not categorized as jobless but are looking for jobs, rose by about 194,000 people on year to some 1.6 million people during the July-September period, according to the data by the Statistics Korea. It was the first time that the quarterly number of potential job seeke

Exports by South Korea's venture startups will likely hit a record $20 billion this year helped by surging shipments of instrumentation and control devices and semiconductor production equipment to China and Vietnam, industry data showed Friday.The amount reached $14.7 billion for the first nine months this year, up 14.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the statistics provided by the Korea International Trade Association.Exports by startups rose to $18 billion last year from $16.7 billi

South Korea will launch a thorough inspection of all state-funded firms to find out if any job favors were given to children of influential people in politics and business amid rising public anger over reports of illicit employment, the government said Friday.The decision was made at an emergency ministerial meeting chaired by Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, with heads of 12 government ministries, including officials from the education and justice ministries, present.The government will set up a

South Korea's consumer confidence rebounded in October as tensions subsided between North Korea and the United States, a central bank poll showed Friday.The composite consumer sentiment index for October stood at 109.2, up 1.5 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.In August, the index fell 1.3 points from July. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. Consumer sentiment was also weak in September.The BOK attributed the rebound to eased tens

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday that the government will take steps to maintain current growth momentum through next year, following the latest data, which showed Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to reach its growth target of 3 percent in 2017.Earlier in the morning, the Bank of Korea said the economy expanded a solid 1.4 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, marking the fastest quarterly growth in seven years.The BOK forecast country's ann

The government discovered 9.3 trillion won ($8.2 billion) worth of assets stashed away under borrowed names by more than 11,000 people over the past five years, data showed Thursday.South Korea first introduced the real-name financial system in 1993 to stave off money laundering and tax evasion by banning transactions under phony or borrowed names and requiring people to use real names to open bank accounts or purchase stocks. As many as 11,776 people were caught concealing assets under the name

South Korea's economic growth hit a seven-year record high in the third quarter due to increased construction investment and exports, central bank data showed Thursday.In the July-September period, the country's gross domestic product increased 1.4 percent from the previous quarter, faster than the previous quarter's 0.6 percent on-quarter gain, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The on-quarter growth is the fastest since the second quarter of 2010, when the economy rose 1.7 pe

South Korea will hold a public hearing next month on the renegotiation of a free trade pact with the United States, Seoul's trade ministry said Wednesday, as the two countries move to reset the terms at Washington's call. The hearing on the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA), slated for Nov. 10, will be an opportunity to exchange public views and collect opinions from experts in the related fields, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The public hearing is part of the legal p

Among Seoul’s lower-income bracket, those in their 20s and 30s residing in the southern part of Seoul paid the highest amount of monthly rent, while those aged 60 and over living downtown paid the least, data showed Wednesday. According to an analysis submitted by Seoul Metropolitan Government to the parliamentary land, infrastructure and transport committee, the younger generation in Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu and Gangdong-gu -- all located in the southeastern part of Seoul -- paid

Concerns are growing that President Moon-Jae-in’s push for reducing work hours along with a steep increase in the minimum wage may further aggravate Korea’s labor productivity, which remains near the bottom among major economies.In a meeting with his aides last week, Moon said that, without job sharing through reduced work hours, it would be impossible to significantly raise the country’s employment rate and improve the quality of people’s lives. He cited a report from th

The nominee for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Wednesday the South Korean economy can make the next leap forward when venture firms and small businesses are successful. Hong Jong-haak, a former lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, made the remark two days after President Moon Jae-in appointed him to head the newly created office. "During the election campaign, I and others envisioned the four pillars of economic growth based on jobs, incomes, co-prosperity and innovation, and ma

The amount of sin taxes levied on tobacco, liquor and gambling has risen dramatically in recent years due mainly to the sharp rise in dues levied on cigarettes, government data showed Wednesday.The government increased taxes on cigarettes by 2,000 won ($1.70) per pack from Jan. 1, 2015, raising the price to 4,500 won, and compelled tobacco companies to place graphic images showing the harmful effects of smoking on the upper part of cigarette packs in 2016 as part of efforts to discourage smoking

An average of about 60 trillion won ($53.09 billion) worth of wealth has been transferred or handed down every year since 2003, but less than half of the recipients had to pay taxes, data showed Wednesday.According to records from the National Tax Service that were analyzed by the office of Rep. Park Gwang-on for parliamentary audits, 251.56 trillion won of various assets were inherited by 2.73 million people in the 2003-2016 period. During the same period, 281.87 trillion won of wealth was tran