Heesu Lee

South Korea and the U.S. agreed to maintain close coordination on efforts to revive dialogue with North Korea, days after Pyongyang rebuffed President Donald Trump's overtures and launched a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles.

South Korea and the U.S. agreed to maintain close coordination on efforts to revive dialogue with North Korea, days after Pyongyang rebuffed President

The Bank of Korea’s policy decision this week is likely to go down to the wire, with a slim majority of economists expecting authorities to raise interest rates for a second straight meeting as they seek to stay ahead of stronger-than-expected growth and persistent underlying inflation.

The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark interest rate at a second consecutive meeting, moving to contain inflation risks fueled by stronger-than-expected economic growth amid an unprecedented semiconductor boom. The won was steady after advancing a tad just ahead of the decision.

South Korea’s central bank chief likened monetary policy to a gardening tool in explaining the decision to conduct back-to-back rate hikes for the first time in more than three years.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung tapped a career technocrat as his new finance minister, in a surprise cabinet reshuffle over the weekend in a move apparently aimed at putting a brake on falling support ratings.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung accepted the resignation of his chief policy secretary Kim Yong-beom Tuesday, according to the presidential Blue House.

Kim Yong-beom, the South Korean presidential adviser who backed the introduction of leveraged single-stock ETFs and floated the idea of a “citizen dividend” funded by excess tax revenue from the AI boom, has stepped down as the government tries to shore up its sinking approval ratings.

South Korea is planning a record expansion in state spending next year to finance an artificial-intelligence investment drive, while channeling more than 160 trillion won ($117 billion) of a semiconductor-fueled tax windfall into a new fund.

South Korea’s inflation picked up less than expected in August, but the jump in core price gains to the fastest pace in more than three years bolstered the central bank’s case for maintaining its tightening bias.