More than nine out of 10 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea provide foreign workers with accommodation as well as an additional pay of over 400,000 won (US$352) a month on average, according to a recent survey. Companies are now facing a heavier burden as the cost of board and

Korean manufacturers that need to secure excess carbon credits are in trouble as the trading volume of carbon emission has plummeted amid skyrocketing emission permit prices.The market price of the carbon emission permit hit an all-time high at 26,500 won (US$23.31) per ton on March 26. The average

The Korean government plans to invest 600 billion won (US$528.63 million) for seven years in the development of technologies that have a low chance of success but high potential, such as ultra-light weight metal materials and nano-robots that find cancer cells.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Ene

The South Korean government is highly likely to draw up an “ultra-supersized budget” that surpasses 500 trillion won (US$440.92 billion) for the first time next year.The guidelines for the 2020 state budget and fund operation plan, which was announced on March 26, calls on the government to play an

The South Korean government and the ruling party have allowed any consumer in the country to buy a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered vehicles or modify their cars to run on LPG starting on March 26 as part of efforts to improve air quality. However, they have failed to come up with countermeasur

South Korea’s terms of trade deteriorated for the 15th consecutive month in February this year, led by sluggish mobile phone component and semiconductor exports. Both export prices and export volumes dropped last month.The Bank of Korea announced on March 26 that South Korea’s commodity terms-of-tra

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy finalized its seventh Industrial Technology Innovation Plan on March 26 through deliberation at the Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology. The ministry is going to make strategic R&D investments in future transportation, smart and personaliz

South Korea and Mongolia are planning to further their cooperation in the Northeast Asian Super Grid Project and the East Asian Railway Community Project. The super grid project is to connect China’s and Mongolia’s wind power and solar power and the Russian Far East region’s hydroelectric power and

A recent survey showed that less than half of South Koreans think marriage is a must and more than half of South Koreans are in favor of living together without marriage.Only 48.1 percent of South Koreans answered in Statistics Korea’s recent survey that marriage is a must. The ratio fell 20 percent

South Korea’s total exports dropped to a significant extent in January this year due to the sluggish exports of major items such as semiconductors.The OECD announced on March 24 that South Korea’s total exports fell 5.9 percent year on year in January. That month, South Korea ranked 26th out of 32 O

South Korea's antitrust regulator has decided to end a decade-old legal battle with Qualcomm Inc., a U.S. mobile chip producer, and re-impose a fine on the firm in compliance with a court ruling.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on March 21 that it has canceled 48.60 billion won (US$43.0

The U.S. Department of Commerce has called the South Korean government’s electricity price calculation method into question again during its anti-dumping determination on plated steel sheets imported from South Korea. The department’s stance is that Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), a state-run co

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said on March 21 that the South Korean government would conclude free trade agreements (FTAs) with Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in the near future.“Economic cooperation between South Korea and the countries will be further enhanced based on the FTAs,” she said

The Bank of Korea announced on March 21 that South Korea’s intellectual property trade deficit hit an all-time low of US$720 million last year. Resulting from US$13.52 billion in exports and US$14.24 billion in imports, it is the lowest deficit since records began in 2010.The central bank explained

The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on March 20 that South Korea enjoyed the highest market shares in the world with 77 export items in 2017.The number, which had been 67 in 2014 and 68 in 2015, rose to 71 in 2016 and 77 in 2017. In 2016 and 2017, South Korea ranked 12th in th

Although Korea has exported nuclear power plants to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it can exclusively supply nuclear fuel to the plants only for three fuel cycles, which add up to less than five years. After that, Korea has to compete with other countries such as the United States to supply nuclear

The worsening air condition due to fine and ultrafine dust caused an economic loss of 4 trillion won (US$3.54 billion) in South Korea last year, according to a study by the Hyundai Research Institute.The institute conducted a survey on 1,008 adults nationwide from Feb. 18 to 28 to find out the degre

The Korean government will lower import fees on liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation beginning on April 1. Prices of gas for combined heat and power plants with a capacity of less than 100 megawatts will go down 6.9 percent. LNG-fired power plants emit less air pollutants such as fine du

The OECD and the Ministry of Employment and Labor of South Korea announced on March 19 that only 10.7 percent of South Korean workers belonged to trade unions in 2017 whereas the ratio was as high as 52 percent in Norway, 65 percent in Finland and 66 percent in Sweden.During the same period, the rat

The recent court ruling for the expansion of the scope of ordinary wage would lead to an increase in labor cost on the part of companies, an increase in outbound investment and a decrease in inbound investment, the Korea Employers Federation warned in a symposium on March 19.At the symposium, Korea