President Yoon Suk-yeol will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on a four-day, six-night state visit starting on Oct. 21. This will mark the first time a Korean head of state has paid a state visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.President Yoon will arrive in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 21 (loc
There is a growing consensus that a revision of the South Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is necessary to address the trade deficit with China. South Korea’s trade surplus with China has been shrinking every year until it turned into a deficit in October last year, marking 12 consecutive mont
South Korea has signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking its first such agreement with a Middle Eastern country and its 24th FTA overall.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Ahn Deok-geun and Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi concluded Comprehens
The United States has refrozen Korea’s payment for Iran’s crude oil exports that South Korea transferred to a Qatari bank as part of a prisoner swap deal between the United States and Iran.On Oct. 12 (local time), the U.S. government said that Iran will not be able to get its hands on US$6 billion t
Korea and Saudi Arabia have agreed to expand cooperation in the biotech, gaming, and automotive sectors while implementing existing economic cooperation tasks in infrastructure.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the agreement at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, during the f
Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) celebrates its 20th anniversary on Oct. 15, marking two decades of steering South Korea’s economic growth.Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), composed of Songdo, Cheongna, and Yeongjong International Cities, was designated as South Korea’s first free economic zone on
The Carbon Free Alliance (CF Alliance), proposed by President Yoon Suk-yeol during the UN General Assembly last month, has been officially launched in South Korea on Oct. 12. Major domestic corporations, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG, POSCO, and Hanwha, have joined the CF Alliance.The Ministry
On Oct. 11, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won met with a visiting U.S. Senate delegation, including Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader, and five other senators at SK’s Seorin Building. SK Group announced on Oct. 12 that they had exchanged views on a comprehensive range of economic c
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) announced that Iceland was selected as the safest and most peaceful country in the world with a score of 1.124 in the Global Peace Index (GPI), according to the New York Post on Oct. 1.The GPI quantifies peace by aggregating 23 items including social, poli
Iranian funds, frozen in South Korea and later released, have once again become a topic of controversy. This is because the possibility was raised that the US$6 billion of Iranian funds, which had been held up in South Korea, were suspected to have been transferred to the Palestinian militant group
It has been revealed through an investigation that the Korea Coast Guard’s utilization rate of Russian-made helicopters has fallen short of 50 percent this year. The primary reason attributed to the decline is the disruption in parts supply, which has been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between
The ongoing armed conflict between Israel and the armed Palestinian faction, Hamas, has sent shock waves through the Middle East. Accordingly, major South Korean companies like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, which have a significant presence in the area, are closely monitoring the situation.
Last month, during the United Nations General Assembly, President Yoon Suk-yeol proposed the Carbon Free Alliance (CFA). Leading corporations such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor, which previously committed to RE100 (100% renewable energy), have now joined the alliance. The shift
Over the past five years, the automotive company that received the highest amount of fines and penalties in South Korea was Mercedes-Benz Korea, the leading player in the imported car industry. The company had a cumulative amount of approximately 28 billion won.According to data obtained by Park San
According to data obtained by Park Sang-hyuk, a lawmaker and a member of the National Assembly’s National Transportation Committee, from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport on Oct. 5, there were a total of 1,341 registered foreign property rental operators in South Korea as of the en
One in four foreign workers received unemployment benefits that amounted to more than they earned before they lost their jobs in Korea.Out of 12,100 foreign unemployment benefit recipients last year, 3,200 (26.4 percent) took home more than their previous wages, according to the government’s data su
Three out of every 10 imported sport utility vehicles (SUVs) sold in the first half of 2023 were high-priced cars worth more than 100 million won.A total of 28,005 imported SUVs costing more than 100 million won were sold in Korea from January to August this year, up 15.9 percent from 24,156 units i
As of the end of last year, South Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio reached 108.1 percent, making it the second-largest country in the world in terms of household debt relative to national economic size. It was ranked fourth globally in 2021, but it has climbed two more steps in just one year.Acco
The Seoul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat has initiated a lawsuit against Woori Bank, seeking the return and a 6 percent annual interest payment on 20.2 billion won (US$14.96 million) in funds frozen due to U.S. sanctions.According to financial industry sources on Sept. 26, Bank Mellat filed a deposit
An event commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Finland was held at KOTE in Insa-dong on Thursday, September 21, and Finnish health tech company Naava Korea (CEO Nam-kyu Lee) also participated as a main partner in this event.On August 24, 1973, the presidents of