SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Small business owners in South Korea are making moves to adapt to the country’s new minimum wage hike, as a new survey shows nine in ten will downsize to offset the expected economic impact. The surprising findings from a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise last month [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top financial regulator on Wednesday urged banks and other financial institutions to tighten screenings of applications for home mortgages in a move to block speculative demand for homes before the government’s stricter lending rules go into force. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Choi Jong-ku made the remarks at [...]
SEJONG, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will raise tax rates for the “super-rich” and big money-making companies, the finance ministry said Wednesday, in what many see as a move to finance the incumbent Moon Jae-in government’s pledges on job creation and expand social welfare. Under its biannual tax revision plan, which requires approval from [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea on Wednesday outlined stricter measures to stabilize the country’s overheating housing market as its previous efforts to curb speculative forces did not work properly. The Moon Jae-in government announced its first real estate measures in June a month after taking office to strengthen lending rules that can [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — A new report has revealed that American and British investors are the biggest traders of South Korean stocks, accounting for over 50 percent of all foreign stock buyers. Data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Tuesday showed stocks traded in the South Korean market by foreign investors [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — A local think tank said Monday that it has revised up South Korea’s growth forecast for this year on the back of increased exports amid the global economic recovery. The Korea Institute of Finance adjusted the country’s gross domestic product growth to 3 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from [...]
SEOUL, July 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s leading conglomerates had some 116 trillion won (US$103.29 billion) in cash or cashable assets as of the end of March this year, an increase of 54 percent from five years ago, data showed Monday, a sign that the companies remain hesitant about investing. Seventy-two companies were analyzed [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean conglomerate Samsung’s startup supporting venture ‘Samsung Next’ has for the first time invested in a South Korean startup since its establishment five years ago. The latest beneficiary of Samsung’s investment scheme is Mobidoo, a small startup company with fewer than ten employees that specializes in payment solutions and mobile [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — On July 25, Statistics Korea released its findings on the labor market for the elderly (ages 55 to 79). Titled “Results of Supplementary Research on the Elderly Labor Market for May, 2017”, the report contains extensive insight into the elderly population’s general work history, pensions, and attitudes towards work [...]
SEJONG, July 26 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s ratio of tax burden to its gross domestic product (GDP) will likely reach fresh record highs this year and next on a potential tax hike and rapidly rising government spending, government data showed Wednesday. According to the finance ministry, the government is expected to collect more than 250 trillion won (US$223 [...]