SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 60 percent of South Koreans voiced the need for Seoul to independently build its own nuclear weapons, a survey showed Thursday, in the latest indication that the people are more open to atomic weapons amid growing military threats from North Korea. According to the poll of 1,000 [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea rose 3.4 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2023 to reach the highest first-quarter figure ever, data showed Thursday. The country received US$5.63 billion of FDI commitments in the January-March period, compared with $5.45 billion logged a year earlier, according [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 4.3 percent last month from a year earlier due to decreased sales of German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles came to 23,840 units last month, down from 24,917 units a year ago, the [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Annual sales of South Korean duty-free retailers dropped 28.3 percent over the past four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged diplomatic tensions with China, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Combined annual sales from local duty-free retailers came to 17.81 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) last year from 24.85 trillion [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean companies’ inventories surged nearly 30 percent in 2022 from a year earlier amid a global economic slump, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. Combined inventories of 212 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales reached 175.5 trillion won (US$134 billion) as of end-December last year, [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of smartphones in South Korea fell 6 percent last year from a year earlier amid an economic slowdown, industry data showed Monday. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s leading smartphone maker, saw its smartphone sales decline 2 percent on-year in its home country in 2022, while sales of Apple [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea rose 7.5 percent on-year in February on the back of the surge in demand for travel services on growing outdoor activities following eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Monday. The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 16.94 trillion won (US$12.85 billion) last month, compared [...]
SEOUL, April 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean exporting companies saved 6.6 trillion won (US$5.8 billion) due to lower tariffs in 2021 thanks to the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with six major economies, including the United States and the European Union, government data showed Sunday. According to the trade data compiled by the Ministry [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Rice production costs in South Korea rose 9.3 percent on-year in 2022 due mainly to soaring prices of fertilizers, causing net profit from rice farming to sink nearly 40 percent, data showed Thursday. Farmers spent 31,631 won (US$24.24) to produce 20 kilograms of rice last year, up 2,689 won [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of instant noodles reached an all-time high in 2022, boosted by the global popularity of Korean food and culture, data showed Thursday. The country exported US$862 million worth of noodles, including instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, and udon noodles, last year, up 12 percent from [...]