In a meeting with business leaders accompanying him on a trip to the US last week, President Moon Jae-in asked them to “trust in the new government’s economic policy, invest more and create jobs.”Describing himself as both pro-labor and pro-business, Moon said the core of his policy was to forge a fair and transparent environment for competition, which he said would be good for doing business and boost the country’s growth potential.The gathering in Washington marked the

Foreign investors bought shares traded on the South Korean and Asian stock markets in the first half of this year despite concerns over capital flight as the US marked up its interest rates, industry data showed Wednesday.Foreign investors purchased $29.1 billion worth of stocks more than they sold in Asian countries, up compared to $27.6 billion for all of last year, according to statistics by the Korea Center for International Finance.Foreigners sold $4.1 billion of stocks in the Asian ma

Prices of vegetables jumped sharply in recent weeks due to heavy downpours that followed a long drought, industry sources said Wednesday.The price of napa cabbage soared 26.2 percent to 1,416 won ($1.2) per kilogram Tuesday from a month earlier, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. The price of spinach jumped 12.7 percent to 4,568 won per kilogram from 4,053 won, while that of lettuce gained 4.4 percent to 662 won from 634 won per 100 grams.The price of cucumbers w

South Korea's national debt as measured in outstanding state bonds issued exceeded 950 trillion won ($826.2 billion) last month, mainly due to the government's expansionary fiscal policy to cope with an economic slowdown, data showed Wednesday. The conservative administrations of ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye had favored the issuance of Treasury bills and various types of bonds to finance the fiscal expansion, rather than raising taxes. The nation's debt, which covers the central

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment reached the highest in over two years, but pessimism still outweighed optimism overall, a survey showed Wednesday.A survey of some 2,200 manufacturing firms put the business sentiment index at 94 in the third quarter, up five points from the second quarter but under the threshold of 100, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.  The reading marks the highest since the first quarter of 2015, when the comparable figure was 97. The last ti

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves hit a record high in June due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the U.S. greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of June, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $380.57 billion, up $2.11 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International Monetary Fund re

The South Korean finance ministry said Tuesday that it tightened its monitoring of the local financial market following the latest missile launch by North Korea.After launching a ballistic missile earlier in the day, Pyongyang claimed in an official announcement that it has successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile directly challenging calls by the international community to halt weapons of mass destruction development. The benchmark KOSPI lost 0.58 percent to finish at 2,380

Mortgage loans by those in their 20s and 30s have risen dramatically in the past 4 1/2 years, government data showed Tuesday, raising concerns of overdue payments.The average household whose head is in his 20s and 30s had 115 million won ($100,104) in mortgage loans last September, up 37.6 percent from 4 1/2 years earlier, according to figures by the Bank of Korea. Those in their 40s had 116 million won in mortgage loans last September, up 22.7 percent from 4 1/2 years earlier.The comparable fig

President Moon Jae-in's policy advisory panel said Tuesday that the government will expand hiring of young people in the public sector, the latest in a series of efforts to create jobs.Currently, public companies and other public agencies are required by law to employ a set number of unemployed youths each year. The government will raise the mandatory ratio of hiring of unemployed youths in the public sector to 5 percent, beginning next year, the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee said.Th

South Korean financial firms have increased the number of foreign branches over the past five years, but such operations suffer from low profitability, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The number of overseas branches by local banks, credit card and other financial firms rose to 410 in 45 countries at the end of March this year, up 11 percent from the end of 2012, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.  Asia accounted for 67.8 percent of all overseas branches. North and

South Korea's new government will unveil a comprehensive macroeconomic road map, including plans on taxation and public finances, later this month, the country's top economic policymaker said Tuesday."Some day in mid-July, the president and other officials will hold a meeting to discuss the government's fiscal policies and strategies for the next five years," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a policy meeting with ministers in Seoul. He said after such gatherings, the finance mini

The chief of South Korea's central bank vowed Tuesday to take "appropriate" steps amid signs that major economies could change their monetary policies going forward.Last month, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised key interest rates by 0.25 percentage point, marking up the target range for the federal funds rate to 1-1.25 percent. The move marked the second time the Fed raised rates this year after the first hike in March. The Fed also said it plans to reduce its securities holdings, a move

Some foreign investment banks have raised their growth forecasts for South Korea's economy this year, thanks to better-than-expected exports and facility investment, a financial research institute said Tuesday.The Bank of Korea has upgraded its growth forecast for the country to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent, citing improving exports, the Korea Center for International Finance said.  The British bank Barclays also recently raised its outlook for South Korea's gross domestic product this year