Clearing Deadwood
SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of corporate bankruptcies increased in January from a month earlier due to the rise in business failures in the service and construction sectors, the central bank said Thursday.
Eighty-eight companies went bankrupt in January, up from the 68 tallied in December, which was the lowest level in six months, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The number of bankruptcies in the service sector rose by 22 month-on-month to 40 in January, and that of construction companies increased by five to reach 16.
The number of newly established companies came in at 6,930 last month, up 249 from the previous month.
The default rate of corporate bills -- bonds, checks and promissory notes -- reached 0.17 percent in January, down from 0.18 percent in the previous month.