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

The Korea Employers Federation said in a report on May 12 that South Korea’s minimum wage showed an average increase of 29.1 percent during the past two years whereas the average of 28 OECD member countries was 14.2 percent during the same period. For the past five years, the figures were 60.3 perce

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has pointed out that the South Korean government’s inefficiency in terms of administrative processes is at a critical level. In addition, the OECD said that the Bank of Korea should lower its domestic economic growth forecast for this

The Bank of Korea announced on May 8 that South Korea’s current account surplus totaled US$11.25 billion in the first quarter of this year. It is the smallest current account surplus since the second quarter of 2012, when it added up to US$10.94 billion.In the first quarter, the goods account surplu

The South Korean government will invest 14.30 billion won (US$12.20 billion) over the next three years to develop artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors for autonomous vehicles.The government is also planning to invest a total of 247.50 billion won (US$211.09 million) to develop AI semiconducto

The Bank of Korea announced on May 7 that South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$404.03 billion as of the end of last month, showing a month-on-month decrease of US$1.22 billion.Korea's forex reserves decreased in February but rebounded in March before edging down in April. “The valu

The Financial Services Commission announced on May 7 that the Cabinet Council has passed an amendment to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and will submit it to the National Assembly this month.According to the amendment, every small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) can cond

Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Sang-jo stressed on May 5 that the South Korean government’s policy stance regarding income-led growth and chaebol reform remains basically unchanged.“The government’s economic policy can be broadly divided into income-led growth, fair competition and innovat

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) held a meeting on May 3 to review and discuss its past and future efforts for financial deregulation. The meeting was presided over by FSC Vice Chairman Kim Yong-beom.The commission established the three principles for financial deregulation -- public official

South Korea's minimum hourly wage this year is 8,350 won (US$7.17), seventh highest among 27 OECD countries, but the figure increases to 10,030 won (US$8.61), the highest in the OECD, when weekly holiday allowance is included, according to the data released by the Korea Economic Research Institu

South Korean forced labor victims submitted a request to the Supreme Court on May 1 so that Japanese companies such as Nippon Steel are forced to sell their assets in South Korea. Under the circumstances, South Korean companies’ concerns are growing over increasing conflicts between South Korea and

The finance ministers and the central bank governors of ASEAN member countries, South Korea, Japan and China decided to discuss the utilization of the yuan and the yen in the framework of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM).The CMIM is a multilateral currency swap with a total size

The U.S. nuclear regulatory institution has finally certified Korea’s nuclear reactor, Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400), paving the way for exports of Korean nuclear power plants to the United States and other overseas markets.Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) said on May 1 that the U.S. Nucle

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on May 1 that South Korea’s exports totaled US$48.86 billion last month, down 2 percent from a year ago, and decreased year on year for the fifth consecutive month. The back-to-back decline is the longest one since the country’ exports fell for 19

President Moon Jae-in proclaimed the Korean government’s vision to foster system semiconductors at Samsung Electronics’ Hwaseong Campus in Gyeonggi Province on April 30.Moon said the government will make Korea a semiconductor powerhouse by 2030 by maintaining the world's top position in memory s