Economy - The Korea Times

Why pear prices are falling: It's not about oversupply, it's about hoarding

Pear prices have plummeted, with the wholesale price of 15 kilograms of 2024-harvested pears averaging 31,597 won ($23) last month, more than 80 percent lower than the average of 169,763 won a year earlier, according to a Korea Rural Economic Institute report released Monday. Retail prices have also dropped to less than half of last year’s levels. Data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. showed that the retail price for 10 pears was 36,026 won as of Friday, a 52.6 percent decrease from 76,077 won the previous year. This falling price is not solely due to oversupply. The pears currently available in the market are from the 2024 harvest, and production that year was significantly low. Moreover, the new season’s pears have yet to be widely distributed. According to data from Statistics Korea, pear production in 2024 amounted to 178,000 tons, the smallest volume in four years since 133,000 tons in 2020. The real reason for the price crash lies in the attempt of pear farmers to repeat the strategy they used after the poor harvest in 2023 — storing pears to sell later at hig

Aug 12, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Why pear prices are falling: It's not about oversupply, it's about hoarding

Thawing Seoul-Beijing ties boost tourism, beauty, entertainment stocks

Shares of KOSPI-listed companies with products in high demand from Chinese tourists are rapidly gaining momentum as Korea and China work to restore ties following Beijing’s years-long ban on Korean pop culture, according to analysts Monday. The rally is being led by companies such as Paradise, Lotte Tour Development, Hotel Shilla, APR and HYBE, which operate in the tourism, hospitality, beauty and entertainment sectors. These sectors are closely tied to hallyu, the global cultural phenomenon of Korean pop music, films, and dramas. Paradise, a foreigner-only casino, hit an intraday high of 22,600 won ($16.27) Friday, marking a new 52-week high. It inched down 0.46 percent to close at 21,550 won Monday. Lotte Tour Development, the developer and operator of Jeju Dream Tower, saw its Friday stock price reach a three-year high of 18,840 won — a 167 percent surge from its yearly low of 7,060 won — although it dropped 2.82 percent to end at 17,240 won Monday. Located on Jeju Island, Jeju Dream Tower is the island’s largest and tallest integrated luxury resort and primarily targets Chine

Aug 11, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Thawing Seoul-Beijing ties boost tourism, beauty, entertainment stocks

InterviewSupport program gains traction in motivating young people for employment

Neet People, a nonprofit organization for young Koreans who have given up on finding a job, is extending a helping hand at a time when the labor market is increasingly unwelcoming to younger generations. Established in 2019, the organization aims to motivate individuals classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET) to reenter the workforce by offering tailored programs. To date, more than 1,800 individuals, many of them in their 20s and 30s, have taken part in the programs, which have been conducted over 20 times. Each program spans 12 weeks and accommodates groups ranging from 20 to 100 participants. About 70 to 80 percent of the overall participants are from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The program centers on a virtual, mock “Neet Company” which has no office, salary or boss. Participants “go to work” by engaging in activities that are personally meaningful. Some choose to draw, clean, write or read to build professional skills. A participant may keep a daily to-do list to develop discipline, while others may explore new career paths or personal goals.

Aug 9, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Support program gains traction in motivating young people for employment

Food prices surge as extreme weather, consumption vouchers deepen supply-demand gap

Food prices are climbing sharply in Korea as supply struggles to keep pace with rising demand, government officials and market observers said Thursday. While extreme weather conditions this summer — including torrential rains and heat waves — have disrupted the production of agricultural, livestock and fishery products, demand has surged following the distribution of government-issued voucher-based cash handouts, they added. According to data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the retail price of a head of napa cabbage reached 6,349 won ($4.60) as of Tuesday, a 74.7 percent spike from 3,639 won a month earlier, driven by a decline in yields due to the summer heat. Spinach prices soared 81.1 percent to 2,109 won per 100 grams over the past month. Other key vegetables have also seen significant increases, with cabbage prices rising 23.2 percent, the price of 100 grams of lettuce climbing 38.8 percent and radish prices increasing by 29.7 percent. As for fruit, a bundle of 10 apples was priced at 31,061 won as of Tuesday, marking a 7.7 percent increase from 28,826 wo

Aug 7, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Food prices surge as extreme weather, consumption vouchers deepen supply-demand gap

Gen Z drives values-based consumption amid growing ESG awareness

Kim Ji-min, a 22-year-old university student in Seoul, recently switched her choice of daily necessities to brands that use eco-friendly packaging to reduce plastic waste. “Even if the price is a bit higher, I want to support companies that care about the environment," she said. "I often share information about brands using eco-friendly packaging with my friends.” She added that she had stopped purchasing products from some global clothing brands after learning about their past scandals regarding pollution. Similarly, Shim, a 28-year-old private academy teacher in Incheon, stopped buying products from a global fashion brand a few years ago after the company sparked public outrage over a racially insensitive ad. “I used to buy from the brand often because I liked their designs, but once I learned about the issue, I didn’t want to support them anymore,” she said. “No matter how good the products are, I can’t support a company that lacks sensitivity to human rights.” The growing emphasis on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) across society is fueling a rise,

Aug 7, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Gen Z drives values-based consumption amid growing ESG awareness

Korea’s AI-powered demand responsive buses debut in Europe

Korea’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered demand responsive buses will begin operations in Hungary later this month, marking the debut of Korean smart mobility technology in Europe, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Hyundai Motor Company said Sunday. Demand responsive transport (DRT) offers a flexible alternative to conventional fixed-route public transportation by creating real-time routes based on user requests. The AI-driven system forecasts passenger demand, optimizes vehicle allocation and calculates the most efficient routes. According to the finance ministry, senior officials from both countries gathered in Godollo, a satellite city of Budapest, to attend the launch ceremony of a pilot DRT project held on Thursday (local time). This pilot is part of the Economic Innovation Partnership Program, an initiative focused on eco-friendly smart mobility that the ministry has pursued since 2022. The Korean government proposed implementing the DRT system — already recognized as an effective smart mobility option domestically — in a way tailored to Hungary’s needs. The Hunga

Aug 3, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Korea’s AI-powered demand responsive buses debut in Europe

Main bourse operator faces challenges in extending trading hours

The Korea Exchange (KRX) is considering longer trading hours for its stock exchanges, but the shift would require a substantial overhaul of the operational system it has had in place for decades, according to industry officials, Friday. The KRX-governed benchmark KOSPI and secondary Kosdaq currently run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. The KRX wants to extend this window to 12 hours — from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — in what is seen as a bid to grapple with faster-than-expected growth of Nextrade as the country’s first alternative stock exchange. Nextrade, co-owned by the Korea Financial Investment Association and seven major securities firms, already accounts for more than 30 percent of the country’s entire stock trading volume since its launch on March 4. The number of traded stocks also increased from 10 to more than 800, including top-performing companies on both the KOSPI and Kosdaq. The pace of Nextrade’s growth was not widely anticipated after it started with the goal of breaking the KRX’s long-standing monopoly, in place since its launch in 1956. Nextrade runs for 12 hours,

Jul 25, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Main bourse operator faces challenges in extending trading hours

Companies cautious about going public despite bull market

Not a single company moved toward initial public offering (IPO) so far this month — a surprise considering the stock market has been bullish and supposedly offers a favorable atmosphere for IPOs, government data showed Wednesday. Industry officials said unlisted companies are prudent about going public due to toughened rules on IPOs, which took effect on July 1 to prevent fraudulent firms from deceiving investors. Data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed that the financial watchdog has not received any submissions of a required preliminary document for an unlisted company to go public since July 1. The document, called a securities registration statement, includes detailed information about the company, its operations, financial health, management and associated risks, and enables potential investors to make informed decisions. Prior to an IPO, companies should submit a preliminary review application to the Korea Exchange. The company must also undergo other processes, such as institutional investor-led demand forecasting, public offering subscription and allotmen

Jul 23, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Companies cautious about going public despite bull market

Stocks overtake real estate as favored investment for 1st time in 20 years

Koreans favor stocks most as a means of investment to generate wealth, marking a turnaround from the past 20 years when real estate was the No. 1 pick, according to a survey. A total of 31 percent of respondents picked stocks as the most advantageous means of investment, compared to 23 percent who preferred land, housing and other forms of property, in a survey taken by Gallup Korea of 1,000 adults aged 18 or older from Tuesday to Thursday. This is the first time since 2006 that stocks overtook real estate on the list of Koreans’ favored means of investment, at a time when President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to end a longstanding discount of valuation on the domestic stock market. “The result of the survey possibly reflects optimism toward Lee’s stock market drive and a corresponding bull market,” Jung Eui-jung, head of the Korean Stockholders’ Alliance, said. He noted that the benchmark KOSPI closed above the 3,000-point threshold for the first time in over three years on June 20 — just a little more than two weeks after Lee began his term. Also, the combined market capitaliza

Jul 20, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Stocks overtake real estate as favored investment for 1st time in 20 years

Bureaucrats rush to join private firms for higher salary

An increasing number of bureaucrats are finding jobs at private companies that want to capitalize on their expertise and proficiency to cope with fast-changing industry landscapes, according to government and company officials on Thursday. These public officials are widely spread across the central government, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Fair Trade Commission (FTC) and Financial Services Commission (FSC). They are mainly mid- and senior-level officials, who reportedly sought a higher salary. They are said to be unsatisfied with their relatively lower earnings compared to their peers in the private sector, despite working overtime frequently. They have been quick to take job offers from top-tier companies that promise substantially higher compensation. The most recent case was a Grade 4 official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, who retired in June after e-commerce giant Coupang offered him a high-ranking position. Civil service in Korea has a nine-grade structure, with Grade 1 being

Jul 17, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

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