The Korea Times

Korea's corporate tax revenue to top $149 bil. in 2027 as chip boom lifts profits

Korea’s corporate tax revenue is expected to top 200 trillion won ($149 billion) for the first time next year, as a semiconductor supercycle sends company profits soaring. It would also mark the first time since 2012 that corporate tax receipts overtake income taxes, according to government data, Monday. The windfall is putting a spotlight on a defining feature of the country’s economy: its heavy reliance on semiconductors for both exports and growth. That dependence has made government revenue unusually vulnerable to swings in the chip cycle, prompting the need for new fiscal rules to help smooth out future fluctuations in tax receipts. In its budget proposal, the Ministry of Finance and Economy forecast 216.7 trillion won in corporate tax revenue next year, 36.7 trillion won more than the 180 trillion won it expects to collect in income taxes. The surge is being driven largely by semiconductor giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as the global chip market remains buoyant. Corporate tax revenue has long tracked the fortunes of the industry. It rose from the 40 trillion wo

Sep 14, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea's corporate tax revenue to top $149 bil. in 2027 as chip boom lifts profits

Banking & Finance

Korea Eximbank, Gangwon Province launch joint financing push for K-food exporters

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) is expanding financial support for food exporters in Gangwon Province as part of a broader push to help companies outside the Seoul metropolitan area enter overseas markets, the state-run lender said Monday. The initiative’s first beneficiary is Sejun F&B, a rice-based food manufacturer located in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province. A maker of convenience foods including rice cakes and “nurungji” (scorched rice), the company is developing its own brand as it looks to build a presence in international markets. Korea Eximbank CEO Hwang Ki-yeon visited the food maker’s production facilities, Friday, as part of the bank’s efforts to support the overseas expansion of regional K-food businesses. Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month between Korea Eximbank and the Gangwon Provincial Government, the lender provides participating companies with loans at preferential rates, while Gangwon Province reimburses the bank for part of the interest-rate reduction. The financing comes as rice-based food exports have grown steadily ov

Sep 14, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea Eximbank, Gangwon Province launch joint financing push for K-food exporters

Economy

Korean construction stocks rise on nearing US investment deal

Korean construction stocks have been gaining ground on expectations that nuclear and other power plant projects could be among the first to get underway as part of a $350 billion U.S. investment plan, boosting hopes for new construction orders. The first project under the plan could take shape as early as this week, with Korea and the United States nearing an agreement. At a ruling party-government meeting earlier this month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources identified a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Encinal, Texas, as a potential first project under the plan. The Wall Street Journal also recently reported that Seoul and Washington were nearing an agreement on more than $100 billion in U.S. energy investments, including eight nuclear power plants and natural gas projects. Amid growing optimism over the sector, the KRX Construction Index rose 9.44 percent from Sept. 1 through 11, the strongest gain among the Korea Exchange’s sector indexes and well above the benchmark KOSPI’s 1.32 percent increase over the same period. The index tracks 16 companies, including Hy

Sep 13, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korean construction stocks rise on nearing US investment deal

Economy

More young Koreans look to stocks, bonds as retirement nest egg

A Seoul office worker surnamed Park has been setting aside 1 million won ($744) from her monthly paycheck for retirement since early this year, after friends and colleagues encouraged her to start investing. She puts the money into two types of retirement accounts — a pension savings account and an Individual Retirement Pension (IRP) — with most of her savings invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the S&P 500. She makes her ETF purchases automatically each month rather than trying to time the market based on currency or stock price movements. “Before, I was just paying into the national pension and my bank savings accounts. But I started to worry that I wasn’t doing enough to build up my assets,” the 32-year-old said. News that the national pension fund could run out sooner than expected as Korea’s birthrate falls and its population ages only heightened her concerns. “That was around the time people around me started encouraging me to invest, so I decided to give it a try,” she said. “I’m thinking of this as building my own pension over time. I want to kee

Sep 13, 2026By Park Han-sol

More young Koreans look to stocks, bonds as retirement nest egg

Economy

EXPLAINER Jeonse: How Korea's homeownership shortcut turned into breeding ground for fraud

For decades, Korea’s unique “jeonse” rental system was widely seen as a natural stepping stone to homeownership. The system spread during the country’s breakneck economic growth in the 1970s. Under jeonse, tenants pay their landlord a large lump-sum deposit — often equivalent to 60 to 80 percent of the property’s value — instead of monthly rent. The deposit is returned in full when the lease ends, typically after two years. Such distinct rental arrangements took root in part because Korea’s formal housing finance market was still underdeveloped at the time. As rapid urbanization drove millions of people from rural areas into cities, demand for housing surged. But ordinary households had limited access to mortgages, as banks were largely focused on channeling credit into state-led industrial development projects. Jeonse effectively filled that gap as a private alternative to bank financing. Landlords could use tenants’ deposits to fund part of a home purchase, invest the money or deposit in high interest-bearing accounts. In that sense, the deposit functioned much like a

Sep 11, 2026By Park Han-sol

[EXPLAINER] Jeonse: How Korea's homeownership shortcut turned into breeding ground for fraud

Economy

WEEKENDER Foreign victims shut out of Korea's 'jeonse' fraud relief efforts

At the start of 2022, Nan Ming-ji, a 40-year-old with Chinese citizenship, moved with his parents into a home in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The family put down a 140 million won ($104,000) deposit — money his parents had saved since arriving in Korea two decades ago. It was no small sum. But under the country’s distinct “jeonse” system, such large upfront deposits have long been the norm. Instead of paying monthly rent, tenants put down a lump sum that is returned in full when the lease ends. For landlords, the deposits provide access to a large pool of capital they can invest or earn interest on. In October 2023, Nan’s father found a notice saying their home was being put up for auction. Just weeks later, the family learned that their landlord owned several other buildings in his wife’s and brother-in-law’s names. Those properties, too, had been flagged for auction. The family had fallen victim to a form of jeonse fraud that has spread rapidly across Korea over the past decade. Some landlords used deposits from multiple tenants to acquire properties with little of their ow

Sep 11, 2026By Park Han-sol

[WEEKENDER] Foreign victims shut out of Korea's 'jeonse' fraud relief efforts

Economy

Korea's employment dilemma: Can older, younger workers really share job market?

Korea’s labor market is caught in a generational dilemma. Young people continue to struggle to land their first jobs, while older workers are hoping to stay on the payroll for longer, as pension income often falls short of what they need for retirement. As the country rapidly ages, policymakers are pursuing a gradual increase in the statutory retirement age from 60 to 65. This prospect has raised a difficult question: Are older workers staying in the workforce at the expense of the younger generation’s first break? A recent survey by the Economic, Social and Labor Council, a presidential advisory body, found that 77 percent of 878 respondents believed Korea needed an employment system that could better accommodate both older and younger workers. But there is little consensus yet on what that would look like in practice. How can the country make room for two generations to coexist when their needs are increasingly colliding in the job market? Job market pulling in opposite directions The number of employed people aged 55 to 79 reached 10.13 million in May, surpassing 10 million for the

Sep 10, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea's employment dilemma: Can older, younger workers really share job market?

Companies

Korea Zinc chairman's camp strengthens board control after winning audit committee seat

Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom’s camp prevailed in the latest showdown over management control of the zinc smelter against the MBK Partners-Young Poong alliance, Wednesday, securing an audit committee seat that further strengthened its majority on the board. The alliance said it accepted the outcome but stressed that the newly elected board members must remain genuinely independent. “An audit committee member is not a defensive seat for protecting Choi’s control, nor is an independent director a trophy to be claimed by either side,” it said in a statement. “Regardless of who nominated them, all directors must exercise independent judgment and perform their duties in the interests of Korea Zinc and all of its shareholders.” The election was the most closely watched item on the agenda at Wednesday’s extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. Korea Zinc needed to add a second member to its audit committee, a requirement that takes effect Thursday under the revised Commercial Act. The company currently has one such member, Suh Dae-won, who was backed by Choi’s camp last year.

Sep 9, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea Zinc chairman's camp strengthens board control after winning audit committee seat

Economy

Corporate buybacks prop up KOSPI despite broad investor selling

Seoul stocks eked out modest gains Tuesday, as corporate buying helped the KOSPI hold above 6,800 despite net selling by retail, foreign and institutional investors. The benchmark index opened at 6,784.29, down 0.52 percent from the previous session, and extended its losses early in the day before gradually recovering to trade around the flat line. It ended at 6,835.8, up 0.23 percent. All three major investor groups were net sellers. Foreign investors offloaded 486.7 billion won ($355 million) worth of shares, while institutional and retail investors sold 634 billion won and 539.7 billion won, respectively. Companies, classified separately from the three main investor groups, provided a counterweight, purchasing a net 1.62 trillion won. Much of that buying was believed to have come from share buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Samsung Electronics rose 0.38 percent to 261,000 won, while SK hynix gained 1.14 percent to 1.69 million won. Analysts said corporate buying could provide a short-term floor for the market but was unlikely to drive a sustained rally. “Corporate investor

Sep 1, 2026By Park Han-sol

Corporate buybacks prop up KOSPI despite broad investor selling

Economy

KOSPI retreats as investors turn cautious ahead of Fed chair's rate clues

Seoul stocks fell for the first time in four sessions Friday, as foreign-led selling pressure weighed on the market and investors turned cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech at the central bank’s Jackson Hole symposium. The speech, scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday (local time), is drawing close attention as the market looks for clues about the central bank’s next moves and the conditions that could warrant an interest rate adjustment. Previous Fed chairs have used the annual gathering in Wyoming to signal broad shifts in monetary policy, but it remains unclear how much guidance Warsh will offer in his first major address at the event. The benchmark KOSPI opened at 6,846.54, down 0.95 percent from the previous session, and remained in negative territory throughout the day. The index failed to turn higher, ultimately closing at 6,788.88, down 1.79 percent. Foreign investors led the selling, offloading a net 1.76 trillion won ($1.28 billion) worth of shares, while institutional investors sold 284 billion won. Retail investors moved in the opposite direction

Aug 28, 2026By Park Han-sol

Park Han-sol

Read more

Korea's corporate tax revenue to top $149 bil. in 2027 as chip boom lifts profits

Korea Eximbank, Gangwon Province launch joint financing push for K-food exporters

Korean construction stocks rise on nearing US investment deal

More young Koreans look to stocks, bonds as retirement nest egg

EXPLAINER Jeonse: How Korea's homeownership shortcut turned into breeding ground for fraud

WEEKENDER Foreign victims shut out of Korea's 'jeonse' fraud relief efforts

Korea's employment dilemma: Can older, younger workers really share job market?

Korea Zinc chairman's camp strengthens board control after winning audit committee seat

Corporate buybacks prop up KOSPI despite broad investor selling

KOSPI retreats as investors turn cautious ahead of Fed chair's rate clues

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