SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of small companies in South Korea edged down 0.1 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The number of small businesses reached 4.11 million in 2021, down 10,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 5 percent on-year in the third quarter of this year amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The value of investments made overseas by South Korean companies reached US$16.61 billion in the July-September period, down from $17.48 billion a year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of franchise outlets in South Korea increased more than 10 percent on-year in 2021, data showed Monday, led by convenience stores and restaurants. Franchise stores numbered 259,662 as of end-December last year, rising sharply from 234,872 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of cyberthreats rose more than 60 percent in 2022 from a year earlier on increased ransomware attacks, government data showed Monday. A total of 1,045 cyberattacks were reported to the authorities in the first 11 months of this year, up from 640 cases tallied last year, according [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Cumulative imported vehicle registrations in South Korea have exceeded 3 million units, as a growing number of customers purchase foreign brands instead of local ones, government data showed Sunday. The number of imported car registrations had reached 3.17 million, or 12 percent of the country’s overall car registrations of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Self-employed people’s debts increased 5.8 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Friday. Loans extended by financial institutions to the self-employed averaged 178 million won (US$138,000) as of end-2021, up 9.75 million won from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of South Korea’s service industry increased 10.5 percent on-year in 2021 on the back of leisure and communication businesses, data showed Friday. Service sector sales came to 2,814 trillion won (US$2.2 trillion) last year, compared with 2,547 trillion won tallied in 2020, the data compiled by Statistics Korea [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in South Korea moved up 6.8 percent in 2021 from a year earlier, led by gains in the manufacturing industry, data showed Thursday. The GRDP was tallied at 2,076 trillion won (US$1.63 trillion) in 2021, up 132 trillion won from a year earlier, [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of newly established companies in South Korea decreased 3.4 percent on-year in 2021 amid weak business sentiment sparked by the pandemic, data showed Thursday. Last year, the number of newly created firms came to 1.02 million, down 36,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean webtoon industry continued to post strong growth last year on the back of growing popularity at home and abroad and successful adaptations into dramas and films, industry data showed Thursday. The total sales of the local web-based comic market amounted to 1.57 trillion won ($1.23 billion) [...]