South Korea's car exports jumped 28.5 percent on-year last month on brisk demand for eco-friendly cars, data showed Friday. The value of outbound shipments of automobiles came to $4.92 billion last month, the largest ever for any October, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of volume, a total of 208,544 vehicles were sold last month, up 30.2 percent from the previous year, the data showed. By region, exports to North America jumped 60.2 percent to $2.3

South Korea's top central banker said Friday that it is a top priority to ensure price stability and reduce inflation pressure through monetary tightening but worried there are "growing signs of stress" in various sectors amid recent steep interest rate hikes. Rhee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, also voiced worries over money moving from non-banking sectors to the banking sector due to fast-rising deposit rates, saying that it is an "important issue" to turn

South Korea's exports slipped 2.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of November due mainly to weak shipments of chips and mobile devices, data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $17.7 billion in the Nov. 1-10 period, compared with $18.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 6.7 percent on-year to $19.8 billion during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.05 billion. Outbound shipments

South Korea will ease lending rules for those looking to buy their first home in the capital and in the greater Seoul area starting Dec. 1 to prevent a property market slowdown prompted by higher interest rates from hurting economic growth. According to an interagency government meeting led by the Finance Ministry on Thursday, such home buyers will be able to borrow up to 50 percent of the property value, up from as low as 20 percent currently approved, and take out mortgage loans on properties

‘Food prices likely to rise further until next year’

South Korea's financial regulator on Thursday proposed opening an "information-sharing channel" with local financial institutions on overseas market conditions to better respond to offshore developments and minimize their impact on domestic markets. Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, made the proposal during a meeting in Seoul with officials of financial holding groups, banks, brokerages and insurers handling global businesses. "I propose building an inf

South Korea will carry out eased lending rules for first-time homebuyers and owners of one home next month as the once red-hot housing market appears to be entering a downturn amid rising interest rates, the land ministry said Thursday. The government has adopted stricter lending rules and other regulations to help stabilize the country's real estate market in recent years. In response, the government came up with the latest measures amid growing concern about a possible failure of the prop

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday asked for local banks' cooperation in stabilizing the corporate bond and short-term money markets and helping money flow to businesses and small merchants in need. Kim Joo-hyeon, head of the Financial Services Commission, made the request in a meeting with chiefs of major commercial banks amid worries over a credit crunch sparked by a series of market-destabilizing events, including the Legoland-linked debt default. "Concerns over

South Korea added jobs for the 20th straight month in October, data showed Wednesday, but the growth continued to slow for the fifth month in a row as the country braces for a possible recession amid high inflation and slowed growth. The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million last month, up 677,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the largest on-year growth for any October since 1999. The October figure marked a slight drop from the on-yea

SEJONG -- South Korea's state-run think tank warned Tuesday that the nation's economy could slow practically to a standstill in 2050 unless its falling productivity is elevated through structural reform efforts. The Korea Development Institute released a report on the long-term outlook of the Korean economy. According to the report, the nation's economic growth rate is likely to be just 1.3 percent in the 2030s and 0.7 percent in the 2040s per annum in the wake of a rapid decline in the workin

Itaewon restaurant, shop owners express concern over residual effects of crowd surge tragedy

South Korea needs to show significant action to make MSCI's watch list of countries with developed market status, the chief of the global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International has said. Every June, the MSCI reclassifies its watch list of advanced markets, based on the countries' economic development, size and liquidity of equity markets, and market accessibility for foreign investors. If South Korea is added to this watch list, it would then be eligible for a review to jo

South Korea posted a current account surplus in September, swinging from the previous month's shortfall, but it was much smaller than a year earlier as import bills remained high and outbound travel grew due to eased pandemic-related curbs, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.61 billion in September, compared with a deficit of a revised $3.05 billion a month earlier, which marked the first shortfall since April, according to the preliminar

SEJONG -- The chief of Korea’s tax administrative agency said Monday that the transition to a non-face-to-face economy during the COVID-19 pandemic further increased the importance of digital-based tax administration. National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Chang-ki stressed the digitization of tax administration during the second South Korea-South and Central Americas Digital Tax Administration Forum, which kicked off on the day and is scheduled to run through Thursday at a hotel in Seoul.

Over 80 percent of S. Koreans say cost of dining out increased, seperate survey shows