SEOUL, June 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s middle class experienced a heavier burden from the country’s steep inflation in 2022 compared with the lower- and upper-income brackets, data showed Friday. According to an experimental report released by Statistics Korea, the on-year rise in consumer prices for the middle class came to 5.2 percent in [...]
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s terms of trade worsened for the 25th straight month in April as export prices fell faster than import prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods fell 0.5 percent last month from a year earlier, following a 5 percent dip the previous [...]
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea jumped 6 percent on-year in April on high demand for travel and outdoor programs amid the eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 17.86 trillion won (US$13.52 billion) in April, compared with 16.84 trillion won tallied a [...]
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of startups in South Korea dropped more than 4 percent in the first quarter of the year amid economic uncertainties at home and abroad, government data showed Wednesday. A total of 333,000 new companies were set up in the country in the January-March period, down 4.4 percent [...]
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of agriculture tractors hit a record high in 2022 by advancing 23 percent on-year, data showed Wednesday, amid growing demand for small-sized models. The value of tractors shipped overseas came to US$1.24 billion in 2022, rising from $1 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the [...]
SEOUL, May 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.8 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, the land ministry said Wednesday. Foreigners owned 264.01 square kilometers — slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan — at the end of December. It represents 0.26 percent of South Korea’s total [...]
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreign travelers to South Korea surged by sevenfold in April from a year earlier on eased travel restrictions amid efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, data showed Tuesday. A total of 889,000 foreign travelers visited South Korea last month, up nearly 600 percent from the 128,000 [...]
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 4 percent on-year in April on the back of people’s growing outdoor activities and various promotional events by major discount stores, the industry ministry said Tuesday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 14.08 trillion won (US$10.67 billion) [...]
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The proportion of female executives at South Korea’s major companies came to 7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 following last year’s implementation of a related law, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The number of female executives at 349 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales [...]
SEOUL, May 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Passenger travel on Korea-Chinese routes stayed at 13 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the January-April period in contrast with a rapid recovery in other Asian routes, the transport ministry said Monday. In the first four months, the number of passengers on the routes between the two countries stood at [...]