Steven Borowiec

Seoul

Journalist at Freelance

Writer and Editor at Nikkei Asia

Nikkei Asia staff writer and editor in Seoul [email protected]

Articles

South Korea Q1 GDP shrinks 0.2% as exports wane

3 weeks ago | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy contracted in the first quarter of this year, as exports dipped and a monthslong political crisis weighed on consumption, according to central bank data released Thursday. The Bank of Korea said in an advance estimate that real gross domestic product in Asia's fourth-largest economy shrank 0.2% during the January to March period compared with the previous quarter.
South Korea's gender chasm: Women still consigned to dim job and life prospects

2 months ago | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

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Bank of Korea cuts key rate, meeting market expectations

2 months ago | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank cut its key interest rate by one quarter of a percentage point to 2.75% on Tuesday amid projections of weak growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The decision was in line with expectations. Of 36 economists polled by Reuters from Feb. 14 to Feb. 20, all but one predicted a rate decrease of 25 basis points.
South Korea's Yoon draws support from casualties of cutthroat economy

Jan 30, 2025 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

CHANGWON, South Korea -- Watching images of raucous street protests in Seoul on his smartphone, author Chun Hyun-woo's eyes are drawn to the young men in the crowds yelling for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol to be returned to office. Chun sees the 20- and 30-somethings chanting slogans and waving placards as casualties of a harshly competitive economy. "They're looking for something to belong to," Chun, 34, told Nikkei Asia in an interview.
South Korean Q4 GDP expands 0.1% as consumption ticks up

Jan 22, 2025 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy grew slightly in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by modest increases in private and government consumption, according to central bank data released Thursday, as the country grapples with its worst political crisis in decades. The Bank of Korea said in an advance estimate that gross domestic product in Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 0.1% during the October to December period compared with the previous quarter.
Yoon supporters' courthouse riot deepens South Korean political crisis

Jan 20, 2025 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol again refused to appear for questioning on Monday, his lawyers said, following an outburst of violence the previous day as his supporters broke windows while storming a court building. Early on Sunday morning, a justice at Seoul Western District Court issued a warrant to extend Yoon's detention on charges of insurrection following his attempt to impose martial law last month.
Yoon's security chief resigns as South Korea crisis intensifies

Jan 9, 2025 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- The head of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's security service resigned on Friday, amid police scrutiny over his role in helping Yoon avoid arrest. Acting President Choi Sang-mok accepted the resignation of Park Chong-jun, head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), Choi's office said. Although lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon in mid-December, he has not been formally removed from office and therefore retains protection from the PSS.
South Korea shipbuilders face choppy course as Trump opportunity knocks

Jan 9, 2025 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- Armed with a sleeping bag and a kettle, veteran welder Kim Hyung-soo is taking on a $9 billion corporation, spending frigid winter nights holding a round-the-clock, sit-in protest in downtown Seoul. Since Jan. 7, the 51-year-old has been demanding better pay and conditions in front of the headquarters of Hanwha Ocean, the shipbuilder that owns the yard where he works and that is enjoying a boom in orders.
South Korea labor ministry puts brakes on plan for foreign bus drivers

Dec 1, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- South Korea's employment ministry is not considering a proposal from the Seoul city government to allow foreign nationals to work as drivers of short-haul buses, in a case that highlights the challenges of expanding foreign labor in a country with strict laws and customs surrounding immigration.
South Korea opposition leader handed suspended prison sentence

Nov 14, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Steven Borowiec

SEOUL -- The leader of South Korea's main opposition party was sentenced on Friday to one year in prison, suspended for two years, in a ruling that, if upheld by higher courts, would reshape the country's political landscape. Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party was found guilty of violating election law by lying in a 2021 media interview as part of his campaign for the presidential election in March the following year.