SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s auto exports rose 8.6 percent on-year in 2021 on the back of the growing popularity of local brands in the global market and solid demand for eco-friendly vehicles, the industry ministry said Tuesday. Outbound shipment of vehicles reached 2.05 million units last year, compared with 1.89 million [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Four out of 10 self-employed people in South Korea are considering closing their businesses due to sluggish sales amid the long-enforced strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed Sunday. According to the survey of 500 people operating restaurants, retail and other service businesses by the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of elementary and secondary school students in South Korea is expected to drop below 5 million for the first time in 2026, the government said Thursday, citing an ongoing decline of the school-age population. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of elementary, middle and high [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors’ net purchase of South Korean securities was the biggest in 12 years last year due largely to their buying spree of local bonds, central bank data showed Thursday. Foreigners bought a net US$38.71 billion worth of Korean securities last year, sharply up from $3.47 billion the previous [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea added the most jobs in seven years in 2021 as the job market recovered to pre-pandemic levels due to the base effect and the economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.27 million last year, 369,000 more than a year earlier, according to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A little over half of South Koreans support the abolishment of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as proposed by the main opposition party’s presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, a poll showed Wednesday. According to the Realmeter survey that asked 1,011 adults on Monday and Tuesday, 51.9 percent said [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Major listed companies in South Korea have sharply increased their disposal of treasury shares over the past three years due mainly to efforts to boost their stock prices, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. A total of 129 listed firms retired or distributed to executives treasury shares worth 4.51 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Korean companies that returned home from their offshore operations and their investment at home hit an all-time high last year, the industry ministry said Tuesday. A total of 26 firms relocated their factories from overseas in 2021, compared with 24 the previous year, and their [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea jumped more than 20 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Local companies issued 1,243.7 trillion won (US$1.04 trillion) worth of short-term bonds, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges made to South Korea surged 42.3 percent in 2021 from a year earlier to reach an all-time high, data showed Monday. Foreigners pledged to invest US$29.51 billion in South Korea in 2021, compared with $20.7 billion a year earlier, according to the data by [...]