In March 2025, the Seoul Metropolitan Government reinstated the Seocho, Songpa, Gangnam, and Yongsan Districts as areas subject to the land transaction permission system, 35 days after it had been lifted. Repeated shifts in policy have caused confusion among consumer housing plans, leading to a loss
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), as of the first quarter of 2024, South Korea’s household debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio reached 92.1%, ranking fifth among the top 30 major economies. Until recently, rising interest rates on housing loans made debt repayment more difficult, fueling
Musinsa, a leading online select shop in South Korea, launched the 2024 Mujinjang Summer Black Friday event this June, recording total sales of more than 200 billion. In recent years, Black Friday has evolved from a type of annual holiday to a hallmark of major discounts. With this year’s Black Fri
According to Bank of Korea report on February 7th, the economic profit of domestic subsidiaries from reinvestment, which refers to retention money from abroad, decreased by around $8.8 billion. This event signifies the occurrence of “capital reshoring,” in which retention money from overseas flowed
Korea’s finance industry is in crisis. Last July, the delinquency rate of the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC) soared to a record-high level — sparking public fears of a bank run. However, this was only the start of the crisis, as concerns regarding financial institutions’ r
On April 11th, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed South Korea’s economic growth outlook to 1.7%, which decreased from its previous forecast last October. The decline resulted in a lower economic growth rate than what the government and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develo
Due to the recent inflation, shrinkflation has increased as the self-employed are downsizing their products instead of raising prices. Behind this measure lies the mechanism of “loss aversion,” a theory that is part of behavioral economics. Behavioral economics, a study that explains the irrationali
Nuclear power plants are currently at the center of controversy. In particular, since President Yoon Seokyeol, who took office last month, announced in his election pledge to discard the nuclear phase-out policy of the former government. It is expected that this change will greatly affect society, e
Leading countries are making global efforts to accomplish carbon neutrality for dealing with climate change. Most of the action plans for carbon neutrality include “circular economy,” which maximizes product life and minimizes waste. Despite the efforts, according to the Ministry of Environment (MOE
As the business environment has deteriorated due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), corporate sustainability management has emerged as an essential research topic. Therefore, environmental and social responsibilities and governance (ESG) have become significant components in business. In ot
A regulation to prevent consumer damages in subscription services will be enforced this month. Thus, it will be mandatory for subscription-based services to inform consumers in advance when turning to a fee-charge service. Recently, the subscription economy has been spreading rapidly throughout our
According to the Seoul Institute’s April 7th report about the economic sentiment of consumers and revenge spending in the first quarter of 2021, about 24.7% of Seoul citizens appeared to have engaged in revenge spending. Revenge spending refers to a spending boom, whereby consuming suppression cause
