South Korea Seeks to Boost Home Supply Amid Worries of Rising Prices

South Korea announced a series of steps intended to increase housing supplies as it tries to temper a rebounding property market that has frustrated potential buyers and made the central bank cautious about a policy pivot, Bloomberg News reported. The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to ease restrictions on redevelopment projects, help speed up the construction of apartments and provide loan guarantees to developers, according to a Finance Ministry statement that contained a slew of measures.
South Korea
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Declaring ‘Crisis,’ South Korean Firms Tell Managers to Work 6 Days a Week

“Back in the day,” said Lim Hyung-kyu, a retired Samsung Electronics executive now in his 70s, “my weeks were Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Friday, Friday,” the New York Times reported Mr. Lim joined Samsung, South Korea’s largest company, in 1976 and rose through the ranks to chief technology officer. For much of his 30-plus years at Samsung, working on the weekends was normal — and legal under the nation’s labor laws. “I didn’t mind,” Mr. Lim said. “It was fun for me.” Things are different now.
South Korea
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South Korea’s Inflation Reaccelerates in July

South Korea’s headline inflation picked up at a stronger-than-expected pace in July, reaccelerating due to higher prices for agricultural and oil products, after easing for three consecutive months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The benchmark consumer-price index rose 2.6% from a year earlier, following a 2.4% gain in June, the country’s statistics office said Friday. Compared with the prior month, the index rose 0.3% in July compared with the median forecast of a 0.2% increase. In June, it fell 0.2% from the previous month.
South Korea
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