South Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index inched up 0.1 point to 111.2 this month from June, indicating a phase of adjustment in anticipation for President Moon Jae-in’s new policies, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday. The CCSI has moved upward six straight months and been in optimistic terrain for four consecutive months, inching closer to the 111.4 recorded in January 2011. However, the in...

As part of his first duties in office, the newly appointed Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu sent a letter to his US counterpart agreeing to hold a joint committee on the two countries’ free trade agreement, but with a different timeline, venue and agenda, the ministry said Tuesday. Making no mention of trade revision deliberations, the Seoul government suggested instead that t...

The South Korean government will unveil its plan to increase taxes for the super rich and biggest businesses next week to secure funds for expanded welfare costs over the next five years, the country's top economic policymaker said Tuesday. "The tax-hike issue has been raised in government policy meetings, with the ruling party calling for it," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a press conf...

The employment rate of senior citizens in South Korea gained ground in May from a year earlier as a growing amount remained in the job market or sought work amid the rapidly aging population, government data showed Tuesday. The employment rate of those aged between 55 and 79 reached 54.8 percent as of May, up 1.1 percentage points from a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Kor...

South Korea will cut credit card processing fees for small merchants starting later this month, in the latest move to push forward pro-consumer regulations against commission fees charged by financial service providers, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The move is in line with a campaign pledge by President Moon Jae-in that the new administration aims to ease financial burdens on consumers ...

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday urged swift execution of the extra budget recently approved by the parliament, also stressing the need to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the additional spending. "Regarding the supplementary budget, the issue is now to execute it with speed. I want you to now show that the extra budget will in fact lead to new jobs, a reduction in the youth jobless ...

The effective corporate tax rate for the country's largest companies fell below the official rate of 22 percent last year due to various adjustments, data from a conglomerate research firm showed Tuesday. Chaebul.com analyzed 131 companies who earned over 200 billion won ($179.37 million) in pre-tax profits and found their average corporate tax rate came to 18.9 percent after deductions. The se...

The move by the US Federal Reserve to reduce its massive asset holdings is expected to increase interest rates in emerging markets as a strong US dollar could spark equities fund outflows, a local think tank said Tuesday. The Fed is widely predicted to begin gradually scaling back the size of $4.5 trillion in Treasury bonds and other bond assets from September, as it has already raised interest ...

South Korea on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for 2017 by 0.4 percentage point to 3 percent as Asia's fourth-largest economy has been basking in brisk exports led by the global economic recovery. For the next year, the government expects the economy to pull off around 3 percent growth, according to the new economic policy plan endorsed by the Cabinet. "In 2017, the economy will likely grow ...

S. Korea's big name exporters have stepped up their lobbying activities in the United States after the Donald Trump administration took office, data showed Tuesday, apparently to smooth out potential trade issues. US Senate Lobbying Disclosure Database showed that tech giant Samsung Electronics spent $1.47 million on lobbying activities in the first half of this year, triple the $490,000 spent i...

South Korea suggested the United States carry out a joint study on the economic impact of the Seoul-Washington free trade agreement before starting talks on its amendment, Seoul's trade ministry here said Tuesday. "Regarding your request to convene a special session of the Joint Committee under the KORUS FTA, Korea agrees to hold the requested Joint Committee in accordance with the due procedure...

Korea's key consumer sentiment index improved for a sixth consecutive month in July to reach more than a six-year high, a central bank survey showed Tuesday, as the economy shows signs of improvement. The composite consumer sentiment index for July came to 111.2, up from 111.1 a month earlier, according to the survey from the Bank of Korea. The July figure marked the highest since January 2011 w...

South Korea plans to repay 3.5 trillion won worth of state bonds next month ahead of their maturity, the finance ministry said Monday. The government will repay 1.5 trillion won worth of treasury bonds on Aug. 2, 1 trillion won worth of bonds on Aug. 11 and 1 trillion won worth of debt on Aug. 23. The treasury bonds include five-year bonds that will mature in March 2018 and three-year bonds tha...

Korea’s energy policy has made an abrupt turn with changes of government in the past few decades, leaving the country short of securing stable, efficient and environmentally sustainable supply of energy. According to an index released by the World Energy Council last year, it ranked No. 72 and No. 88 out of 125 countries in terms of energy security and environmental sustainability, respectively....

More than half of Korea’s part-time employees are concerned about potential job cuts due to the government’s minimum wage hike starting next year, according to a survey conducted by Albamon, a portal site operated by Job Korea, on Monday. The survey of 3,955 part-time workers and 656 employers showed that 72.9 percent of participating part-time workers expressed concerns about the upcoming mini...