Economy

South Korea's Supreme Court has ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation for their use of wartime labor, straining the countries' ties.
Japan-South Korea rift

Japan slaps restrictions on tech exports to South Korea

Move amid wartime labor row threatens to snarl up supply chains

1 July 2019
Japan is expected to hamper the ability of South Korean companies to buy a plastic used in flexible OLED displays. (Photo courtesy of Samsung Display)
1 July 2019
Samsung once enjoyed a dominant position in China but has since seen its market share drop significantly.
Business trends

South Korean companies shift production out of China

Trade war and sluggish sales fuel Samsung-led exodus

22 June 2019
South Korean chaebols, such as Samsung, make its economy dangerously top-heavy.
Opinion

Samsung, the hedge fund and the law

Legal pressures on South Korea's biggest company could help bring corporate reform

20 June 2019
Giant cranes of Hyundai Heavy Industries loom over docks in Ulsan, South Korea. The country's trade surplus narrowed to $5.67 billion in April, down 41% from the year before. 
Economy

South Korea reports first current-account deficit in 7 years

Slowdown of cross-border trade hit April's numbers hard

5 June 2019
Currency traders at work in Seoul, South Korea. The won has slid to its lowest point in nearly two and a half years.
Economy

Weaker won compounds South Korea's growing economic woes

Cheaper currency no longer lifts exports as it did in the past

3 June 2019
ASEAN+3 is forging ahead with plans to deepen economic and financial integration among its members and with the rest of the world.
Opinion

East Asia can do even more to defend globalization

By fully implementing CPTPP, the region can burnish its record as free-trade torchbearer

31 May 2019
People work in a field near Pyongyang. Though North Korea has suffered from droughts and food shortages for decades, this year’s situation appears to be particularly dire.
N Korea at crossroads

Korea relations tested after North rebuffs South's food aid offer

Experts say China and Russia may be helping, as Pyongyang wants to appear strong

29 May 2019
South Korea is caught in the cross hairs of the trade war between the U.S. and China.
Huawei crackdown

South Korea caught in US-China crossfire over Huawei

Washington is pressuring Seoul to join its campaign against the Chinese tech giant

24 May 2019
Moon seems more driven by the next GDP report than where Korea wants to be ten years out. 
Opinion

South Korea's Moon must confront economic headwinds

Seoul can launch promised chaebol reforms to reboot growth

23 May 2019
A Samsung store in La Paz, Bolivia: The South Korean company could gain market share from Huawei in markets outside of China.
Trade war

Huawei's troubles offer chance for Samsung to pounce

South Korean phone maker could grab market share outside China

22 May 2019
A construction site in Seoul. South Korea may be overly ambitious in its bid to attract over $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year.
Economy

Foreign investment hits 6-year low in South Korea as tax breaks end

Service sector suffers huge blow with US and China leading pullback

18 May 2019
The South Korean won is down well over 2% from the end of April to reach a 28-month low.
Currencies

South Korean won and Taiwan dollar latest casualties in trade war

Currencies hit lowest levels in over two years on clouded China outlook

18 May 2019
Members of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party clash with National Assembly officials during a protest over controversial bills on electoral and judicial reforms at the parliamentary building in Seoul last month @EPA/Yonhap
Politics

South Korea's economy in limbo as standoff holds up stimulus

Lawmakers tussle as petitions call for dissolution of main political parties

16 May 2019
Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seoul. Samsung is one of five chaebol that hold more than half of the combined assets among South Korea's 59 family-run business empires.
Business trends

Elite chaebol tighten grip on South Korean economy

Five conglomerates took in 72% of profit among peers last year

16 May 2019
Tokyo stocks fell by more than 400 points for a moment early on May 14 as investors reacted to the U.S.'s ratcheting up of its trade war with China. 
Markets

Asia stocks slide as US-China trade war intensifies

Fresh tariffs to hit wide assortment of industries and consumer products

14 May 2019
Tensions are pushing tech suppliers to diversify production out of China.
Trade war

Asian tech companies set to initiate trade war contingency plans

Tariffs on consumer electronics expected to hit exporters like Taiwan and South Korea

14 May 2019
The proposed list of new tariffs targets more than 3,800 items including smartphones and laptop computers, which had until now been excluded from the tariff war.
Trade war

US reveals tariffs on $300bn of Chinese goods, including phones

Asian tech companies prepare to initiate contingency plans

14 May 2019
Moon Jae-in is at risk of becoming a lame duck for the final three years of his presidency.
Politics

South Korea's Moon cornered by economic woes and rockets

President's early approval rating of more than 80% has fallen by almost half

9 May 2019
The dollar may no longer serve as the sole currency for Asia's emergency foreign currency exchange pool as China presses for the yen and yuan's inclusion.
International relations

ASEAN opens door to yuan and yen for currency safety net

China, Thailand and Indonesia push for alternative to greenback

3 May 2019
Businessmen walk in central Seoul last month.
Economy

South Korea's economy posts worst quarter since global financial crisis

Unexpected contraction in GDP comes as manufacturers cut back spending

25 April 2019
A man pours petrol into an underground tank at a fuel station in Mumbai. The Trump administration's move to end a sanctions waiver on oil imports from Iran has pushed the price of Brent crude to a five-month high.
Energy

Asian oil importers unshaken as Trump pulls Iran sanction waivers

India and Japan look to alternatives, but China slams Washington's move

23 April 2019
Asian exports continue to fall due to worries over U.S.-China trade tensions and a cooling global smartphone market.
Trade war

Asian exports drop on trade war and weak smartphone demand

March shipments at 2.5-year low in Singapore; down 4th straight month in Japan

17 April 2019
South Korea has seen how a rush into high-priced education can exacerbate inequality and suppress the birthrate, as parents fear the burden of having children. (Source photo by Reuters)
Asia Insight

Private schooling booms in Japan and South Korea fuel inequality

'Premium education' enriches minds but puts governments across Asia to the test

16 April 2019
A worker checks fish for radiation at a market in Seoul in 2013. South Korea banned seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
International relations

South Korea wins WTO appeal on Fukushima seafood ban

Japan minister says will keep pushing to scrap the measure through discussions

12 April 2019