As the U.S. government put Huawei and its 68 affiliates on a blacklist, major parts makers such as Intel and Qualcomm, have stopped supplying components to the Chinese tech giant starting on May 17 (local time). Google also decided to cut its hardware and software business ties with Huawei.Under the

The steering committee of the Economic, Social & Labor Council has failed to reach an agreement on the ratification of the ILO core conventions.The committee held a meeting on May 20 and decided not to discuss the issue any longer. The result of the previous discussions is going to be reported to th

Controversies on fiscal soundness have emerged following a recent report that South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, who is the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, have different opinions on a sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio of 40 percent.Many experts are poin

The Korea Insurance Research Institute said in its recent report that South Korea’s medical and healthcare expenses-to-GDP ratio, which had been 4 percent in 2000 and 4.9 percent in 2005, increased from 6.2 percent in 2010 to 7.6 percent in 2017 due to rapid aging of the population.The report also s

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 19 that the total carbon dioxide emissions of South Korea’s overall industries changed from 301.9 million tCO2 in 2013 to 320 million tCO2 in 2014, 317.68 million tCO2 in 2015, 324.33 million tCO2 in 2016 and 330.42 million tCO2 in 2017. Th

The OECD announced on May 19 that South Korea ranked 21st, with negative 0.3 percent, in the first quarter of this year in terms of quarter-on-quarter GDP growth.Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia topped the list, followed by the United States (0.8 percent). On the other hand, South Korea, Norw

A high-ranking government source said on May 19 that the United States Department of Commerce told automakers in target countries to submit data related to their component value chains in initiating its investigation for application of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Every South Kore

The U.S. Commerce Department has placed China’s Huawei Technologies Co. and 67 of its affiliates around the world on a blacklist, restricting their access to U.S. suppliers.The department said on May 16 (local time) that the restrictions on Huawei and its affiliates would take effect on May 17.The d

The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) said on May 15 that the United States’ and China’s additional 25 percent tariffs are likely to result in a decline of US$1.36 billion in South Korea’s exports to the United States and China and that the value may increase depending on glob

Korea International Trade Association Chairman Kim Young-ju met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington, D.C. on May 14 (local time) and asked him to exclude South Korea from imposition of tariffs on cars. U.S. President Donald Trump makes a decision on the issue on May 18.“When it co

The Fair Trade Commission has announced the list of large business groups that are subject to the disclosure regulations under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. The list included 59 business groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion won (US$4.2 billion). These groups have a total of 2,103 af

The Bank of Korea announced on May 14 that South Korea’s export price index based on a reference year of 2010 and a reference value of 100 was 83.48 last month, up 0.5 percent from the previous month.The index rose for the third consecutive month after a rise of 0.2 percent in February. The rise in

With the U.S.-China trade disputes showing signs of lingering, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said on May 13 that it would take measures for financial market stabilization and volatility reduction if necessary. The Bank of Korea also said that it would closely monitor the market situations.Stil

The Inernational Monetary Fund (IMF) advised the South Korean government to determine its rate of increase in minimum wage in line with labor productivity growth and reduce support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in stages.“Labor reform and commodity market reform are the key to a high

South Korea’s labor productivity in the manufacturing industry is overrated by up to 11 percent, according to a study from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It said that labor productivity goes down when indirectly employed workers, such as dispatched workers and in-house subcontractors’ workers, are reflect

The Hyundai Research Institute said in its report on May 12 that South Korean companies’ investment for making use of a low labor cost is concentrated on Vietnam, where the minimum wage is relatively low.Specifically, Vietnam accounted for 62.6 percent of the investment for the purpose from 2014 to

The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) said in its report on May 12 that 37 percent of South Korea’s and China’s export items are currently overlapping with each other as China's export industry structure shifts toward capital- and technology-intensive sectors.KIET also said

Vietnamese market research firm Q&Me has recently conducted a survey on 917 Vietnamese adults aged at least 18 years and 76 percent of the respondents answered that they are favorable to South Korea, including 37 percent who said they are very favorable to the country.According to the survey, 42 per

The South Korean government will inject 1.20 trillion won (US$1.02 billion) in medical device research and development (R&D) projects over the next six years.The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced on May 12 that a preliminary feasibility study on the government’s medical device R&D project

The Donald Trump administration raised tariffs on Chinese goods worth US$200 billion from 10 percent to 25 percent on May 10 (local time) and the measure is likely to lead to a decline of US$870 million in South Korea’s exports. Semiconductors, steel products and chemical products exported from Sout