SEJONG -- The nation’s rice output is projected to decrease by 78,000 tons in 2022 on-year in the wake of a curtailed rice paddy size as well as shortage in rainfalls, Statistics Korea said Friday. According to the state-run agency, rice production nationwide will likely decline by 2 percent on-year from 3.88 million tons in 2021 to 3.8 million tons in 2022. The size of rice paddies is estimated to have contracted by 0.7 percent from 7,320 square kilometers (732,000 hectare) to 7,270 squ

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic policymakers are likely to adopt another round of contingency plans to minimize possible instability in consumer prices, as the OPEC+ has decided to curb oil production. The oil cartel’s decision comes after some local policymakers and market insiders claimed that Korea’s inflation was considered to have peaked in July, when consumer price growth posted 6.3 percent. At a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, the OPEC+ publicized its plan to reduce c

US President Joe Biden sent a letter to President Yoon Suk-yeol in which he addressed Seoul’s concerns over the Inflation Reduction Act, the presidential office said Wednesday, adding that it sees Washington as demonstrating a “clear will to be considerate to Korean businesses.” A presidential official said Biden’s letter was written based on the two leaders’ discussions on the IRA during their multiple meetings in New York and London last month. Biden has promised

SEJONG -- The nation’s top economic policymaker on Friday welcomed South Korea’s potential entry to the World Government Bond Index, predicting that if attained, it would foster a better environment for attracting foreign investment. The remarks from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho came a day after London-based stock index provider FTSE Russell included Korea on the watch list for the WGBI -- a step that comes before a country’s endorsement as a regula

SEJONG -- South Korea's top 100 multiple home owners hold more than 20,000 housing units collectively, worth more than 2.5 trillion won ($1.7 billion) combined, an opposition party lawmaker said Thursday, citing state data. This indicates that an individual was owning 206 units, worth 25.2 billion won, on the average, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the Democratic Party of Korea, quoting Statistics Korea data. The number of homes owned by the top 100 individuals increased by 20 percent in fou

SEJONG -- South Korea’s policymakers on Wednesday unveiled their goal of taking up 12 percent of the global auto market and expanding the country's capacity in manufacturing electric vehicles with 3.3 million units a year, expressing its confidence in tackling concerns over US' inflation reduction bill. Setting a target of becoming the world's third-largest automaker, the government will “resolve regulatory barriers” and “offer tax benefits" to help local carmakers

Posco said Tuesday it is making an all-out effort to stabilize the supply chains for stainless steel products after production at its steel mills in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, was hit by a recent flood. In particular, the company plans to covert export-oriented products into those for the domestic market in an effort to prevent a glitch in local supply chains. Stainless steel products were among those hit hard by a recent typhoon, but the company predicted a limited impact, saying they

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast Monday that South Korea will rank 12th among members of the Group of 20 for 2022 gross domestic product growth, hinting that the nation will see weakened momentum for economic growth. In its Interim Economic Outlook, the France-based OECD predicted that Korea will post a 2.8 percent growth this year. This is lower than the organization’s forecast for other G-20 members, including 4.1 percent growth in Australia,

SEJONG -- North America-based businesses have proposed to invest $1.15 billion (1.62 trillion won) in South Korea's manufacturing sector during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the US, the Industry Ministry said Friday. Investment proposals were made at an investors' roundtable held in Manhattan on Thursday, local time, attended by President Yoon and Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang, officials said. Most of the investors were from the fields of semiconductors, electric vehicles, seconda

SEJONG -- The Korean currency dropped to the 1,400 won range per dollar on Thursday in the wake of another “giant step” rate hike of 75 basis points from the US Federal Reserve. In addition, foreign and institutional investors turned to net sellers on the nation’s main bourse, pulling down the Kospi. The local currency, which started at 1,398 won per US dollar during the Thursday trading session, closed at 1,409.7 won. The Korean currency became cheaper by more than

SEJONG -- South Korea is likely to record a trade deficit for the sixth consecutive month, as the nation suffered a trade deficit of $4.1 billion for the first 20 days of September, down 8.7 percent on-year, state data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation posted $32.9 billion in exports while imports increased 6.1 percent on-year to $37 billion over the corresponding period. It would be the first time in 25 years for Asia's fourth-largest econom

SEJONG -- South Korea has seen the portion of power generation facilities for renewable energy of the total generation output exceeding 20 percent for the first time this year, state data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Power Exchange, the capacity of renewable energy came to 27,103 megawatts as of September, which marked 20.1 percent of 134,719 megawatts in collective power generation facilities. It is estimated that the portion surpassed the 20 percent level for the first time in Augu

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday predicted that the gross domestic product growth of South Korea would stay in the low 2 percent range next year. In particular, the Paris-based OECD forecast that the nation’s exports and private consumption would post slower-than-expected growth in 2023. In the 2022 OECD Economic Survey of Korea, the organization revised its outlook on the 2023 GDP growth of Korea to 2.2 percent, from its suggestion of 2.5 per

SEJONG -- South Korea on Wednesday turned in a formal bid to host the World Expo 2030 in its second-largest city of Busan to the Bureau International des Expositions. A Korean delegation, led by First Vice Minister of Industry Jang Young-jin, stressed the distinctive merits of Korea and Busan, as well as the government’s strong will, during a meeting with BIE Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes at the organization’s headquarters in Paris. The bid details that Busan had successfull

SEJONG -- The scale of tax cuts for businesses will increase by more than 1 trillion won ($727 million) on-year in 2023, with its portion of total tax cuts for the overall sectors rising, state data showed Tuesday. According to next year’s budget on tax expenditures, submitted by the Finance Ministry to the National Assembly, the collective tax cuts for the overall sectors are estimated at 69.3 trillion won. Of them, corporate tax cuts -- including deductions for spending on fostering ma

SEJONG -- More and more gas stations are expected to operate charging ports for electric vehicles under state measures to promote supply of eco-friendly vehicles by easing regulations. In addition, businesses will be allowed to operate autonomous mobile robots at parks, while the current rules restrict the range of serving robots to indoor restaurants, government officials said Monday. A task force on deregulations, led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, unveiled the second phase of dereg

SEJONG -- The growth in the nation's consumer prices somewhat decelerated last month after continuously expanding for six consecutive months from February-July. But the inflation still remained at a critically high level, state data showed Friday. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed by 5.7 percent in August on-year amid ongoing global inflationary pressure, which has been causing high raw material prices. It marked the first slowed growth in seven months after the inflation

SEJONG/SEOUL -- South Korea recorded an all-time high trade deficit last month in the wake of skyrocketing import prices of raw materials and relatively low export growth, raising a red flag for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is heavily dependent on exports for its growth. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation’s imports increased by 28.2 percent on-year to $66.14 billion in August, while exports increased by just 6.6 percent to $56.67 billion. Th

SEJONG -- South Korea’s Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang called for the US to take a cooperative stance on resolving the backlash from the local automobiles industry over the US Inflation Reduction Act, which is targeted to scale back subsidies to electric vehicles not assembled on American soil. Lee delivered the nation’s position during his meeting with US Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg in Seoul on Wednesday. He said worries among local carmakers as well as the Korean governm

SEJONG -- Korea posted a triple decline in industrial output, consumption and investment in July amid the ongoing negative factors, such as spiraling raw material prices and a glitch in global supply, state data showed Wednesday. Further, consumption decreased for the fifth consecutive month, which marked the first time in 1995 since the nation started compiling the relevant figures. According to Statistics Korea, industrial output declined by 0.1 percent in July on-month, private consumption