SEOUL, June 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean venture firms on Friday welcomed the government’s plans to establish a new ministry supporting small and medium-size startups, expressing hope that the new entity will concentrate on technology and growth potential rather than sales and financial stability in rendering assistance. During the election campaign, President Moon Jae-in [...]
SEOUL, May 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Starting a new business in South Korea requires an average 200 million won (US$178,491) in starting money, and it takes about four years to break even, a stage that more than 60 percent of the startups don’t reach because they are forced to close before then, a report said [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite South Korea’s high youth unemployment, local smaller firms are struggling to hire new workers as young job seekers prefer higher-paying jobs at big businesses, financial firms and state-run companies, data showed Monday. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Small Business Institute in 2015, more than 80 [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite the public skepticism, the government is serious about its plan to implement a ‘Family Day’ to promote domestic consumption. In a meeting chaired by acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday, the government announced that it will designate one Friday a month as a “Day with Family,” on which [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government said Tuesday it will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) here with a record level of financial support this year via policy lenders to help them weather difficult business conditions. The lenders will increase their lending to 186.7 trillion won (US$156 billion) for the year [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The average age of workers at small and mid-sized businesses (SMEs) is rising as the younger generation seeks jobs at bigger conglomerates for better pay and stability, a survey showed Friday. A study carried out from May to September last year on 8,000 SMEs said 25.6 percent of their [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Members of the joint council for small and medium-sized enterprises, which represents 15 of Korea’s SME societies, gathered for a press conference Wednesday denouncing the prolonged strike by Hyundai Motor’s labor union, and expressing their will to boycott the automaker if the situation continues. It marked the first time [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Workers at small and medium-sized companies on average were paid only 60 percent of the salary that people at bigger conglomerates got in 2015, a gap that has stayed about the same for the fifth year, records showed on Thursday. Statistics provided by the Small and Medium Business Administration [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean banks’ lending to large companies fell in the first nine months of the year amid a protracted economic slump, despite an upturn in overall loans, industry data showed Monday. Outstanding loans extended by Shinhan Bank, Kookmin Bank and four other major lenders reached 1,035.85 trillion won (US$898.6 [...]
SEOUL, Jun. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korean government will spend 5 billion won (US$ 4.48 million) on Korean SMEs to develop three-wheeled mini EVs until 2016, according to an announcement on June 14. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) already initiated a 7 billion won (US$ 6.28 million) project last year to develop [...]