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2 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
The Bank of Korea has issued a warning message that the Korean economy must proactively address structural risk factors, learning from Japan’s experience of long-term stagnation. The diagnosis is that the triangular waves of structural changes -- debt accumulation, low birth rates and aging population, and limitations of growth strategies -- are already surging towards the Korean economy.
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2 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
At the inaugural Emergency Economic Response Task Force meeting held on June 4, President Lee Jae-myung pressed fiscal authorities for details on the immediate stimulative effects of a supplementary budget and ordered aggressive economic and livelihood support measures along with risk management.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
South Korea’s economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the first quarter this year compared to the previous quarter, dragged down primarily by a sharp decline in construction investment. The Bank of Korea announced on June 5 that the country’s provisional real gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2025 shrank 0.2 percent from the prior quarter, consistent with the preliminary estimate released in April.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
The White House, in its first message regarding the South Korean presidential election results, emphasized an "ironclad alliance" with South Korea while unusually cautioning against China’s influence. Analysts suggest that the Donald Trump administration is checking the new Korean government’s "balanced diplomacy" between the U.S. and China from the beginning of President Lee Jae-myung’s term.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
The inauguration of the Lee Jae-myung administration signifies a major shift in economic policies from the Yoon Suk Yeol government, which emphasized sound finances and small government.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
Last month, the consumer price inflation rate fell to the 1% range for the first time in five months, largely due to a significant drop in international oil prices. However, prices of certain items, such as pork, continued to soar. According to the “May Consumer Price Trends” released by Statistics Korea on June 4, the consumer price index for last month was 116.27 (2020=100), a 1.9% increase compared to the same month last year.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
President Lee Jae-myung announced on June 4 the nomination of Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Min-seok as the first prime minister of the new government and former Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok as the nominee for the National Intelligence Service director. He also appointed Kang Hoon-sik as the chief of staff, Wi Sung-lac as the national security advisor, former Army General Hwang In-kwon as the chief of Presidential Security Service, and Kang Yu-jung as the presidential spokesperson.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
The Bank of Korea has issued a warning that a “triple burden” of economic slowdown, falling real interest rates, and increased financial instability due to super-aging could become a reality. The diagnosis is that monetary policy alone has limitations in responding, and structural reforms across both real and financial sectors are necessary. The analysis also suggests that if structural reforms are implemented, the economic growth rate could increase by about 1 percentage point.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has recommended that South Korea lower its benchmark interest rate at least twice within this year, citing weak domestic demand. Related to fiscal policy, the OECD also advised that while short-term fiscal support through measures such as a supplementary budget could be appropriate, the government must concurrently establish a sustainable medium-term fiscal strategy.
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3 days ago | 
businesskorea.co.kr | Jung Min-hee
Kim Woong, deputy governor of the Bank of Korea, said on June 4 that the inflation rate is expected to be in the upper 1% range in the second half of the year. “From the second half of the year, the impact of falling oil prices and low demand pressure will increase, and the inflation rate is expected to be in the upper 1% range,” Kim said at the price situation review meeting he presided over.
