South Korea will simplify customs clearance process to help local exporters do business more easily in a way to give further momentum to the country's exports which seems to have entered an upside cycle, the customs agency said Tuesday.The Korea Customs Service said those who sell goods to foreign customers through an online platform will face easier and faster customs regulations, as only 27 items will be subject to mandatory declaration, down from the current 57 items. The businesses will also

South Korea's consumer prices continued their rise in April, going up nearly 2 percent amid high-flying oil prices, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index gained 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing down from the previous month's 2.2 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Consumer prices have been hovering around 2 percent since the first month of 2016 due to a sharp gain in oil prices, following a 1.3 percent on-year gain in D

Retirees over 50 years old are most glad that they no longer have to deal with stress from work, but many feel that tight finances are dampening their post-retirement life, a survey said Tuesday.  In the survey by the National Pension Service, conducted between April and September last year on 4,816 respondents, 32.2 percent said the best thing about retiring was being free of work-related stress. Another 17.8 percent were happy they didn't have to worry about interpersonal relationships at

South Korea's state-funded corporations saw their debt ratio decline for four years in a row last year on the back of government-led efforts to improve their balance sheets, the finance ministry said Monday.The debt ratio of 329 public firms reached 167 percent as of end-2016, down 16 percentage points from a year earlier, with their combined credit totaling 499.4 trillion won ($437.9 billion), according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. It has been on a steady decline since 2013, when it

South Korea’s outbound shipments surged 24.2 percent in April from a year prior to $51 billion, mainly boosted by strong sales of ships and semiconductors, data by the Trade Ministry showed Monday. It marked the second most monthly exports, following $51.6 billion in October 2014. The figure saw the sharpest on-year rise in nearly six years, following 25.5 percent in August 2011.Meanwhile, inbound shipments also increased 16.6 percent, compared to the previous year, to $37.8 billion i

Coins worth more than 16.5 billion won ($14 million) were returned to South Korea's central bank in the first quarter, data showed Monday.The figure represents a 375 percent hike from 3.47 billion won tallied in the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.It also marked the highest amount since the second quarter of 1998 when South Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis. The central bank has been striving to retrieve coins in a campaign towards becoming a coinless society to help b

Samsung Electronics on Monday denied local reports that it aims to re-enter the car making industry, following government approval of a test run for a self-driving car.The Ministry of Transport and Land said it has approved a pilot run of Samsung Electronics’ autonomous car currently under development. The approval signals Samsung’s push into the self-driving car market, local reports said, quoting industry insiders. But the South Korean tech giant reiterated its earlier position tha

In a rare consensus, the five major candidates for next week’s presidential election have pledged to strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises as a way to increase employment.Whoever is elected president, they all say they will promote a governmental agency handling matters related to SMEs, now under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to an independent ministerial-level office. Experts share the presidential candidates’ perception that the country’s det

South Korea's exports continued to rise in April, extending their winning streak to six months, on the back of brisk overseas sales of ships and chips, the trade ministry said Monday.Outbound shipments came to $51 billion last month, up 24.2 from $41.1 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The country's exports have been on a steady rise since November led by an upturn in oil prices and recovering world trade. Imports jumped 16.6 percent on-year

Starting in July, the maximum parental leave subsidy for a second child will rise to 2 million won ($1,753) a month for the first three months, the Welfare Ministry said Sunday.In November 2014, the government started to provide a 1.5 million won monthly financial incentive when a second parent takes parental leave to care for their second child. The move was an effort to encourage more fathers to participate in child care and help couples to have a second child.The government will raise the amo

The Bank of Korea said Sunday that despite US President Donald Trump celebrating his first 100 days in the White House, uncertainties over his policies have grown and are causing jitters. Citing concerns about Trump's protectionist moves, legal challenges over his anti-immigration policy and a revamped healthcare plan, the central bank urged Asia's fourth-largest economy to strengthen its monitoring on policies being pursued in the world's No. 1 economy. In an interview with Reuters last week, T

A local private think tank said Sunday it has raised its growth outlook for South Korea this year, helped by increased exports and facility investments.The Korea Institute of Finance projected the country's gross domestic product to increase by 2.8 percent for 2017, higher than its earlier estimate of 2.5 percent growth forecast in October.It said the economy should expand 2.6 percent in the first half followed by 2.9 percent gains in the July-December period.The upward revision came as the glob

South Korea's external earnings will fall by 2.7 percent if exports to China contract by 10 percent, a report by a state-run think tank showed Sunday.The report analyzing global trade friction released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade showed Asia's fourth-largest economy being hurt if there is trade-related trouble between South Korea, the United States and China. KIET said that while Seoul will be affected if there are complications with the United States and trade prot

South Korea's exports to the United States are expected to suffer losses as much as $17 billion over five years if the two nations renegotiate a bilateral free trade deal, according to a report on Sunday.  South Korea's businesses remain concerned after US President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview last week that he will either renegotiate or scrap the free trade deal with South Korea, calling it "horrible." If tariff rates are revised under renegotiation, South Korea's a