South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday it will push to introduce fiscal rules that would mandate a sharp drop in the deficit in case the national debt exceeds 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The move came in line with the Yoon Suk-yeol government's push to implement a belt-tightening policy as part of effort to improve the country's financial soundness following years of expansionary fiscal spending. During the emergency economic ministers' meeting, the government decided to pus

South Korea's exports fell 16.6 percent on-year in the first 10 days of September due mainly to fewer working days over the Chuseok holiday, with its trade deficit widening on high energy costs, data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $16.25 billion in the Sept. 1-10 period, compared with $19.48 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 10.9 percent on-year to $18.69 billion during the cited period, resul

South Korea’s gross domestic product -- the value of all goods and services created in the country -- improved slightly in the second quarter but underperformed that of most OECD countries on the US and China slowdowns, the latest Bank of Korea data showed Monday. The central bank found that the GDP rose 0.7 percent on-quarter in the April-June quarter, an incremental improvement from the 0.6 percent in the previous quarter. The latest growth rate ranks 20th among 35 countries -- including

From delivery riders to luxury shoppers, young people flock to less stressful, better compensated part-time jobs

Shin Jeong-eum, a 61-year-old Seoulite, remembers her childhood when her family was delighted with beef wrapped in a simple paper package and a carton of eggs held together by straw as Chuseok gifts. As for her, Shin's favorite moments in the 1970s were receiving new clothes from her relatives as they celebrated the traditional mid-autumn harvest festival, honoring their ancestors. “Nowadays, it’s all about gifting luxury items and we can just send the gifts after purchasing them t

South Korea said Thursday it plans to spend 74 trillion won ($53.4 billion) on supporting low-income families, senior citizens and other vulnerable people next year in a bid to ease the burden of rising living costs. The government plans to increase its budget spending by 8.7 trillion won in 2023 on-year to prevent vulnerable people from being left in a blind spot, according to the finance ministry. The money will be spent to support low-income households, people with disabilities, young people

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the third straight month in July, but the surplus plunged as the goods balance turned red for the first time in about 10 years due to fast-rising import costs of energy and other commodities, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's current account surplus came to $1.09 billion in July, compared with a surplus of $5.61 billion posted a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The July surplus was

SEJONG -- The scale of tax cuts for businesses will increase by more than 1 trillion won ($727 million) on-year in 2023, with its portion of total tax cuts for the overall sectors rising, state data showed Tuesday. According to next year’s budget on tax expenditures, submitted by the Finance Ministry to the National Assembly, the collective tax cuts for the overall sectors are estimated at 69.3 trillion won. Of them, corporate tax cuts -- including deductions for spending on fostering ma

Higher energy import bills, prompted by changes in the global economy, are to blame for the five-month trade deficit since April, with the trend likely to continue for the next three months, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday in a research paper. The August trade deficit came to $9.47 billion, a monthly record since 1956 when the Trade Ministry began to collect such data. The January-August deficit of $24.7 billion has already surpassed the yearly high set in 1996. Higher prices of energy and petrol

Increasing volatility prompted by changes in the global economy is gripping South Korea’s financial markets, but the economic fundamentals remain strong, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Monday morning at a meeting of the nation’s economic chiefs. “The won is weakening, but economic indicators like the credit default swap premium are solid,” Choo said, referring to derivative contracts meant to protect investors from a Korean default. The premium on the country's five

SEJONG -- More and more gas stations are expected to operate charging ports for electric vehicles under state measures to promote supply of eco-friendly vehicles by easing regulations. In addition, businesses will be allowed to operate autonomous mobile robots at parks, while the current rules restrict the range of serving robots to indoor restaurants, government officials said Monday. A task force on deregulations, led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, unveiled the second phase of dereg

Batches of 50,000 won bills are transported from the Bank of Korea on Monday ahead of the Chuseok holiday that kicks off on Friday.

POSCO International Corp., a South Korean commodities trader, said Monday its shipment of Ukrainian corn departed from a port in the war-torn country and will arrive home later this month. A vessel carrying 61,000 tons of corn left Pivdennyi Port in Ukraine on Aug. 16 and is on its way via a sea route to reach Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, around late September, the trading arm of POSCO Holdings Co. said in a release. "All of the corn will be used for feed, which will help stabilize

South Korea's finance minister said Monday the country's current account surplus could narrow as the trade balance will likely deteriorate amid a hike in energy prices and slowing global demand. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho also said the government will take stern actions against foreign exchange market-disturbing behaviors during the extended Chuseok fall harvest holiday amid the won's sharp weakness against the US dollar. The minister made the remark at the start of an emergen

A new chief took office Friday to lead South Korea’s pension fund, but his push to reform the country’s main retirement plan to avoid the depletion of its reserves by 2055 has gained little of the support it needs. Kim Tae-hyun, a former senior official at the top financial regulator who most recently served as president of Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., faced a delay in getting to work as the union physically blocked him from entering his office, saying Kim was a placeholder underq