SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The average monthly salary of wage earners rose 3.6 percent on-year in 2020 from a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed Monday. South Korean wage workers earned a monthly average of 3.2 million won (US$2,669) in December 2020, up from 3.09 million won a year [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Six out of 10 South Koreans are positive about the relaxation of COVID-19 curbs on businesses, a poll showed Monday. In the survey by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, 62.1 percent said the government should enhance the protection of severely ill patients and those with underlying conditions while easing [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — One out of 4 South Korean students think that unification with North Korea is unnecessary, a survey showed Friday. In the online survey of 72,524 elementary, middle and high school students conducted by the education ministry and the unification ministry from Nov. 1 to Dec. 10, 61.2 percent replied [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea reported the largest job growth in nearly 22 years in January as the job market improved to pre-pandemic levels due to a low base effect and the ongoing economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 26.95 million last month, up 1.14 million [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s three major instant noodle makers saw their operating profits tumble in 2021 due largely to increased costs, their regulatory filings showed Wednesday. Nongshim Co., the leading maker of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, said that its 2021 operating income plunged 33.8 percent from the previous year. [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s automobile exports fell more than 6 percent in January from a year earlier due to a global shortage of automotive chips and a high base effect, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles came to 179,709 units last month, down 6.4 percent from the previous year, according [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Dividend payouts by South Korea’s major listed firms fell more than 14 percent in 2021, but seven paid out more than 1 trillion won (US$835 million), a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The combined amount of dividends by 53 companies, including top-cap Samsung Electronics Co., stood at 28.55 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors turned net sellers of South Korean stocks in January, but their net investment in local bonds continued to expand, data showed Monday. Foreigners sold a net 1.68 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) worth of local stocks last month, compared with their net purchase of 4.36 trillion won in [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Four financial holding firms in South Korea saw their interest income surge nearly 15 percent in 2021 thanks to rising lending rates, industry data showed Monday. The combined interest income of the four holding companies — KB Financial Group Inc., Shinhan Financial Group Co., Hana Financial Group Inc. and [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans spent a record high on Netflix last month, data showed Thursday, highlighting the video streaming giant’s popularity in the country despite a recent hike in subscription fees. Local credit and debit card payments on the video streaming platform reached 82.6 billion won (US$69 million) in January, the [...]