The savings rate of South Korean households is expected to lapse into negative territory in a decade due the country's rapid population aging, a central bank report said Wednesday.The Bank of Korea report estimated the household savings rate to start to register negative growth starting in 2026 in step with the country's fast population aging.The figure is forecast to fall from 8.9 percent in 2015 to -3.6 percent in 2030, when the ratio of people aged 65 and older to total population is likely t

South Korea's five carmakers saw their combined sales of subcompact sport-utility vehicles jump 55 percent in July from a month earlier on growing consumer demand.The five automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 11,627 vehicles last month, up sharply from 7,505 units tallied for June, according to sales figures provided by the companies. (Yonhap)The sharp gain appears mainly attributed to the release

More than 90 percent of small merchants plan to lay off workers because of the expected minimum wage increase next year that is disapproved by nearly all of them, a survey showed Wednesday.In the survey carried out by the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise from July 21-28, 92.4 percent of 532 merchants polled said they would need to cut back on the number of their employees, with 68.1 percent saying they definitely would have to resort to layoffs.The government and union representatives agreed

South Korea is pursuing a trilateral foreign ministerial meeting with the United States and Japan to discuss North Korea's nuclear stalemate and other issues of mutual concern, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is to attend foreign ministerial meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations early next week in Manila, the Philippines. They include the ASEAN Regional Forum, a rare gathering attended by North Korea."On the sidelines of the ASEAN meeti

South Korean stocks opened higher on Wednesday, largely helped by bullish tech caps.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 4.34 points, or 0.18 percent, to reach 2,427.30 in the first 15 minutes of trading.  Performance of large-cap stocks were mixed, with tech shares pushing the bourse up.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics added 0.9 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix jumped 2.9 percent.The local currency was trading at 1,122.1 won against the US dollar, down 0.8 won fro

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. are anticipated to make record investments to expand and upgrade their facilities this year, industry sources said Wednesday, amid the global boom in mobile and computer chips.The two South Korean tech giants plan to allocated a whopping 30 trillion won ($26.7 billion) to secure sustainable growth following their robust performances, sources said.Samsung Electronics has injected some 12.5 trillion won in facility investment over the first half of the yea

More than 4.8 trillion won ($4.27 billion) is estimated to be required to compensate victims of civilian massacres and other tragic incidents involving government abuse of power during the dark decades up until South Korea's democratization.The government of President Moon Jae-in has made it one of its agenda goals to resolve the grievances of victims of state abuse of power since Korea's 1945 liberation from Japan's colonial rule through the following decades of authoritarian rule.About 36,000

Chip giant SK hynix Inc. posted the highest operating margin among large-gap companies in the second quarter of the year on its strong semiconductor business, data showed Wednesday.The consolidated operating margin of SK hynix, the crown jewel of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, came to 45.6 percent during the April-June period, the largest among the top 30 listed companies by market capitalization, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. (Yonhap)KT&G Corp., South K

One out of every 10 workers at South Korea's top 30 business groups were irregular workers as of end-March this year, with the rate highest at construction firms, research data showed Wednesday.According to an analysis by corporate tracker CEO Score of 360 companies who have over 300 full-time workers, the business groups checked had 119,577 non-regular workers, or 9.6 percent of the total 1.24 million. The latest figure marks a 4.2-percent drop from last year.The top three conglomerates with th

Despite a bullish stock market, retail investors lost big in their equity investments in July, data showed Wednesday, due to insufficient strategy and information.The top 20 stocks purchased by individuals tumbled 6.11 percent on average last month, according to the data compiled by market tracker FnGuide.In contrast, their 20 most sold stocks generated an average return of 8.07 percent, far higher than the 1.02 percent on-month gain in the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index.Driven by s

The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans fell to a record low in June as banks significantly resolved distressed loans, government data showed Wednesday.The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.43 percent at the end of June, down 0.15 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Compared to a year ago, the rate was down 0.28 percentage point, it said. The end-June reading was the lowest rate since

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- US President Donald Trump has said he will go to war with North Korea if the communist regime continues to threaten the US with its nuclear and missile programs, an influential Republican senator said Tuesday.Sen. Lindsey Graham relayed his discussions with the president on NBC's "Today Show.""There will be a war with North Korea over the missile program if they continue to try to hit America with an ICBM," the senator said. "He's told me that. I believe him. If I were Chi

BUSAN (Yonhap) -- The lifesaving team for Haeundae Beach, a famous tourist destination in the southeastern coastal city of Busan, took a measure to keep swimmers out of the sea on Tuesday for the second straight day due to the high possibility of a rip tide hitting them.The measure, effective from 9:00 a.m. the same day, came after a rip tide with waves 3 to 5 meters high hit the beach. A rip tide monitoring system run by the state-run Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency showed the highe

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Tuesday to discuss South Korea's cooperation with the bloc ahead of an annual regional forum set for the weekend in the Philippines.The ASEAN Regional Forum and a series of foreign ministers' meetings involving ASEAN and its partners will be held from Sunday to Tuesday in Manila to discuss diplomacy and cooperation issues.  (Yonhap)"I am looking very much forward to the meetings in Manila ...

South Korea and the United States are closely coordinating their approach toward North Korea based on a mutual sense of urgency against its nuclear and missile threats, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, amid worries that Seoul could be bypassed in relevant discussions."The governments of South Korea and the US are coordinating more than ever on all issues and at every level related to the North and its nuclear problem based on their shared recognition of severity and urgency," Cho June-hyuck, f

South Korean stocks closed higher Tuesday on the back of improved investor sentiment despite growing geopolitical tensions caused by North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launch, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 20.25 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 2,422.96. Trade volume was slim at 259 million shares worth 5.5 trillion won ($5.1 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 608 to 204.Analysts sai

South Korea's opposition parties on Tuesday ramped up their offensive against President Moon Jae-in's pursuit of dialogue and rapprochement with North Korea, as its recent long-range missile test has brought security to the center of political debate.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party, in particular, called for a wholesale review of Moon's policy toward the provocative neighbor, stressing its Friday test of an intercontinental ballistic missile is reshaping the security landscape on the pen

Kia Motors Corp. said Tuesday its vehicle sales have fallen 5.6 percent last month from a year earlier largely hit by lower demand in China. The country's second-biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 216,118 vehicles in July, down from 229,044 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sharp sales declines in China continued to affect monthly results, the company said in a statement, citing political tensions between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the Terminal High Alti

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday its sales fell 1.8 percent last month from a year earlier, hit by weakening overseas demand, particularly in the Chinese market. The country's biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 333,180 vehicles in July, down from 339,417 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Declining demand from China continued to affect the company's monthly sales results amid a diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Are

International ratings agency Standard and Poor's said Tuesday it has assigned an "intermediate risk" rating to South Korea's property and casualty insurance industry, saying that the industry's strength is undermined by security risks from North Korea. In a report on the insurance industry and country risk assessment, S&P said South Korea's non-life insurers "will remain stable over the near to medium term." The assessment was based on South Korea's growing economy,