Korea has a number of factors to mitigate the current won-yen exchange rates that daunt Korean exporters, said Tai Hui, chief Asia market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.Mounting concerns over the weakening yen have led to a cautious outlook by Korean companies. However, Hui concluded that the global economic conditions are looking favorable for the Korean economy, as well as the country’s asset market for the rest of 2013.“For investors in Korea, the market may still come under pressure

The nation relies more heavily on credit cards then any other payment method. According to government statistics, about 65 percent of the nation’s payments are via credit cards, in comparison to Australia at 47 percent, the United States at 37 percent and Japan at 16 percent. The same research reveals that one economically active Korean on average possesses 4.7 credit cards. Believing that the nation’s excessive reliance on credit cards has led to today’s daunting household debt, the Financial S

The nation’s annual consumption of rice in 2012 was half of what it was three decades ago, the state-run Statistics Korea said. Compared to 2011, the 2012 consumption also fell about 2.0 percent, from 71.2 kilograms to 69.8 kilograms per capita. The data reveals that in 2012, Koreans consumed about 191 grams of rice, or less than one and a half bowls, per day on average. “The rice consumption in households has been dropping largely due to increasing demand for alternatives to rice and instant fo

Korea spent about $7.7 billion on royalty payments, including the usage of intellectual property rights, to foreign firms for the first 11 months of 2012, data from the Bank of Korea and Idea Bridge Asset Management showed Wednesday.The payments posted a 5.5 percent growth from the previous year, according to the central bank. But royalties paid to local information technology firms remained at $3.24 billion during that period, bringing the overall balance to a deficit of $4.45 billion, accordin

Growing gross national income, has not led to equal growth in household income, according to the Bank of Korea. The effect is particularly strong in economically polarized countries such as Korea that depend on corporate growth to boost the economy.Research released Monday by the BOK reveals that Korea’s average household income is falling in relation to GNI, indicating that the financial situation of ordinary families is falling behind that of the national economy.Between 1995 and 2011, househo

The year 2013 will be the investors’ struggle for a comeback amid a low-yield environment, making high-yield bonds and emerging market equities attractive, said Philip Poole, global head of macro and investment strategy at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. on Monday.According to HSBC’s scenario, the key developed world interest rates will stay close to zero for at least another two years. Poole advised investing in emerging countries rather than developed countries, and to go for private b

Global asset management firm BlackRock has predicted that bonds of Northeast Asian countries and Chinese real estate will be the best pick for global investors in 2013.“Asian and emerging market fixed incomes experienced strong inflows in 2012 relative to other fixed income markets, and we anticipate this trend continuing into 2013,” said Joel Kim, BlackRock’s managing director and head of Asia-Pacific fixed income, at a press conference last week.The Asian fixed-income market will show a positi