The Korea Times

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL 'Transport, construction policies will bolster sustainable growth'

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and TransportMinister confident about digital- green-led economic recovery By Lee Kyung-min The government will swiftly devise and implement policies involving the digitization of information involving land, spatial data and social overhead capital (SOC) as well as green remodeling, as part of its efforts to lay the groundwork for digital, green industries to thrive, according to country's the land minister.The key objectives ― to create synergy with innovation-oriented mobility and transport services ― are part of the Korean New Deal, a key policy initiative of the Moon Jae-in administration defined by a long-term investment in the two industries with great job creation and export potential.The drive, the minister said, will provide much-needed momentum for an economic recovery amid the greater- and longer-than-feared fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, offering more fundamental and effective solutions, in line with the administration's broader plan for sustainable growth.This w

Nov 1, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

[ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL] 'Transport, construction policies will bolster sustainable growth'

Economy

Will gov't push for increased corporate tax be successful?

First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Yong-beom, third from right, speaks at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Seoul Oct. 29.By Lee Kyung-min The government's move to increase tax on corporate income and financial investment gains will undergo major scrutiny during parliamentary committees this week, sources said Sunday.Drawing the most attention is whether the government will be able to push ahead with a 14 percent tax on corporate income preserved in the form of reserves, set to take effect Jan.1 2021, about five months after the tax code revision was announced in July.Affected are about 250,000, non-listed businesses, 80 percent of whose shares are held by firm owners, their families or individuals whose financial interests are closely tied to owners. They account for 31 percent of the total, and 49.3 percent of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).They criticize the measure, since failure to keep a certain amount of reserves will pose a major threat to corporate financial soundness, because businesses will be under greater pressure to repay debt

Nov 1, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Will gov't push for increased corporate tax be successful?

Economy

Korea seeks to hold 2026 ITS World Congress in Gangneung

Gangneung Mayor Kim Han-geun speaks during an ITS online conference, broadcast live from the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and TransportBy Lee Kyung-min The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held an international conference online Thursday, as part of efforts to help Gangneung, Gangwon Province, become the venue for the 2026 Intelligent Transport System (ITS) World Congress.The ministry said Gangneung would make an ideal host, illustrated by its success in holding a slew of other global events including the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. It has been selected as a host city of the 2022 World Choir Games, which is expected to see 10 times more participants than at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.Gangneung Mayor Kim Han-geun explained the city's plans on incorporating smart city solutions and utilizing ITS technologies such as Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and autonomous driving, key ways to bolster effective city planning and management.C-ITS is used to enhance transport safety via ve

Oct 29, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Korea seeks to hold 2026 ITS World Congress in Gangneung

Economy

Korea's containment measures published in peer-reviewed US journal

Quarantine officials prepare for tracing and treating of COVID-19 patients at a hospital in Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 18. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min A study of Korea's COVID-19 containment measures was published in a noted U.S. peer-reviewed journal, the finance ministry said Thursday.This is the latest in a slew of worldwide recognition Korea earned following effective policies put in place since the pandemic wreaked havoc around the world. The study ― “Flattening the curve on COVID-19: South Korea's measures in tackling initial outbreak of coronavirus” ― was published by the American Journal of Epidemiology. The premier journal ― the oldest and the official publication of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health ― publishes empirical research findings, opinion pieces and methodological developments. Economy and Finance Ministry Development Finance Bureau Director Lee Dae-joong was one of the study's authors. The research detailed how Korea implemented measures that prioritized testing, tracing and treating, a combination bolstered by heightened civic awar

Oct 29, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Korea's containment measures published in peer-reviewed US journal

Economy

'Digital innovation without effective HR management meaningless'

Korea Development Institute (KDI) fellow Chung Sung-hoon speaks during a press briefing at Sejong Government Complex, Wednesday. Courtesy of KDIBy Lee Kyung-minThe government should devise a long-term compensation scheme based on effective human resources management as defined by greater monetary reward and early promotion opportunities for competent employees, a state think tank said Wednesday.Korea Development Institute (KDI) said policy priorities should be about promptly identifying reasons why many small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain inattentive to improving overall business practices ― especially concerning human resources management, a more fundamental and efficient approach to bolstering productivity.Continued failure to closely tie the use of certain advanced technologies to some form of incentives offered to workers for using them will pose a major stumbling block to Korean information technology businesses with great growth potential.This will leave them further behind their global peers including from the U.S. and European countries, many of whose competiti

Oct 28, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

'Digital innovation without effective HR management meaningless'

Economy

Debate heats up over 'large shareholder requirement'

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party, right, speaks during an audit of state organizations in Daegu, Oct. 12. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The government is facing a fierce backlash following its move to push ahead with a revision whereby the minimum combined value of shares held by individual retail investors subject to a capital gains tax of a rate between 22 percent and 33 percent will be 300 million won ($265,600). The revision settled more than two years ago is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2021.A petition on the presidential office website seeking dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki for the ministry's refusal to ease the rules to raise the amount to 1 billion won has garnered over 200,000 signatures. “The local stock market is enjoying a brisk performance due in large part to greater participation of many individual retail investors. If things stay the course, many retail investors will dump their shares at the end of the year, helping institutional and foreign investors rake in money with market funds flowing into the much-h

Oct 27, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Debate heats up over 'large shareholder requirement'

Economy

Income, job security polarized due to virus

Irregular workers stage a rally in Daejeon, Oct. 14. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min The number of salaried workers stood at 20.44 million in August, down 113,000 from a year earlier, the first-ever drop since the government began compiling related data in 2003, statistics agency said Tuesday. Of the total, 63.7 percent, or 13.02 million people are regular workers and the remaining 7.42 million, or 36.3 percent are irregular workers.The unprecedented decline was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to wreak havoc on the job market, exacerbating income and job security polarization between the high-income white-collar office workers well protected by labor unions and low-income, contract-based temporary workers left vulnerable to virus-induced layoffs and pay reductions.Data from Statistics Korea showed that of the 113,000 jobs lost, 58,000 were lost by regular workers, while the remaining 53,000 were lost by irregular workers.While irregular workers lost slightly fewer jobs, the dip in their average monthly income was more pronounced.Monthly salary earned by salaried

Oct 27, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Income, job security polarized due to virus

Economy

Non-Koreans joining panic-driven apartment buying spree

Apartment complexes in Seoul, Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-minThe number of property transactions involving non-Koreans in two districts in Seoul known for having a large Chinese population hit an all-time high in September, indicating the panic-driven apartment buying spree is expanding to include wealthy minorities.Non-Koreans ― mostly Chinese nationals ― account for 13.1 percent of the population in Geumcheon District and 12.5 percent in Guro District, both in southwestern Seoul.Data from Korea Appraisal Board (KAB) showed the number of properties bought in Geumcheon nearly tripled in September to 36 month-on-month, up from 13 in August. In neighboring Guro area the number of properties sold jumped to 37 from 27, up 37 percent from the month before.The number of properties traded in the two districts combined stood at 73, up 82.5 percent from 40 in August. This broke the previous record of 58 in June.The September figures involving the two southwestern districts are notable given that property transactions in three affluent districts in southern Seoul show signs of falling in the

Oct 26, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Non-Koreans joining panic-driven apartment buying spree

Economy

No. of 'Hong Nam-kis' rising due to policy failure

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki speaks during a ministerial-level meeting at Seoul Government Complex, Oct 14.By Lee Kyung-min The number of people being forced out of their current residences as jeonse tenants with no place to move to is increasing steeply, a hardship experienced by a group sarcastically calling themselves Hong Nam-ki ― named after the deputy prime minister and finance minister who has fallen victim to his own real estate policy. Unique to Korea, jeonse is a home renting system whereby tenants pay a refundable lump sum deposit in lieu of monthly rent.No immediate improvement is expected for people whose stable living arrangements have come under escalating threat, since the government refuses to acknowledge the fallout following dozens of botched real estate policies, not even after the top policymaker experienced it first hand.Data from the Korea Legal Aid Corp. showed that 17,839 landlord-tenant dispute complaints were filed between August and September, up 61 percent year-on-year. The increase came after July 31, when a law revised to stren

Oct 25, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

No. of 'Hong Nam-kis' rising due to policy failure

Economy

Financial authorities concerned about group chairs' 'emperor-like power'

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo, right, listens as Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heun speaks during an audit of the FSC and the FSS at the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. By Lee Kyung-min The country's top financial supervisor and regulator called for a greater scrutiny of financial group heads whose “limitless power” has resulted in a slew of corrupt business practices including hiring fraud. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heun expressed the view that the much-needed scrutiny will work best if taken on by shareholders and the public, adding that it was a more desirable method of keeping the heads of financial firms in check than an outright government intervention which often ends up undermining corporate autonomy.  KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo clinched a third term, despite a hiring fraud allegation involving his granddaughter when he was KB Kookmin Bank CEO.  Simil

Oct 23, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Kyung-min

Read more

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL 'Transport, construction policies will bolster sustainable growth'

Will gov't push for increased corporate tax be successful?

Korea seeks to hold 2026 ITS World Congress in Gangneung

Korea's containment measures published in peer-reviewed US journal

'Digital innovation without effective HR management meaningless'

Debate heats up over 'large shareholder requirement'

Income, job security polarized due to virus

Non-Koreans joining panic-driven apartment buying spree

No. of 'Hong Nam-kis' rising due to policy failure

Financial authorities concerned about group chairs' 'emperor-like power'

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