The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) has recently announced that South Korea’s manufacturing raw material imports from China are increasing fast.For example, its lithium hydroxide import from China was US$1.162 billion in the first half of this year, up 404.5 percent from a year earlier.
The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission of Saudi Arabia have recently signed a US$2.32 million contract.The purpose of the contract is to share the institute’s research reactor technology with the commission. In Saudi Arabia, a 30 KW research reac
Summit talks between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Indonesian President Joko Widodo is scheduled for July 28 in Seoul. The talks are likely to include Indonesia’s non-payment related to the KF-21 fighter jet.The two governments agreed in 2016 to co-develop a fighter jet. According to the
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo denied the necessity of Korea-U.S. currency swap resumption at the interpellation on July 26.“The primary purposes of the currency swap agreement do not include domestic forex market stabilization and the current situation is not a foreign exchange crisis in that the U.S.
The Korea International Trade Association announced on July 25 that South Korea’s exports to the United States are showing a solid growth, unlike its exports to China.According to the association, the former was approximately US$68.7 billion in 2017, up 3.2 percent year on year. The year-on-year inc
Hitotsubashi University emeritus professor Yukio Noguchi remarked on July 24 that Japan is becoming poorer than South Korea as the value of the yen is continuing to fall along with the competitiveness of Japanese industries.“When the current exchange rates are applied to the 2020 GDPs per capita, So
The Export-Import Bank of Korea announced on July 24 that South Korea’s arms exports for 2017 to 2021 increased 176.8 percent compared to 2012 to 2016.“South Korea showed the highest rate of increase among the global top 10 arms exporters including the United States, Russia, France, China and German
Subcontract workers’ strike at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has ended. With huge business losses caused by the strike, how to bring the company back to normal is being discussed again. According to many experts, to sell it as a whole is the best option for blocking further losses
The South Korean government announced on July 21 that it would increase tax incentives related to R&D and facility investment in the semiconductor industry so that companies in the sector can invest at least 340 trillion won by 2026.In addition, it is planning to open a semiconductor engineer traini
The Korea Customs Service announced on July 21 that South Korea’s exports and imports were US$37.245 billion and US$45.348 billion for the first 20 days of this month, respectively. South Korea is likely to post a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month and its trade deficit for this year is
The South Korean government released a tax reform plan on July 21. According to it, the maximum corporate tax rate will be lowered from 25 percent to 22 percent and the number of corporate tax rates will be reduced from four to two and three.The three different rates will be applied to companies wit
The financial soundness of Korean conglomerates has significantly improved over the past 20 years. In 2000, the debt-to-equity ratio of the top 1,000 Korean companies exceeded 300 percent, but has remained below 200 percent since 2010.The Korea CXO Research Institute disclosed on July 20 its analysi
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on July 20 that the South Korean government would invest 1.4 trillion won in R&D related to the transport, storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste, that is, spent nuclear fuel.According to the ministry, interim storage facilities will
The Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions initiated a general strike on July 20 in Seoul and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Geoje. The strike is to support subcontract workers working for DSME.“The South Korean government closed its ears to th
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met in Seoul on July 19. He said that her visit would lead to an even closer partnership between the two states.“With various crises spreading across the world, the alliance between the United States and South Korea will c
The strike at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is showing no signs of ending. According to experts, this is because the domestic shipbuilding sector highly depends on external factors and the interests of contractors and subcontractors are intertwined in it.The negotiating parties in
Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had a meeting in Seoul on July 19.At the meeting, they agreed that South Korea’s foreign exchange liquidity conditions are stable, although exchange rate volatility has increased to some extent due to external factors. They
Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced on July 17 that global shipping giant MSC launched its Pertiwi service at Incheon Port on July 15.According to the IPA, the new service is the sixth regular container route opened at Incheon Port this year. It increased the number of regular container services
The Ministry of Environment announced on July 18 that nuclear power generation would be included in the K-Taxonomy in September this year and the 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions would be reset so that the ratio of nuclear power generation can be raised.The plans were reported to President Y
The Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) is in the process of selling its ADA mine lot in Kazakhstan for the purpose of asset-liability adjustment. At present, talks between the corporation and a preferred bidder are underway to be wrapped up by October.The mine lot is located in Aktobe, which is in the