The prosecutors’ latest search and seizure of the Fair Trade Commission was purportedly to look into its suspected backscratching ties with top-tier business groups and to check on potential power abuse by the antitrust watchdog. But the abrupt action was also viewed as a chronic power struggle between the prosecution and the FTC -- often dubbed “prosecutors in the economic realm” -- over the latter’s expansive range of rights concerning fair trade rule violations.On the

Global credit rating agency Moody‘s Investors Service said Wednesday that uncertainty related to the geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula persists even after the recent series of summits and peace mood concerning North Korea.“The key constraining factor restriction to South Korea’s credit rating is its geopolitical risk,” Christian de Guzman, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s, said in a press conference held in Seoul.“The fact that the

South Korea’s notable economic advancement over recent years was largely attributable to its conglomerate-led and export-oriented growth model, backed by sound fiscal and monetary policies and intense investment into physical and human capital, according to an international report.Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, has also exposed some chronic structural weaknesses such as market monopolization by conglomerates, discrimination in the job market, and elderly poverty. In a b

The Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol on Tuesday underlined that the key factors in the nation’s upcoming policy rate decisions should be growth and inflation indexes, dismissing concerns that Washington’s recent signals to accelerate its monetary tightening cycle will press Seoul to follow suit.While sidestepping direct remarks, his defensive tone regarding the nation’s economic capacity empowered speculations that Seoul will freeze its policy rate next month and delay

While South Korea’s employment indexes continued to struggle amid controversies on increased minimum wage, the job decreasing rate turned out to be the most drastic for the primary labor force age clusters in their 30s and 40s, data showed Sunday. The number of newly employed people in their 40s stood at 669.7 million in May, down 88,000 from the same period last year and marking a decline for 31 consecutive months, according to data released by Statistics Korea.This was the longest period

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with experts in the intellectual property sector. This is the 17th installment. -- Ed. In an age of technology convergence and interactive communication, it is inevitable that major content platforms such as YouTube should attempt to deviate from the conventional concept of copyright so as to encourage individual creative activities.Such a flexible approach, however, should never mean lesser recognition or compensation for content creators, e

As the United States carried out its anticipated rate hike this week, South Korea faces mounting pressure to keep pace with the momentum amid prolonged slow growth and chronic household debt.In a largely defensive gesture, key fiscal and monetary officials here said that the impact of the US rate hike would be limited, though they vowed anticipative measures for the potential consequences of the faster-than-expected rate hike timeline that has been signaled. “The Fed’s latest rate hi

Taking place in the sophomore year of the Moon Jae-in administration and at the height of pivotal peninsular dialogue, the June 13 local and parliamentary by-elections -- dubbed the “mini-general election” -- ended in a landslide victory for the ruling progressive party, reflecting the political sentiment here.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea grasped 14 of the 17 metropolitan mayor and governor posts in Wednesday‘s local elections, while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party secured only t

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Wednesday won most of the parliamentary seats at the June 13 by-elections, confirming its position as the leading political party. This year‘s set of local and parliamentary by-elections were dubbed the “mini-general elections,” and seen as a crucial step leading to bigger political events in the coming years, including the general and presidential elections.While the victorious ruling party is set to enjoy greater political momentum, the opposition camp i

Taking place in the sophomore year of the Moon Jae-in administration and at the height of pivotal peninsular dialogue, the June 13 local and parliamentary by-elections -- dubbed the “mini-general election” – have functioned as an intermediary gauge for political sentiment here.While Moon’s ruling party focused on securing more parliamentary seats for the sake of policy leverage, the largely conservative and fractured opposition camp has seen the event as restructuring momentum ahead of bigger fi

South Korea’s state-owned energy corporations and think tanks have recently been observed empowering their inter-Korean economic cooperation functions, in anticipation that the latest US-North Korea talks for denuclearization may open the door to the long-secluded northern part of the peninsula.While research institutes made gestures to expand their related research, ministries and state-owned entities largely remained cautious and settled for subtle personnel readjustments, keeping an eye

Seoul’s stock market is expected to be highly active this week, with investors optimistic about the widely tipped momentum following the Washington-Pyongyang summit on Tuesday. All the while, monetary policymakers are tense over expected rate hikes by the United States and European Union later in the week.While guarding against excessive optimism, market observers suggested that the eased peninsular tension would encourage foreign investment by leading to a stronger won. “Should the

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with experts in the intellectual property sector. This is the 16th installment. -- Ed.Responding to the fast-paced advancement of digital culture and replication technology, publishing copyright laws around the world have evolved in a way to expand creators’ range of rights over their work of originality and to toughen penalties upon infringements.This black-and-white logic of “creator versus infringer,” however, may no longer be valid in an

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon on Thursday vowed assertive fiscal measures regarding the nation‘s widening income disparity, extending his concerns for the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth initiative. The top economic policymaker, however, toned down on his disapproval of the nation‘s fast-paced legal minimum wage hike plan, which he regarded as a hindrance to employment and income distribution.“The decline in earnings in low-income

A major state-run think tank on Monday warned that the government’s minimum wage hike plan could hinder employment in the upcoming years, underpinning the uneasiness over drastic changes and the consequent impact on the market. The study also laid bare the recently suspected feud between the nation’s top two economic officials -- presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.The Korea Development Institute, affil

Amid ongoing claims that the country’s headline growth indicators fail to fully reflect the economic situation in Korea, officials are countering skeptical media reports, in apparent support of President Moon Jae-in’s economic growth initiative.Despite the economic upturn in the first quarter, as well as strong exports, the Moon administration has recently been criticized for failing to realize its vision of a “people-centered, innovative economy.”In a press briefing Frid

Warming up for next year‘s budget planning, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday indicated a further increase in government expenditure as part of its long-term plan to address the nation’s structural problems such as low birth, elderly poverty and unemployment. He also added pressure on the economic team -- led by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon -- to speed up with the government‘s innovative growth initiative.“Key macroeconomic in

From its very early years, South Korea’s leading asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has kept ahead of its competitors in expanding business overseas -- a strategy turning out to be rewarding in recent years.The company has launched an asset management firm in Vietnam this year in partnership with the Southeast Asian country’s State Capital Investment Corporation, expanding its business leverage in the area, according to officials.“Based on our research capacit

South Korea has designated Ulsan, Geoje, Mokpo and other cities reeling from the ailing shipbuilding business as emergency industrial zones, in line with its economic drive to boost employment and growth, the country’s chief economic policymaker said Tuesday.The designation is a follow-up measure, as the cities were already subject to government subsidies and incentives due to the prolonged slump of the country’s once-prosperous shipbuilding industry.“The newly designated areas

South Korea’s state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-Water, last week chaired a key regional council meeting to discuss Asia’s water problems, as part of its initiative to alleviate water scarcity and to promote jobs in the water industries.The sixth annual meeting of the Asia Water Council, the largest regional body dedicated to water-related problems, was held in Bangkok from Thursday to Saturday, officials said Sunday. The AWC, established in March 2016 under the leadership o