Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok vowed Thursday to stay vigilant on uncertainties regarding interest rate decisions by major economies and the Middle East crisis and to take bold market stabilization steps when necessary. Choi made the remarks during an emergency macroeconomic meeting meant to assess the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting Wednesday, where it kept the benchmark interest rate at between 5.25-5.5 percent for a sixth consecutive time. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said interest rat

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to protect the "value of labor" as he marked Labor Day on Wednesday. Yoon also said in a Facebook post that South Korea's remarkable growth was thanks to the "sweat and efforts" of its 28.4 million workers. "The government and I will protect the precious value of labor without fail," he wrote. "We will make your workplaces safer and fairer, and thoroughly see to it that you can find the meaning of life through labor." Mea

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday the government will set up a task force in charge of monitoring and resolving issues regarding economic livelihoods of the people. Choi made the remarks during an emergency economic ministers' meeting in Seoul, stressing the government's priority of reviving the economy and boosting consumer sentiment amid weak domestic demand and high inflation. "We will not just be satisfied with decent economic data and will put policy priority on h

Wearing marks at hospitals in South Korea is not a must anymore as the government downgraded the infection level of COVID-19 and lifted most last-remaining antivirus regulations. Effective Wednesday, the country lowered the four-grade COVID-19 crisis level from the second-highest "alert" to the lowest "concern" in a move to fully return to pre-pandemic normalcy, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. The decision came more than four years a

The Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea's premier platform for indie and art house cinema, is scheduled to commence later in the day, showcasing 232 films from 43 countries, the organizer said Wednesday. The 25th edition of the festival will kick off with a 10-day run, with an opening ceremony at 7:30 p.m. at the Sori Arts Center in Jeonju, located about 190 kilometers south of Seoul. The Japanese film "All the Long Nights," directed and written by Miyake Sho, will ope

South Korea's potential participation in part of the AUKUS security partnership was among the agenda items it discussed with Australia during a "two plus two" meeting among their foreign and defense chiefs Wednesday, the Korean defense minister said. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik made the remark during a joint press conference, noting that his country's possible participation in the minilateral security partnership, comprising Australia, Britain and the United States, will co

Creditors of Taeyoung Engineering & Construction on Tuesday approved a massive capital reduction plan designed to support the builder currently undergoing a debt restructuring program. More than 75 percent of the builder's creditors agreed to the plan to reduce major shareholders' stakes at a 100-to-1 ratio without compensation. The plan, proposed by Taeyoung's main creditor, Korea Development Bank, earlier this month, also seeks to raise some 700 billion won ($507 million) th

The defense chiefs of South Korea and Australia held talks in Melbourne on Tuesday and discussed ways to step up cooperation for regional security and defense industry. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles during his visit to Australia for "two plus two" talks among the countries' foreign and defense ministers, slated for Wednesday. In their first meeting since their gathering in Seoul last October, the minister

Global credit appraiser S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday it has maintained its credit rating on South Korea at "AA," with a stable outlook. S&P has kept South Korea's long-term sovereign credit rating at the third-highest level on the company's table since August 2016, when it upgraded the rating by one notch from "AA-." "The stable rating outlook reflects our expectation that (South) Korea will maintain average growth rates that are higher than most oth

South Korean stocks finished up for a third consecutive session Tuesday backed by a strong earnings performance by top cap Samsung Electronics and overnight US stock gains. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.62 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,692.06. Trade volume was moderate at 450 million shares worth 11.1 trillion won ($8.03 billion). Winners outpaced losers 439 to 408. Institutions and foreign investors combined bought a net 52

South Korea's tax revenue fell 2.5 percent on-year during the first three months of 2024 due mainly to weak corporate performances, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The government collected 84.9 trillion won ($61.68 billion) in taxes this year through March, down 2.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The decline was due mainly to the fall in corporate taxes collected and income taxes. The collection of corporate taxes sank 22.8 percent, or

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday backed by strong earnings performance by top cap Samsung Electronics and overnight US stock gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 7.81 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,665.25 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip manufacturer, announced earlier in the day its first quarter operating profit shot up more than tenfold from a year ago in the first quarter, with its chip bus

South Korea will impose a travel ban on Haiti next month due to increasing safety concerns as gang violence is escalating in the Caribbean nation, the foreign ministry has said. The Level 4 travel advisory, the highest of the four-scale system, will go into effect Wednesday, and it will be applied to all areas of the island nation, the ministry said. The ministry cited the security situation in Haiti that has recently worsened due to the deadly attacks led by a gang coalition and the leadership

South Korea's industrial output logged the sharpest fall in about four years after four months of monthly gains in March on falling manufacturing production, data showed Tuesday. Retail sales, however, rebounded on rising demand for food and vehicles, among other items, amid concerns about weak domestic demand, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Industrial output declined 2.1 percent in March from a month earlier, the first fall since October, It also marked the sharpest fa

The remains of a late Dutch veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War arrived in South Korea on Monday in line with his wishes to be buried in the country, Seoul's veterans ministry said. The ministry held a ceremony to mark Ferdinand Titalepta's return to South Korea at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, following his remains' arrival in the country aboard a plane earlier in the day. The remains are scheduled to be interred at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, 320 kilo

Seoul shares closed over 1 percent higher Monday on advances in battery and chemical shares amid a slump in techs. The local currency slightly fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 31.11 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 2,687.44. Trade volume was moderate at 461 million shares worth 10.2 trillion won ($7.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 719 to 165. Foreigners remained net buyers for a second consecutive session, scooping up a net 415.9

North Korea has installed land mines on an inter-Korean road within the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, a South Korean military official said Monday, the latest in a series of moves to shut down cross-border roads. The military detected the North laying mines on the unpaved road inside the DMZ late last year near Arrowhead Hill in Cheorwon, 85 kilometers northeast of Seoul, according to the official. The path was created under a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to connect the S

SK Innovation Co., South Korea's leading refiner by sales, said Monday its net losses widened in the first quarter from a year earlier due mainly to foreign-exchange losses. Net losses deepened to 97.62 billion won ($71 million) in the first quarter from 51.95 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. "A weak won, which drove up import prices of crude oil and decreased equity gains from SK On, weighed on the quarterly bottom line," a company spokesperson

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday that the government plans to deploy more medical staff as senior doctors at five major hospitals in Seoul decided to take a weekly day off starting this week. Cho also renewed a pledge to accomplish medical reform, although a mass walkout by trainee doctors has crippled public health services at major hospitals for more than two months. The government will "further strengthen the emergency treatment system by sending more medical personnel to preven

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on large cap gains, tracking advances on Wall Street last week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 13.6 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,669.93 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The advance follows Wall Street gains last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4 percent higher Friday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq spiked 2.03 percent. In Seoul, most large caps were in positive terrain. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics went up