South Korea’s political circles are once again engaged in a tug-of-war over the most sensitive issue -- taxes -- with the progressives locking horns with the government and the conservatives over the proposal of tax hikes on the rich and conglomerates ahead of the National Assembly’s regular session next month. With Korea’s tax burden among the lowest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the progressive Minjoo Party of Korea is making a case with its own set of tax code

Exports, South Korea’s main growth driver, dropped more than 10 percent in July, with imports decreasing faster than outbound shipments by 14 percent.Low inflation below the 1.1 percent target on falling oil prices and slow industrial production driven by decreasing global demand continue to drag Asia’s fourth-largest economy.With key statistical data pointing south, socioeconomic outlooks showing negative signs and doubts over the impact of the government’s stimulus proposal, market analysts ar

A series of unfortunate events and negative factors abroad are hindering South Korea’s economy from growing toward its desired targets. The impact of the U.K.’s Brexit vote was beginning to ease up, with the government pledging fiscal support through a 28 trillion won ($25 billion) stimulus following the central bank’s monetary easing. But falling oil prices are now in the way of Asia’s fourth-largest economy reaching its potential.With crude oil prices dropping below $40 per barrel, the Korean

South Korea’s consumer price index rose 0.7 percent last month on-year, the slowest in 10 months, according to Statistics Korea on Tuesday.Due to falling international oil prices, the inflation rate has remained in the zero percent territory over the last three months, well below the central bank’s target of 2 percent for 2016-2018.In light of forecasts that global oil prices will decrease to around $30 per barrel on overcapacity rather than rebounding toward $50 later this year, it remains unce

South Korea’s current account surplus extended its record for the 52nd consecutive month in June, but the record surplus was mostly due to falling oil prices rather than an increase in exports over imports on global demand, according to the Bank of Korea on Monday.The current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade, hit a record of $12.17 billion in June, the biggest since the central bank began collecting the trade data in 1980. The June surplus gained $300 million, compared to a year ag

The power of gaming content is evident nowadays as a growing number of smartphone users seek quality and entertaining content whenever and wherever. Just look at Nintendo and its affiliate Niantic, which recently hit the jackpot with the augmented-reality mobile game “Pokemon Go” based on the animated character series. Similarly, Korea’s listed gamer SundayToz expects to see growth with its flagship puzzle game “Anipang.” The success of its new “Anipang” game series will be reflected in its earn

(Yonhap)The South Korean government will expand through a legal revision its policy to provide more tax breaks for corporate research and development costs and employment as a means to develop the country’s next growth engines and boost job creation.The Finance Ministry announced Thursday it would have the high-income group and conglomerates pay more taxes while easing the tax burden on the low- and middle-income brackets and small businesses.“This is in line with efforts to run a reasonable and

South Korea’s consumer sentiment index rebounded toward its previous high over three months in July, as concerns over corporate restructuring and the Brexit vote both at home and abroad fell, following policy measures to cushion the economy from possible shocks.The consumer sentiment index stood at 101 this month, up 2 points from a month before, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.Along with the April sentiment at 101, the July index marks the highest since December last year when it stood at 102.

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Wednesday that the government will deal with the laborers of conglomerates under a creditor-led workout going on strike. In an economic-related ministerial meeting in Seoul on Wednesday, the finance minister said that he was concerned that some conglomerates’ workers are protesting when they should instead be working together to overcome the difficulties of restructuring ahead.“They are only making contractors and nonregular workers uneasy. Their act, which is onl

South Korea’s economy grew 0.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, remaining in zero percent growth territory for three straight fiscal quarters, according to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday.Even though the country’s second-quarter growth exceeded that of the first quarter when Asia’s fourth largest economy expanded merely 0.5 percent, Korea’s economy performed slightly better mostly due to improved domestic consumption backed by government policies.Other key drivers of growth such as gover

South Korea will extend its trading hours for its equities, derivatives, gold futures and foreign exchange markets from Aug. 1 to boost its financial market status in line with the Morgan Stanley Capital International standards.The Korea Exchange, the country’s quasi-independent stock market operator, said Sunday that the stock and bullion markets’ trading hours will be extended by 30 minutes, enabling investors to buy and sell them between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Foreign exchange brokers will also

The number of those in their 60s who got hired in the second quarter of this year exceeded those in their 20s for the first time in two years, according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday.As life expectancy increases and employees seek to push back retirement as companies adopt a wage peak system, a growing number of elders are looking to either remain in the workforce as long as they can or try to reenter the labor market to further prepare for their postretirement.The number of those employed in

Jeong Eun-bo, the vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said Wednesday that a task force will be set up to foster constant communication with foreign financial companies operating in the country and address their needs.This comes as the state financial regulator is concerned over an increasing number of foreign financial companies folding their businesses and exiting the Korean market amid a gloomy outlook and decreasing profitability.In a meeting with executives of foreign financi

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that the central bank will maintain its monetary easing to support the economy, but its policy alone is not enough to counter possible instability on growing economic uncertainties.In a conference on the monetary policies of small open economies, the country’s top monetary policymaker said that an effective mix of macroeconomic policies are needed to manage financial risks and carry out structural reform.“There are limits to facing multiple economic ch

The Korean economy has hit a wall. Conventional management methods have run their course. Aging systems, where corporate owners run their businesses with employees accustomed to their ironclad control, no longer work and are making it difficult to find new opportunities and growth in this digital age.Christopher Han, vice president of Design & Co-Innovation Center (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)This is where Christopher Han comes in with SAP Design & Co-Innovation Center in Pangyo.The DCC chief

The Bank of Korea on Thursday revised down its growth forecast from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent this year, and kept its record low interest rate steady at 1.25 percent as expected, saying that its monetary policy was already accommodative enough to support the government’s planned fiscal stimulus.The central bank’s rate policy decision was unanimous, and BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol sided with Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho on views that without monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, the country’s growth would

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Thursday that it is expected to come up with detailed figures for its supplementary budget after a Cabinet meeting next week.The Finance Ministry announced last month that it will carry out an expansionary fiscal policy by allocating extra spending of some 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for job creation in the latter half of this year.Local media reported that the Finance Ministry has reached an agreement with the Saenuri Party to spend around

South Korea’s rising youth unemployment rate will be enough reason for the government to push for early extra spending for the latter half of this year as the youth joblessness will hurt the prospects of its economy.Amid low growth forecast and a negative outlook for the job market beset by a growing number of companies reluctant to hire extra workforce, Korea’s youth unemployment reached a monthly record high of 10.3 percent in June.Without the supplementary budget, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho t

Korean stocks ended higher Tuesday as foreign investors continued their buying spree following overnight gains on Wall Street where the main equity indices rallied on increased hiring.The benchmark KOSPI closed at 1,991.23, up 0.14 percent, spurred by a bull market on Wall Street as Brexit concerns moved to the background. Manufacturing expansion in the eurozone, led by Germany, boosted investor confidence with Germany’s purchasing manager’s index climbing to a 28-month high of 54.5 last month.T

The South Korean government collected 19 trillion won ($16.6 billion) more taxes from January to May this year, compared to the same period a year ago, despite an economic slowdown, according to a monthly fiscal report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Tuesday.The government’s tax revenue amounted to 112.7 trillion won in the five months, up 19 trillion won from a year earlier, with its tax collection rate reaching 50.6 percent.The report said that an increase in income tax filings by s