SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — In the aftermath of the Constitutional Court’s historic ruling to remove President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, small business owners across South Korea expressed cautious optimism that the political turmoil that gripped the country for the past four months might finally ease—though few expect an immediate turnaround in the [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Korean companies filing for court-led restructuring has surged in early 2025, reflecting mounting pressure from the prolonged economic slowdown. According to new court data, 196 companies applied for corporate rehabilitation during January and February — a 26% increase from the same period last year. The [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A decade-long analysis by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) has revealed that low-income households in South Korea have borne a disproportionately heavier burden from rising prices, primarily due to steep increases in food and housing costs. The study, released Wednesday, examined consumer-perceived inflation across income brackets from 2014 [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean central bank warned Thursday of the possibility of increased volatility in the financial market and its potential impact on the country’s financial stability amid weak economic growth and high uncertainties at home and abroad. The Bank of Korea (BOK) made this point in its latest financial [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — With the Earth’s average temperature now 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, climate change is no longer a distant threat but a force reshaping daily life in South Korea and around the world. Wildfires are becoming larger, more frequent, and less predictable. According to Korea’s National Forest Service, the [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The average debt held by wage workers in South Korea edged up in 2023 from the previous year, despite a rise in the benchmark interest rate, partly due to government-funded low-interest loan programs for low-income individuals, the statistics agency said Thursday. The average bank and non-bank loans extended to [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Korean companies with liabilities exceeding their assets has surged to its highest level in six years, signaling deepening concerns over corporate health amid delayed economic recovery and persistently high interest rates. According to a report released on Sunday by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI), 4,466 [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of South Koreans over the age of 50 who transitioned from wage employment to self-employment are earning less than the country’s minimum wage, highlighting the precarious financial situation of older entrepreneurs. According to a report released on Sunday by the Korea Employment Information Service, analysis of Korea Welfare [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Around seven out of 10 South Korean households perceive their financial situation having worsened compared to a year ago due to inflation, a poll showed Thursday. According to the survey carried out by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) on 1,000 adults nationwide recently, 71.5 percent of respondents said [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s combined household, corporate, and government debt—known as national total debt—has surpassed 6,200 trillion won, according to the latest data released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, non-financial sector credit, measured in Korean won, reached 6,222 trillion won, [...]