International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde expected Friday South Korea's economy will continue to grow stably despite security risks stemming from North Korea, the foreign minister here said after their meeting in Seoul.   Top diplomat Kang Kyung-wha met Lagarde to discuss the economy of South Korea and the world as well as the country's cooperation with the IMF.     "Lagarde shared the point that South Korea's stable economic growth will be sustained in sp

　A number of German investors in Korea have voiced skepticism regarding the new Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth economic policies, and to what extent it will lead to increased labor productivity while adding fiscal burdens for businesses.　More than 100 representatives of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry member companies gathered together in Seoul last week for the KGCCI half-year economic outlook seminar, according to the chamber’s statement on Thursd

A bipartisan group of American lawmakers Thursday urged President Donald Trump to keep the US free trade agreement with South Korea amid a deepening security crisis on the Korean Peninsula.In a letter addressed to the president, four co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Korea underscored the importance of a tight alliance in the wake of North Korean provocations, including its sixth nuclear test Sunday.Trump was earlier reported to be planning a withdrawal from the five-year-old trade pact.

‘Closing gender gap in labor market could become economic game-changer in Asia’

Washington appears to be retracting US President Donald Trump’s claims that the US is looking to terminate the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, said a report by Inside US Trade on Thursday. 　According to the publication, White House officials have assured key lawmakers that the US government will not be pursuing talks of withdrawing from the 5-year-old trade deal amid opposition by lawmakers and government officials from both countries. 　“The plan to terminate the agreement had been di

The number of salaried people paying the maximum amount of national health insurance premiums has risen gradually over the past few years amid a steady increase in high income earners, government data showed Thursday.The figure for those paying 2.39 million won ($2,117) per month in premiums from a monthly income of at least 78.1 million won jumped to 3,471 as of the end of June from 2,508 in 2012, 2,522 in 2013, 2,893 in 2014, 3,017 in 2015 and 3,403 in 2016, statistics released by the National

The 10-day holiday starting late September will likely have mixed effects on South Korea's economy struggling to cope with trade sanctions imposed by China over a missile row, growing protectionism from the United States and geopolitical risks caused by North Korea.The Moon Jae-in government earlier designated Oct. 2 as a one-off holiday to bridge the Sept. 30 weekend with the Chuseok holiday, National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day, which commemorates the invention of the Korean alphabet that f

The United States does not plan to withdraw from its free trade agreement with South Korea for now, a report quoted sources as saying Wednesday.According to Inside US Trade, the White House assured key lawmakers that it would not push forward on its earlier plan to weigh termination of the five-year-old pact known as KORUS.Last week, there were reports that President Donald Trump had instructed advisers to prepare for a withdrawal after the first South Korea-US meeting in August that discussed p

Doubts are rising over the government’s assertion that the country’s fiscal soundness can be maintained even if public spending increases at a faster pace than economic growth during President Moon Jae-in’s five-year presidency, which began in May.Such an optimistic view is based on expectations that tax revenues will continue to rise as the Korean economy is put on a path toward recovery. A draft tax code revision, if passed during the ongoing parliamentary session, would incr

The income gap between single-income and double-income households for the second quarter this year decreased to the narrowest level since the fourth quarter of 2015, data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.The decline was attributed to lower quality jobs.Double-income households earned an average of 5.47 million won ($4,830) compared to single-income households’ 3.69 million won.While the overall number employed in the second quarter increased by over 300,000 from the previous year, th

South Korea's tax-to-GDP ratio needs to surpass the 35 percent mark by 2060 to meet the government's social welfare-related spending plan, a local think tank said Wednesday.The report by the Korea Economic Research Institute comes as the ruling Democratic Party proposed hiking up tax rates for the super-rich and top-earning conglomerates to help finance the Moon Jae-in administration's welfare and job creation agenda estimated to cost 178 trillion won ($156 billion) over the next five years.It s

The chief of the International Labor Organization said Wednesday that there is a need to "quickly" address the legal status of South Korea's outlawed teachers and public servants unions, urging the government to work hard to resolve the issue.In a meeting with labor union leaders, Guy Ryder, director-general of the ILO, said South Korea should resolve the legal spat over the progressive unions regardless of the ratification of the ILO's key rights convention by the country.In 2013, the

South Korea plans to give rice to developing nations after it joins an international food assistance convention as part of its ambition to stabilize the local rice supply and help the needy around the world, the farm ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it is preparing steps to join the Food Assistance Convention, expecting parliamentary approval for the membership by the end of this year. If approved, the ministry plans to ship about 50,000 tons

South Korea's economic recovery pace remains weak and feeble due mainly to the prolonged slump in private consumption, a state-run think tank said Wednesday."Signs of a slowdown have stabilized on the production side, but the overall economy is not showing hints of a steady recovery,"the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. "The improvement trend in domestic demand appears to be unsteady."Concerns have been rising as

The number of Japanese visitors to South Korea may decrease in the wake of North Korea's latest nuclear test, industry sources said Wednesday.Japanese tourists to Seoul have tended to slip whenever tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalate due to Pyongyang's atomic tests or other geopolitical risks. The isolated North carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, drawing strong condemnation from the international community.According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number