SEJONG -- Foreign direct investment in the nine free economic zones in South Korea surpassed a cumulative $20 billion mark since the nation started operating the FEZs 18 years ago in 2003. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nine FEZs attracted FDI worth $1.31 billion in 2021, up 42 percent from a year earlier. This was a bounce-back after recording declines for two consecutive years -- from $1.69 billion in 2018 to $1.02 billion in 2019 and $910 million in 2020. Col

SEJONG -- The average trading price of homes in Seoul posted 39.99 million won ($33,500) per 3.3 square meters, which is equivalent to 1 “pyeong,” at the end of 2021, data from KB Kookmin Bank and Naver showed. This indicates that the price for an 84-square-meter unit, a popular size in Korea, in the capital has surpassed 1 billion won on average. In the capital’s priciest district of Gangnam-gu, the average price peaked at an all-time high of 70 million won per 3.3 square m

SEJONG -- The on-year growth of consumer prices has reached the highest level in 10 years in 2021, aggravating the burden on the debt-saddled household sector. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed 2.5 percent this year compared to 2020. After reaching 2.2 percent in 2012, the growth ranged between 0.4 and 1.9 percent during the 2013-2020 period. The 2021 figure marked the highest since it peaked at 4 percent in 2011, posting over 2 percent for the first time in nine years sin

SEJONG -- Korean businesses, including those in the manufacturing and service industries, saw the index for their retail sales decline sharply last month despite brisk industrial output, state data showed Thursday. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also commented on the weakening sentiment index over private consumption, picking negative factors like bolstered quarantine against the omicron variant of COVID-19. According to Statistics Korea, the nation’s retail sale

SEJONG -- The number of deaths outstripped that of births for the 24th consecutive month in South Korea, data showed Wednesday, suggesting an obvious demographic downhill phase and the coming crisis over workforce. According to Statistics Korea, deaths outnumbered births by 7,047 -- 27,783 versus 20,736 -- in October, amid falling marriage rates and record-low fertility rates. The population decline for Korean nationals -- when changes in the tally for foreign residents in the nation were not

SEJONG -- The number of women representing small and large businesses in Korea increased by 366,000 over the past five years, data showed Tuesday. In particular, they outnumbered male presidents in private educational services and lodging and food services. According to Statistics Korea, the number of businesses in the nation came to 6.01 million at the end of 2020. About 2.2 million, or 36.7 percent, of them had female presidents, involving chief executives in the case of conglomerates. The

SEJONG -- South Korea and Vietnam agreed to bolster coordination on trade and development projects during a ministerial meeting in Seoul, Wednesday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. At the meeting, Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien on urea supply. Under the deal, Korea will import up to 120,000 metric tons of urea from Vietnam per annum ov

SEJONG -- Almost 4 in every 5 foreign salaried workers in South Korea were found to be earning less than 3 million won ($2,500) a month, state data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea and the Korea Immigration Service, around 811,000 foreigners were employed here this year, up 0.9 percentage point compared to the previous year. Of them, the portion of foreign employees whose monthly wage stayed under 3 million won reached 78.1 percent, or 633,000 people, this year. While 52.2 perce

SEJONG -- South Korea has publicized its goals of attaining full-fledged normalization of the economy beyond the pandemic crisis in 2022, alongside taking the lead in global competition to occupy future businesses. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki highlighted these dual goals during the government’s unveiling of economic policy directions for next year at the Government Complex in Seoul on Monday. In a bid to maximize the economic normalization, the Ministry of Eco

SEJONG -- The growth in housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area -- Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon -- continued to outpace that of the nationwide average as of last month, government data showed Friday. According to the recent economic trends, published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the average trading price of homes in the area of Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon climbed by 0.76 percent in November, compared to the previous month. This outstripped a 0.63 percent increase acro

SEJONG -- The local financial market will not face a high-level volatility despite the news that US monetary policymakers will accelerate their exit from quantitative-easing, Korea’s senior officials expected Thursday. At a meeting for macro economy and finance in Seoul, officials clarified that their prediction was based on Korea’s preemptive measures, involving hikes in the benchmark interest rate earlier this year. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said that the possibil

SEJONG -- The number of employed in the nation increased by 553,000 in November, compared to a year earlier, continuing improvement in the hiring index over the past few months, state data showed Wednesday. But the number of de facto jobless -- unemployed plus underemployed -- still surpassed 3 million, with the actual jobless rate reaching 11 percent. The Ministry of Economy and Finance maintained that the “official” tally for the jobless and jobless rate stayed at 734,000 and 2.6

SEJONG -- South Korea on Monday has expressed its commitment to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is aimed at multilateral free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the nation has unveiled a policy to push for bilateral FTAs with more countries, including Mexico. In a ministerial meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that the government “is seeking to collect public opinions and rea

SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have conducted longer closures of on-the-spot classes at schools than other countries amid the pandemic situation, a state-run statistics agency said Friday. According to Statistics Korea, Korea closed elementary, middle and high schools for 68 weeks (77.3 percent) of the 88 weeks from March 2020 to October 2021. The closure includes partial or full-fledged (all schools nationwide) shutdown of offline classes. “This is longer than the 62-week closure (7

SEJONG -- Deputy prime minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that home prices in some districts of Seoul and others nationwide have stabilized. During a meeting with real estate-related ministers, Hong said prices of some apartments in Seoul have “stabilized to the level before entering a possible downhill phase.” His remarks indicate that some districts of the capital might be seeing a plateau or slowdown in prices. He said the trend of stabilization has been at

SEJONG -- The nation’s economy has faced downside risks in the wake of global industrial output and trade scaling back amid the ongoing pandemic, a state-funded research agency said Tuesday, casting concerns over a recent surge in manufacturers’ inventories. According to a report from the Korea Development Institute, the South Korean economy has been facing uncertainty with negative factors such as the spread of COVID-19 variants worldwide emerging despite a modest recovery earlier

SEJONG -- Homeowners will enjoy an increased capital gains exemption when they sell their homes after a law was passed. The National Assembly has passed the bill on raising the upper level for the tax exemption from the current 900 million won to 1.2 billion won. The revised law -- which is not applicable to multiple homeowners but to those owning only one home -- will take effect in the coming weeks. Under the current 900 million-won standard, a homeowner who purchased a property at 700 mill

SEJONG -- The growth in consumer prices posted the highest in almost a decade last month with prices of daily necessities such as diesel and agricultural products surging, sparking concerns over its impact on households. Statistics Korea said Thursday that consumer prices climbed 3.7 percent on-year in November, which marked the highest increase since the 4.2 percent growth in December 2011. Consumer prices increased over 3 percent for the second consecutive month, following a 3.2 percent gro

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has maintained its outlook on the South Korean economy this year, while revising down its growth predictions for major countries. In a report released Wednesday, the Paris-based organization maintained its earlier forecast in September of a 4 percent growth in gross domestic product for Korea this year. “The Korean economy continues to recover following the COVID-19 shock, propelled by strong export growth, improving bu

SEJONG -- South Korea’s monthly exports surpassed $60 billion last month for the first time on the back of the brisk outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemicals. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports posted an all-time high of $60.4 billion in November, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier. “After initially surpassing $50 billion in October 2013, the monthly export volume topped the $60 billion mark in 97 months,” said the ministry. &ldqu