Wage increase agreements reached last year between labor and management moved up an average of 3.6 percent, the first upward trend in three years, state data showed Sunday.Figures from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Employment and Labor showed the increase at workplaces with 100 or more employ

South Korea's leading shipyards had the top three order backlogs among global shipbuilders at the end of 2017 due mainly to work received before the worldwide drop in demand, industry data showed Sunday.According to Clarkson Research's latest World Shipyard Monitor, Daewoo Shipbuilding and M

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is now widely used, and it is expected to be used more broadly in the future as one of typical renewable energies. As solar PV power plants are generally understood to be installed mainly on ground, most people believe that these facilities are suitable for countries wi

A total of over 65 members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps (most of them ambassadors and their spouses), as well as Ambassador Sylvestre Kouassi Bile of Cote d'Ivoire (dean of the visiting members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps that day) and Ambassador Aleksandr Timonin of the Russian Federation, f

The government plans to require cryptocurrency exchanges to share users' transaction data with banks, in a potential move to impose taxes on the transactions, an official at financial authorities said Sunday.Currently, financial authorities ban banks from offering virtual accounts, which are nee

The European Union is likely to remove South Korea and seven other jurisdictions from its blacklist of tax havens, Reuters reported Monday.The eight, including Panama, the United Arab Emirates and Barbados, were among 17 jurisdictions the EU blacklisted as tax havens in December, saying it was a mov

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon on Friday held the first meeting on the ministry's new policy to lend budget and tax support to private sector efforts toward innovative growth.During the meeting, Kim and senior ministry officials discussed ways to promote innovative growth in 20 industrial areas,

South Korea's justice ministry is drawing up legislation aimed to curb overheating in the virtual currency market, including a complete shutdown of all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, its minister said Thursday."The ministry is preparing legislation that basically bans any transactions

South Korea's jobless rate rose slightly in December due to seasonal factors, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.3 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.From a month earlier, it also cl

Applications for mobile payments and money transfers marked the biggest growth in the smartphone app market last year, data provided by Nielsen Korea showed Tuesday.Five of the top 10 apps from January to November last year were those referred to as fintech, short for financial technology, apps. Tos

South Korea and the United States held their first meeting Friday to discuss amendments to their free trade deal as Washington pushes to reduce its trade deficit with the Asian country.Each side raised issues pertaining to the revision and implementation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, known

South Korea's top economic policymakers said Thursday that they will do their best to manage economic and financial risks in a way that maintains economic growth momentum in the new year."Despite some downside risks at home and abroad, the South Korean economy pulled off favorable growth last y

South Korea's central bank chief said Tuesday that he will make a prudent decision on a further rate hike by taking into account all economic data."The Bank of Korea raises the rate based on data, economic indices and other conditions," BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told reporters. "The board members

SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank chief said Sunday that the expansionary monetary policy will be maintained in the new year in a way to further fuel the economic growth of Asia's fourth-largest economy."As the economy is expected to continue pulling off steady growth in

Samsung Electronics Co. is anticipated to post sound earnings for the fourth quarter of 2017, analysts said Sunday, driven mostly by its chip business.According to the data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean tech giant is anticipated to post an oper

SEJONG, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tobacco imports rose to the highest level in 15 years this year, led by the popularity of heat-not-burn (HNB) electronic cigarettes, government data showed Saturday.South Korea imported US$199.96 million worth of cigarettes in the first 11 months of this

Hyundai Glovis Co., the auto freight unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group, said Friday that it has secured 1.42 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) in orders to ship vehicles built by Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp.Under the two separate deals, Hyundai Glovis said it

(Yonhap) -- South Korean domestic stock investment funds have attracted more than 3 trillion won (US$2.8 billion) over the past month amid expectations for a market rally in January, a market tracker said Friday.Equity funds focused on local stocks posted a net money inflow of 3.54 trillion won in t

Foggy conditions on Christmas Eve have forced several cancellations and delays at South Korea's main gateway.As of 10 a.m. on Sunday, 34 outbound and nine inbound flights at Incheon International Airport have been delayed, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC). In addition, fiv

Growth of South Korean households' financial assets reached an all-time low this year amid prolonged low interest rates, government data showed Sunday.The average financial assets of local households stood at 97.8 million won (US$90,600) as of the end of March, up a mere 1.5 percent from a year