South Korea's business start-ups hit seven-year high

The number of business start-ups in South Korea hit a near 7-year high in July, central bank data showed on Thursday, underscoring sustained optimism that the recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy will accelerate. The Bank of Korea data showed 5,501 new companies were established in July.
The most since October 2002, although their ratio to the number of failed companies fell slightly to 64.0 from a record-high 64.2 in June. "The number of new businesses in July hit the largest since October 2002, driven by hopes for economic recovery and easier rules for setting up small companies," the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Separately, the Finance Ministry unveiled various tax breaks that it said would save the poor 2 trillion won ($1.60 billion) in taxes over the next year in the face of growing concerns about the nascent recovery in domestic demand.