SEJONG -- South Korea is likely to record a trade deficit for the sixth consecutive month, as the nation suffered a trade deficit of $4.1 billion for the first 20 days of September, down 8.7 percent on-year, state data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation posted $32.9 billion in exports while imports increased 6.1 percent on-year to $37 billion over the corresponding period. It would be the first time in 25 years for Asia's fourth-largest econom

Economy Sept. 21, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea has seen the portion of power generation facilities for renewable energy of the total generation output exceeding 20 percent for the first time this year, state data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Power Exchange, the capacity of renewable energy came to 27,103 megawatts as of September, which marked 20.1 percent of 134,719 megawatts in collective power generation facilities. It is estimated that the portion surpassed the 20 percent level for the first time in Augu

Industry Sept. 20, 2022

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday predicted that the gross domestic product growth of South Korea would stay in the low 2 percent range next year. In particular, the Paris-based OECD forecast that the nation’s exports and private consumption would post slower-than-expected growth in 2023. In the 2022 OECD Economic Survey of Korea, the organization revised its outlook on the 2023 GDP growth of Korea to 2.2 percent, from its suggestion of 2.5 per

Economy Sept. 19, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea on Wednesday turned in a formal bid to host the World Expo 2030 in its second-largest city of Busan to the Bureau International des Expositions. A Korean delegation, led by First Vice Minister of Industry Jang Young-jin, stressed the distinctive merits of Korea and Busan, as well as the government’s strong will, during a meeting with BIE Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes at the organization’s headquarters in Paris. The bid details that Busan had successfull

Industry Sept. 7, 2022

SEJONG -- The scale of tax cuts for businesses will increase by more than 1 trillion won ($727 million) on-year in 2023, with its portion of total tax cuts for the overall sectors rising, state data showed Tuesday. According to next year’s budget on tax expenditures, submitted by the Finance Ministry to the National Assembly, the collective tax cuts for the overall sectors are estimated at 69.3 trillion won. Of them, corporate tax cuts -- including deductions for spending on fostering ma

Economy Sept. 6, 2022

SEJONG -- More and more gas stations are expected to operate charging ports for electric vehicles under state measures to promote supply of eco-friendly vehicles by easing regulations. In addition, businesses will be allowed to operate autonomous mobile robots at parks, while the current rules restrict the range of serving robots to indoor restaurants, government officials said Monday. A task force on deregulations, led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, unveiled the second phase of dereg

Economy Sept. 5, 2022

SEJONG -- The growth in the nation's consumer prices somewhat decelerated last month after continuously expanding for six consecutive months from February-July. But the inflation still remained at a critically high level, state data showed Friday. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed by 5.7 percent in August on-year amid ongoing global inflationary pressure, which has been causing high raw material prices. It marked the first slowed growth in seven months after the inflation

Economy Sept. 2, 2022

SEJONG/SEOUL -- South Korea recorded an all-time high trade deficit last month in the wake of skyrocketing import prices of raw materials and relatively low export growth, raising a red flag for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is heavily dependent on exports for its growth. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation’s imports increased by 28.2 percent on-year to $66.14 billion in August, while exports increased by just 6.6 percent to $56.67 billion. Th

Economy Sept. 1, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea’s Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang called for the US to take a cooperative stance on resolving the backlash from the local automobiles industry over the US Inflation Reduction Act, which is targeted to scale back subsidies to electric vehicles not assembled on American soil. Lee delivered the nation’s position during his meeting with US Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg in Seoul on Wednesday. He said worries among local carmakers as well as the Korean governm

Industry Aug. 31, 2022

SEJONG -- Korea posted a triple decline in industrial output, consumption and investment in July amid the ongoing negative factors, such as spiraling raw material prices and a glitch in global supply, state data showed Wednesday. Further, consumption decreased for the fifth consecutive month, which marked the first time in 1995 since the nation started compiling the relevant figures. According to Statistics Korea, industrial output declined by 0.1 percent in July on-month, private consumption

Economy Aug. 31, 2022

SEJONG -- The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the 2023 budget proposal worth 639 trillion won ($473 billion), which is aimed at securing the fiscal soundness and lowering the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product by minimizing state expenditure. Despite directions to refrain from conducting fiscal expansion, the first budget bill under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration sufficiently reflects its support plan for enlisted soldiers, households with infants, young people in their 20s as well

Economy Aug. 30, 2022

SEJONG -- The number of self-employed people without employees came to the highest in 14 years in South Korea amid the surge in food deliverymen and business startups among retirees, state data showed Monday. The nation’s self-employed is split into two groups: those who hire several workers as micro-business owners, and those who do not hire any employees. The latter are also called own-account workers. According to Statistics Korea, the number of own-account workers, who work alone, re

Economy Aug. 29, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea on Friday finalized its bid to host the World Expo 2030 in its second-largest city of Busan, and announced it would send in the formal bid to the Bureau International des Expositions on Sept. 7. The bidding committee, led by the co-chairs Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Chey Tae-won, hammered out the last details of the bidding plan at a meeting in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. A task force

Industry Aug. 26, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea will push for the abolishment of law provisions, which stipulate criminal punishment on businesses despite meager rule-violations, as part of effort to promote wider scale corporate activities and vitalize foreign investments. Before seeking criminal punishment, the government will issue administrative sanctions in the first stage, the Finance Ministry and the Justice Ministry said during a meeting for revamping regulations in Daegu on Friday. According to the two ministr

Economy Aug. 26, 2022

SEJONG -- The South Korean government is to seek a joint response with the EU to deal with the US Inflation Reduction Act that slashes subsidies to electric vehicles not made on American soil, rather than seeking dispute settlement within the bilateral trade agreement frame the two forged years ago. Seoul would continue to raise arguments that the US law goes against the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, but a joint response scenario with other countries seems more feasible to press Washington tha

Economy Aug. 25, 2022