Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Korean art gets spotlight at Venice Biennale 2024
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Police uncover illegal gambling website made by teens, for teens
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Yoon offers first one-on-one meeting with opposition leader next week
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Yoon's approval rating sinks to all-time low following election loss
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BOK slashes rate to record low 0.75%, after emergency Fed move
Amid growing concerns over COVID-19, South Korea’s key interest rate plunged below 1 percent for the first time in history as the central bank cut it by 50 basis points to a record low of 0.75 percent. The decision came hours after the US Federal Reserve took the drastic step of slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero to offset the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus. “The US Fed in recent days lowered its interest rate by 150 basis points, which was a swift mo
March 16, 2020
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S. Korea facing more trade barriers from emerging nations: report
Emerging countries launched dozens of new investigations against goods from South Korea in line with growing protectionism around the globe, data showed Monday. Such countries accounted for 34 of the 41 new trade investigation cases against Asia's No. 4 economy in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The United States launched five new investigations against South Korea, with Australia and the European Union taking up one each. Emerging nat
March 16, 2020
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BOK under growing pressure to cut rate following Fed rate reduction
The Bank of Korea will have no choice but to take all available measures to shield the local economy against further damage from the outbreak of the new coronavirus, including a base rate reduction, especially since the US Fed cut its own rates to nearly zero, analysts here said Monday. "The Bank of Korea too must now take steps due to the confusion in the local financial market," said Korea Investment & Securities analyst Ahn Jae-kyun. "Like the central banks of other majo
March 16, 2020
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BOK likely to cut rate this week amid calls for more stimulus
South Korea’s central bank is likely to convene an emergency meeting of its monetary policy board this week to slash its interest rates to a record-low of 1 percent, amid growing calls to beef up economic stimulus against the novel coronavirus outbreak. On Friday, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol attended a special economic meeting related to coronavirus at Cheong Wa Dae, presided by President Moon Jae-in. Economy-related ministers including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong
March 15, 2020
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S. Korea-US trade volume expands 32% on bilateral FTA
Trade volume between South Korea and the United States totaled $135.2 billion last year, up 32 percent from $101.8 billion posted in 2012, when a bilateral free trade agreement went into effect, government data showed Sunday. Trade volume between the two countries in 2019 also moved up 2.7 percent on-year, which is significant considering South Korea's overall trade with the world plunged 8.3 percent over the period to $1.04 trillion, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, In
March 15, 2020
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S. Korea imposes 6-month ban on stock short-selling
South Korea’s financial authorities on Friday announced a six-month ban on short-selling in the local stock market, effective Monday, in an effort to reduce market volatility amid the spread of COVID-19. The hurried action came as the country’s stock market nose-dived earlier the same day, triggering a temporary trading halt in both the main bourse Kospi and the secondary Kosdaq. “Short-selling of all listed stocks on (the main bourse) Kospi and (secondary) Kosdaq and (ter
March 13, 2020
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Virus impact on airline ratings depends on duration, severity: S&P
S&P Global Ratings said Friday the ultimate impact of the new coronavirus outbreak on its global airline ratings will depend on the duration and severity of the crisis. The spread of COVID-19 cases across the globe has caused air traffic demand to plunge in recent weeks. With the virus now present in more than 100 countries and territories, more flight cancellations are expected as lower travel demand, S&P said in a statement. "We see significant downside potential to t
March 13, 2020
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Earlier-than-expected rate cut grows plausible amid coronavirus
Weighed by the escalating impact of COVID-19, South Korea’s central bank hinted Friday that it may lean toward an earlier-than-expected policy rate cut as early as within this month. “Members of the Monetary Policy Board are currently contemplating the necessity to hold an extraordinary panel meeting,” the Bank of Korea said in a release. The monetary policy institution’s latest move came as Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its stock market nosedive amid inve
March 13, 2020
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Auto exports down for 7th month on virus-hit disruptions
South Korea's automobile exports sank 25 percent in February from a year earlier to extend their on-year drop to the seventh month in a row as the operation of local car factories was partially disrupted amid the global outbreak of the new coronavirus, data showed Friday. South Korean carmakers shipped 123,022 units of cars overseas last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, auto exports also moved down 16.6 percent over the p
March 13, 2020
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BOK vows market stabilization measures
The Bank of Korea said Friday that it will take active steps to help stabilize the local market, noting the volatility in the country's financial markets may seem excessive. "The Bank of Korea plans to actively use its policy measures to stabilize the financial market as the volatility in the local financial and foreign exchange markets is expanding due to the impact from the spread of COVID-19," the central bank said after an emergency meeting. The meeting, chaired by BOK Dep. Gov.
March 13, 2020
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Institutions go long on stocks amid market havoc
South Korean institutional investors have been loading up on stocks this month despite a virus-induced market crash, data showed Friday. The country's state pension fund and other institutions remained in net buying mode between March 2 and Thursday, purchasing stocks worth nearly 1.1 trillion won ($910 million), according to the data from the Korea Exchange. The figure represents a drastic increase from their February net buying tallied at 348 billion won. Institutions' net buying stood at
March 13, 2020
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[COVID-19 Market Impact] South Korea's economic rebound loses heat
After struggling with a record-low growth pace last year, South Korea’s economy was aspiring to make a rebound in 2020, hopefully on the back of global trade improvements and a chip industry recovery -- until suffering the harsh blow of the novel coronavirus. As of December, major global organizations and policy institutes here forecast that Korea’s economic growth pace for 2020 will be in the 2.2-2.4 percent range. While the International Monetary Fund suggested a conservative 2.
March 12, 2020
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Hyundai Steel says no US antidumping duty on its steel products
Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's No. 2 steelmaker, said Thursday that the United States has decided not to impose an antidumping duty on its corrosion-resistant steel products. The US Department of Commerce made the final determination on Wednesday (local time) in its annual review of the case, according to Hyundai Steel. The move came after the U.S. launched an investigation into the sale of corrosion-resistant steel products from South Korea between July 2017 and June 2018. Hyundai Steel s
March 12, 2020
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Coronavirus to have bigger, longer impact on economy than past epidemics: BOK
The ongoing spread of the new coronavirus is expected to have a greater and longer-lasting impact on the local economy than past epidemics, partly due to its impact on China, now one of the world's largest suppliers and buyers, a central bank report said Thursday. "The ongoing crisis is expected to have a greater impact than in the past in that COVID-19 is spreading to other countries while China currently is the world's largest trading and tourism exchange country and plays a critical rol
March 12, 2020
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Exports of agricultural goods down 13% in Jan. amid coronavirus outbreak
South Korea's exports of agricultural goods tumbled a whopping 13 percent in January from a year earlier as the global outbreak of the new coronavirus dealt a harsh blow to the country's efforts to penetrate deeper into Asian countries. Outbound shipments of agricultural products reached $692 million in January, down from $786 million posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Exports of fresh goods tumbled 14.4 percent o
March 12, 2020
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S. Korea’s job figures improve in Feb. amid virus fears
South Korea saw its jobless rate decline and job creations extend the uptrend for several months straight in February, while some service industries have started reflecting the negative impact of the new coronavirus, government data showed Wednesday. However, with the infection rate taking a steep upturn, Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to face the full-scale fallout in its employment indexes starting this month. Korea added 492,000 new jobs in February from a month earlier,
March 11, 2020
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Korea's ICT exports increase for 1st time in 16 months in Feb.
South Korean exports of information and communication technology (ICT) goods grew for the first time in 16 months in February on brisk shipments of chips and smartphones, government data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of ICT products expanded 8.5 percent on-year to $13.74 billion last month, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. February marks the first month since November 2018 that the country's ICT exports have increased from a year earlier. Asia's fourth-larg
March 11, 2020
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Korea's exports up 21.9% in first 10 days of March
South Korea's exports rose by more than 20 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of March, customs data showed Wednesday, but the new coronavirus outbreak may limit the growth of its exports and economy. The country's outbound shipments came to US$13.3 billion in the March 1-10 period, up 21.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average, however, slipped 2.5 percent on-year to $1.78 billion. The customs office note
March 11, 2020
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Korea's jobless rate at 4.1% in February, 492,000 jobs created
South Korea's jobless rate fell in February and job creations rose by more than 400,000 for the third straight month, with the outbreak of the new coronavirus dealing a harsh blow to some sectors, such as the retail and wholesale segment, data showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage point to 4.1 percent last month, and the number of employed people reached 26.83 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. South Korea added 492,000 jobs in the month.
March 11, 2020
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S. Korea to tighten grip over stock short selling as emergency action
South Korea vowed Tuesday to tighten regulations on stock short selling to stabilize the market amid increased volatility caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, and also the sudden drop in global oil prices. “As a market stabilizing action, (the government) will alleviate the requisites for (designating) overheated short selling and expand the transaction ban period (for these stocks),” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki was quoted as saying in a minist
March 10, 2020