South Korea's jobless rate dropped slightly in May as Asia's fourth-largest economy shows some signs of recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent last month, down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it fell 0.6 percentage point. The number of employed people reached a record 26.82 million in May, up 375,000 from a year earlier.The unemployment rate for young peo

The South Korean government vowed Tuesday to take all necessary measures to deal with growing US barriers against its trade surplus and steel products."As the US government has been moving to strengthen trade restrictions and raise barriers, all government ministries need to formulate countermeasures against such developments," Deputy Trade Minister Lee In-ho said at a policy meeting in Seoul. "We have to be fully prepared as Washington's latest moves may affect its policy roadmap

South Korea’s top fiscal and monetary policymakers vowed to coordinate in carrying out economic policies at a rare meeting Tuesday, highlighting that their views on the economy were near identical.Just one day after taking office, new Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon visited the Bank of Korea’s head office in Seoul to have a lunch meeting with BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol. It was the first time in four years that a finance minister had an exclusive meeting with the central bank’s governo

The money supply in South Korea jumped 6.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the central bank said Tuesday.The nation's "M2" totaled 2,450.2 trillion won ($2.16 trillion) in April, compared to 2,299 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Month-on-month, the money supply gained 0.6 percent, the statement said.The growth rate of the money supply has been on the decline since October 2015 as companies decreased domestic credit.M2 is a measure of the money

South Korea's auto exports rose for four months in a row in May on an upturn in global demand, government data showed Tuesday.The total value of vehicles shipped overseas reached $3.51 billion last month, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The number has remained in positive terrain since February when it rebounded to a 5.3 percent rise from a 4.8 percent fall in the previous month.Total vehicles shipped abroad also c

South Korea's national tax revenue continued to rise in the first four months of the year bolstered by an increase in corporate and value added taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The government collected a total of 105.3 trillion won ($93.1 billion) in dues in the January-April period, up 8.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The amount is equal to 43.5 percent of the 242.3 trillion won in tax revenue earmarked for 2017. Taxes collected so

A move to tighten South Korea's lending rules to curb household debt could adversely affect the overall economy, a local think tank said Monday. In a report on the impact of lending rules and household debt, the Korea Economic Research Institute  warned against stricter regulations involving the debt-to-income ratio as changes will force borrowers spend less and further drag down the already fragile economy."In South Korea, home prices are higher than the norm for an economy of this si

South Korea has provided over $50 billion in foreign direct investment to Vietnam, data from Vietnam’s State Capital Investment Corp. showed Monday.The accumulated FDI by South Korean businesses in one of the fastest-growing economy in Asia reached $50.6 billion, spanning 5,773 projects from 1988 to 2016.In 2016, the volume of investment from South Korea reached some $6.9 billion, a 2.53 percent increase from 2015. It made up 30.8 percent of the entire FDI inflow into Vietnam. Japan a

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has drawn up the government’s proposal for next year’s spending on Monday, at a size of 424.5 trillion won, 6 percent larger than that of this year‘s.One of the largest increases of 8.9 percent is to be made on public welfare, health and employment, boosting the spending to 141.1 trillion won.On the other hand, environmental and cultural spending will be cut by 3.9 percent and 5 percent. The largest budget decrease will be made on social ove

Top economic policymakers of South Korea and India will hold talks later this week to discuss ways to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, the finance ministry here said Monday.In the fifth Seoul-New Delhi finance ministers' meeting to be held on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea's Kim Dong-yeon and his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley will share views on current macroeconomic situations facing both countries and economic policies being pursued to fuel growth. They will also talk about issues li

South Korea has acceded to a single privacy framework for the corporate transfer of data across Pacific Rim border nations, known as the Cross-Border Privacy Rules system, government officials said Monday.The CBPR system, endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2011, is aimed at facilitating e-commerce among the APEC countries and making the safe transfer of privacy data involving e-commerce and free movement of data. Under the system, participating businesses are required to implem

South Korea’s central bank chief said Monday he may consider monetary tightening if the economic recovery accelerates, in an indication of a more hawkish stance.“Uncertainties about growth remain still high and inflation pressure from the demand side is not strong. Thus, we need to maintain expansionary monetary policy for the time being,” BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a speech to celebrate the bank’s 67thh anniversary.“However, if economic recovery continues and sho

The 11.2 trillion won ($10 billion) extra budget unveiled last week is set to be funded mostly by excessive tax revenues without issuing state bonds and thus increasing the national debt that currently stands at 680 trillion won.This may help President Moon Jae-in persuade opposition lawmakers to agree to the additional fiscal spending plan, which was proposed less than a month after he took office to implement programs designed to create more jobs and boost the livelihoods of low-income familie