Newly established companies in South Korea kept a growth trend last month as retired baby boomers set up businesses amid strong government support, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The number of start-ups registered in the court as a corporate body stood at 7,133 in June, up 768 from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The figure rebounded after declining to the 6,000 level in May. The number of start-up companies topped 7,000 in March and April.
The monthly average growth of start-up companies increased to 6, 914 in 2014 from 6,298 in 2013 due to a rise in retired baby boomers and the government's stronger support for business foundation.
Corporate bankruptcy rose for the first time in four months. The number of companies that went belly-up was 67 in June, up 6 from a month earlier.
Companies, which failed to redeem promissory notes and checks, trended down from 2013 because banks turned generous toward small companies in terms of loans.
The number of manufacturers going bankrupt surged from 18 in May to 32 in June, with those for service firms rising to 28 last month. The reading for builders declined to 6 in June from 8 in May.
The default rate on corporate bills, including promissory notes, checks and bonds, came in at 0.22 percent in June, up 0.06 percentage point from the prior month.