Exports from Korea’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector and its trade balance set all-time highs in May this year. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning recently announced that monthly exports increased 17.2% year-on-year to US$15.15 billion, while the industry’s trade

Korea broke the US$1 trillion mark in terms of trade volume for the first time in its history on December 5, 2011, when Samsung Heavy Industries reported to the Korea Customs Service that it exported two units of drill ships at a combined price of US$1.2 billion. This showed how significant the ship

Last year, Korean construction companies won contracts totaling US$64.9 billion in overseas construction markets. This is the second-highest figure following that achieved in 2010, when they clinched US$18.6 billion-worth of orders for nuclear power plant construction in the United Arab Emirates alo

The Korean government has announced its master plan for a creative economy, and which is characterized by efforts for the creation of new markets and decent jobs through the combination of creative ideas and information and communications technologies (ICT).A briefing session was held on the morning

Economic democratization was a hot issue throughout the recent presidential election campaign in Korea. Both ruling and opposition candidates made related campaign promises in an attempt to win over voters. It was at this time that Clause 2, Article 119 of the Constitution,which relates to economic

The world’s leading IT company, Google, saw advertising revenue of US$ 18 billion for the period from 2006 to 2012, yet paid just US$ 16 million in taxes, less than 0.09% of total revenue. The company had its European headquarters in Ireland, a country known as a tax heaven, while falsely claiming r

Government functions regarding domestic and international financial policies, tasks currently carried out by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Strategy & Finance (MOSF), respectively, will be combined under one umbrella. According to the FSC’s taskforce team for the reform

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and The Bank of Korea announced on June 24 that they opted not to extend the Korea-Japan currency swap agreement. The deal, which is worth US$3 billion, is scheduled to expire on July 3. The bilateral contract has continued for eight years. As a result, the curre

Lee Kyung-jae, the first chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) under the Park Geun-hye government, began his interview with Business Korea by saying “Broadcasting, as an opinion maker, is one of the fields exerting the greatest influence on the general public amid the current politic

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Ber­nanke mentioned the monetary policy for exit strategy in the end. Korean eco­nomic experts expressed their concerns over possible short-term volatility in the financial market while predicting that the recovery of the US economy would act in favor of the export-drive

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) aims to impose taxes on the transactions of financial derivatives, signaling a bumpy road ahead.However, the financial industry, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and even the ruling Saenuri Party are against imposing taxes on futures and options in

It has been confirmed that Japan will join talks on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP). With existing member countries agreeing to allow Japan to participate in on-going TPP negotiations, a total of twelve countries are now set to have talks to create the world’s largest economic

“The electrical appliances industry, of which exports reached US$13.8 billion last year, is turning itself from a domestic demand industry into an export-driven one. I hope the Korean government will provide wider support for the sector so that more and more companies can become leading global playe

In 2012, Korea gave foreign aid worth US$1.55 billion in total, becoming the 16th-largest donor country in the world, just three years after joining the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as its 24th member.According to OECD dat

“The so-called ‘house poor policy’ of the Park Geun-hye government can’t be a remedy by any means because it’s about making up for the loss of major builders and financial companies that have been engaged in predatory lending by means of the debts of young, prospective home buyers,” said Sun Dae-in.

The Park Geun-hye government is mulling over the necessity of a control agency to supervise the development of overseas natural resources. Specifically, the government is intending to upgrade the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) and provide it with full-scale support so th

Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), which made great achievements last year such as the hosting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Secretariat despite unfavorable global economic conditions, is on the move to make further strides.“Our accomplishments of last year wouldn’t have been possible without the

The Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has made continuous investments in the development of natural resources abroad in an attempt to add to the national financial resources and strategic petroleum reserves of Korea. As a leading natural resources developer representing the country, the KNOC is

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy predicted that the output of the domestic electronics industry would grow at an annual average rate of 4.15% between this year and 2018, from approximately 315 trillion won to 386 trillion won, owing mainly to a global economy recovery and the popularization of smar

It is expected that the time taken to download large-size files will be shortened significantly down the road because a wireless chip has been developed capable of transmitting a full HD video file stored on a smart phone in real time.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Nationa