Washington, D.C., Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – The director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, Rhee Chang-yong, has said though South Korea faces high household debt levels compared to other OECD member states, the level of indebtedness does not pose an imminent threat. Speaking to the press on Monday at the Korean Cultural Center in Washington [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The U.S. dollar-Korean won exchange rates were the least volatile in three years during the third-quarter of this year, despite rising tension surrounding North Korea, the central bank said Tuesday. The average gap between the daily high and low of the dollar-won exchange rates came to 4.8 won in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – A Seoul court ruled Thursday in favor of Samsung C&T Corp. and found its 2015 merger with another affiliate was lawful. The Seoul Central District Court turned down the request from Ilsung Pharmaceutical Co., a former major stakeholder of Samsung C&T, to nullify the merger with Cheil Industries Inc. The controversial merger of the two Samsung units was seen as part of the group’s succession plan for its heir Lee Jae-yong [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – President Moon Jae-in promised additional support Wednesday for companies that create new quality jobs while vowing to implement his pledge to create at least 810,000 new jobs in the public sector. “First, (the government) will work to create new jobs in areas related to public safety, security and social [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s household lending by banks rose at the slowest pace in five months in September, but mortgage loans continued the upside trend amid the government’s toughened financial measures to cool down the real estate market, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 749.2 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s foreign exchange holdings have dropped for the first time in seven months, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK said on Thursday that the country’s foreign exchange reserves were estimated at 364.7 billion dollars, down 170 million dollars from the previous month. It’s the first time [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s economic recovery momentum remains feeble as weak domestic demand such as private consumption offset strong overseas sales, a government report said Friday. “The South Korean economy has been maintaining an upturn pace on the back of brisk exports and recovering global demand, but domestic consumption has remained [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Scores of children of the owners of nine conglomerates in South Korea have more than 100 billion won (US$88.2 million) worth of stocks in related companies, government data showed Thursday, amid the owners preferring the early transfer of assets to their offspring to reduce inheritance tax down the road. The amount [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – The Bank of Korea said Friday it has injected a net 7 trillion won (US$6.1 billion) in liquidity into the financial system to help keep the money supply stable ahead of the Chuseok holiday. The central bank said its money injection for the 10 business days leading up to the holiday jumped 43.3 percent from a year ago as this year’s holidayis the longest in decades. The government gave [...]
SEJONG, Sept. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will take market stabilizing measures if the country’s foreign exchange becomes more exposed to volatility due to an external shock, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday. “Foreign exchange rates will be decided autonomously by the market,” Deputy Finance Minister Hwang Kun-il said at a symposium in Seoul. “But the government will take action if the rates experience [...]