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"With this (decision) Yoon is trying to make sure there is policy continuity in place ahead of election," said Park Sang-hyun, an economist at HI Investment & Securities. "Choi has been long-time finance ministry person and he basically spearheaded major economics policies of the Yoon administration from the very beginning so its a safe choice." Choi has a bachelor's degree from the Seoul National University law school, where Yoon also studied around the same time. Choi's career in government service has been mostly at the finance ministry, overseeing economic policy making, financial market policies, and external business relations. Yoon doesn’t need parliamentary approval to appoint a new finance minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister.

Persons: Yoon Suk, Choi Sang, mok, Choi, Choo, Yoon, Yoon's, Yoon doesn’t, Soo, hyang Choi, Ed Davies Organizations: HI Investment, Securities, Gallup, Bank of, Seoul National University, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, Gallup Korea, Daegu

Analysts said, however, that Asiana's greenlighting of the cargo unit sale did not necessarily ensure smooth sailing ahead for the deal. They noted the desired valuation for the air cargo unit of some 700 billion won ($520 million) including debt, as reported by local media, was probably too high. Approving the sale was a contentious issue at Asiana amid concerns that a takeover by Korean Air would lead to the loss of many Asiana jobs. Korean Air also said it will buy 300 billion won of convertible bonds issued by Asiana, part of fresh financial support to the smaller airline. The company accounts for about a fifth of South Korea's market for overseas air cargo.

Persons: Bae, Asiana, IAG, 1,342.9900, Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang, Hyunsu Yim, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Asiana Airlines, Korean Air Lines, Korean Air, country's, European, Analysts, Hi Investment, Securities, European Union, European Commission, Air, Lufthansa, ITA Airways, British Airways, Spanish, Korea Development Bank, Asiana, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, KS, Korean, Union, United States, Japan, Asiana, Iberia, Germany, Russia

☆ South Korea's Q2 GDP speeds up but weakness clouds outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It beat the median 0.5% rise forecast in a Reuters survey of economists and marked the biggest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2022. "Qualitatively, it is not so positive as the headline figure indicates," said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at HI Investment Securities. Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to grow 1.4% in 2023, down from 2.6% in 2022, according to the latest forecasts by the central bank and the government. "The upshot is that the central bank, enabled by falling inflation, is likely to step in to support the economy by loosening monetary policy in the coming months," said Shivaan Tandon, emerging Asia economist at Capital Economics. Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Ed Davies, Kim Coghill and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Asia's, Shivaan Tandon, Jihoon Lee, Ed Davies, Kim Coghill, Sam Holmes Organizations: Gross, Bank of, HI Investment Securities, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: SEOUL, Bank of Korea, Asia

☆ Indian shares pare early gains as IT stocks reverse course
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Bharath Rajeswaran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni/File photoBENGALURU, July 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares trimmed gains on Wednesday, as information technology stocks reversed early gains and offset the broad sectoral rise, ahead of the June-quarter earnings of top companies. The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index rose 0.18% to 19,784.25, with the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) in toe at 66,921.20, as of 12:56 p.m. IST. High-weightage IT stocks (.NIFTYIT) erased 0.5% gains and are on course to snap a four-day winning streak. Among individual stocks, NTPC (NTPC.NS) rose over 4%, topping the Nifty 50 after brokerage Goldman Sachs identified it as the top pick in the power sector. Several other Nifty 50 constituents, including Infosys (INFY.NS), Ultratech Cement (ULTC.NS), Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) will report their quarterly earnings later this week.

Persons: Niharika Kulkarni, Narendra Solanki, Anand, Goldman Sachs, Bharath Rajeswaran, Sonia Cheema, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Bombay Stock Exchange, REUTERS, BSE, TV18, U.S . Federal Reserve, Investment Services, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Ultratech, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, BENGALURU, U.S, Europe, Bengaluru

☆ US weighs suit against Korean Air’s planned acquisition of Asiana -Politico
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is considering suing to block Korean Air's (003490.KS) planned acquisition of Asiana Airlines (020560.KS), Politico reported on Thursday. In response to the report, Korean Air said the Justice Department had not made any official decision, adding the South Korean airline would continue its dialogue with the U.S. government until a final decision is made. "Korean Air has made, and continues to make, every effort to obtain all necessary approvals," the company said in a statement to Reuters. EU antitrust regulators said on Wednesday that Korean Air Lines' proposed acquisition of rival Asiana may restrict competition in passenger and cargo air transport services between Europe and South Korea. The merger between South Korea's no.1 and no.2 airlines would see Korean Air become the biggest shareholder in indebted Asiana.

☆ South Korea inflation hits 14-month low, backs view rate-hike cycle is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Choonsik Yoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, May 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's consumer inflation eased for a third consecutive month to a 14-month low in April and the central bank expects the downward trend to persist for some time, supporting the market's view that its policy tightening cycle is over. The consumer price index (CPI) stood 3.7% higher in April than a year earlier, the Statistics Korea data showed on Tuesday, marking the slowest growth since February last year and following a 4.2% increase in March. The Bank of Korea (BOK) issued a broadly dovish statement, although it repeated that uncertainty remained high over the future path of inflation. "The consumer price growth will show a clearly slowing trend through the middle of this year, while the core price growth will show a trend of easing at a slower pace than the headline inflation," it said. The central bank held interest rates steady at the last two successive policy meetings after raising them by 300 basis points since late 2021.

☆ Older workers pull South Korea jobless rate down to record low
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Choonsik Yoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, March 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's unemployment rate has fallen back to a record low, data showed on Wednesday, mainly due to increased employment among people aged 60 and over, and as shrinking exports and a sluggish housing market have yet to significantly hit payrolls. The unemployment rate was 2.6% in February versus 2.9% in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, matching a record low also touched in August, showed data from Statistics Korea. "Manufacturing and construction sectors, among others, will soon begin to show the effects of shrinking exports and a weakening housing market," said Park Sang-hyun at HI Investment and Securities. People aged 60 or older contributed most to the declining unemployment rate with the figure in this age group falling to 1.6% from 2.6% a month earlier. Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Exports fell 16.6% in January from a year earlier, trade ministry data showed, worse than an 11.3% decline predicted in a Reuters survey and the fastest drop in exports since May 2020. Imports fell 2.6% compared with a year earlier, less than a 3.6% drop predicted in the survey. As a result, the country posted a monthly trade deficit of $12.69 billion, setting a record amount for any month. Leading the sluggish trade performance in January were a 44.5% dive in semiconductor exports and a whopping 31.4% plunge in sales to China, the trade ministry data showed. The government has forecast this year's exports would fall 4.5% after posting a 6.1% gain in 2022, and the trade ministry has said it would do what it can to avert a decline.

☆ South Korea December exports to fall for third month as China demand still weak: Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"South Korea's exports are under pressure from declining exports to China, where the economy still remains sluggish even after easing of its COVID-19 restrictions, and weak sales of IT products, mainly semiconductors," said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at HI Investment and Securities. "Moreover, global economic slowdown is materialising, so exports are likely to continue the falling trend for the time being." China has eased some of its most stringent restrictions to fight COVID-19 since last month. During the first 20 days of December, South Korea's exports shrank 8.8% from the same period a year ago. Those to China dropped 25.5%, outweighing gains in U.S. and EU-bound shipments, in likely the seventh consecutive falling month.

☆ S.Korea inflation ticks up in Oct, tops expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Choonsik Yoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's annual consumer inflation in October ticked up from September against market expectations for no change, led by lagging effects of earlier global raw materials prices, government data showed on Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.7% in October from a year earlier, according to the Statistics Korea data. The median forecast in a Reuters survey of economists was for the annual CPI growth to be 5.6% in October, although five of the 11 economists polled predicted higher rates. The CPI rose 0.3% in October on a monthly basis, the same rate as in September and higher than a 0.2% gain seen in the survey. Core inflation, which strips volatile foods and energy prices, ticked up to 4.2% in October on an annual basis from 4.1% in September to mark the fastest since December 2008.

SEOUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Across South Korea, events such as autumn foliage festivals and K-Pop concerts are canceled, and grief-stricken communities are putting off gatherings after a Seoul crowd crush killed at least 154 people, threatening to crimp growth further. Universities have canceled weekend retreats known as MTs, and the opening event of the two-week Korea Sale Festa, the Korean version of the Black Friday, was called off. South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju called off the Jeju Olle Walking Festival, scheduled from Nov 3 to 5. The Korea Baseball Organization and Korea Volleyball Federation both said there won't be cheerleaders during its championship series. South Korea's economic growth already decelerated last quarter in response to slowing exports and a weakening currency.

Economists have pointed to growing challenges for Korea's economy as sustained high inflation, rapidly rising interest rates worldwide and continuing global supply-chain disruptions sap demand both at home and abroad. "Today's figure, although appearing okay, is already about the past while the future is getting more difficult both in terms of domestic and global demand," said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at HI Investment & Securities. Despite managing positive growth, a breakdown of the figures showed Asia's fourth-largest economy was losing momentum quickly in the face of cooling global demand, a wave of policy tightening and high inflation. On an annual basis, the economy expanded by 3.1% in the third quarter after a 2.9% gain in the second quarter. Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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