SBS NEWS

South Korea Likely to Achieve $1 Trillion in Annual Exports Early in November... 4th Country Following US, China, and Germany Driven strongly by the memory semiconductor supercycle, surpassing the USD 1 trillion mark as early as November is seen as highly likely. SBS Oct 1, 2026 11:01 AM

Fostering Anchor Mid-Sized Companies... 1 Trillion Won to Secure 10 Super-Gap Technologies The government is moving to support mid-sized companies in securing independent technologies and driving artificial intelligence transformation to strengthen their capabilities. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:58 AM

Lee Eok-yeon: 'Inspect Even Extreme Risks Amid Rate Hikes,' Emphasizes Vulnerable Borrower Support Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-yeon emphasized that as market volatility grows due to rising market interest rates, "we must comprehensively review risk factors, including extreme risks and contagion pathways with extremely low probabilities of occurrence." Presiding over a financial market situation inspection meeting at the Government Complex-Seoul on the morning of October 1, Chairman Lee stated, "If market 불안 spreads, we must implement necessary market stabilization measures for each sector in a timely manner." The meeting was attended by officials from related ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Financial Supervisory Service, as well as researchers from the Korea Institute of Finance and securities firms. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:28 AM

FSS Urges Insurers to Self-Regulate Broadcast Ads, Citing High Rates of Elderly and Incomplete Sales On October 1, the FSS held a meeting with the Korea Life Insurance Association, the General Insurance Association of Korea, major insurers running broadcast ads, and 13 home shopping general agency corporate insurance agencies to discuss measures to soundly manage broadcast advertising for insurance products. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:28 AM

Why Did the Kospi Suffer a Worst-in-the-World Plunge? Han Jiyeon, our reporter for "Friendly Economy," is here with us on this Thursday. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:13 AM

Interest and Dividend Income from 'Our Children Independence Fund' to Be Fully Tax-Exempt The government plans to grant full tax exemptions on interest and dividend income generated from investments in the "Our Children Independence Fund," which is designed to help children build a lump sum of about 70 million won by the time they reach adulthood. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:08 AM

S. Korea's Annual Exports Exceed $800 Billion for First Time... September Reaches Record High of $120 Billion Semiconductors, the country's flagship export item, led the overall performance with over 60 billion dollars, while the trade surplus neared 50 billion dollars. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:07 AM

Lee Hyung-il: "Exports Expected to Surpass $1 Trillion for First Time… GNI of $40,000 Coming Into View" Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyung-il projected that annual exports are expected to exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history this year. SBS Oct 1, 2026 10:05 AM

Semiconductor Boom Expected to Bring in Additional 63 Trillion Won in Tax Revenue... Controversy Over Fund Allocation Resurfaces Boosted by the semiconductor boom, this year's national tax revenue is projected to reach a record high of 478.6 trillion won. SBS Oct 1, 2026 9:59 AM

Administrative Procedures for Converting Internal Combustion to EV Plants Accelerated; Semiconductor Fab Expansion Speeds Up Reflecting feedback from major semiconductor companies like SK Hynix, the government will also allow the integrated commissioning of electrical and communication construction works for semiconductor fabs to accelerate expansion speeds. SBS Oct 1, 2026 9:55 AM