South Korea saw its real household income rise in the fourth quarter last year from a year ago, ending eight consecutive quarters of decline, data by Statistics Korea showed.An average monthly income of a household reached 4.45 million won ($4,130) in the fourth quarter, up a nominal 3.1 percent from the previous year.The inflation-adjusted real income also surged 1.6 percent on-year. The real income had been on a decline since the last quarter of 2015.Households’ income through wages rose

The market for location based information services has been expanding rapidly with the size this year expected to surge 25 percent on-year to reach 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion), data by the Korea Internet and Security Agency showed.The data was based on a survey of 893 LBS businesses operating in the country as of August to October last year.For the market as of 2016, 296.1 billion won came from marketing and commerce-related services, followed by 114.3 billion won from living and entertainme

This week, as South Korea celebrates the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of air passengers is also expected to increase between the day before the holiday starts on Wednesday and Sunday. Incheon International Airport Corporation said that the number of passengers will reach some 940,000 including 462,453 outbound and 477,354 inbound travelers. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

The United States exported record-high $48.28 billion worth of goods to South Korea in 2017, while Korea exported $71.16 billion of products to the US, data by the US Department of Commerce showed.Korea’s trade surplus consequently dropped 17 percent on-year, contrary to Washington’s current claim that the free trade pact was disadvantaging the US.The US trade deficit stood at $22.88 billion, down $4.69 billion from the $27.57 billion tallied in 2016.The commerce department attribute

Sales at department stores in South Korea fell by 2.1 percent last year from 2016 partly due to the rising popularity of online shopping, data from Statistics Korea showed Friday.Local department stores posted combined sales of 29.24 trillion won ($26.7 billion) last year.Overall retail sales, meanwhile, increased 4.4 percent to 402.91 trillion won. Department store sales accounted for 7.3 percent of the total, with the rate continuing to decline from 8.4 percent in 2013.Shopping done online or

Average gains from selling buildings have increased to nearly 100 million won ($92,000) per case as of 2016, according to statistics from the National Tax Service. The transfer gains from buildings increased by 51.4 percent between 2013 and 2016. While it cost more to purchase a building at an average of 213 million won, the average sale price has also gone up to 376.4 million won. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)The average price of a case, however, does not necessarily mean the price per building as th

US investors held 265.1 trillion won ($244 billion) worth of stocks listed in South Korea as of the end of 2017, accounting for nearly 42 percent of all foreign-owned stocks, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Wednesday.US investors net bought stocks worth over 13 trillion won last year, becoming a major force behind the local bourse’ strong rally. The volume of US investment has increased by fourfold from 2008, when the Fed began its zero-rate policy, pushing investors to

Seven out of 10 businesses in South Korea plan to give out bonuses for the Lunar New Year holiday, a survey by the Korea Employers’ Federation showed Tuesday.The amount has also risen by 32,000 won to 1.16 million won per employee from last year.In 2017, 68.4 percent of the surveyed firms said they were giving out bonuses for the Lunar New Year, while 71.4 percent said they will do so this year.Most, or 68 percent of the companies with the bonus plans, said they were part of the regular rewards,

South Korea’s services account deficit widened to $3.77 billion in December last year, from a deficit of $730 million a year earlier due to a rise in overseas trips and foreign business services, preliminary data by the Bank of Korea showed Monday.Such a sharp rise in deficit in the service account has led to the country‘s current account surplus to narrow in December, marking $4.09 billion, down from a surplus of $6.96 billion a year earlier.For all of 2017, Korea’s current ac

In response to the news of Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong’s return, rank-and-file employees of Samsung Electronics and affiliates remained calm on Monday.“The result doesn’t directly affect rank-and-file employees, but it will matter more to the executives,” said an assistant manager-level employee at Samsung. “But the atmosphere is definitely more positive now as our team leaders look somewhat relaxed, and I think this will lead to good results in businesses, too.” Samsung headquarters in Seocho-don

The amount of online shopping transactions made surpassed 78 trillion won ($71.6 billion) last year, the highest ever and up 19.2 percent from the previous year, data from Statistics Korea showed.Online shopping has consistently grown since 2014 by around 17 to 20 percent.Shopping online is also becoming more mainstream, with 21 percent of all retail sales in the month of December having taken place in cyberspace. Mobile shopping, in particular, marked a significant rise, extending to 47.8 trill

One in 10 workers in South Korea have started to apply key technologies of the “fourth industrial revolution” such as artificial intelligence, big data and Internet of Things in their daily work, a survey by the Korea Employment Information Service showed.The survey also showed that men in their 30s and younger with a bachelors degree tend to make more use of advanced technologies.As the eight key technologies, the KEIS selected AI, big data, cloud, IoT, robotics, virtual reality, 3-D printers a

Based on a survey of 57 conglomerates, 20 holding or representative firms received a total of 931.4 billion won ($866.2 million) in brand commission fees in 2016, the Fair Trade Commission said.The FTC, which has been moving to tighten its grip over the brand commission fees, said Tuesday that it has prepared a revision to regulations that would require the holding companies to detail and publicize the collection status of their trademarks.Brand commission payments, though not prohibited by the

Boosted by diversified air routes and expansion of low-cost carrier market, the number of air passengers for international and domestic flights reached 109.36 million in 2017, up 5.2 percent from the previous year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.“Airlines increased flights to Japan, Europe and Southeast Asia last year to offset sharp declines in travel demand to and from China due to bilateral diplomatic tensions,” the ministry said in a statement.The ministry also cited

With the stock market rallying, the number of stock accounts has surpassed 25 million with the first time in history, while the percentage of individual investors has topped 70 percent, data by Korea financial Investment Association showed Monday.Watchers pointed out that individual investors are seen moving more into the stock market as the regulations against real estate and cryptocurrency trades tighten.Simply put, about nine out of 10 economically active people are theoretically involved in