SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) - South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group on Friday made the lowest number of executive promotions in six years as its flagship smartphone business and other affiliates are suffering a prolonged slump. Samsung Group said it has made 294 executive promotions, the lowest number since 2009, when the global economic crisis [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) - South Korea’s trade surplus in the ICT segment outpaced those of members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the first half, data showed Wednesday, posting robust performances despite the global economic slump. According to the data compiled by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion, [...]
SEOUL, Dec.2 (Korea Bizwire) – After analyzing 43 categories of small businesses such as restaurants and both wholesalers and retailers, the Seoul Metropolitan Government reported that their 10 year survival rate was only 19.9 percent. To boost the sales of small businesses struggling to stay afloat, Seoul city officials announced on December 1 that they [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The already close economic ties between South Korea and China will receive a further boost from the yuan’s inclusion in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) reserve currency basket, local observers said Tuesday. The move, to go into effect on Oct. 1, 2016, is not expected to have an immediate [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s consumer inflation inched up to a one-year high in November as a drop in oil prices slowed, a government report showed Tuesday, a positive development for Asia’s fourth-largest economy struggling to shake off deflation concerns. The country’s consumer price index gained 1 percent last month from [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) - Dual income households in South Korea brought home 1.4 times more than families with a sole bread earner, a report by a local think tank said Sunday. According to Hyundai Research Institute (HRI), households that had both husband and wife holding jobs brought home an average 5.32 million won (US$4,600) per month in 2014. For families where only one person earned an income, the monthly average stood [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean marginal companies are finding it more difficult to cope with their debt as the economic slowdown makes it harder for them to meet interest payments and other financial obligations, a local think tank said Sunday. The corporate debt and restructure report released by the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) showed debt accrued by private sectorcompanies hit 1,253 trillion won (US$1.08 trillion) as of late June. This is equivalent to 82.8 [...]
SEOUL/SEJONG, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) - Weak exports are starting to impact industrial output and business investment in South Korea, the country’s top economic policymaker said Friday. Chairing the meeting of foreign economy-related ministers in Seoul, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said outbound shipments in October plunged at the sharpest rate in more than two years. “This [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean shipbuilders are seeking to sell assets and cut costs, as they struggle with massive losses stemming from a protracted industry slump and rising costs, industry sources said Wednesday. The country’s big-three shipyards — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – Large retailers in South Korea are claiming that they are being discriminated against by card firms over commission rates which could eat into their bottom lines amid a protracted economic slowdown, industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, some large-sized retailers have demanded a reduction in commission rates [...]