The South Korean economy has been on a modest recovery path thanks to brisk exports and investment despite a slight downturn in industrial output, a state-run think tank said Thursday."The Korean economy maintained a moderate improvement led by exports and investment demand, although industrial output growth moderated slightly," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. Triggered by an upturn in global trade, Asia's fourth-larg

South Korea needs to export more services and consumer goods than intermediary products to China to keep up with the Beijing government's drive to boost domestic consumption, a report said Thursday.Intermediary goods accounted for 78.1 percent of South Korea's total exports to China in 2014, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. The report feared any failure by South Korea to shift to consumer goods and services will eventually undermine the country's outbound sh

South Koreans have one of the gloomiest economic views in the world, with 84 percent saying the fourth-largest Asian economy is in bad shape, a US survey showed Wednesday.South Korea had the second-most negative views, with only 15 percent saying their economy is in good condition, the Pew Research survey found. Greece had the most downbeat views, with 98 percent responding negatively about the country's economy.The survey polled 34,788 respondents in 32 countries from Feb. 16 to April 28."

The OECD Economic Outlook has predicted Korea’s gross domestic product will grow from 2.6 percent to 2.8 percent in 2018, according to its latest report released Wednesday. The OECD Economic Outlook is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s twice-yearly analysis of major economic trends and prospects.“GDP growth declined in the latter part of 2016 in the context of political uncertainty, corporate restructuring and a drop in exports,” the report said.

Following President Moon Jae-in’s initiative for his 100-day plan for job creation, a recent study argued that the government’s short-term financial support is estimated to be ineffective in the long-run in terms of job retention. The new administration’s job creation plan was established to address and promote job growth as one of the president’s highest priorities in his first 100 days in office. On Monday, the government announced an 11.2 trillion won ($9.99 billion) s

At a parliamentary hearing Wednesday, Kim Dong-yeon, nominee for deputy prime minister and finance minister, was under intense scrutiny over his stance that opposition lawmakers claimed would clash with the Moon Jae-in administration’s push for stronger welfare and income-led economic growth. The nominee, who mostly responded with theoretical answers, had served the former conservative Lee Myung-bak administration. He was presidential secretary for economy and finance from 2008-2009, the F

The new government’s push for a steep increase in the minimum wage has raised concerns that job opportunities for low-income, low-skilled workers will decrease as many small companies and self-employed businesses are forced to close or cut the number of employees.Under a plan announced by a presidential committee on jobs last week, Korea’s hourly minimum wage, which is currently pegged at 6,470 won ($5.80), is set to rise by an annual average of 15.7 percent over the next three years

The growth of real income of South Koreans has risen at a slower pace than that of economic growth over the past five years, government data showed Wednesday.The average real income of local businesses with at least five employees was 3.39 million ($3,000) per month last year, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It is on par with the country's real gross domestic product growth that stood at 2

The new presidential committee on job creation is set to hold a series of meetings this week with business lobbies representing small and medium-sized enterprises, partly to learn their views on raising the minimum wage, the committee said Tuesday.Starting Thursday, committee officials will meet with representatives from the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, Korea Federation of SMEs and many others. The meetings are largely aimed at listening to possible difficulties that small businesses ma

Amid increasing income disparity, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that Korea’s middle class accounted for 65.7 percent of the population last year, a 1.7 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year. Although there is no established international standard in defining the middle class, Korea’s National Statistical Office defines the middle class as 50 to 150 percent of the country’s median income, in accordance to the standards of the Organization fo

Affluent Gangnam, Seocho lead price hikes in Seoul

Despite strong exports, South Korea’s current account balance slid to $4 billion in April this year, recording the smallest surplus in the past year, according to the Bank of Korea on Monday. 　Bank of Korea announced the current account balance had continued a surplus for 62 consecutive months, but the growth in exports was offset by higher dividend payouts to foreigner investors, surging oil prices and other factors, which contributed to the current account surplus decreasing dramatically

South Korea's diplomatic tensions with China may weigh heavily on their upcoming talks on extending the bilateral currency swap deal, South Korea's central bank said Monday.China has taken a series of economic retaliations against South Korea, including a ban on group tours to South Korea, in protest of the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea.Some South Koreans are concerned that the diplomatic tensions could jeopardize the currency swap agreement, although Beijing

South Korea has some room for a tax hike in the future, the finance minister nominee said Monday, lending support to the government's expansionary fiscal policies to create jobs and boost the economy."South Korea can afford a tax increase, as it has a lower ratio of tax burden to the gross domestic product than other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development," incoming Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a report submitted to the parliament before

South Korea on Monday started a full-fledged step to realize its slogan of the "income-led growth" through an 11.2 trillion-won ($9.99 billion) supplementary budget.The budget proposal -- which came less than one month after President Moon Jae-in took office -- is aimed at helping the needy get jobs and higher income. Moon has vowed to put his policy priority on creating jobs, especially for young people.Moon's "income-led growth" principle is similar to the concept of inclus