SEOUL, KOREA - Apr in review: Strong bond market despite an unexpected rate freeze As the Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Apr meeting surprisingly chose to hold the policy rate steady, Korea’s bond market entered a correction phase. But the market soon turned to a bullish mood on aggressive buying by foreign investors despite the announcement of a supplemental budget and s

 SEOUL, KOREA - The government will grant a permanent resident status to those foreigners who make investment of more than 500 million won for up to five years in tourism specialty or development promotion cities like Yeongam (S. Jeolla Province), Taean (S. Chungcheong), Yeongju and Andong (N. Gyeongsang). The Ministry of Justice said on May 2 that it would introduce a new immigrant invest

 SEOUL, KOREA - A 8-trillion-won refinery and petrochemical plant to be built by S-Oil Corp. will be allowed to go up in an industrial zone owned by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. The government will also permit Kyung Hee University Medical Center and other hospitals to build hotels for their foreign patients. The government held a trade-investment promotion meeting on May 1 presid

 SEOUL, KOREA - A report published by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency warned that Korean companies are overtaken by Japanese counterparts in pre-empting the rapidly growing Indian market. According to the May 1 report "Japan's India Strategy: Implications and Lessons," the number of Japanese companies doing business in India as of the end of 2012 was 900, almost three tim

 SEOUL, KOREA - "The Turkish government has signed a free trade agreement with Korea ahead of any countries in East Asia. We will abolish all import duties on Korean manufactured goods within seven years, with significant cuts in all kinds of corporate taxes." Mustafa Naci Saribas, Turkish Ambassador to Korea, said this on April 29 in an interview with the Korea Economic Daily just ahead o

 SEOUIL, KOREA - The views on the economic outlook diverge widely between large corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The outlook for the next three months, large corporations see that it would get worse while smaller counterparts expect good days are ahead. According to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries, a trade group representing the interest of big business

 SEOUL, KOREA - The total amount of damages incurred by 103 companies out of 123 with operations in Kaesong, North Korea, is estimated to be in excess of 2.8 trillion won. The Association of the Kaesong Firms, the trade group representing companies investing in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, said on April 29 that the total damage would be in the neighborhood of 3.5 trillion won if the losses

 SEOUL, KOREA - Korea's current account balance in March has recorded a surplus in 14 consecutive months. According to a report "March 2013 International Balance of Payments (Preliminary)" published by the Bank of Korea on April 29, the March current account balance was US$4,980 million, the highest level since November last year when the surplus was $6,910 million. The $47.99-billion expo

SEOUL, KOREA - A study said Korea's aging infrastructures need serious investment to replace and renovate. It would also stimulate the economy while reducing accidents, according to the study. Kim Dong-ryul, senior research fellow with Hyundai Economic Research Institute, said in a report "The Nation's Aging Infrastructure: Suggestions for Improvement" on April 28, "Most infrastructures in K

 SEOUL, KOREA - The KOSDAQ composite index has hit a record high in 4 years and 9 months. The market capitalization has also risen to a record level at 126.4 trillion won. According to the Korea Exchange on April 24, the KOSDAQ index closed at 563.81, up 9.44 points (+1.70%), hitting a record high since July 1, 2008 when the index was 580.77. The index has grown 13.6 percent since the end

SEOUL, KOREA - The 45th Korea-Japan Forum has been held at the Lotte Hotel Seoul on April 24, with more than 300 participants from both countries.Yasuo Fukuda, former Prime Minister of Japan (2007-2008), said in a keynote speech, "It would be serious problem if political issues such as the Yasukuni Shrine visits, Dokdo dispute, and history textbook distortions affect the two countries' econo

 SEOUL, KOREA - Korea's first-quarter GDP growth rate has been 0.9 percent. This is slightly higher than the level predicted earlier by Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo. The Bank of Korea said on April 25 that the first-quarter GDP has grown 0.9 percent from the previous quarter. On April 11, the central bank governor had said the quarterly growth rate would be 0.8 percent immediately

SEOUL, KOREA – It turned out that Korea’s first-quarter exports have entered the recovery phase. According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Korea’s exports ticked up 0.5% year-on-year to USD 135.5 billion in the first quarter of this year while Korea’s imports slid 3% to USD 129.7 billion. Accordingly, Korea has posted a trade surplus of USD 5.88 billion.Pushed up by a surplus

Seoul, Korea - Park Administration had proposed the formation of ‘creative economy’ as one of its major tasks. An expert forum to seek for an optimum direction toward the creative economy is to be launched. The forum is expected to draw the framework of creative economy and suggest detailed policies that will shift the economic paradigm of Korea. The Electronic Times is inaugurating the Creative E

ULSAN, KOREA - “The port of Ulsan lies at a strategic foothold of marine transportation for Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Ulsan Port Authority will work diligently to turn the port into a hub of the Northeast Asian oil distribution by expanding and harnessing grand-scale petrochemistry infrastructure,” said Park Jong-rok, president of the Ulsan Port Authority (UPA).History of Port of UlsanThe po

SEOUL, KOREA - The 2012 fish catch has declined due to typhoons and extended droughts. According to a fishery production trend report by the Korea Statistical Office on February 19, last year's fish catch stopped short of 3,183,000 tons, down 2.2 percent from the previous year's 3,110,000 tons. In value terms, last year's fishery income was 7,689.0 billion won, 4.8 percent lower than 2011.The

SEOUL, KOREA - The gas utility rates will rise effective on February 22 by an average of 4.4 percent. It has been only eight months since the last raise in June 2012. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said on February 20 that the average per-household rate would rise by 1,127 won to 106,992 won from current 105,565 won.By purpose, home heating gas rate will rise 4.3 percent to 20.93 won per Me

SEOUL, KOREA - In order to encourage small- and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs and expand overseas, the government will create an investment fund worth 100 billion won by July this year.To that end, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will chip in 20 billion won while other state-run organizations such as pension funds and public financial institutions will make up t

SEOUL, KOREA –The central bank decided to maintain its key interest rate at 2.75%. The benchmark interest rate has been frozen after having been lowered last July and October.The decision is grounded on external factors. The U.S and emerging countries have shown moderate economic rebounding while European countries are still struggling from lagging economic activities. “At home, exports have bee

SEOUL, KOREA - Last year's domestic construction order booking amount has hit the lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. According to the Construction Association of Korea on February 12, the total value of orders won domestically in 2012 was 101,506.1 billion won. This is way below the projected volume of 110 trillion won.As for public sector orders, the amount won in 2012 was 3