The Korea Times

Security Tightened for NK Defector Hwang Jang-yop

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Security has been increased to the highest level for Hwang Jang-yop, a former high ranking North Korean official who defected to the South in 1997, following a recent attempt by two North Korean spies to murder him. Police said Wednesday that the personal security for the 87-year-old has been raised to “A” ? the highest level of police protection provided to an individual. They also said the number of Hwang’s personal guards will increase to over 10 from the current eight. He currently lives in an undisclosed location, surrounded by security guards 24 hours a day. The move came a day after the two North Koreans, only identified by their surnames Kim and Tong, were arrested for attempting to assassinate the defector, a former secretary of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party and chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, under the order of the spy agency belonging to the North’s Ministry of People’s Armed Forces. The two came to South Korea, posing as North Korean defectors. There have been many attempts by spies from the North to kill Hwan

Apr 21, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Twitter Under Tighter Scrutiny Before Election

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Prosecutors are investigating a number of suspected unlawful political activities carried out through Twitter, Web portals and other online-based media ahead of the June 2 local elections. After a meeting of 58 high-ranking prosecutors, presided over by Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu, Wednesday, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office announced that it will mobilize all possible resources to crack down on illegal election activities on the Internet, stressing it will impose steep financial penalties against gains earned through illegal election campaigns. It also said prosecutors will make every effort to prevent unlawful rallies and politically-motivated industrial strikes that are aimed to influence election outcomes, adding it will prosecute those responsible for such unlawful activities. “Elections should take place in a fair and neutral manner. Prosecutors should not take political considerations into account when investigating illicit campaign activities. Additionally, investigations should be conducted in a way not to influence political ou

Apr 21, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

12 Percent of Poor Households Led by College Graduates

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter A growing number of households headed by individuals with university degrees or higher has fallen into poverty amid worsening job market conditions, following the unprecedented worldwide economic crisis, Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) said Sunday. Many salaried workers have lost jobs over the past year, with companies downsizing their workforce to cope with plunging sales at home and abroad, while the self-employed went out of business as a result of slumping private consumption. The think tank said the number of families in poverty reached 2.57 million across the country in 2009, up 70,000 from 2.5 million the previous year. It accounted for about 15.2 percent of Korea’s 16.92 million households. In particular, families supported by university graduates or people with master’s and Ph.D. degrees accounted for 11.7 percent of the entire poverty-stricken households, up sharply from 9.4 percent in 2008 and 9.1 percent in 2006. ``With an inadequate social safety net, many middle-class families fell into poverty as their breadwinners became

Apr 18, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Korea’s Financial Debts Reach W2,500 Tril.

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter A debt crisis is looming large for Korea, with individuals, companies and government owing nearly 2,500 trillion (2.5 quadrillion) won, 2.3 times the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). With the central bank widely expected to introduce a rate hike in the near future, the interest payment burden will increase sharply, making it more difficult for households and businesses to meet payment obligations and thus posing a threat to the domestic financial sector. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Bank of Korea (BOK) Sunday, outstanding financial debts of individuals, corporations and government reached 2,447 trillion won as of the end of December last year, more than two times Korea's 2009 GDP of 1,063 trillion won, and up more than 1,000 trillion won from the 1,438.5 trillion won recorded in 2004. The financial liabilities of the three main agents of economic activity have been heading upward at a fast pace over the past five years, with individuals borrowing heavily from banks to purchase homes and o

Apr 18, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

LH, Korail Struggle Under Snowballing Debts

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH), Korail and other public enterprises saw their debts surge last year as they borrowed a record amount of money to stay afloat amidst the stagnant real estate market and other unfavorable economic conditions. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Friday that the outstanding debts of Korea's 23 largest state firms totaled 213.2 trillion won in 2009, sharply up 20.4 percent from 177.1 trillion won a year earlier. But their combined assets grew at a slower rate of 13.6 percent, reaching 352 trillion won. Their debt-to-equity ratio jumped to 153.6 percent from 133.5 percent over the one-year period. In particular, state companies in the real estate sector took the full blunt of the worldwide economic slump last year, with their combined debt soaring by 24.3 trillion won to 111.8 trillion won from the previous year. More particularly, the debt of LH, Korea's public housing and social infrastructure builder, increased by 23.5 trillion won to 109.2 trillion won in 2009. This pushed its debt ratio to 524.5 percent,

Apr 16, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Soaring Oil Prices May Hamper Economic Recovery

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter An era of cheap crude oil will likely come to an end in the near future, with the ongoing global economic recovery pushing up oil prices to pre-crisis levels on the back of surging demand, particularly from China and other rapid growing emerging economies. Rising oil prices are emerging as one of the two biggest threats to Asia's fourth-largest economy, along with the rapid appreciation of the local currency. The Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) said Thursday that international crude will likely exceed $100 per barrel soon, citing a faster-than-expected global economic rebound. ``With concerns over the world economy falling into a double-dip downturn and sluggish crude demand, oil prices remained largely tamed in 2009. Also, expectations for the U.S. and China to implement an exit strategy early this year have kept crude costs relatively benign. But with the global economy showing a steeper upward curve over the past two months, many project that oil prices could surpass $100 per barrel probably by summer,'' KNOC said in a report. It said

Apr 15, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Moody’s Raises Korea’s Sovereign Rating to A1

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Moody's Investors Service, one of the three major global credit ratings agencies, upgraded its ratings for South Korea by one notch to "A1" from "A2" Wednesday, citing the country's faster-than-expected recovery from the worldwide economic slump, and the government's aggressive and timely fiscal stimulus. Improving fiscal soundness and financial market fundamentals also made Moody's the first major global ratings agency to restore Korea's sovereign rating back to its pre-currency crisis level of 12 years ago. It cut its credit rating for Korea sharply to "Ba1" after the 1997-98 financial market meltdown. But it raised the rating to "A2" in July 2007 and had since kept it unchanged with a stable outlook. The other two ratings agencies ― Standard & Poor's and Fitch ― continue to keep their ratings for Asia's fourth largest economy at levels below those of the pre-currency crisis. "The change has been prompted by Korea's demonstration of an exceptional level of economic resilience to the global crisis, while containing the government's budget d

Apr 14, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Job Growth Hits 27-Month High

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter The Korean economy produced 267,000 new jobs in March, the largest in 27 months, on the back of the government's continued temporary hiring of workers in various public sectors, Statistics Korea said Wednesday. Additionally, manufacturers and other businesses in the private sector hired more employees in line with a global economic rebound, adding to optimism that the nation's sluggish labor market has finally emerged from a dark tunnel. However, the number of unemployed exceeded one million for the third-consecutive month as more economically inactive people engaged in job-seeking activities, with the jobless rate hovering at over 4 percent. Government officials said that Korea's economy will create over 300,000 new positions in April, sending the unemployment rate to below 4 percent, with private companies adding more workers to their payrolls on continued strong exports and reviving domestic consumption. The statistical office said the number of people employed stood at 23.4 million last month, up 267,000 from the previous year, risin

Apr 14, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Seoul to Halt Bond Issuance to Curb Wons Rise

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter South Korea will not issue foreign exchange stabilization bonds this year in a bid to curb the local currency's recent rise against the greenback, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Tuesday. A senior ministry official, who did not want to be named, told The Korea Times that the government will not sell currency bonds in the first half of 2010, adding that if the won continues to gain ground against the dollar toward the year's end, it will not seek to bring extra dollars into the country at all. The government can issue foreign currency denominated-bonds worth up to $2 billion this year. It sells sovereign bonds overseas to secure dollars to intervene in the domestic foreign exchange market and to keep the value of the won low in an effort to boost exports and improve the current account balance. In 2009, it sold only $3 billion in currency stabilization bonds out of the annual ceiling of $6 billion on improved foreign exchange liquidity conditions. "We will not issue currency stabilization bonds during the first half of t

Apr 13, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

Moody’s Expresses Concerns Over Korea’s Banking Sector

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Moody's Investor Service, one of the three major global credit ratings agencies, has expressed concerns over Korean banks' short-term overseas borrowing, calling it "too excessive," government sources here said Monday. Along with geopolitical risks associated with North Korea, Moody's said the domestic banking sector's high level of short-term external debt is a major obstacle to upgrading its ratings for Asia's fourth-largest economy as it is extremely vulnerable to outside shocks. A government official familiar with the matter told The Korea Times that it will be unlikely for the ratings agency to revise upward its outlook for Korea in the near future, despite the nation's stronger-than-expected economic rebound from the unprecedented worldwide economic slump. A Moody's delegation, led by senior vice president Thomas Byrne, was here from March 24 to 26 to hold a series of meetings with Korean policymakers. They met with officials from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, the state-run Korea Development Institute and oth

Apr 12, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Security Tightened for NK Defector Hwang Jang-yop

Twitter Under Tighter Scrutiny Before Election

12 Percent of Poor Households Led by College Graduates

Korea’s Financial Debts Reach W2,500 Tril.

LH, Korail Struggle Under Snowballing Debts

Soaring Oil Prices May Hamper Economic Recovery

Moody’s Raises Korea’s Sovereign Rating to A1

Job Growth Hits 27-Month High

Seoul to Halt Bond Issuance to Curb Wons Rise

Moody’s Expresses Concerns Over Korea’s Banking Sector

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