SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of South Koreans oppose granting a pardon to former President Lee Myung-bak, a poll showed Monday, amid rising speculation outgoing President Moon Jae-in may use his clemency powers to set Lee free before he leaves office. The Korea Society Opinion Institute survey of 1,012 adults, conducted [...]
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading carmakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. saw their combined exports of eco-friendly cars top 100,000 units in the first three months of this year, thanks to the brisk sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, data showed Sunday. In the January-March period this year, the [...]
SEOUL, April 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean public firms’ liabilities rose for the fourth straight year last year to hit another record high as they borrowed more to make investments amid the economic recovery, the finance ministry said Friday. Of 350 state-run companies, the combined debt of 347 firms reached 583 trillion won (US$463.4 [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 7.1 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for foodstuff, daily items and luxury goods amid the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of autos declined for the first time in seven quarters in the January-March period amid global supply chain disruptions and Russia’s war with Ukraine, customs data showed Thursday. The country’s outbound shipments of cars came to US$10.93 billion in the first quarter, down 0.6 percent from [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of home furnishing products hit an all-time high last year on the back of demand by stay-at-home consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The imports of eight kinds of home furnishing goods, including sofas and lamps, came to US$3.5 billion last year, up 15.6 [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 55 workers were killed at construction sites in the first quarter of this year, the land ministry said Wednesday, as the country began enforcing a new law that calls for the punishment of company chiefs for serious workplace disasters. Of the 55 victims, 14 were affiliated [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of babies born in South Korea fell to another record low in February, data showed Wednesday, illustrating the country’s gloomy demographic situation and chronically low birthrate. A total of 20,654 babies were born in February, down 3.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean firms’ spending on research and development (R&D) expanded more than 8 percent in 2021 though their sales weakened amid the coronavirus pandemic, a market tracker said Wednesday. Combined R&D expenditures by 224 out of the country’s top 500 companies by sales stood at 60.4 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, April 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean refiners posted the biggest quarterly growth in exports of their petroleum products in the first quarter from a year earlier, driven by robust fuel demand and rising oil prices amid eased COVID-19 border controls, a report showed Tuesday. The combined outbound shipments of petroleum products by SK [...]