WASHINGTON -- US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Monday that a renegotiation is in order for trade agreements that lead to growing trade deficits, a remark indicative of his stance on the US free trade deal with South Korea."We are looking at all of our trade agreements to determine if they are working to our benefit," he told a forum here. "The basic notion in a free trade agreement is that one grants preferential treatment to a trading partner in return for an approx

The nation's top financial regulator on Tuesday urged banks to tighten their screening of home loan applications to help slow the growth of household debt. South Korea tightened lending rules for mortgages last month, but critics say loopholes give some people room for borrowing money in excess of the lending limits to buy homes. Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told representatives from banks that the growth of household debt could pick up during the second hal

Nearly half of surveyed small and medium-sized enterprises anticipate financial problems during the 10-day holiday that includes Chuseok in early October, according to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business.Of the 1,147 SMEs, 46 percent said they anticipate facing financial problems mainly due to a drop in sales (69.1 percent), delayed collection of payments (37.7 percent) and a rise in raw material prices (23.1 percent).

South Korea's household debt jumped 9 percent in July from a year earlier, a lawmaker said Tuesday, despite the government's tightened lending rules.The country's overall household debt came to 1,439 trillion won ($1.27 trillion) as of end-July, said Chae Yi-bai, a lawmaker of the opposition People's Party, citing the Korea Credit Information Services, the public agency responsible for managing the country's credit information. He said household loans extended by credit card firms and other

The relevance of President Moon Jae-in’s income-led growth policy is being put to an early test by the worsening unemployment problem.Data released by Statistics Korea last week showed the on-year increase in the number of newly employed people in August fell to the lowest in four and a half years.  The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-29 stood at 9.4 percent last month, the highest for August since 1999, when the Korean economy was struggling with the aftermath of a foreign

South Korea's financial watchdog said Monday it will present comprehensive measures later this month to give permanent jobs to temporary workers currently employed at state-run institutions.The move comes as the Moon Jae-in government is pushing ahead with the implementation of his presidential campaign pledge to reduce the number of nonregular workers and increase employment of regular workers.Officials at the Financial Services Commission said guidelines will be set for the full-time employmen

South Korean women in their 20s and 30s had sex less in 2014 compared with a decade ago, a survey showed Monday, amid high youth unemployment that has led to late marriage and less dating.South Korea's overall unemployment rate stood at 3.8 percent in June, up 0.2 percentage point from the same month last year. The unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 was much higher at 10.1 percent, up from 9.4 percent a year earlier. Jobless numbers have consistently outpaced those of the

The head of the nation's top financial regulator said Monday he will put more emphasis on helping the government to create jobs and offer financial incentives for startups. In a report to the National Assembly, Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said the FSC will eliminate entry barriers for financial firms to make inroads into new businesses. Job creation is one of the top priorities of President Moon Jae-in, who has embraced income-led economic growth as his main econ

A report from Hyundai Research Institute showed over the weekend that losses incurred by a radical decline in Chinese tourists amount to 81.6 trillion won ($71.94 billion) yearly.The number of incoming Chinese visitors dropped by 40 percent from March and July this year compared to the same period last year. The report estimated that some 3.33 million Chinese decided not to visit Korea in light of the Chinese government‘s purported group travel ban in a retaliation to Seoul’s deploym

Planned to encourage consumer spending and revitalize the domestic market, the government’s designation of Oct. 2 as a temporary holiday to fill the chain of holidays in early October comes amid discouraging indices and dilemmas faced by smaller merchants. “We still haven’t decided whether to keep our store closed throughout the holiday season or to partially open,” said Kim Rae-won, an owner of a small restaurant in central Seoul. “It is hard to figure out whether

South Korea’s financial market on Friday remained relatively unperturbed by North Korea’s launch of another ballistic missile, despite aggravated geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula.Financial decision makers nevertheless vowed for a full readiness posture, lest the continuing military threats from the North dampen investor sentiment in the long-term. The nation’s benchmark Kospi on Friday closed at 2,386.07, up 8.41 points from the previous day. The secondary Kosdaq cl

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with the governor of the US state of Wisconsin on Friday and discussed trade and economic cooperation, including the free trade pact between the two countries, Lee's office said.Gov. Scott Walker has been on a four-day visit to South Korea since Wednesday, leading an economic mission of about 20 people that includes government officials and business leaders in the state. It is his first visit to Korea. During the meeting, Lee noted the steady development of co

South Korea's tourism industry has been hit hard by a diplomatic row with China over the deployment of a US missile shield here that has sent the number of Chinese visitors tumbling, a report said Friday.In mid-March, China banned the sale of group tours to Seoul in retaliation against the installation of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in southeastern South Korea. Seoul and Washington insist it is purely designed to counter North Korea's missile threats, but Beijing argues the sys

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Friday that the local financial market seems to remain calm despite the latest North Korean missile firing, but the government will take immediate action, if necessary."The market condition looks steady," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said. "It does not seem likely that there will be sudden fluctuation in the market. But if we experience it, actions will be taken swiftly and resolutely."The North fired a ballistic missile over Japa

PYEONGCHANG  -- South Korea is gearing up its efforts to attract more local and foreign visitors to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, officials said Friday, with the quadrennial event just five months away. The Winter Games will be held in the alpine county of PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul, from Feb. 9-25, 2018, and will be attended by about 6,500 athletes and officials from 95 countries.The government of Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang and other venues for the upcoming