South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on July 18 that the government is mulling whether to exempt research and development (R&D) workers from the shortened 52-hour workweek system.” This is part of plans to better cope with Japan's export restrictions on c

The South Korean government will build the world's largest floating solar farm on a lake next to Saemangeum, a reclaimed area on the west coast.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said on July 18 it has approved a project to build a 2.1 gigawatt (GW) solar power plant on Saemangeu

The Bank of Korea has lowered its benchmark interest rate from 1.75 percent to 1.5 percent and adjusted its growth forecast for the South Korean economy for this year from 2.5 percent to 2.2 percent with the global semiconductor industry showing few signs of recovery, the Japanese government restric

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) advised in its report on July 17 that South Korea’s trade strategies should be based on an assumption that the ongoing trade war between the United States and China is a constant rather than a variable.“The war is likely to last long, even in the even

The ruling Democratic Party of South Korea renamed its Special Committee on Japan’s Economic Retaliation as Special Committee on Japan’s Economic Invasion. On the other hand, main opposition Liberty Korea Party is extremely wary of opposing the Japanese government.The ruling party is becoming more a

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell said on July 17 that the U.S. government may intervene in the ongoing economic disputes between South Korea and Japan although it has yet to be found out which one it is going to side with.Stilwell had a meeting with

The Blue House confirmed on July 16 that it would not accept the Japanese government’s proposal regarding the organization of a third-party arbitration committee to handle the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling on compensation for wartime forced labor victims. The Blue House is supposed to reply by

The Japanese government is likely to implement additional export restrictions against South Korea in the near future and the next targets are likely to be automobiles and machinery, an analyst at Samsung Securities said on July 16.“Export restrictions targeting the two industries have a smaller impa

The South Korean government can adopt a limited market access targeting Japanese goods or services, raise import tariffs, implement export restrictions against Japan, and strengthen its technology and standard certification requirements in order to respond more immediately to Japan’s export restrict

The Japanese government announced that it would withdraw its export procedure-related preferential treatment for South Korea this month or next.This means South Korean companies must obtain an individual export license for each strategic item, including semiconductors and displays, and Japan’s expor

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 11 that the reported foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea totaled US$9.87 billion, with a year-on-year decline of 37.3 percent, in the first half of this year. The amount on an arrival basis fell 45.2 percent to US$5.61 billion.E

The South Korean government plans to develop 5G-based autonomous driving services for limited spaces, including ports, factories, and campuses, by 2021. It also plans to develop by 2026 5G-based vehicle to everything (V2X) communication technology and a 5G-based control system to realize autonomous

The conflict between South Korea and Japan triggered by Japan’s restrictions on exports of key semiconductor materials shows signs of escalating into “a tariff war.”The South Korean government decided on July 10 to extend an anti-dumping duty on imports of ethyl acetate, including those from Japan,

Standard and Poor’s (S&P), one of the big three global credit rating agencies, has slashed its growth outlook for South Korea’s economy this year to 2.0 percent from 2.4 percent.S&P joins the growing list of overseas agencies that have lowered their estimates of Korea’s economic growth to around 2.0

Japan's Asahi TV reported on July 10 that Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong met with major Japanese banks and expressed concerns over the possibility of deterioration of South Korea-Japan relations with Japanese product boycotts and anti-Japan rallies spreading ahead of the Aug. 15

South Korean President Moon Jae-in had an emergency meeting with business leaders on July 10 and said that their role is essential in dealing with Japan’s export restrictions against South Korea. Some experts point out that the remarks are inappropriate in that the restrictions were triggered by pol

Minjung Party lawmaker Kim Jong-hoon said on July 9 that South Korea's borrowings from Japan totaled US$56.3 billion as of the end of 2018 according to the Bank for International Settlements.As of that date, South Korea had a total external debt of US$310.2 billion, including US$83.3 billion to

The U.S. and South Korean governments had their first bilateral trade talks since the implementation of the KORUS FTA seven years ago with regard to the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s penalty imposition on Qualcomm. The U.S. government demanded stronger defense for American companies subject to the c

Moody's said that Japan's semiconductor material export restrictions can have a negative impact on South Korea's economic growth rate, which is estimated at 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent for this year and 2020, respectively.“Disputes surrounding war damage compensation have led to the rest

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on July 8 that the South Korean government would have to take measures if Japan’s retaliatory export restrictions actually did harm to South Korean companies. “That is not desirable at all, and we need to avoid confrontation,” he made his first remarks on the