Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of improving South Korea-China relations during his meeting with a South Korean delegation visiting the country, the South Korean chief of the delegation said Monday. On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the delegation led by Rep. Park Byeong-seug, a veteran politician with close ties to President Moon Jae...

South Korean stocks closed higher on Monday as individual and institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks offseting a selling spree by foreigners amid uncertainties at both home and abroad, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 4.63 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 2,290.65. Trade volume was moderate at 248 milli...

South Korea's trade promotion agency said Monday it is hosting an event in Seoul this week to promote economic ties with Cuba. In the five-day-long 2017 Cuba Week in Korea that runs through Friday, government officials and business leaders from the two countries will discuss possible ties in the financial, energy and medical fields, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said in a statement...

The ongoing increase of household debt brings focus on whether President Moon Jae-in will manage to fulfill his pledge of curbing swelling household debt, which has long been a drag on South Korea’s economy. Household borrowing from lenders in Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 7.3 trillion won ($6.5 billion) in April, according to preliminary data from the Financial Services Commission on Monda...

With President Moon Jae-in promising to create 810,000 jobs and enhance welfare for ordinary people, the new government needs a big boost in fiscal income to execute jobs and welfare programs. The Finance Ministry is preparing for a possible change in its tax code plan, which is expected to be completed by the end of July, according to ministry officials. After announcing the tax code plan, the ...

In his second week as Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in faces an uphill battle in the global trade arena, as he has to mend fences with the nation’s major trading partner, the US. One of the biggest economic issues in the domestic trade industry is US President Donald Trump’s vow to renegotiate the terms of the five-year Korea-US FTA. He has referred to the deal as “horrible.” The KORUS FTA ha...

South Korea's household loans extended by banks rose 9.8 percent in April from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 718.6 trillion won ($637 billion) as of end-April, compared with 654.3 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with March, the amount rose by 4....

The dollar-won volatility eased in April from a month earlier in line with eased volatility in the global financial markets, central bank data showed Monday. The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rates averaged 0.43 percent last month, compared to 0.47 in March, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. "The won fell against the dollar in April due to geopolitical risks and r...

President Moon Jae-in’s government is seen to be moving to decouple security and historical issues from South Korea’s economic ties with China and Japan. Moon expressed such intention during phone talks with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts a day after being sworn in last week. He asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to lift restrictions and sanctions imposed on South Korean people and busin...

South Korean shares traded higher late Monday morning as institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks amid a massive selling spree by foreigners. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.35 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,293.37 as of 11:20 a.m. The index opened lower on losses in market heavyweights, including market bellwether Samsung Electronics. However, the local index pared...

The daily turnover of South Korea's main stock market has reached a 22-month high in May on the back of strong foreign buying, data showed Monday. The daily value of shares traded on the main stock market has averaged 6.67 trillion won ($5.92 billion) through Friday this month, up 45 percent from the previous month and 32.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the bourse operato...

The new Moon Jae-in administration will likely revise tax codes in the second half of the year to finance its election pledges to create jobs, government officials said Monday. On the campaign trail, President Moon promised to focus more on job creation and expanding welfare for young people. In particular, he said his government will create some 800,000 public jobs during his five-year term, gr...

South Korea posted a trade surplus for 63 straight months in April on a steady recovery in exports, customs data showed Monday. The country's trade surplus came to $13 billion last month, up from a surplus of $8.7 billion tallied a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Asia's fourth-largest economy has enjoyed a trade surplus since February 2012. It posted $6.57 ...

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as foreign investors continued to dump market heavyweights, such as Samsung Electronics amid lingering geopolitical uncertainties. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 4.7 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,281.32 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Earlier in the day, North Korea said that it has successfully tested-fired a new surface-to-surf...

The Moon Jae-in administration is expected to set up a new control tower for industrial restructuring as soon as its new Cabinet takes shape, inside sources said Monday. President Moon's official campaign pledges do not specify actions or directions for restructuring. For the shipbuilding and shipping industries that are in the middle of major overhauls, the pledge has been that the two industri...