SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea experienced a gradual softening of an economic downturn on signs of improvement in production and exports of semiconductors and the upbeat service sector though external uncertainties linger, the finance ministry said Friday. “The economic slowdown has been gradually easing as the production and exports in the manufacturing [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will be fully prepared for any scenarios related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to minimize its impact on inflation and the broader economy, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byoung-hwan made the remarks while presiding [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintained its 2023 growth outlook for South Korea at 1.4 percent Tuesday but revised down the forecast for next year amid a global economic slowdown. The organization’s latest projection for 2023 is the same as its forecast made in July when it slashed the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea has seen no major impact from the Israel-Palestine conflict on the country’s imports of crude oil and natural gas, the trade ministry said Monday. Officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. and the Korea Gas Corp held an emergency [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) –The Ppuri industry, which is crucial for the Korean manufacturing sector, is expected to rely more on foreign workers. This industry encompasses various manufacturing processes like casting, mold making, plastic processing, welding, surface treatment, and heat treatment. Recent data on the Korean labor market shows that 9.2 percent of workers [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The heads of South Korea’s and Japan’s financial regulators on Tuesday agreed to resume regular “shuttle meetings” as part of their efforts to strengthen financial cooperation between the two countries, officials said. Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of Seoul’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), and Teruhisa Kurita, commissioner of Tokyo’s Financial Services [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major companies performed far worse than their U.S. counterparts in the first half of 2023 due to the sluggish chip and energy sectors amid a global economic slowdown, a report showed Monday. South Korea’s top 100 nonfinancial firms listed on the main local bourse saw their combined [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday maintained South Korea’s growth outlook and inflation forecast for 2023 at 1.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. The latest figure is just above a 1.4-percent growth projection suggested by the South Korean government in July. The Paris-based organization had [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products extended their losing streak to 14 months in August but fell at the slowest clip in about 10 months, government data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to US$16.1 billion last month, down 16.7 percent from $14.6 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) —A recent survey has revealed that a majority of South Korean consumers are recognizing the need for a shift in holiday gifting practices. Often, holiday gifts are deemed excessively priced and overpackaged. With the Chuseok holiday season approaching, it’s worth noting that meat is the most coveted food gift across [...]