SEJONG -- South Korea’s brisk export performance, which started in the fourth quarter of 2020 as a rebound or recovery, has continued during the first 10 days of 2022, state customs data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, the nation’s exports reached $13.9 billion during the period of Jan. 1-10, up 24.4 percent compared to $11.2 billion over the same period of 2021. By main...

South Korean stocks finished nearly unchanged Tuesday as investors await comments by the US Federal Reserve chief at the Senate hearing. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged up 0.66 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,927.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 559 million shares worth some 10.5 trillion won ($8.8 bi...

A ruling party lawmaker recently filed a bill calling for banks to receive the financial authorities’ permission for partially shutting down their business here, the National Assembly’s online bill information system showed Tuesday. Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the Democratic Party of Korea’s move follows Citibank Korea’s decision in October last year to pull out its retail banking business in phases,...

The number of South Korean companies that returned home from their offshore operations and their investment at home hit an all-time high last year, the industry ministry said Tuesday. A total of 26 firms relocated their factories from overseas in 2021, compared with 24 the previous year, and their combined investment grew 22 percent on-year to 681.5 billon won ($570.63 million), according to the...

Insurance firms in South Korea saw their risk-based capital ratio fall in the third quarter of last year amid rising market interest rates, data showed Tuesday. The risk-based capital (RBC) ratio of local insurance firms stood at 254.5 percent as of end-September, down 6.4 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The fall c...

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership takes effect in February, the Korea Customs Service has come up with a set of measures to help exporters and importers make use of the world’s largest trade agreement among 15 Asia-Pacific nations. Only exporters who have been certified by the KCS for having the ability to manage and prove their products’ country of origin can get certificates o...

KCS steps up crackdown on narcotics, illegal currency exchange

Bond issuance in South Korea fell 1.8 percent in 2021 from a year earlier due to decreased debt sales by the government, data showed Tuesday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 829 trillion won ($693 billion) last year, down 15.3 trillion won from 2020, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. State-bond issuance shrank 4 percent on-ye...

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 12.44 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,939.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks started solid after the KOSPI's recent slump, which stemmed from worries that the US Federal Reserve may push harsher-than-expected tapering and rate hikes. Most l...

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 19th straight month in November, but the surplus was much smaller than a year earlier due to increased imports driven by high energy and raw material prices, central bank data showed Tuesday. The current account surplus amounted to $7.16 billion in November, down from a surplus of $9.18 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the prelimin...

LG Energy Solution said Monday that it would soon outcompete its bigger Chinese rival in the global race to develop electric vehicle batteries, amid market anticipation that the South Korean battery maker’s market debut will set a record later this month. “We’ve received more orders. We'll be overtaking our rival. And the market capitalization gap between us -- LG Energy Solution and CATL -- wil...

Korean instant noodle exports in the first 11 months of last year set a new record amid the prolonged pandemic and the popularity of “chapaguri,” a mix of two different instant noodle products featured in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite.” Exports of ramen, known locally as “ramyeon,” in January-November 2021 hit $607.9 million, up 10.6 percent from the same period a year prior. The 2020 total, ...

South Korean stocks retreated Monday, weighed by concerns over the possibility of the US Federal Reserve's faster-than-expected tapering and rate hikes. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 28.17 points, or 0.95 percent, to close at 2,926.72 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 470 million shares worth some 10.2 trillion...

South Korea will begin its annual meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week on the country's overall economic situation as well as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Monday. An IMF team, led by Martin Kaufman, Korea missions chief at the Washington-based organization, will hold a video conference with the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday...

A campaign pledge by ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has sent jitters through the finance sector as he vowed to hand the nation’s financial watchdog stronger legal authority to side with consumers when settling disputes with insurers. The ruling party’s presidential election campaign committee on Friday announced that Lee seeks to ban insurers from not conceding to orders from ...