Credit Suisse said in its recent report that the average assets of South Korean adults are US$175,020, the number of South Korean adult millionaires is 741,000, and the global top 1 percent and top 10 percent in terms of asset size include 806,000 and 12,308,000 South Korean adults, respectively.Acc

SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun met with Matthias Luehrs, Daimler president in charge of overseas sales, in Seoul on Oct. 22 to discuss cooperation in the field of future mobility including autonomous driving.The minister and the president agreed to hold connected car startup hackathons an

The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) held a seminar in Seoul on Oct. 21 on whether South Korea is an attractive investment destination. There, foreign entrepreneurs investing in the country expressed a lot of concerns.For example, James Kim, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ko

The South Korean government is planning to seek measures so that it can make a declaration on waiving its developing country status in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.The United States is currently calling for South Korea to waive its developing country status in the ongoing multilate

Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C) has won a US$86 million order for the construction of a prefabrication yard of an immersed tunnel in Khor Al Zubair, southern Iraq.The builder announced on Oct. 21 (local time) that Safaa Al-Fayyadh, president of Port Authority and Kim Hyung, president

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India launched an investigation early this month regarding safeguard application to phthalic anhydride imported from South Korea. Earlier, Indian companies requested import restrictions, saying that the import volu

The Korea International Trade Association announced on Oct. 20 that a total of 33 anti-dumping and safeguard investigations were newly launched against South Korea from September 2018 to September 2019.The investigations are divided into 17 safeguard investigations and 16 anti-dumping investigations

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and Australian Treasurer Joshua Anthony Frydenberg discussed the two countries’ further cooperation in various fields such as their currency swap, the hydrogen economy and foreign policies in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 18 (local time).When it comes to the

As the United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on Oct. 17 (local time) to renegotiate Brexit or the former’s departure from the latter, much attention is being paid to its implications for the Korean economy.The agreement prevents a “No-deal Brexit” where the United Kingdom will leave the EU wi

As the Korea-Japan conflict shows no signs of coming to an end, some U.S. think tank experts stressed the need to improve relations between the two countries as Japan's export restrictions against Korea plays havoc with the world economy. They also advised the United States to intervene to help

The United States Department of Commerce made a preliminary determination in its recent sixth annual review to impose an anti-dumping duty of 60.81 percent on transformers Hyundai Electric exports to the United States and 40.73 percent on those exported by other companies such as Hyosung Corp..The d

South Korea and Indonesia have concluded negotiations on their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). They are going to officially sign the agreement in the first half of next year so that it can become effective through parliamentary ratification.A CEPA is a trade agreement similar to

Some analysts point out that the Korean economy is mostly suffering from external troubles such as Japan’s trade restrictions and trade disputes between China and the United States, let alone its sluggish domestic demand. Making matters worse, the global economic recession contributes to the worseni

As dark clouds have been gathering over the global economy, Korea’s economic outlook is becoming more uncertain.Korea's composite leading index (CLI) stood at 98.82 in August, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Oct. 13. The August CLI fell 0.03 point from Ju

South Korean manufacturers’ investment in China, Vietnam and the United States soared by 76.5 percent in one year for their response to trade protectionism and more cooperation with global companies.According to KDB Future Strategy Research Institute, their reported investment in the three countries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the South Korean and Japanese governments had their first bilateral negotiations on Japan’s export curbs in Geneva, Switzerland on Oct. 11 (local time). The two sides failed to reach an agreement in the first stage of the WTO dispute settleme

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea has rebounded for the first time in five quarters.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Oct. 10, third-quarter FDI increased 4.8 percent on year to US$3.61 billion, turning around from four consecutive quarters of decline. However, FDI ar

The competitiveness of South Korea's labor market moved down three notches in this year's national competitiveness report published by the World Economic Forum.In particular, Korea's ranking in the employment and dismissal practices, which indicate the flexibility of the labor market, fe

South Korea is expected to take the initiative in setting up international standards on building ships fueled by LPG. Since LPG-powered ships are not in operation around the world, there are no international standards on building them now.The South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries recently su

The deficit in South Korea’s consolidated fiscal balance hit an all-time high as the government increases welfare spending amid a falling tax revenue due to an economic downturn.Corporate tax revenue decreased 600 billion won (US$501.46 million) on year in August due to companies’ poor performance,