Kakao Bank, the mobile bank of Kakao Corp., won its final regulatory approval Wednesday. The Financial Services Commission held a meeting Wednesday and gave the green light to Kakao Bank to operate as an internet bank that provides banking and financial services without any physical branch network. With the final regulatory hurdle cleared, the bank will begin its services as early as June after final checks and preparation, the company said.  “At the beginning we will provide basi

The Cayman Islands may be little known to ordinary Koreans, but inward and outward investments between South Korea and the British overseas territory located in the western Caribbean Sea have been on the rise, according to government data. As of the end of January, the amount of investment from the island reached 9.96 trillion won ($8.72 billion), up from 8.22 trillion won in January 2015. The figure in 2008 was 3.67 trillion won.  With a population of less than 60,000, the Caribbean isl

South Korea’s jobless rate inched up in January, as job conditions in the manufacturing sector continued to deteriorate and more young people stopped looking for work, government data showed Wednesday. The jobless rate in January stood at 3.8 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance showed. It marks the highest since April 2016, when the tally was 3.9 percent.  The number of jobless people exceeded the 1 million mark in Ja

North Korea’s missile launch Sunday had little impact on South Korea’s financial markets Monday. North Korea on Sunday morning launched the Pukguksong-2 missile, which North Korea’s state news agency described as a “surface-to-surface medium- to-long-range ballistic missile.”  Despite the heightened tension, South Korea’s bourses remained stable Monday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index opened 0.01 percent lower but closed up 0.17 perce

In January, foreign investors held a record high of over 500 trillion won ($435 billion) in shares of listed companies in South Korea, according to the Finance Supervisory Service. Among the top five stocks foreigners have been collecting in the tech-heavy Kosdaq in January was SFA Engineering Corp., a display equipment and logistics equipment maker, which has been enjoying a recent boom in the semiconductor and display sectors. Foreign investors continued their buying spree for the company.

South Korea and Australia renewed an existing currency swap for another three years at a size doubling the previous deal, South Korea’s central bank announced on Wednesday. The governors of the central banks -- the Bank of Korea and the Reserve Bank of Australia -- signed a deal on Wednesday to extend the current deal, which was scheduled to expire on Feb. 22, for another three years.  They also agreed to double the size of the currency swap agreement to 10 billion Australian dollar

Foreign investors held a record high of over 500 trillion won in shares of listed companies in South Korea in January. Foreign investors owned a total of 501.96 trillion won in shares of South Korea’s listed companies, adding 20.4 trillion won from the previous month or almost 100 trillion from a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said Monday. They accounted for 32 percent of the total stock ownership, up from 31.2 percent in December. The prospect of the greenback weaken

The Export-Import Bank of Korea will reduce total corporate funding this year but enhance support for prospective firms and small and medium-sized enterprises to help revive the local economy, the bank’s chief told reporters Monday. The government-owned bank will allocate 67 trillion won ($57 billion) in credit for companies this year, of which 53 trillion won will go to loans and 14 trillion won to guarantees, said Lee Duk-hoon, chairman and president of the bank. The budget is 11 perc

Foreign investors continued their buying spree for 10 consecutive trading days on Tuesday for South Korea’s main bourse, despite strong US dollars amid US interest rate hikes. 　 Foreigners bought a net of 99.7 billion won ($83 million) in shares Tuesday, marking the 10th day of net buying, although the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed down 0.18 percent, or 3.66 points, to 2,045.12 points as institutional investors dumped a net 248 billion won. 　 As of Tuesday, foreigner

Japan’s decision to suspend talks on a currency swap last Friday will have limited impact while caution is still advised, according to economists and experts. Song In-chang, deputy finance minister, played down a possible repercussion of the suspension of the bilateral currency swap deal, saying that “It wouldn’t have much impact as it is not like an existing program ended.” Sung Tae-yun, economics professor at Yonsei University said, “It is very unlikely that th

[THE INVESTOR] Mirae Asset Daewoo on July 19 lowered the target price of CJ HelloVision to 11,000 won (US$9.67) per share in the next 12 months after its failed merger with SK Broadband, the IPTV unit of SK Telecom. In the day, its share closed at 9,550 won, down 3.14 percent from the previous day. The brokerage said the Fair Trade Commission’s disapproval of the merger would affect negatively the overall attractiveness of the nation’s paid TV market that is crowded with smaller