The number of foreign cruise tourists visiting South Korea has declined sharply in recent months, government data showed Monday, amid a diplomatic row with China over the deployment of a US anti-missile system.China has been banning package tours to South Korea since March as part of its economic retaliation against South Korea over the THAAD deployment, which Beijing considers a security threat.Chinese accounted for 91 percent of about 1.95 million foreign tourists who came to South Korea

Rising home prices and loan interest rates have made houses the least affordable in over four years, the latest data showed Monday.According to the Korea Housing-Finance, the Korea-housing affordability index rose to 58.9 in the first three months of the year, up 0.4 percentage point from the previous quarter. This is the highest since the fourth quarter of 2012, when the index stood at 59.9. K-HAI reflects the burden of loan repayment for homebuyers with median income who purchase average-price

Korea's state-run pension fund has increased its holdings in three spinoff companies of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., data provided by a local market research showed Sunday.   According to FnGuide Inc., the National Pension Service held a stake of more than 5 percent in 277 companies as of late last week.   Of companies that the pension fund has large stakes in, 17 were added in the second quarter of this year, with an emphasis placed on Hyundai Heavy affiliates.   

South Korean companies’ high hopes were struck down following President Moon Jae-in’s Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the two countries failed to strike an accord to cease China’s unofficial economic retaliation against South Korean companies regarding the controversial deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.  　Korea’s relationship with China has hit its lowest point in years due to political and economic tension over the install

South Korea’s rapidly aging population could become a hurdle to economic growth in the near future, according to economists at the Bank of Korea.According to central bank’s data, the number of South Koreans over 65 accounted for 12.8 percent of the population in 2015 and that figure is projected to grow to 28.7 percent by 2035 and 42.5 percent by 2065.As the economically active population falls, the growth rate could reach zero percent after 2035, Ahn Byung-kwun, a BOK economist, sai

Japanese bank Nomura Holdings joined several global investment banks on Friday in raising South Korea's economic growth forecast for this year. Kwon Young-sun, a chief economist at Nomura, upgraded South Korea's economic growth rate for this year to 2.7 percent from its previous forecast of 2.4 percent, citing improving exports and construction investment. However, South Korea's economy is likely to show signs of mild growth in the second half of this year.  Kwon noted that South Korea's ec

South Korea's central bank is expected to hold its key rates steady this month as it could move to "normalize" interest in early 2018, Moody's Analytics said Friday.The Bank of Korea is set to hold its rate-review session next Thursday to decide whether to keep or adjust the all-time low rate of 1.25 percent. "The central bank is in no hurry to raise rates with core inflation only gradually creeping higher amid expectations of improving domestic demand," Moody's Analytics sai

Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup, began shutting down five physical branches in the country Friday, as part of its plan to reorganize its operations, according to an industry source. Citibank has said it will drastically cut the number of its physical branches to 25 from 126 but claimed that it will not lay off employees.  Five branches of Citibank in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province were being shut down Friday and 30 more branches will be closed by the end of this month.An uns

Bananas were the most sold fruit in the first half of the year, according to leading retail giant E-mart on Friday, replacing the longtime favorite apples.E-Mart said it sold 37.6 billion won ($32.48 million) worth of bananas in the January-June period, up 8.7 percent from the same period last year. The amount tops numbers for apples that stood at 33.1 billion won, down 16.2 percent from last year. The retail company said the latest tally marks the first time that bananas were the top-selling fr

Sales of frozen foods have risen sharply in recent months, industry data showed Thursday, amid an increase in one-person households in South Korea, industry data showed Thursday.GS25, South Korea's second-largest convenience store chain, said its frozen food sales grew 31.5 percent during the first six months of this year from a year earlier. The numbers reflect preferences for such food among singles, who are attracted to convenience of preparation.The comparable growth rates were 11 to 14 perc

Amid drawn-out speculation over the future of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, the two countries have been voicing differing views regarding the mutual benefits of the bilateral trade deal, which has now reached its fifth year.  　US President Donald Trump is arguing that the current stipulations are unfair and is the reason for the country’s worsening trade deficit. Trump has referred to the KORUS-FTA as “unacceptable” and a “horrible deal,” suggesting the de

South Korean department stores saw their sales fall in May as more consumers opted for online shopping, government data showed Thursday. The department stores' sales index dropped 4.6 percent in May compared to the same period last year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.  Since the beginning of this year, the index has been on a downturn, recording 1.5 percent, 5.6 percent and 3.5 percent drops in January, February and March, respectively, the data showed. The rate of decrease dr

Households with loans use about a third of their disposable income on debt repayment, statistics showed Thursday, undermining efforts to spur consumption through spending.The National Assembly Budget Office analyzed figures provided by Statistics Korea and found that a household with loans on average had 46.35 million won ($40,147) in disposable income last year, of which 15.48 million won, or 33.4 percent, was used to pay back principal on loans. It was the first time that the ratio surpassed 3