South Korea's economy is still facing uncertainties, although it has shown signs of recovery, the nation's financial regulator said Friday. The South Korean economy expanded 0.9 percent in the first-quarter of this year, growing at the fastest pace since the second-quarter of last year, the Bank of Korea said this week.  "There are estimates that show signs of recovery in exports and facility investment," Zhin Woong-seob, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said at a me

The South Korean government is trying to figure out the exact meaning of US President Donald Trump's statement that he will fix or scrap a bilateral free trade deal between the two countries, officials here said Friday.In an interview with Reuters, Trump called the South Korea-US free trade agreement "horrible," saying, "We are going to renegotiate that deal or terminate it." His comments came days after Vice President Mike Pence said earlier that Washington will review and r

South Korean businesses on Friday expressed serious concerns that US President Donald Trump's remarks on the bilateral free trade deal could trigger protectionism worldwide. In an interview with Reuters, Trump said he will either renegotiate or terminate the five-year-old trade agreement with South Korea, calling it "horrible" and "unacceptable."  He said his administration aims to renegotiate the trade pact with South Korea after it completes a revamp of the North Ameri

South Korea's central bank pledged Friday to keep the current monetary easing policy to support growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. For this month, the Bank of Korea kept its key rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent for the 10th consecutive month after dropping the rate to its lowest level to bolster the lackluster South Korean economy.The BOK will "maintain its stance of monetary policy accommodation as the inflationary pressures on the demand side are not expected to be high given

Joint countermeasures against trade protectionism will be a central agenda item at an economic ministerial meeting of Asian and European countries in Seoul later this year, trade ministry officials said Friday.Senior officials from member states of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) met in Seoul on Friday to discuss topics for the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The ministerial meeting is scheduled in Seoul on Sept. 21-22.Officials said participants

Lee Eun-hee, a 38-year-old lawyer, decided to visit Osaka in Japan with a friend in early November last year and set a new motto for this trip: spend less money on sleeping and focus more on eating and shopping.She downloaded the Airbnb application on her smartphone and searched for a suitable room close to a subway station and the large shopping districts of Dotonbori and Namba. On the app, it shows a list of apartments and guest houses uploaded by homeowners who have spare rooms or houses to s

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose slightly during the first three months of 2017 from a year earlier amid a steady increase in exports, government data showed Friday.Cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 389.92 million tons in the January-March period, up from 375.64 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Non-container cargo rose 3.1 percent on-year to 278.54 million tons during the three-month period, while conta

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment for next month improved slightly as local companies expect steady gains in domestic demand and exports, data by the central bank showed Friday.The business survey index of manufacturing firms came to 84 for May, up from 82 for April, according to the Bank of Korea.A reading over 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite. An index measuring local firms' sentiments toward exports came to 93 for ne

South Korea plans to sell a combined 7.75 trillion won ($6.84 billion) in state bonds next month, the finance ministry said Thursday.The government will issue 1.8 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of three years and 1.9 trillion won in five-year bonds.It also plans to sell 1.8 trillion won worth of 10-year Treasurys and a combined 2.25 trillion won of bonds with a maturity of between 20 and 30 years.For June, the ministry said it is planning to issue a total 8 trillion won worth of state bon

The three-year-old free trade agreement with Vietnam will allow South Korean companies to further increase their auto, steel and petrochemical exports on tax removal or cuts, customs experts said Thursday. In a seminar held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, customs experts called on Korean companies to aggressively take advantage of tariff benefits in the third year of the bilateral free trade pact with Vietnam and afterwards."Exports to South Korea's major mar

The number of unemployed people aged 65 or older hit a record high in recent months, government data showed Thursday, amid the lack of proper job openings for senior citizens,m whose number has been growing rapidly in recent years. The number of jobless people aged 65 or older rose to 123,000 for the first quarter this year, up 31,000 from a year earlier, according to the Statistics Korea data.The figure is the highest since Statistics Korea began compiling related numbers in 1999. The comparabl

Attention is being drawn to whether a new administration to be installed following the May 9 presidential election will push to draw up a supplementary budget this year.With the country’s economy showing signs of recovery, government policymakers are becoming increasingly negative on the need for additional fiscal spending.Korea’s gross domestic product increased 0.9 percent from the previous quarter in the January-March period, up from a 0.5 percent on-quarter expansion three months

South Korea's industrial electricity consumption rose for five straight quarters in the first three months of the year on a sharp upturn in the chipmaking and chemical sectors, the government said Thursday.The amount of electricity consumed by the country's industrial sector reached 71.06 billion kilowatt-hours in the January-March period, up 2.4 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The quarterly figure has been on a steady rise since th

South Korea’s economy grew at a faster pace in the first three months of the year on the back of robust exports and stronger-than-expected investment in construction and facilities, the central bank said Thursday.According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s gross domestic product expanded 0.9 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, beating market expectations of 0.7-0.8 percent. The quarterly growth in the first quarter was faster than the 0.5 percent on-quarter growt

South Korea's economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter than three months earlier due to increased construction investment and exports, central bank data showed Thursday.In the January-March period, the country's gross domestic product increased 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, improving from a 0.5 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The on-quarter growth is the fastest since the second quarter of last year.From a