NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The Bank of Korea has maintained its benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent. The central bank announced the decision on Thursday, leaving the policy rate unchanged for the ninth consecutive time. The BOK lowered the key rate from 1.25 percent to 0.75 percent in March last year to better cushion pandemic-induced economic fallouts. Two months later, it again cut the rate to a record low of 0.5 percent. The latest rate freeze is obviously aimed at addressing discouraged consumption and growing economic uncertainties amid another surge of COVID-19 infections.
The Korea Customs Service says 662 cases of smuggling illegal addictive substances into the nation were uncovered in the first half of this year. This is up 1.6 times from 416 cases found during the same period last year. The number of cases using international air passengers dropped to 48, a fifth of last year’s figure. But the cases using international mail and express delivery services increased 3.7 times and 4.4 times year on year to 512 and 93, respectively. The customs authority said the cases of transacting narcotics via non-in person manners significantly jumped due to the prolonged pandemic.