The Korea Times

Koreas economic recovery losing steam

By Kang Seung-woo The nation’s economy has shown signs of losing growth momentum, as the rate slowed in the third quarter of last year among major countries, a report by an international economic body said Friday. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Korea’s economy rose 4.5 percent in the July-to-September period compared to the same quarter of the previous year to post the ninth highest growth rate among the 34 member nations. Korea put up solid numbers in the year-on-year growth rate over the previous two quarters, as its economy gained 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively, to place second and third. Chile topped the list with 7.1 percent, followed by Turkey at 6.9 percent and Sweden at 6.8 percent, according to the report. Among major economies, Japan’s advanced sixth-best at 5.0 percent, while the United States saw 3.2 percent and Germany 3.9 percent. Greece and Ireland, which both suffered in the European sovereign debt crisis, saw their economies shrink. In the quarter-on-quar

Jan 14, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Desperate Korea goes all-out to curb inflation

By Kang Seung-woo The Korean government’s decision to cap prices for utilities reads as a desperate move to prevent inflation from soaring and crippling the country’s economic recovery. But observers are mixed on whether the government’s dependence on forceful steps will be enough to calm the economy in 2011. The package of anti-inflation measures announced Thursday included the freezing of power, gas and transportation prices, and policymakers will also press the country’s colleges to freeze tuition. The Bank of Korea, the country’s central bank, backed the anti-inflation policies by raising its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.75 percent for January, The measures come at a time when there are increasing worries that the increasing price instability will hurt the livelihoods of low-income families and weaken the country’s economic recovery. Fresh food prices in particular jumped 21.3 percent year-on-year in 2010, compared to the 2.9 percent gain in consumer prices. President Lee Myung-bak vowed a ``war’’ against inflation on Jan. 3 and this

Jan 13, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Government freezes key public charges to combat inflation

By Kang Seung-woo Korea will freeze public service charges in its broad range of anti-inflation measures, the government announced Thursday. The government will also ask colleges to freeze their tuition fees, while monitoring prices of key daily items used widely by low-income households. The comprehensive action came as Asia’s fourth-largest economy is faced with growing inflationary pressure, echoing the government’s jitters that price instability could undercut a sustained economy recovery. Last year, the nation’s consumer prices rose 2.9 percent, which is relatively low compared to those of other major economies, but fresh food prices jumped 21.3 percent from the previous year, while its inflation of the producer price index (PPI), a bellwether for future consumer inflation, rose to a two-year high, gaining 5.3 percent last month from a year ago. “Price stability should come first before other objectives such as sustained economic growth and recovery of economic sentiment felt by ordinary people. But things remain tougher than any other year,” said a report jointl

Jan 13, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Job-seekers owe 14 million won on average

By Kang Seung-woo About 60 percent of those employed are in debt and the portion for job-seekers is about 50 percent, a recent survey shows. In a survey of 589 people — 210 job-seekers and 371 in employment, conducted by online recruitment portal Job Korea, 49.5 percent of those who are looking for jobs are in debt, while 60.4 percent of the employed owe money. The debt of those who are seeking employment averaged 14.44 million won ($12,851), while those employed owed an average 27.59 million won. Among those indebted job-seekers, 54 percent borrowed for tuition, while 46 percent said it was for living expenses. In addition, 24 percent borrowed for pocket money, followed by language courses and shopping, private education, marriage and buying a home. College tuition has been one of the biggest concerns for households, as it has continuously shown an upward trend, with the average yearly fees for private universities in 2010 standing at 7.53 million won. As a result, the government has recently asked universities to freeze their tuition as part of an anti-

Jan 12, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Job growth hits six-year high on fast recovery

By Kang Seung-woo The number of employed people grew at its fastest pace in seven years last year thanks to the fast economic recovery here. However, on the flip side of this good news is a rise in the jobless rate with more people looking for jobs. According to data by Statistics Korea, Wednesday, the number of employed was tallied at 20.33 million at the end of 2010, up 323,000 or 1.4 percent from the previous year. The rise in the employment figure was the biggest since 2004 when 418,000 jobs were added to payrolls. Also hidden in the numbers was an over-8 percent jobless rate among young people for two consecutive years. The nation’s unemployment rate reached 3.7 percent in 2010, up from the previous year’s 3.6 percent, the highest since 2005 at the time. The number of unemployed people surpassed 900,000 for the first time in nine years. The jobless rate for December remained unchanged from a year earlier, meaning the rate was stuck in the 3 percent range for the ninth straight month, the government agency said. The nation’s unemployment rate sank from 4.1

Jan 12, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

FTC launches massive probe into price fixing

By Kang Seung-woo The nation’s antitrust agency launched its largest probe into price fixing and inflation-triggering Monday. Critics say the Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) move does not match its primary goal of controlling order in the market, calling it ridiculous and anti-market. The FTC decision came after its new Chairman Kim Dong-soo made price monitoring a top priority in line with the government’s action to stabilize prices, heeding President Lee Myung-bak’s call to fight inflation. Kim, who served as CEO of the Export-Import Bank of Korea and a vice finance minister, has created a task force by combining the FTC’s market monitoring, cartel investigation and consumer policy divisions to look at consumer items exhibiting unstable prices. “As price stability has emerged as a national issue, the FTC launched a large-scale investigation in order to actively cope with inappropriate price hikes and other price-rigging activities ahead of the holiday,” a source close to the matter said. “This probe will be the largest ever since the FTC was established. The numb

Jan 11, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Koreas slowdown fastest among OECD countries

By Kang Seung-woo South Korea’s pace of economic slowdown has been the quickest among advanced economies but the government believes that the nation’s economic recovery is likely to continue in the first half of this year. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) Tuesday, Korea’s November reading for the composite leading index (CLI) stood at 101.1 after dipping 0.3 points from a month earlier and it marked the 11th straight month of contraction. In a month-on-month comparison, Korea posted the sharpest drop together with Portugal and Turkey among the OECD members, followed by Australia, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia and Luxemburg that suffered a fall of 0.2 points. Poland and Sweden also saw its leading index decline 0.1 points in the cited period. The CLI is a composite economic indicator that gauges how the economy will fare six months ahead by measuring the current industrial output, housing and financial market conditions, and the gross domestic product (GDP) of each nation. A figure above 100 means the economy will continue to expand, whi

Jan 11, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Opinion

Czar!

By Kang Seung-woo Since his appointment less than two weeks ago, new Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Seok-dong has hogged the spotlight by reiterating the government’s extraordinary power over the financial market. The 57-year-old former vice finance minister whose signature quote is “The state governs, ergo it exists,” has already brought a high degree of discipline to major financial services companies, which are rushing to buy debt-strapped savings banks, complying with his hard-line tone on hammering out the their woes. But market watchers say that Kim’s strong leadership, reminiscent of the government-led financial order seen prior to the 1997-1998 financial crisis, may prove to be anachronistic. “There is no country where major commercial banks are marching to the government’s order to offer microcredit to those in trouble,” Kim Sang-jo, an economics professor at Hansung University and executive director of Solidarity for Economic Reform, told The Korea Times. “In addition, savings banks’ massive insolvencies are due to the financial regulators’ sl

Jan 10, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Rising prices put BOK under pressure to raise key rate

By Kang Seung-woo Korea’s annualized inflation at producers’ level rose to a two-year high in December last year due to a hike in raw material costs, providing another reason for the Bank of Korea (BOK) to raise its key rate. The producer price index (PPI), a bellwether for future consumer inflation, gained 5.3 percent last month from a year earlier and up from 4.9 percent the previous month, according to the central bank. The figure was the fastest expansion since a 5.6 percent year-on-year gain in December 2008. “Rising raw material prices, including oil costs, put upward pressure on the producer prices,” a BOK official said. The soaring producer prices are another case for the BOK to raise its rate. This means a rare convergence of opinions by the central bank and the Strategy and Finance Ministry, which recently promoted a preemptive step to tackle the rising consumer prices. The nation’s consumer prices rose 2.9 percent last year, but fresh food prices jumped 21.3 percent from the previous year, squeezing the livelihood of low-income people already hit hard by t

Jan 10, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

No-show Apple still dominates CES

By Kim Tong-hyung LAS VEGAS ― The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has packed up for another year, leaving behind the intensity created by the thousands of new technologies that jostled for attention. Interestingly, however, the talk at the technology fair seemed to be dominated by its two most notable no-shows ― Apple and Google. The defining products of this year’s CES was the mobile computing devices like smartphones and touch-screen tablets, unlike the events of previous years that were stomped by black-and-silver armies of flat-screen televisions. It seemed as if every major electronics maker brought their own version of the iPad to the Las Vegas Convention Center. And these were the same companies that were showing off upgraded lineups of their handsets powered by Google’s Android mobile platform, the industry’s best bet to challenge Apple’s supremacy in consumer smartphones. There were a number of products that left the hoards of writers, editors and tech geeks impressed. LG Electronics and Motorola in particular garnered rapt attention for flexin

Jan 9, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Kang Seung-woo

Read more

Koreas economic recovery losing steam

Desperate Korea goes all-out to curb inflation

Government freezes key public charges to combat inflation

Job-seekers owe 14 million won on average

Job growth hits six-year high on fast recovery

FTC launches massive probe into price fixing

Koreas slowdown fastest among OECD countries

Czar!

Rising prices put BOK under pressure to raise key rate

No-show Apple still dominates CES

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