W130b to be spent on homegrown vaccines, treatments

South Korea’s customs agency will use Naver’s big data for efficient customs clearance of direct purchases from foreign countries, officials said Tuesday. The Korea Customs Service and Naver signed a memorandum of understanding for applying product information stored on the online platform’s shopping unit to its customs procedures. The agreement was forged to effectively block entries of harmful products such as illegal drugs and medical supplies. “The MOU for a stra

The rising US Treasury yields has become a “key variable in the global foreign exchange market,” South Korea’s vice finance minister said Tuesday, nodding towards a stronger dollar trend that has rattled emerging market currencies. “When the 10-year US Treasury yield surpassed the 1 percent mark (earlier this month), the Euro, the Japanese Yen and the Chinese Yuan all dropped against the US greenback,” Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said in a macroeconomic fin

SEJONG -- The year of 2020 is expected to record as one of the few years, where a fever of buying apartments and stocks by taking out financial loans swept over the nation. The phenomenon was triggered by skyrocketing real estate prices in the wake of a housing shortage and sharp rebound in the Kospi despite the still high infections of novel coronavirus. Though the fourth-quarter data has yet to be compiled, the figure for the January-September of last year is suggesting that more and more K

South Korea's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) saw their exports inch down in 2020 from a year earlier despite the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Tuesday. SMEs' overseas shipments totaled $100.8 billion last year, down 0.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The decrease compared with a 6.7 percent decline in exports by middling and large companies. Smaller firms' exports accounted for 19.7 percent of South Korea's tota

Financial authorities plan to review mortgage loans with a maximum term of 40 years to help young people buy their first homes, officials said Tuesday. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo unveiled the plan at a time when surging home prices make it more difficult for young people to buy homes. This year, the FSC will study the plan to offer 30-year or 40-year mortgage loans and seek to begin a "trial" offering to sell such products, Eun said. The plan is aimed

South Korea's trade ministry vowed Tuesday to make more progress in expanding trade pacts with counterparts from Central and South America this year, in line with its efforts to diversify its export portfolio amid the growing protectionism around the globe. "It is important that we set a trade strategy for the Central and South American regions amid the growing uncertainties led by the launch of a new US administration and the rising protectionism," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and

South Korea's data industry expanded more than 14 percent in 2020 from a year earlier to exceed the 19 trillion won level, a survey showed Tuesday. The local market for data stood at 19.3 trillion won ($17.4 billion) last year, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the survey by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Data Agency. Last year's growth rate was much higher than the 8.3 percent on-year increase posted a year earlier. Data sales and provision accounted for the la

South Korean exports to Japan shrank nearly 12 percent in 2020 from a year earlier due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Overseas shipments to the neighboring country came to $25.09 billion last year, down 11.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Japan thus accounted for 4.9 percent of South Korea's overall exports last year, dropping below the 5 percent level for the first time in three years.

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea hit a new high in December last year on increased retail holdings of the US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $94.2 billion as of end-December, up $590 million from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents' foreign currency deposits renewed their record for the third consecutive month after plunging by $3.1 bi

A majority of South Korean manufacturing companies expect their business conditions to stay in positive terrain this year, led by a recovery in the refining, chipmaking and bio sectors amid the virus pandemic, a poll showed Sunday. According to the survey of 1,009 manufacturers conducted by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), the manufacturing sector's business survey index (BSI) stood at 103 for the year. A BSI reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol on Friday expressed concerns about the stock market’s recent rally, warning retail investors that their debt-backed equity buying spree could lead to big losses. The country’s benchmark Kospi has been on a bullish run since November, setting record highs last week when the market closed above the 3,000 mark on Jan. 7 for the first time in its 38-year history. Individual investors have continued to snap up shares amid record-low interest rates and abun

The South Korean economy faces persistent uncertainty as a resurgence in new coronavirus cases and stricter virus curbs are hampering domestic demand, the finance ministry said Friday. Domestic demand and the job market remained sluggish, affected by the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and tougher social distancing rules, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. "Though the country's exports are improving, the real economy faces continued uncertainty, with domestic demand shr

South Korea's central bank on Friday held its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, as the fallout from a third wave of the new coronavirus hurt the scope of maintaining an economic recovery. As widely expected, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's first rate-setting meeting. In November last year, the BOK froze the key rate as economic uncertainty heightened amid a flare-up in new coronavirus cases. To bolster

South Korea will put priority on increasing housing supply by lowering construction regulations in the densely populated urban area and supporting redevelopment projects to stabilize the housing market, the finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said housing stability is one of the government's most pressing tasks, vowing to make use of all available policy measures to rein in the heated market. "The government will put priority on supplying new housing units this year