Concerns are deepening that the country’s employment conditions will continue to worsen this year, leaving young job seekers frustrated and forcing mostly low-wage employees out of work.In his New Year’s message, President Moon Jae-in vowed to place top priority on improving people’s livelihoods.Critics were quick to note his pro-labor and anti-business policies stand in the way of creating more jobs, which hold the key to enhancing the quality of life.A sharp hike in the minim

Government policymakers have expressed confidence that the Korean economy will easily see more than 3 percent growth this year following an estimated 3.2 percent expansion last year.They may not be overly confident, especially given the recovering world economy that will continue to bolster the country’s exports. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently revised up its global growth outlook for 2018 to 3.7 percent from its previous estimate of 3.6 percent in June.T

It seems almost certain that South Korea will see its gross national income per capita surpass $30,000 for the first time next year.The government’s economic policy directions for the coming year, unveiled Wednesday, forecast the country’s per capita GNI will reach $32,000 in 2018, up from an estimated $29,700 this year.This prediction is based on the assumption that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will grow about 3 percent next year, with the won-dollar exchange rate continuing to hover slightly

Korea needs to step up efforts to advance service industries to ensure sustainable economic growth amid mounting trade protectionism across the globe, economists here say.In terms of service sector competitiveness, the country remains near the bottom among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.According to OECD data, labor productivity of service industries was just 45.1 percent of that of manufacturing industries in Korea in 2014, far below 87.8 percent in F

Impressive trade figures logged by Korea this year have veiled the weakening competitiveness of its major manufacturing industries, analysts here say.The country’s outbound shipments in the first 11 months of the year reached a record-high $524.8 billion, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Riding on the surge in exports, Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its annual trade volume exceed $1 trillion last week. Korea&rsq

Concerns are growing that a steep rise in corporate costs to be incurred by the Moon Jae-in administration’s anti-business policies will hold back companies from increasing investment and employment.Korean businesses are now bracing for a corporate tax hike, a minimum wage increase and a reduction in work hours in the coming year, which experts forecast will see them shoulder combined additional costs of 36.5 trillion won ($33.4 billion).Ruling party lawmakers, joined by some legislators f

Confusion over plans to reduce work hours is deepening, adding to the aggravating conditions faced by local businesses.Ranking members from ruling and opposition parties at a parliamentary committee last month agreed on a draft revision to the labor law to reduce the maximum workweek from 68 hours to 52 hours in three stages depending on company size. But the revised law would leave additional pay for holiday work unchanged at 50 percent of the wages for weekday work.The parliamentary passage of

South Korea needs a balanced and sophisticated strategy to cope with efforts by China and Japan to take the lead in building a free trade framework for Asia and the Pacific amid the US’ strengthening protectionism, experts here say.At a summit in Manila earlier this month, the leaders of 16 countries involved in talks on launching the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreed to complete the negotiating process by the end of 2018.RCEP encompasses the 10-member Associatio

Recent data showing a continuous decrease in Korea’s real household income has strengthened calls for balancing the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth policy with regulatory and labor reforms to help create more jobs.The average monthly income earned by households with two and more members across the country stood at 4.53 million won ($4,165) in the July-September period this year, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier on nominal terms.Adjusted for inflation, however, the fi

The Moon Jae-in administration has vowed to go all out to expand economic cooperation and personnel exchanges between South Korea and Southeast Asian nations in the coming years.President Moon used his seven-day trip to Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines earlier this month to trumpet what has been dubbed the New South Policy.He told regional business leaders that South Korea would seek to double its annual trade with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to over $200 billion b

Employment figures recently released were certainly disappointing for the Moon Jae-in administration, which has vowed to put top priority on creating more jobs as part of its income-led growth strategy.Its labor-friendly policies have done little to ease the polarization of Korea’s labor market, only exacerbating youth unemployment and reducing jobs for low-wage workers.According to data released by Statistics Korea last week, the unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 s

The Korean economy may be decoupled from robust global economic recovery next year, held back by a slump in domestic demand and uncertainties in external conditions, economists here say.The International Monetary Fund recently revised up its global economic growth outlook for next year from 3.6 percent to 3.7 percent, while forecasting the world economy would expand 3.6 percent this year.Emerging market economies were projected to grow 4.9 percent on average in 2018, up from the 4.6 percent esti

Few people in South Korea, China and Japan now appear to be aware the three countries have held negotiations on concluding a trilateral free trade agreement over the past five years.The latest and 12th round of negotiations held in Tokyo in April drew little attention, having made little headway from previous discussions.During their meeting in November 2015, leaders of the three countries agreed to continue their work toward economic integration by making “further efforts to accelerate the tril

Expectations are growing that Korea’s gross national income per capita will reach the level of $30,000, regarded as the threshold to enter the group of truly advanced economies, for the first time this year.Asia’s fourth-largest economy has failed to achieve the landmark figure for more than a decade since its per capita GNI first surpassed $20,000 in 2006.Local economic research institutes estimate the country’s per capita GNI to be somewhere between $29,500 and $29,800 in 201

Korea is becoming less attractive as a destination for foreign direct investments, just as the government looks to FDI to help ease unemployment.According to official data, foreign investment in manufacturing totaled $2.03 billion in the first nine months of this year on an arrival basis, slightly less than half the $4.4 billion invested in the same period of 2015.The figure marked a five-year low.Additional investments by foreign-invested firms in expanding or upgrading existing facilities amou

South Korean companies should brace for the sophistication of China’s economic structure that will be accelerated during Xi Jinping’s second five-year term as Chinese leader, economists here say.The possible easing of China’s economic retaliation against South Korea over the latter’s hosting of a US anti-missile system could not mask fundamental challenges facing them in the Chinese market.Guarded optimism has been raised here that Beijing will ease retaliatory measures f

Concerns are growing that President Moon-Jae-in’s push for reducing work hours along with a steep increase in the minimum wage may further aggravate Korea’s labor productivity, which remains near the bottom among major economies.In a meeting with his aides last week, Moon said that, without job sharing through reduced work hours, it would be impossible to significantly raise the country’s employment rate and improve the quality of people’s lives. He cited a report from th

Few Korean companies have brought home overseas production in recent years in contrast to a sharp rise in the number of the country’s firms operating abroad.In 2012, the government began strengthening measures to facilitate the reshoring of manufacturing companies. Since then, just 41 Korean manufacturers have transferred overseas factories back to the country, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.During the same period, more than 17,000 Korean businesses have

Korea’s policy to develop energy and other mineral resources abroad has been inconsistent, biased toward short-term achievement and swayed by political winds.As a result, the country’s state-run energy and resources firms have shown a pattern of acquiring overseas oil rigs and mining fields at high prices and disposing of them at low prices. Over the past several years, Korea has swung from an aggressive push for overseas resources development to a hasty withdrawal from it.Under the

South Korean manufacturing companies’ investments abroad have been increasing at a rapid pace in contrast to sluggish corporate activity at home.Overseas investments by local manufacturers in the first quarter of this year jumped 115.2 percent from a year earlier to $11.4 billion, according to recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The increase rate exceeded 75 percent for Germany, 56.2 percent for Japan and 41.3 percent for the US, as well as the OECD a