South Korea's jobless rate is expected to have reached 3.7 percent in October, compared to 3.4 percent a month earlier, according to a forecast by credit appraiser Moody's Investors Services on Saturday. However, the unemployment rate is down from 4 percent tallied in April, Moody's said in a report. September's unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage point from the same month last year. Fal...

South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged efforts to promote free trade in the Asia-Pacific region Friday, voicing support for the early conclusion of a regional trade deal known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. He made the call during a meeting with a group of economic advisers to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. "Over the past 30 years, APEC realized outstanding develo...

A group of protesting local farmers took over Seoul’s public hearing on the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement on Friday morning, demanding the Seoul government terminate the agreement. Ahead of trade revision talks on the Korea-US FTA, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was to hold the public hearing at Coex in Seoul, in accordance with the FTA amendment negotiation procedures to collect pu...

The South Korean economy will likely maintain its current recovery pace going forward on the back of strong overseas sales and rebounding private consumption, a government report said Friday. "The South Korean economy has been maintaining an upturned pace on the back of brisk exports and recovering global demand, while private consumption made a turnaround from a long slump," the finance ministr...

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that the government’s full-fledged anti-speculative measures on real estate to curb household debt is expected to successfully put a dent on the growth of household loans. In a report submitted to the National Assembly, the central bank said it expects the increase in the volume of debt to slow, as the housing market shows slower price hikes in heated regions and ...

Negotiations between Seoul and Washington regarding the revision of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement are expected to begin next month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The timeline for the FTA revision process still needs to be determined because the US has yet to officially announce whether it intends to push forward with a full or partial revision of the agreement, sa...

The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday it will reform its hiring practices after a series of irregularities emerged of new employees having ties with influential figures. The FSS has been under fire after state auditors found in September that senior FSS officials gave special favors to some job candidates who are relatives of politicians and senior financial executives. To eliminate i...

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday he will push forward President Moon Jae-in's key policy goal of raising the minimum wage, which is seen as vital for fueling economic growth. "In order to achieve income-led economic growth, it is important for the government to help workers have enough earned income. A higher minimum wage is a starting point," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon s...

The government said Thursday it will inject nearly 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) into smaller companies to ease their cost burden resulting from a drastic increase of the wage floor starting next year. A company with less than 30 staff will be eligible for state support of up to 130,000 won per employee to cover payroll costs, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of...

NCsoft Corp., South Korea's biggest online game publisher, reported record-breaking quarterly performance for the third quarter Thursday on the back of the global popularity of mobile game "Lineage M." Operating income jumped 403 percent on-year to 327.8 billion won ($294 million) in the July-September period, and sales soared 234 percent over the year to 727.3 billion won, the company said in a...

Financial authorities plan to tighten rules on public disclosures of corporate governance in a bid to improve transparency for investors and shareholders, the head of the top financial regulator said Thursday. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks during a meeting with foreign institutional investors. Currently, listed firms are advised to voluntarily mak...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for efforts to establish a system of comprehensive economic cooperation encompassing the Asia Pacific and Eurasian regions, asking South Korea and other countries to actively join the vision. Putin made the appeal in his op-ed piece to Yonhap News Agency ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in Vietnam on Nov. 10 and 11. "As...

During his two days in South Korea as part of his tour of Asia, US President Donald Trump proved to be what he has been since even before politics came along -- a profit-driven businessman to the core. Though his official message mostly pivoted on North Korea and its nuclear-ambitious leader Kim Jong-un, the billionaire entrepreneur-turned-president took a utilitarian approach toward money issue...

A board member of South Korea's central bank hinted Wednesday at a possible rate increase if the global economic recovery continues and central banks opt for tighter fiscal policies. Hahm Joon-ho, a member of the monetary policy board at the Bank of Korea, said economic growth and fiscal tightening overseas will affect the country's neutral interest rates. "An upward pressure on the domestic ne...

James Bacchus says Koreans are simply buying less, while Americans are buying more