:00:00. > :00:00.and children have been rescued from the Mediterranean
:00:00. > :00:24.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:25. > :00:29.The cosy relationship between big business and government -
:00:30. > :00:32.voting is under way in South Korea, but will new leadership make
:00:33. > :00:45.And, the wasteland. American shopping mauls are deserted and
:00:46. > :00:47.retailers are suffering, so what is President Trump planning to do about
:00:48. > :00:51.it? Also in the programme,
:00:52. > :00:59.Rico will join us from Singapore - he's seen the latest
:01:00. > :01:01.International Monetary Fund report But first, today, the people
:01:02. > :01:06.of South Korea are voting The election comes after
:01:07. > :01:15.the former head of state - Park Geun-hye - was removed
:01:16. > :01:18.from office as part of an ongoing The South Korean economy bounced
:01:19. > :01:22.back strongly following the 2008 financial crisis, but in recent
:01:23. > :01:24.years, quarterly growth has The current frontrunner,
:01:25. > :01:34.Moon Jae-In, has vowed to boost government spending and create
:01:35. > :01:36.over 800,000 new jobs His main rival - Ahn Cheol-Soo -
:01:37. > :01:43.feels the government should be more cautious with its spending plans,
:01:44. > :01:46.but both candidates are united over South Korea is still reeling
:01:47. > :01:51.from a "money-for-influence" scandal which has seen several
:01:52. > :01:53.of the country's top executives This includes the bosses of massive
:01:54. > :02:04.corporations such as Samsung, In the past, large conglomerates
:02:05. > :02:11.were credited with South Korea's rise to economic prominence,
:02:12. > :02:13.but now many experts are questioning whether the country has become too
:02:14. > :02:20.over-reliant on the so-called To give you a sense of scale,
:02:21. > :02:28.the biggest company in South Korea is Samsung - the group spans every
:02:29. > :02:32.aspect of life and its business accounts for roughly 20%
:02:33. > :02:34.of the country's GDP growth. Currently the ten biggest companies
:02:35. > :02:37.in South Korea account for nearly a quarter of the country's total
:02:38. > :02:42.corporate tax revenue. Joining us now from Seoul
:02:43. > :02:57.is the journalist Jason Strother. Just tell us a bit more about Moon
:02:58. > :03:02.Jae-In, the frontrunner. He ran against Park Geun-hye in 2012 and
:03:03. > :03:10.lost, why is he so popular this time? Well, Moon Jae-In has wanted
:03:11. > :03:13.this job for a very long time. He is part of the generation that helped
:03:14. > :03:22.bring democracy to South Korea in the 1980s. He was an aid to a
:03:23. > :03:28.president from 2002- 2008. He did lose to Park Geun-hye by not an
:03:29. > :03:34.entirely large margin in 2012. But ever since protest began against the
:03:35. > :03:39.former president at the end of last year, he was out there at the
:03:40. > :03:44.peaceful candlelight vigil is. He wanted to be amongst the people, to
:03:45. > :03:47.show them that if he is elected, he will do away with the cosy ties
:03:48. > :03:55.between the political and business elite. In recent months, we've had
:03:56. > :04:01.the perfect storm of an impeached President and the boss of Samsung
:04:02. > :04:05.facing criminal charges. Many are arguing, is this really what will
:04:06. > :04:10.bring change in South Korea at last? Do you think that is the case, and
:04:11. > :04:15.if so, is the new president going to be able to deliver it? I think every
:04:16. > :04:24.president, no matter what their political persuasion is, has wanted
:04:25. > :04:28.to reduce the powers of the economic companies and their dominance over
:04:29. > :04:34.the economy. That is easier said than done. There are many linkages
:04:35. > :04:41.between the political class and the business class. If Moon Jae-In is
:04:42. > :04:46.elected, he certainly has a mandate to try his best to do away with
:04:47. > :04:51.these ties. But it will prove to be difficult, sure. In terms of the
:04:52. > :04:57.economy, it has not been performing that well but it has also not been a
:04:58. > :05:02.disaster. Companies like Samsung, despite corruption and problems with
:05:03. > :05:11.their phones, they have still seen profits rise. What will Moon Jae-In
:05:12. > :05:16.bring to the economy? We have to separate the campaign promises from
:05:17. > :05:23.what is realistic. I am not too sure if Moon Jae-In, with his pledges to
:05:24. > :05:27.create hundreds of thousands of jobs, working out of a civil servant
:05:28. > :05:34.office, will that really make a difference? Can he really live up to
:05:35. > :05:41.these expectations that many voters have hung on him? He is facing a
:05:42. > :05:45.strong challenge, although he does have a clear lead right now. If the
:05:46. > :05:52.Conservatives were to pull ahead and come ahead with it to read, we could
:05:53. > :05:59.expect to see very much the same in terms of business relations that we
:06:00. > :06:03.have seen for the past ten years. Thank you for that. We will keep an
:06:04. > :06:06.eye on the outcome of that presidential election.
:06:07. > :06:08.Much attention has been paid to the loss of manufacturing
:06:09. > :06:14.But in the last few months alone, more jobs have been lost in retail
:06:15. > :06:16.than exist in the entire coal industry.
:06:17. > :06:19.Despite years of steady recovery and a pick up in wages,
:06:20. > :06:24.Samira Hussain reports on a crisis that can be seen from the boutiques
:06:25. > :06:40.New York City, known for Broadway shows, great restaurants and
:06:41. > :06:45.shopping. Oh, the shopping. But there is a seismic shift happening
:06:46. > :06:51.in American retail. It is even evident right here in the big Apple.
:06:52. > :06:55.The red parts on this map show that vacant storefronts in New York City.
:06:56. > :07:00.When they close, they take jobs with them. New York City clothing stores
:07:01. > :07:07.have been shedding jobs for the last three years. Overall, the US economy
:07:08. > :07:15.has lost more than 90,000 retail jobs since October 2016. There were
:07:16. > :07:19.too many stores built out, too many stores, too much space, too mount
:07:20. > :07:25.inventories. Then we had the Internet, that has also had a big
:07:26. > :07:32.impact. The story is repeating itself across America. This is what
:07:33. > :07:35.is left of this small, showing the demise of the American shopping
:07:36. > :07:40.centre. It's lunchtime and I'm in the food court. Normally it would be
:07:41. > :07:44.really busy, but as you can see, it is rather quiet. This is what
:07:45. > :07:48.happens when the big department stores leave. They take the
:07:49. > :07:54.customers with them. In just the last two years, both Macy's and
:07:55. > :08:05.JCPenney have closed their doors at this more. The future of Sears is
:08:06. > :08:14.looking rocky. This store is also collateral damage. There are not a
:08:15. > :08:20.lot of stores left. We still have hope. In the absence of customers,
:08:21. > :08:24.hope may be all this store has. But it is a hope shared by the new
:08:25. > :08:26.owners of the more, who believe they can turn it around. Nationwide, the
:08:27. > :08:31.outlook for retail looks bleak. Nationwide, the outlook
:08:32. > :08:36.for retail looks It has been a tough few years
:08:37. > :08:39.for the global economy, but the International Monetary Fund
:08:40. > :08:41.predicts the Asia Pacific region Rico Hizon is in our
:08:42. > :08:45.Asia Business Hub in Singapore. Rico, that sounds encouraging,
:08:46. > :08:59.what else did they say? They said a whole lot of things. The
:09:00. > :09:05.IMF forecast in Asia is picking up momentum, with the Chinese economy
:09:06. > :09:14.expected to perform better at 6.6%. All regional economic expansion will
:09:15. > :09:20.move up to 5.5%, making it the world 's fastest growing economy. There
:09:21. > :09:24.are problems. The influential multinational body noted risks to be
:09:25. > :09:30.able to sustain this growth. One risk is that there is a rapidly
:09:31. > :09:39.ageing population. Asian economies must learn from the experience of
:09:40. > :09:42.Japan. Number two, the big buildup of borrowing in China in the
:09:43. > :09:58.aftermath of the global financial crisis. Also, the IMF wants tighter
:09:59. > :10:04.regulations, which could change. -- change things. There are also
:10:05. > :10:15.protectionist measures that will be taken into account. Thank you.
:10:16. > :10:25.Taking a look at the markets now. We got results from Toyota and
:10:26. > :10:30.Mitsubishi, they are still coming, there is some nervousness. Sony is
:10:31. > :10:33.looking good and they could have some better profits news. Their
:10:34. > :10:41.shares are climbing, that is interesting. That is how markets are
:10:42. > :10:43.faring right now in Asia, I will be back soon with a look at the
:10:44. > :10:45.morning's