While the former Park Geun-hye administration’s slogan of “creative economy” may have seemed somewhat abstract to many, the incumbent Moon Jae-in government narrowed the concept down to a distinct keyword -- startups.Such a message was clear in the promotion of the former Small and Medium Business Administration into the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, as well as the incoming launch of a presidential committee to promote the “fourth industrial revolution.”Despite such an ample gesture of encourag

Planned to encourage consumer spending and revitalize the domestic market, the government’s designation of Oct. 2 as a temporary holiday to fill the chain of holidays in early October comes amid discouraging indices and dilemmas faced by smaller merchants. “We still haven’t decided whether to keep our store closed throughout the holiday season or to partially open,” said Kim Rae-won, an owner of a small restaurant in central Seoul. “It is hard to figure out whether

South Korea’s financial market on Friday remained relatively unperturbed by North Korea’s launch of another ballistic missile, despite aggravated geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula.Financial decision makers nevertheless vowed for a full readiness posture, lest the continuing military threats from the North dampen investor sentiment in the long-term. The nation’s benchmark Kospi on Friday closed at 2,386.07, up 8.41 points from the previous day. The secondary Kosdaq cl

Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon on Thursday reiterated the government’s plan to impose taxes on clergy, dismissing persistent complaints from Protestant church circles.“We shall make all preparations so that the religious taxation may take effect from next year without setbacks,” the minister told reporters after his meeting with Protestant leaders.“When I said that I would make a zero-based assessment of their demands, I mean

The state-run Korea Development Bank leading the creditors’ association of Kumho Tire has rejected a management plan from Kumho Asiana Group for saving the troubled tire company, asking for more details about its execution before the creditors’ meeting next week.The move puts more pressure on Kumho Asiana Chairman Park Sam-koo to come up with new measures to keep Kumho Tire afloat. If the revised plan is also rejected, the creditors will begin steps to remove Kumho Asiana Chairman Park Sam-koo f

SHARING THE DELIGHT -- Executive members and employees of Deloitte Anjin hand out green apples to passersby in Seoul‘s Yeouido on Wednesday, in a gesture of support for the local agricultural industry which reeled under alternating heat waves and heavy rains throughout summer. The Korean unit of New York-based accounting firm Deloitte has been holding its annual Impact Day here since 2010 as part of the global headquarters’ campaign to promote corporate social responsibility. (Deloitte Anjin)

In the wake of the Moon Jae-in government’s reinforced restrictions on housing loans, the increase in mortgage loans has slowed down while credit loans made a record leap in August, data showed Tuesday.According to the Bank of Korea’s monthly data on financial market trends, the balance for household loans stood at 744.2 trillion ($658.4 billion) as of the end of August, up 6.5 trillion won from the previous month.The on-month increase was down 200 billion won from that of July and d

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, on Monday expressed optimism on South Korea’s economy for the upcoming years, despite external challenges including the North Korean military provocations.While assenting to President Moon Jae-in’s economic drive for inclusive growth, the IMF chief also raised some concerns that the nation’s structural reform should take guard against overpacing.“(The IMF) has a good and strong impression on the Kore

South Korea’s publicly offered overseas investment funds have recently reverted back to the popularity they enjoyed in the early 2000s, due to tax benefits and higher returns, data showed Friday.According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the total net worth of these funds stood at 39.4 trillion won ($35 billion) as of Tuesday this week. This marked the first time in six years that the figure inched up toward the 40 trillion won mark.The figure has remained below the given mar

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, on Thursday asserted that the most effective solution to Asia’s aging population and consequent productivity decline is to boost the proportion of women in the workforce. “Korea and Japan, for example, could further increase their focus on reforming secondary earner taxation and boosting child care benefits and tax incentives for part-time work,” Lagarde said in a speech at a conference addressing the chal

In line with the rise of the liberal Moon Jae-in government and the appointment of a former financial unionist as labor minister, financial labor unions have recently been increasing their leverage with their employers, especially over the issue of leadership appointment.On Wednesday, the labor union of the Financial Supervisory Service issued a statement, lashing out at the government’s purported decision to appoint Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra CEO Choe Heung-sik as the next chief of the

South Korea’s economic and financial authorities vowed Monday to take stern measures to stabilize the market in response to uncertainties triggered by North Korea’s sixth nuclear test the previous day.“(The North Korean nuclear issue) may have not only a short-term influence on the financial and foreign exchange markets, but also a negatively impact upon the real economy,” Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting of t

South Korea’s economy faced serious threats on two fronts Sunday, following North Korea’s strongest-ever nuclear test, as well as increased indications from the United States that their bilateral free trade deal was under threat.Such challenges, combined with the Korea-China tension over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and the prolonged slow growth trend, is likely to further weigh down on Asia’s fourth-largest economy.Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Fina

Tension heightened between Seoul and Washington over the weekend, upon reports by the US media that said President Donald Trump is considering a possible withdrawal from the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.With many viewing Trump’s gesture as an attempt to gain an upper hand in stalled renegotiations, a Seoul official with the Trade Ministry said that South Korea has no change in its policies on the FTA with the United States despite Trump’s hints.The US president on Saturday told repo

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday froze the key interest rate for August, keeping the nation’s benchmark rate unchanged for 14 months straight since June last year.The monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted in its monthly meeting to hold the key rate steady at 1.25 percent for the intermeeting period, officials said.“The board shall operate the monetary policy focused on financial stability so that the (current) growth recovery may continue and the inflation rate

The government on Tuesday released a state budget plan for 2018 worth 429 trillion won ($381 billion), marking the steepest annual rise in nine years and advocating an expansionary fiscal plan in welfare and job creation to back President Moon Jae-in’s income-led growth economic initiative.The tentative budget for 2018, endorsed by the Cabinet in the morning, is up by 7.1 percent from this year’s 400.5 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.With its approval

Hyundai Card, the credit card issuer affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group, has launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot service to respond to customer inquiries, as part of its vision to evolve beyond finance into a digital company, according to officials.Buddy, the virtual agent available through Hyundai Card’s mobile application or website, offers users a real-time conversation with two personas -- Fiona and Henry. The service kicked off earlier this month as a beta version and i

After years of overcoming a series of economic challenges, global investors led by private equity funds are now ready to step back into the merger and acquisition market, especially in new technology sectors, data showed.According to a survey conducted by Ernst & Young Han Young, the Korean office of the London-based accounting firm, the number of global M&A deals signed in January-June this year stood at 18,363, up 4 percent from the same period last year.Topping the market in amount wa

President Moon Jae-in’s vision of improving economic equity may suffer some setbacks due to a group of Christian lawmakers’ resistance to an incoming taxation bill on religious leaders.While the administration and the parliamentary cluster remained at odds over the issue, a public poll showed a majority of the public consider religious taxation necessary.Civic groups, led by the Korea Taxpayers’ Association, on Thursday held a press conference in front of the National Assembly,

Major banks are holding off their second-half employment notice, pressed between their financial need for downsizing and the Moon Jae-in administration‘s drive for job creation.While the central bank and a partially state-controlled bank vowed to expand recruitment, most commercial banks prolonged their ambiguous silence, apparently reluctant to make pre-emptive moves.The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that it will hire 70 new employees in the latter half of the year, increasing its recruitmen