The controversial nuclear phase-out policy pushed by the previous Moon Jae-in administration is one of the main culprits for snowballing debt at Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the state-run utility firm, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy nominee Bang Moon-kyu told lawmakers, Wednesday.
Korea s exports fell for the 11th consecutive month in August due mainly to weak demand for semiconductors and petroleum products, but the country reported a trade surplus for the third straight month, the industry ministry said Friday.
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's exports fell at a less steeper pace in August than in the previous month and market expectations, raising some hopes that the key trade engine of the economy is starting to turn a corner though doubts remain over weak demand in China. The August figure was better than the median forecast for an 11.6% decline in a Reuters survey of economists, beating all but one of 22 estimates. The decline in China-bound exports softened to 20% from 25% the previous month, while shipments to the United States rose 2% after four months of decline.
President Yoon Suk Yeol nominated Seoul High Court Senior Judge Lee Gyun-yong as the new chief justice of the Supreme Court, and Bang Moon-kyu, a minister in the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as industry minister, in a reshuffling Tuesday. Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun replaces the policy coordination minister while Kim Byoung-hwan, the presidential secretary for economy and finance, was named to fil.