Calls are growing for the government to increase infrastructure spending to shore up the country’s slowing economy and improve its worsening employment conditions.Since its launch in May last year, President Moon Jae-in’s administration has refrained from following in the footsteps of previous administrations, which sought to bolster the economy by undertaking massive infrastructure projects. It has been particularly critical of the attempt by former President Lee Myung-bak’s g

The slowing Korean economy has been shadowed by the possibility of a steep asset devaluation, which could push it deep into a long-term recession.With investment declining and employment worsening, a simultaneous fall in stock and real estate prices could see the country go through something similar to Japan’s “two lost decades” spanning the 1990s and 2000s, economists here warn.They call for pre-emptive measures to prevent continued asset devaluation from further dampening eco

Concerns are growing that President Moon Jae-in and his aides have stuck to economic policies detached from the reality of the country’s economy, which is rapidly losing vitality amid deteriorating conditions at home and abroad.According to government sources, Moon plans to preside over a meeting of economy-related ministers in November for the first time in four months to call for strengthening efforts to enhance economic fairness. Discussion at the planned meeting is set to focus on faci

The recent move by China and Japan toward reinvigorating their economic partnership could lead to aggravating the external environment for the Korean economy, experts here say.The cooperative mood between the world’s second- and third-largest economies is coming at a time when Korea’s economic ties with its two neighboring powers have been shadowed by lingering diplomatic estrangement.It has also raised concerns that Seoul may be sidelined from discussions on key matters involving th

Kim Kyung-ho is the Sejong-based business editor of The Korea Herald. He can be reached at khkim@heraldcorp.com -- Ed.Shortly after taking office in May last year, in an initiative that was widely perceived as pro-labor, President Moon Jae-in vowed to turn all temporary jobs in the public sector into permanent positions.He made the pledge surrounded by workers at Incheon International Airport, saying he would “wipe away the tears from the eyes of non-regular employees.”That seemingly

Shortly after taking office in May last year, in an initiative that was widely perceived as pro-labor, President Moon Jae-in vowed to turn all temporary jobs in the public sector into permanent positions.He made the pledge surrounded by workers at Incheon International Airport, saying he would “wipe away tears from the eyes of non-regular employees.”That seemingly benign policy, intended to help people worried about job security, is now cited as the cause of rampant hiring irregularities at the

Measures need to be taken quickly to prevent a possible interest rate hike next month from making a deeper dent in the country’s economic growth and employment, economists say.Slowing growth and disappointing job figures led the Bank of Korea last week to decide to freeze its key rate at 1.5 percent for 11 consecutive months despite growing concerns that a rate increase may be overdue.Announcing the rate freeze, the central bank revised down its growth forecast for this year to 2.7 percent

Korea’s public corporations are set to suffer from shrinking profits and mounting debt, largely due to what critics view as the Moon Jae-in administration’s ill-conceived policies on energy and employment.Since its launch in May last year, the Moon government has pushed to replace cost-effective nuclear power generation with renewable energy and create a massive number of jobs in the public sector. Such moves have placed heavier financial burdens on utility companies in particular.Ac

Growing uncertainties in the external economic environment are posing greater downside risks to the Korean economy, which has already been held back by declining corporate investment and sluggish consumer spending.The country’s export-heavy economy remains particularly vulnerable to the prolonged trade row between the US and China, widespread financial instability among emerging markets and soaring crude prices, experts say. Net exports made a 1.3 percentage point contribution to Korea&rsq

Economists have raised the alarm on the weakening growth momentum of the Korean economy, calling on the government to take steps to prevent the country from being stuck in a prolonged slowdown.Local research institutes predict that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will next year expand at a slower pace than its annual potential growth rate, which is estimated by the Bank of Korea to be around 2.8-2.9 percent. The potential growth rate refers to the maximum growth an economy could achieve thro

Domestic facility investment has continued to decline in recent months, while overseas investment by the nation’s manufacturers is on a steep rise.Facility investment in South Korea contracted 1.4 percent on-month in August, marking the sixth consecutive month of downward movement, according to data released last week by Statistics Korea. It was the longest streak of decline in facility investment in Asia’s fourth-largest economy in nearly two decades. The figure fell for 10 months i

Despite a recent rebound in consumer sentiment, the country’s household consumption is set to weaken in the longer term amid deteriorating employment conditions and rising debt-service costs, experts say.Bank of Korea data showed last week consumer confidence rebounded in September after falling for eight straight months, partly on the back of robust exports and low inflationary pressure. The composite consumer sentiment index, which is based on the central bank’s survey of about 1,9

Concerns are rising over the weakening of the country’s manufacturing industries, which are suffering the effects of deteriorating conditions at home and abroad.Data released last week by Statistics Korea showed that the manufacturing capacity index -- which measures the maximum possible level of production through the full use of manpower, facilities and other input factors -- had declined for five consecutive months as of July, from 102.9 to 102.6. The annual average figure for 2015 is s

The country’s large companies have been piling up growing amounts of cashable assets as they remain reluctant to expand investments in the face of what they perceive as anti-business policies at home and increasing uncertainty in the global economic environment.According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea’s top 30 companies in terms of turnover had 88.48 trillion won ($79.24 billion) in cashable assets in the first half of this year, up 11.5 percent from a year ear

A protracted slump in South Korea’s exports might set in next year and jolt the country’s economy, which has relied on outbound shipments for growth amid sluggish domestic demand, economists say.Reports released last week by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the state-run Korea Development Institute cited robust exports as a key factor in keeping the economy on the path to recovery and preventing it from taking a sharp downturn.In the first eight months of this year, Korea&rsqu

A widening gap between South Korea’s large, export-oriented companies and its domestically focused smaller enterprises, in terms of both earnings and employment, highlights the need for a pro-corporate policy across the board, economists say.Small and midsized enterprises have been hit harder by the increased costs stemming from a set of labor-friendly measures taken by President Moon Jae-in’s administration in its pursuit of “income-led growth.”Under these circumstances,

A steep decline in domestic investments is becoming a main drawback on the country’s economic growth, with projections suggesting it is likely to fall short of the government’s target of 2.9 percent this year.Investments in facility, construction and intellectual property production dropped on-quarter in the April-June period, according to data released by the Bank of Korea last week. It marked the first time investments had fallen simultaneously in the three segments since the secon

A steep rise in debt owed by self-employed people with faltering businesses is a ticking time bomb for the South Korean economy, experts warn.Outstanding loans to the self-employed increased 77 trillion won ($68.9 billion) on-year to 598 trillion won at the end of last year, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service.The figure is now estimated to be close to 615 trillion won, given that banks extended 15.8 trillion won more in loans in the first seven months of this year, with fig

Concerns are growing over the weakening vitality of the Korean economy as facility investment continues to decrease, with consumer sentiment and business confidence sluggish.Government data released last week showed facility investment fell 0.6 percent on-month in July, marking a decline for five consecutive months. It was the longest straight decline since the foreign exchange crisis, when investment fell for 10 straight months from September 1997. Analysts at the state statistics office a

The increase in tax revenue that South Korea is expected to see in the coming years should not give it a false sense of security in light of the fiscal cliff that might be ahead, experts say.The government now envisions that an additional 60 trillion won ($53.6 billion) in taxes will be collected over the next five years, compared with amounts projected in a midterm fiscal management plan drawn up last year. Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon recently said the excess revenue would amount to 19 trill