South Korea's official development assistance for foreign countries fell 8.7 percent to $2.25 billion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, recent data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has shown. According to the data on the tentative tally of 29 members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee released Tuesday, South Korea's bilateral ODA for 2020 stood at $1.76 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago, while its multilateral contributions slumped 19.9 percen

South Korean stocks are likely to maintain their upward momentum next week as expectations of estimate-beating first-quarter corporate earnings run high, although investors may be attempted to cash in recent gains.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 3,198.62 points on Friday, up 2.13 percent from a week before. The index gained for the five sessions since Monday, with brokerages predicting the index may stay above the 3,200-point threshold despite the increased val

Responding to the prolonged crisis in Myanmar, the South Korean government has decided to halt financing for government infrastructure projects there until next year, a source told The Korea Herald on Friday. “The Ministry of Economy and Finance has temporarily suspended financial support through the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund for any new infrastructure projects by the military government,” said an official at the Export-Import Bank of Korea, who requested anonymity

South Korean shares advanced for the fifth day Friday, finishing just shy of the 3,200-point mark, as expectations of a global economic rebound and sound corporate earnings boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 4.29 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,198.62 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 961 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser

Second-tier banks in South Korea likely to bid for Citibank Korea‘s retail biz, according to industry sources

An investor group led by South Korean builder Dongbu Corp. signed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in debt-saddled shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, filings showed Friday. According to the filings, a consortium composed of Dongbu and local private equity firm Echoprime Private Equity will buy a combined 55.7 million common shares, or 66.85 percent voting rights, from eight banks including the state-run Korea Development Bank and the Philippines-based BDO Unibank. T

South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has launched two exchange-traded funds tracking the value of Bitcoin futures via its Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs. Along with the Bitcoin-based ETFs it also rolled out a fund investing in stocks in the battery, bitotechnology, internet, and gaming industries, often collectively referred to as the BBIG sectors. Of the newly launched cryptocurrency ETFs is an inverse product, called BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF, which profi

South Korean institutional investor, the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, has selected four domestic external partners for its 60 billion-won ($53.7 million) commitment to have exposure to private equities and venture capital, an official said Friday. The institutional investor, dedicated to the welfare of workers in the field of construction, has decided to allocate a combined 40 billion won to Dominus Investment and Stic Investments for its private equity exposure. The external p

Unionized workers at Citibank Korea voiced criticism against Citibank Korea’s decision to withdraw its retail banking operations, calling it unilateral. “(Citibank Korea’s labor union) can‘t accept Citigroup’s unilateral announcement. Since Bloomberg reported on the group’s possible divestiture plan in February, we have been preparing legal action and systematic countermeasures,” said Jin Chang-geun, head of the Citibank Korea labor union. “We&r

The South Korean economy is on a recovery track as exports remain robust and a slump in domestic demand has gradually eased amid the pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday. In its monthly economic assessment report, the government presented a more positive assessment about private consumption, compared with March, when it said domestic demand had suffered extended sluggishness. "While the country's exports and the manufacturing sector have extended improvements, slumps in domestic dem

South Korean shares opened higher Friday, taking a cue from an overnight rally on Wall Street over strong signals of economic rebound. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.79 point, or 0.24 percent, to 3,202.12 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 1.11 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent, both reaching all-time highs, as steep improvement in US jobs and sales data raised hopes of global economic rebound.

The cryptocurrency turnover in South Korea has more than doubled over the past month, a market tracker said Friday, as retail investors scramble to the virtual currency amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The combined turnover of 14 cryptocurrency exchanges in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to $21.63 billion as of 4 p.m. Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap. In particular, the top four exchanges -- Bithumb, Upbit, Corbit and Coinone -- had a combined turnover of $18.85 billion, o