SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s short-term foreign debt rose 0.8 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country’s short-term external debt, with a maturity of one year or less, totaled US$105.2 billion as of the end of 2016, up $800 million from the end of 2015, [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – The local stock market is struggling to attract young investors amid prolonged economic hardships, a record high youth unemployment rate, and an increasing number of “house poor” individuals and families. Besides the fact that the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has hovered in the same 1,850 – [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – Land owned by Chinese individuals and companies in South Korea has increased by more than five-fold over the past five years, a report showed on Tuesday. The amount of land owned by Chinese entities here came to 16.9 million square meters last year, marking a 486-percent hike from 3.7 [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Retirement plans are losing their credibility with below par rates of return. According to official data from four official bodies representing institutions offering retirement plans – the Korea Federation of Banks, the Korea Life Insurance Association, the General Insurance Association of Korea, and the Korea Financial Investment Association – [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – The underground economy accounted for 8 percent of South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 amid the government’s efforts to reduce the black market, a state-run think tank said Friday. The Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF) said in its latest report that the shadow economy was estimated [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Interest in hanok, traditional Korean-style housing, has skyrocketed with new architectural technology and financial support in the form of government subsidies, and more and more Koreans are now rushing to build houses using once-forgotten traditional designs. According to government sources, over 50 local governments have come up with official [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government has sent a letter of protest to international daily newspaper Financial Times (FT) over its recent news report that Seoul has intentionally devalued its currency, a government official said Thursday. In the article titled “Donald Trump’s anger at Asian currency manipulators missed target” moved on [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – One out of four employees in South Korea’s financial sector earned more than 100 million won (US$87,000) last year, a report showed Wednesday. The report submitted to the Financial Services Commission by the Korea Institute of Finance said 24.8 percent of employees at 1,389 financial firms earned more than [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Doosan’s ‘We’ve the Zenith’ in Haeundae, Busan, which has been recognized as the tallest building in Korea since construction was completed in 2011, will soon be handing over the title to the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul. As of the end of last year, the tallest among completely [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s youth unemployment rate is skyrocketing to unprecedented levels, and the unemployment rate for workers between the ages of 15 to 24 has surpassed that of the U.S. for the first time in 16 years. Even amidst the global economic recession, youth unemployment in most advanced countries has partially [...]