South Korea's exports fell 16.7 percent on-year in the first 20 days of November due mainly to weak outbound shipments of chips and mobile devices, data showed Monday. The country's monthly exports stood at $33.2 billion in the Nov. 1-20 period, compared with $39.8 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 5.5 percent on-year to $37.6 b...

South Korea plans to draw up a five-year development plan for the country's service industry in line with its efforts to foster new growth engines amid protracted economic challenges, the finance minister said Friday. "Recently, various cultural and entertainment content, such as BTS and 'Squid Game,' have gained popularity around the globe, emerging as new growth and export engines," Finance Mi...

South Korea under greater pressure to reduce dependency on China

South Korea's imports of kimchi touched an all-time monthly high in October amid runaway inflation in the country, government data showed Wednesday. Inbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish stood at a record $17.02 million last month, up 50.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It was also up 16.2 percent from the previous month ...

South Korea’s import prices rose annually at their slowest pace in 15 months in October, fueling speculation over an inflation peak ahead of the central bank’s rate hike next week -- the last one for the year in the face of 24-year-high inflation. Preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed Tuesday that import prices rose 19.8 percent, at the slowest rate since July 2021, though they edged up...

South Korea's import prices rose for the second straight month in October on high energy prices and the weak local currency that drove up overall import bills, central bank data showed Tuesday. The import price index rose 1.5 percent in October from a month earlier, following a 3.4 percent on-month increase in September, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with a ...

South Korea’s top financial watchdog said Monday that the local banking giants should seek more transparency in how they elect their chief executives, a week after the Financial Supervisory Service’s disciplinary move against one of the chiefs over “junk funds.” The chief of Woori Financial Group -- one of the five biggest banking groups -- is now banned from holding a job in finance for up to f...

South Koreans' working hours may have decreased by 10 percent compared to a decade ago, but the country still works longer hours than most of its OECD peers, ranking fifth among them, data found Monday. According to the recent OECD's data, Koreans worked 1,915 hours last year, the fifth-longest among 38 OECD member countries. The hours marked a 10.3 percent decline from 10 years earlier, when t...

A monetary policymaker of the Bank of Korea on Friday underlined the need for "simple" and "direct" communication when the central bank tries to send signals to the market on its future policy directions. Park Ki-young, one of the BOK's seven-member monetary policy board that determines the key policy interest rate, also raised the need for more research for the central bank's effective communic...

South Korea's top central banker said Friday that it is a top priority to ensure price stability and reduce inflation pressure through monetary tightening but worried there are "growing signs of stress" in various sectors amid recent steep interest rate hikes. Rhee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, also voiced worries over money moving from non-banking sectors to the banking sector due ...

South Korea's exports slipped 2.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of November due mainly to weak shipments of chips and mobile devices, data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $17.7 billion in the Nov. 1-10 period, compared with $18.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 6.7 percent on-year to $19.8 billi...

South Korea will ease lending rules for those looking to buy their first home in the capital and in the greater Seoul area starting Dec. 1 to prevent a property market slowdown prompted by higher interest rates from hurting economic growth. According to an interagency government meeting led by the Finance Ministry on Thursday, such home buyers will be able to borrow up to 50 percent of the prope...

‘Food prices likely to rise further until next year’

South Korea's financial regulator on Thursday proposed opening an "information-sharing channel" with local financial institutions on overseas market conditions to better respond to offshore developments and minimize their impact on domestic markets. Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, made the proposal during a meeting in Seoul with officials of financial holding groups, ban...

South Korea will carry out eased lending rules for first-time homebuyers and owners of one home next month as the once red-hot housing market appears to be entering a downturn amid rising interest rates, the land ministry said Thursday. The government has adopted stricter lending rules and other regulations to help stabilize the country's real estate market in recent years. In response, the gov...