National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Duk-joong said Monday that the tax agency will expand its investigations into companies or the wealthy suspected of holding offshore accounts and purposefully not making disclosures for tax payments.Also, the tax agency will target those who have avoided regular filings of their gift and inheritance taxes after transferring their assets or operational ownerships to next of kin or business subsidiaries.The NTS will maximize the use of the financial regulators

The tacit endorsement of Japan’s monetary easing by finance chiefs of the Group of 20 is expected to further make Japan’s exchange rates to the dollar competitively higher, while adversely affecting Korea’s won and exports, analysts said Monday.The G20 finance ministers did not directly criticize Japan’s easy-money policy that has recently boosted the pace of Japan’s yen depreciation through the central bank’s bond-buying scheme, in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to revive its econom

An executive of a local conglomerate was refused entry to the U.S. after being accused of hitting a female Korean Air flight attendant for “poor services,” airline industry sources said Sunday.The executive allegedly hit the flight attendant’s face with a magazine as she did not service him with well-cooked instant noodles during his business trip on board a plane to Los Angeles.The flight attendant reported the assault to the U.S. police as soon as the plane landed, and the U.S. authorities tol

Korea’s Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that large Korean companies need to run their businesses in line with the incumbent administration’s economic democratization policy.Hyun, who is also the deputy prime minister, told reporters after the Group of 20 meeting of finance leaders in Washington, D.C., on Saturday that companies that devised their management and operation plans without considering economic democratization are headed in the wrong direction.He added that companies should accept

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that the Korean economy would be able to achieve a trend of 4 percent growth should it swiftly put its stimulus package and fiscal policy into action.It said Korea’s gross domestic product could grow around 2.7 percent for 2013 with an extra budget of nearly 20 trillion won, including 2 trillion won in public funds.“The government’s recent economic measures signify its commitment to overcome the low-growth trap in which Korea has been growing below 1 per

Foreign businesses will receive equal opportunity and treatment under the government’s business policies, foreign business leaders heard from government officials on Thursday.Government officials reassured that there would not be any “negative spillovers” to either the foreign business community or the general corporate sector from the incumbent administration’s plans to expose the underground economy, while pursuing fiscal balance and soundness. “We still believe foreign investment is a part of

A growing number of investors are opting to invest their money in short-term financial instruments or hold onto cash, in part due to North Korea risks.Capital invested in financial instruments ranging from cash and cash equivalents to repurchase agreements and demand deposits amounted to a record 676 trillion won ($604 billion) as of Wednesday, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Financial Investment Association.This was an increase of about 9.4 trillion won from late last year,

The International Monetary Fund revised down Korea’s gross domestic product growth forecast Tuesday to 2.8 percent this year, from the 3.2 percent it estimated earlier this year.But the IMF said it expected Korea’s economy to progress toward the trend of 4 percent next year, when it would grow 3.9 percent on the back of improvements in exports and increased private investment.The IMF’s revised economic outlook came after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told lawmakers that

Korea’s private conglomerates, domestically known as chaebol, are caught in the middle of policy confusion as they face tougher yet inconsistent regulations, while being urged to increase investments by the government.The incumbent administration is asking the corporate sector to lead in increasing investments and employment this year amid economic uncertainties.On the other hand, the big businesses are being targeted as part of economic democratization efforts for regulatory measures by agencie

Commissions of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office have been apparently locked in confrontations over the lottery sales cap imposed by the latter, according to industry sources on Monday.Last month, the Lottery Commission, which is under the wing of the Finance Ministry, asked the National Gaming Control Commission, a gambling regulator of the Prime Minister’s Office, for an elimination of the sales ceiling.The Lottery Commission suggested that lotteries do not p

Korea’s antitrust regulator has imposed corrective measures against a real estate subsidiary of Lotte Group over the retail giant’s recent acquisition of a transportation terminal asset in Incheon.The Fair Trade Commission said Monday that it set preconditions on Lotte Incheon Development’s acquisition of Incheon Terminal and its land that houses a department store of Shinsegae, Lotte’s competitor, in the retail space.The regulator said it would approve the deal only if Lotte sells two of its de

Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index is expected to gradually rebound toward the 2,000 mark in about two weeks, as few downside risks remain that can undermine investor sentiment in the short term, analysts said.“We expect to see a gradual rebound in share prices. I think it will be possible (for the KOSPI) to reach 2,000 in the short term of one to two weeks,” said Samsung Securities analyst Kwak Joong-bo. The KOSPI fell from 2,004.89 on March 29 and has yet to recover. He added that most negative fac

Korea is expected to face an uphill recovery toward the trend of 4 percent growth on lower economic prospects of the U.S., one of Korea’s top trading partners.The U.S. is expected to grow 1.7 percent this year, down from the International Monetary Fund’s initial forecast of 2 percent, according to the fund’s draft on the global economic outlook obtained by Bloomberg.The report, due to be released next week, said that the across-the-board spending cuts in the U.S., also known as the sequester, wi

Big businesses are expected to face stringent tax audits and probes by the country’s tax agency following a state auditor’s demand for strengthened tax regulations.The National Tax Service said that it plans to boost its tax inspections on companies with sales of more than 50 billion won ($44.2 million), which amounts to about 1,170 enterprises in the country, as well as increase the duration of its regular audits to six to eight months from the current three to four months. The tax collecting a

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that it has decided to ease its credit policy to increase its supply of low-interest loans through commercial banks to small and medium enterprises.The central bank raised its aggregate credit ceiling to 12 trillion won ($10.6 billion) from 9 trillion won, which has been maintained since October 2012.Loans will be extended to SMEs and start-ups that have “exceptional” technology with interest rates of 0.5-1.25 percent, down from 1.25 percent through a rise in the

Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Wednesday that the government plans to submit its bill proposing additional funds to the National Assembly next week.“We will submit the supplementary budget bill for National Assembly approval by the end of April after a Cabinet meeting next week,” said Hyun, also the country’s deputy prime minister, in a meeting with economic-related officials.The ministry said it will finalize the size of the budget with political parties and try to speed up its efforts to u

The Korean won has fallen the most against the dollar among global currencies this year after the Japanese yen.The won lost more than 6 percent between January and April 8 this year, losing more of its value against the dollar than 28 other currencies including the euro, the British pound and the Canadian dollar, according to data by the Bank of Korea.The Philippine peso shed 0.70 percent, and Malaysian ringgit 0.07 percent, one of the lowest falls against the dollar among Asian currencies, whic

The Korean central government’s debt amounted to 425.1 trillion won ($373.3 billion) in 2012, up 22.3 trillion won from a year earlier, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday.The central government’s debt accounted for 33.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.The total state debt which includes regional governments’ preliminary debt estimation of 18.7 trillion won reached 443.8 trillion won, up 23.3 trillion won in the same period. This accounts for 35 percent of the GDP,

The Bank of Japan’s decision last week for aggressive monetary easing shook the global markets, further paving the way for a weaker Japanese yen, as intended.The plan by the Japanese central bank aimed at tackling deflation and spurring growth included a surprisingly large amount of government bond purchases equivalent to 10 percent of its gross domestic product.The new BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda did not waste time by hinting its course of action, but instead sent a direct and clear message th

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Monday that Korea will further aim to boost benefits of its free trade pact with the U.S. so that companies from both countries can enjoy more of the trade deal signed in 2007.In a casual meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim, Hyun sought further talks between the two countries on ways to increase the benefits especially for people from both sides. Hyun’s visit to the U.S. ambassador in Seoul comes as this year marks the 6