Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has reconfirmed his opposition to the pending amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act advocated by opposition parties.The amendment in question is to block enterprises from resorting to provisional seizures and claims for damages, even in the case
The OECD announced on Nov. 14 that South Korean workers’ average working hours totaled 1,915 in 2021, the fifth-longest in the OECD. Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile recorded 2,128, 2,073, 1,964 and 1,916, respectively.On the opposite side, Germany recorded 1,349, followed by Denmark (1,363),
U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Nov. 13. The former said that details of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act need to be formulated with South Korean EV and EV battery manufacturers’ contribution to the U.S. economy reflected.The U.S. Cong
Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) announced on Nov. 13 that it has started production and shipment of LNG at the Coral South gas field in Mozambique.Coral South is the first development project of the Coral gas field in Mozambique. KOGAS operates a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Coral South
The South Korean government decided to ask 12 public institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, to raise their foreign exchange hedge ratios for their overseas assets. This is expected to result in an additional supply of US$40 billion in the foreign exchange market, which mean
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) announced on Nov. 11 that it has begun a site assessment for a new nuclear power plant project in Poland.KHNP formed a site survey team with related companies, including KEPCO Engineering & Construction. The team visited Pątnów Nuclear Power Plant, the site of a ne
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong recently visited Saudi Arabia for four days, leading One Team Korea, a team set up to help Korean builders and IT companies win overseas projects. Concluding the visit, Won held a briefing session about the team’s activities and achievemen
Presidential envoy Na Kyung-won remarked at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) that South Korea will contribute to greenhouse gas reduction by reaching a balance of different energy sources such as renewable and atomic.The conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt takes place from
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud is scheduled to visit South Korea on Nov. 17 and 18. The purpose of his visit is to seek investors and companies to join the Neom City project.The project is to build a low-carbon smart city in desert and mountain areas near the Red Sea. The tot
The Ministry of Science and ICT released a new hydrogen technology R&D strategy on Nov. 9, which is made up of domestic development of clean hydrogen production technologies, advancement of hydrogen storage and transport technologies, and further hydrogen utilization in industries.The top-priority t
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) had a meeting on Nov. 9 and decided to form a consortium and formulate detailed plans so that their nuclear power plant construction project in Patnow, Poland can proceed well.KHNP signed a letter of intent on Oct. 31
Multiple organizations are calling for the government to correct what is wrong in its fisheries agreement with China. “According to the agreement, the same rules are applied as to vessel count, catch, and so on in the EEZ on the other side, but China’s catch has exceeded 10 times South Korea’s due t
The Korea Enterprises Federation has recently conducted a survey at 415 companies in four industries. According to the results, 52.2 percent of South Korean shipbuilders are understaffed and the ratio is 45 percent in the semiconductor industry, 43 percent in future car and 29 percent in biotech and
The Federation of Korean Industries said at a recent seminar that every main industry of South Korea will have to struggle next year, with the only exception of shipbuilding.According to the federation, South Korean shipbuilders’ order backlogs are already large, with the global LNG carrier demand c
An increasing number of experts are estimating South Korea’s 2023 real GDP growth at less than 2 percent, with its exports falling and domestic demand remaining sluggish.Daishin Securities estimated it at 1.6 percent on Nov. 4. The latest estimates of Hana Financial Group and Fitch Ratings are 1.8 p
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is planning to submit its written opinion on the Inflation Reduction Act to the U.S. Department of the Treasury this week.The department is currently formulating details before a full implementation of the act, which took effect in August so that EV subsidi
The Federation of Korean Industries released a report on Nov. 2 to compare the labor laws and regulations of South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan. According to the report, those of South Korea are less flexible in terms of working hours and worker dispatch, t
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Nov. 1 that South Korea’s exports totaled US$52.4 billion last month, down 5.7 percent year on year. The nation's exports decreased for the first time since the 3.7 percent decrease in October 2020.Last month, South Korea’s semiconductor ex
The credit default swap (CDS) premium of the five-year foreign exchange stabilization bond (FESB) issued by the South Korean government rose 4 basis points to 70 on Oct. 31, the highest since Nov. 14, 2017. The figure was 21 basis points on Jan. 3 this year and topped 50 on Sept. 23 before reaching
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on Oct. 31 that the maximum special overtime work applied to South Korean workers at overseas construction sites has been adjusted from 90 days to 180 days a year.According to current laws, their weekly overtime work cannot exceed 12 hours. The special