SEOUL, July 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Business leaders in South Korea vowed Thursday to keep pushing for their planned investment and taking the lead in rejuvenating the economy, which is struggling with slumping domestic demand in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak. In a joint statement, presidents of the country’s top 30 [...]
SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean firms’ earnings outlook for the third quarter was drastically cut as the country’s first-ever outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has further sapped already feeble private spending, data showed Monday. The combined third-quarter operating profit of 117 listed firms on the main bourse was estimated at 29 [...]
SEOUL, July 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Group is planning to provide various measures to help overcome the economic recession caused by the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). On July 2, the largest business group in Korea announced that it had come up with various plans to boost domestic demand that has been [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean tourism industry has been hit hardest by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) over the past month, but the slump may continue into the summer season from mass cancellations for hotels and tour packages, a poll showed Tuesday. The tourism and hotel industries were pummeled [...]
SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Biziwre) — A South Korean think tank downgraded the country’s economic growth forecast for 2015, citing weak exports coupled with the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has claimed 32 lives. The Korea Economic Research Institute said it has slashed the economic growth forecast to 2.7 percent for 2015, compared [...]
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) – As the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus and drought devastate the local economy, Korean companies and local government bodies are implementing various measures to boost the economy. On June 25, Hyundai Motor, the largest automaker in Korea, decided to offer a grace period of three months to those who [...]
CHEONGJU, Korea, June 25 (Korea Bizwire) – An impressive text message from a building owner to his tenants became the talk of town in Korea. The good-hearted landlord cut monthly rents by half after tenants suffered from financial difficulties due to the widespread Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). On June 21, Lee In-soo (50), who runs [...]
SEOUL, June 23 (Korea Bizwire) – The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is spreading nationwide, with 175 confirmed patients and a death toll of 27 as of June 23, and only Incheon is free from the deadly virus. Although its neighboring cities and counties like Gimpo, Bucheon and Siheung have MERS patients, the second largest port city [...]
SEJONG, June 23 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tax revenue rose in the first four months of 2015 from a year earlier, helped by more taxes collected from businesses, the government said Tuesday. The finance ministry said it collected 78.8 trillion won (US$71.5 billion) in taxes in the January-April period, up 4.3 trillion won from the [...]
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Bank lending to households and businesses in South Korea has been rising at a fast clip over the past year as interest rates remain persistently low, central bank data showed Sunday. Outstanding bank loans to household and corporate borrowers came to 1,302.4 trillion (US$1.19 trillion) as of last Monday, [...]