Articles by Chung Joo-won
Chung Joo-won
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Government debt soars in 2014
The government and some state-run companies were more than 1,200 trillion won ($1.1 trillion) in the red as of last year, with government debt growing almost twice as fast as a year earlier, central bank data revealed Tuesday.The debt, borrowed by the central and local governments and nonfinancial state-run firms, tallied 1,208.8 trillion won at the end of 2014, up 76.3 trillion won, or 6.7 percent, year-on-year, the Bank of Korea reported. Of the total debt, the governments’ debt grew about 9.
March 24, 2015
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Part-time workers hit record high
The number of employees who work less than 18 hours a week has reached a record-high 1.2 million, reflecting the widespread concerns about employment and job security, government data revealed Monday. The working hours of these part-timers is on average two to three hours a day, which is far shorter than the average for nonregular workers, Statistics Korea reported. The short duration part-time workers rose to 1.20 million in January-February, up 2.6 percent from the same period last year of 1.1
March 23, 2015
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FSC chief urges stricter non-house mortgages
The national financial regulator will strengthen risk management over the land- and commercial building-backed mortgage loans, seeking to control the country’s snowballing household debt, its top official said.New Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong said in the weekly working-level meeting on Friday that the regulator would “make precise analyses of the household debt conditions, as if performing an MRI.” “We are planning on more active management on the land- and commercial bui
March 20, 2015
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Busan to host IDB-IIC board meeting next week
Global financial leaders and experts will gather in Busan next week to discuss developing finance and boosting trade with Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Korean Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of Inter-American Development Bank and Inter-American Investment Corporation, cohosted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, will run for four days from March 26 at BEXCO. Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who concurrently serves as deputy prime
March 18, 2015
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Financial industry spent most on entertainment
Financial corporations were found to have the highest entertainment expenses among all industries in 2013, the tax collector reported on Monday.Analysts said the results indicate that the financial industry could be hurt most by the new anticorruption bill set to take effect in October next year.In 2013, the country’s 18,518 financial firms, including insurers, banks and brokerages, spent a total of 750 billion won ($661.7 million) as “entertainment spending,” including expenditure on gifts, mea
March 16, 2015
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KT&G turns eyes toward global expansion
For KT&G, the nation’s top tobacco maker, this year will be a turning point in its growth as the company’s overseas sales are expected to surpass its domestic sales for the first time.“As the domestic market has taken its toll due to various reasons, including the falling number of smokers, (we) are seeking stronger overseas sales,” KT&G said in an email interview with The Korea Herald. “The experts inside and outside KT&G agree that this year will be KT&G’s turning point for its overseas sales
March 16, 2015
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Korea’s 4-year growth falls short of G20 average
South Korea’s economic growth lagged behind the average of the G20 member countries for four consecutive years, data showed Sunday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its gross domestic product grow by 3.3 percent in 2014, lower than the G20’s 3.4 percent average, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in its quarterly national accounts of GDP. South Korea’s GDP growth has come short of the G20 average since 2011, when the growth rate reached 3.7 percent, and stayed at
March 15, 2015
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FSC nominee vows to tackle household debt
The country’s top financial regulator designate vowed on Tuesday stronger protection of consumers and market stability by bringing high household debt under control.Yim Jong-yong, the nominee for the chairman of the Financial Services Commission, picked household debt as the most pressing issue that is weighing on the economy.“The household debt problem requires tremendous responsibility (from the regulator) and risk management,” he said at a confirmation hearing. The FSC needs to further streng
March 10, 2015
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Korean won, shares tumble on U.S. rate rise concerns
The Korean won and stocks tumbled Monday as strong U.S. job data increased expectations that the U.S. central bank would raise its interest rate sooner than projected.The won-dollar exchange rose 13.4 won to 1,112.1 won as investors offloaded their Korean won holdings for the dollar, making the won weaker. This is the first time that the won-dollar exchange rose above the 1,110 mark since Dec. 8, 2014, at 1,117.7 won. U.S. job data showed Friday that its unemployment rate reached 5.5 percent las
March 9, 2015
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Self-employed ratio reaches record low
The number of self-hired workers declined to all-time low last year, as the economic slowdown struck harder on start-ups than salaried workers, data showed Friday. The percentage of self-hired workers fell to 22.1 percent in 2014, down 0.4 percent from a year ago, according to data revealed by Statistics Korea and KB Financial Group’s management research institute.While the number of all workers grew 550,000 to 18.7 million on-year, the total number of self-hired workers rose only 1,000. The gro
March 6, 2015
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Ruling party backs Choi’s proposal for wage hike
The government and the ruling Saenuri Party have agreed to raise the minimum wage and begun preparations to discuss the legislation with opposition parties.“We will put in our utmost effort to find common ground between the ruling and opposing parties over the minimum wage increase,” Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min said in the party’s supreme council meeting Thursday.Yoo’s remarks came after Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who also serves as deputy prime minister, stressed the ne
March 5, 2015
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Antigraft law sparks retail worries
Retail industries are expressing concerns about the new tough anticorruption law that was passed in the National Assembly on Tuesday, on fears of revenue falling.In particular, golf clubs, department stores and high-end restaurant industries voiced discontent with the so-called Kim Young-ran bill, claiming that the law would likely drag down domestic consumption by incriminating even businesspeople and civil servants who attend casual business gatherings.The bill, to go into effect September 201
March 4, 2015
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KOSPI back above 2,000 after 5 months
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index recovered to the 2,000 mark for the first time in five months on expectations of growing tech business and stronger quantitative easing in the eurozone and the U.S.The benchmark KOSPI closed at 2,001.38, up 4.57, or 0.23 percent, on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations index, or KOSDAQ, also finished higher at 625.64, up 3.83, or 0.62 percent. The KOSPI started at 2,000.26, thanks to the overnight Wall Street gains of the KO
March 3, 2015
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Korean firms eye Japanese food market
Korean food exporters plan to lure Japan, the world’s largest importer of Korean food, at the annual international food expo in Tokyo, the Agriculture Ministry said Monday. A total of 56 Korean food exporters will set up booths at the Korean segment of the 40th Foodex Japan, in Makuhari Messe, from March 3-6. The event will host 2,977 exhibitors from 79 countries and is expected to draw some 80,000 trade professionals.“In recent years, Japanese food suppliers have been relying more on imports th
March 2, 2015
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[Graphic News] Spending on private tutoring grows
The nation’s private education spending per child in 2014 edged up 1.2 percent on-year from a year earlier, Statistics Korea said on Sunday. Officials attributed the increase to a sharp rise in spending on private tutoring for art, music and physical education, from 47,000 won in 2013 to 50,000 won in 2014. The agency suveyed 78,000 students and parents of 1,189 elementary, middle and high school students nationwide. Despite the fall in consumption last year, high-income parents turned out to ha
March 1, 2015
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