SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Household loans extended by local banks rose 11.8 percent in September from a year earlier due to an increase in collective loans, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding household loans from local lenders came to 688.4 trillion won (US$613 billion) as of end-September, compared with 615.7 trillion won from [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s jobless rate rose in September from a year earlier due mainly to a protracted slowdown in the manufacturing sector and exports, a government report showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 3.6 percent last month, compared with 3.2 percent tallied a year earlier, [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean economy has been experiencing a bumpy recovery as a slowdown in production and exports dragged down an apparent upturn in domestic demand, a government report said Tuesday. “The economy has been on a flaccid recovery track as private consumption and investment have made a turnaround in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea has the world’s second-fastest construction time of nuclear reactors after Japan, a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog showed Tuesday, but Seoul’s atomic energy provider said the short period doesn’t affect their safety. According to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, South Korea has built [...]
GOYANG, South Korea, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Gyeonggi’s Provincial Government announced Thursday that it will be establishing a smart apartment complex that will help residents boost energy sufficiency. The endeavor will incorporate energy efficiency and information and communications technologies, with some 1,000 households at the Hoban Vertium Apartment Complex in Goyang benefiting from the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will relax regulations on local banks’ capital to help them improve profitability and raise global competitiveness, the nation’s top financial regulator said Friday. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), admitted that banks here are subject to some “excessive” rules including those on loan loss [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Recent data from the Bank of Korea shows that Korea’s shadow banking system has grown exponentially over the years, increasing potential risks and vulnerability in the Korean market. Shadow banking refers to non-bank financial institutions that provide traditional banking services but outside conventional financial regulations. According to data revealed [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea said Tuesday it will introduce a new system to enable reporting multiple credit cards lost or stolen with just a single phone call. So far, card holders have been required to report separately to each card issuer. South Korean adults have an average of 3.4 credit cards, [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Thirty years after its site was selected, Korea’s (and the OECD’s) tallest building yet, Lotte World Tower, has finally seen the completion of its exterior structure. With only the finishing touches remaining, construction is expected to wrap up on December 22. Located in Jamsil, a neighborhood in southeast Seoul’s [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s current account surplus hit the lowest in four months in August due to slowing exports and increased imports, central bank data showed Tuesday. The current account surplus reached US$5.51 billion in August, compared with $8.67 billion in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of [...]