SEJONG -- Economic policymakers are poised to take countermeasures against possible issues in the supply of agricultural and livestock products and further price climbs in the wake of the recent heavy rainfall. At a vice-ministerial meeting in Seoul on Friday, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Bang Ki-sun pledged to take any necessary action, saying that “there are worries over a possible instability in the supply of agricultural and livestock products.” He also said the g

South Korea's import prices fell for the first time in three months in July as global oil prices declined amid concerns about a global recession, central bank data showed Friday. The import price index inched down 0.9 percent in July from a month earlier, compared with a 0.5 percent on-month rise in June, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the first on-month decline since April, when import prices edged down 0.6 percent. Compared with a year earlier,

SEJONG -- Economic policymakers said Thursday that they would seek to stabilize consumer prices ahead of the Chuseok holiday by greatly expanding supply and issuing discount coupons for agricultural, livestock and fishery products. They also decided to provide support funds worth 42.6 trillion won ($32.6 billion) for small- and mid-sized enterprises and small merchants before the Chuseok holiday period, Sept. 9-12. The measures were confirmed during a meeting presided over by President Yoon Su

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products inched down in July from a year earlier due to a slowdown of global demand in smartphone and computer products, government data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $19.34 billion last month, slightly down from $19.48 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. South Korea's ICT imports in July grew 16.8 percent on-year to $13.22 billion

South Korea's exports jumped 23.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of August on robust demand for petroleum products and autos, but the country saw its trade deficit widen on soaring fuel costs, data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.7 billion in the Aug. 1-10 period, compared with $12.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports grew 34.1 percent on-year to $23.4 billion during the cited period, resulting in a

Bank loans to households in South Korea fell for the first time in four months in July, as rising interest rates and tighter loan curbs prompt Koreans to refinance their budget without banks’ help, Bank of Korea data showed Wednesday. As of July, loans stood at an estimated 1,060.5 trillion won ($810.1 billion), down 300 billion won from the previous month. Mortgage loans soared 2 trillion won to 791 trillion won in July from the previous month, having risen faster than a 1.4 trillion-w

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said Monday that efforts to set up a framework for digital assets like bitcoin were underway as part of its larger deregulation initiative to help companies start new businesses without having to worry about regulatory uncertainty. At a meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol, the top financial regulator’s chief said his agency would divide cryptocurrencies into security and nonsecurity tokens, and use the existing law to regulate the former

South Korea reported job additions for the 17th straight month in July, but the pace of job growth slowed from the previous month amid heightened economic uncertainty, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 28.48 million last month, up 826,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The July figure was the largest for any July since 2000, when 1.03 million jobs were added from a year ago. But the pace of job growth slowed for the second stra

SEJONG -- The nation’s transportation fees recorded double-digit growth on-year for the fifth consecutive month in the wake of a spike in international crude prices and a glitch in supply of raw materials, state data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea, transportation-related fees such as cost of fuel, repair and parking climbed 15.3 percent in July, compared to the corresponding month of 2021. Transportation fees grew 12.7 percent in March, 13.8 percent in April, 14.5 percent

SEJONG -- South Korea will push for fast inbound entry of foreign workers and expand quota for businesses to hire foreign workforces to resolve overall manpower shortages in the industrial sector, economic policymakers said Monday. The government plans to seek fast entry of 42,000 foreign workers, whose immigration process have been delayed during the period between 2020 and the first half of 2022. In addition, immigration checks for 20,000 expatriates, who are destined to visit Korea on work

South Korea will unveil additional measures to tame inflation, and a package of housing supply plans, this week in an effort to help stabilize people's livelihoods, the finance minister said Monday. The government plans to roll out the soon-to-be announced inflation-fighting measures ahead of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday next month, as consumer prices ran at a near 24-year high in July due to high energy and food prices, according to Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho. South Korea's co

South Korea plans to sell state-owned unused and idle lands and buildings over the next five years in a bid to bolster public finances, the finance ministry said Monday. The government said it plans to push to sell assets worth 16 trillion won ($12.3 billion) and more in the coming years. The value of state-owned lands and buildings reached 701 trillion won as of end-2021, of which some 41 trillion won, or 6 percent of the total, is available for disposal, according to the ministry. The proceeds

The International Finance Corporation said Friday that it named insider Ruth Horowitz as vice president for Asia and the Pacific, bringing in a veteran who most recently headed the group’s Asset Management Company, which invests in developing countries. Horowitz, who spent the last 13 years at the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, took office last Monday, highlighting fighting runaway fuel and food prices and climate change as her top priorities. “Now, with war-

South Korea's exports of instant noodles hit a fresh all-time high in the first half on the increasing popularity of Korean pop culture and a rise in demand for home-cooked food amid the pandemic, data showed Sunday. Exports of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, came to $383.4 million in the January-June period, according to the data from the food industry and the Korea Customs Service. The amount was up 19.9 percent from the same period a year earlier when ramyeon exports r

The South Korean economy faces increased downside risks due to high inflation and worsening external economic conditions, a state-run think tank said Sunday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a mild recovery track, but downside risks are expanding in the manufacturing industry due largely to economic slowdowns in the US and China, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economic assessment report. "External conditions have deteriorated as China's economic growth