ROK’s Economy Faces Downside Risks

On Monday,  Vice Finance Minister Ko Hyoung-Kwon said that the economy of South Korea is dealing with some downside risks because of the potential strikes, particularly on local car manufacturers along with the cooldown in the local property market. He added that the government will exert further efforts in expanding the government expenditure by employing the 11 trillion-won extra budget. This was already approved by the National Assembly in July to support the fourth-biggest economy in Asia.

The automotive industry of South Korea is preparing for the possibility of labor strikes in the upcoming negotiations with concerns to a better pay or salary.

The no.1 automaker in the country  Hyundai Motor Co. and its union members did some walkouts in the previous week and gave warnings for further disturbances to argue against wage hike introduced by the administration.

According to the company, they have experienced labor strikes for 24th times during the months of July and October in 2016 and caused them to failed in producing 142,000 cars.

Moreover, the housing market also cooled down following the announcement of the government about the standards in removing real estate speculation.

The Korean administration considered Seoul together with two other cities as  “overheated speculative districts” in order to buttress the overheating housing market of the country. On the other hand, homeowners with multiple houses are obliged to pay higher capital gains taxes upon selling their houses.

The GDP of Korean peninsula gained 1.1 percent during the Q1 and grew by 0.6% after the three-month period, with fears about the slow down of the economy.