Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Over 9,000 hotline calls made by stalking victims in 2023
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[Hello India] Hyundai Motor vows to boost 'clean mobility' in India
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Ministry denies blame for Jamboree debacle
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Kakao Bank to target loan market for low credit borrowers
Kakao Bank, South Korea’s second internet-only lender, will expand loans for those with low to moderate credit scores and make a foray into the business loan area within the year, the company’s CEO said on Tuesday. Yoon Ho-young, CEO of the lender, told reporters that loans for the low- and mid-credit borrowers will be “significantly” increased from last year’s 1.38 trillion won ($1.24 billion). The size and interest rates for such loans will be dependent on the m
Feb. 2, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on Wall Street rallies
South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, taking a cue from US stock rallies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 18.12 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,074.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.55 percent, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.76 percent, and the S&P 500 gaining 1.61 percent. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics rose 0.33 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix hiked 2.4 percent. Intern
Feb. 2, 2021
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POBA to allocate W300b to Koramco for real estate investment
South Korea‘s institutional investor, the Public Officials Benefit Association, is poised to commit 300 billion won ($268.6 million) to alternative asset manager Koramco Asset Management for its investment in commercial real estate, Koramco said Monday. Using the fresh fund, Koramco will mainly target prime office buildings in Seoul and the neighboring Bundang business district in Gyeonggi Province. The fund will be managed under the POBA guideline where 60 percent of the cash will be de
Feb. 1, 2021
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KB Kookmin Card completes stake acquisition of Thai lender
Credit card issuer KB Kookmin Card said Monday that it has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake of J Fintech, a Bangkok-based loan provider, speeding up the pace to infiltrate the Southeast Asian market. With the latest takeover, the credit card business becomes the first South Korean company to make an official entry to the Thai lending industry. The card company invested 24 billion won ($21.4 million) to acquire the 50-pecent stake in the Thai lender, while the remaining 50 pe
Feb. 1, 2021
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Yanolja names new CIO to speed up IPO
Accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja announced Monday that it has appointed a new chief investment officer to lead the discovery of new growth engines. The newly named CIO, Choi Chan-seok, is a seasoned expert in mergers and acquisitions and investor relations. While leading investment and M&A deals at mobile gaming firm Netmarble, he played a key role in acquiring water purifier rental firm Coway and US mobile game developer Kabam, and helped the game company to invest in both
Feb. 1, 2021
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Seoul stocks again cross 3,000 point threshold on foreign, institutional buying
South Korean stocks closed back over the 3,000-point threshold Monday, led by foreign and institutional buying and strong advances by bio shares. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 80.32 points, or 2.7 percent, to close at 3,056.53 points. Trading volume was high at about 958 million shares worth some 20.5 trillion won ($18.4 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 710 to 156. Foreigners bought a net 131 billion won and
Feb. 1, 2021
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Retail investors see disappointing performance in January
Amateur share traders, who defended the market from a massive selloff by established investors, injected nearly half of last year’s investments in January, but their performance remained in negative territory, data showed Monday. According to the Korea Exchange, individual investors net purchased Kospi-listed stocks worth 22.34 trillion won ($19.97 billion) and 3.51 trillion-won worth of shares from the secondary Kosdaq market. The net buying figures, when combined, are equivalent to 40 p
Feb. 1, 2021
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NCSoft benefits most from listing transfer to Kospi
Forty-five companies, which first went public via South Korea’s tech-heavy Kosdaq market, saw at least a threefold surge in market valuation after they transferred to the nation’s main bourse market since 2000, data showed Monday. Of the 45 companies transferred to Kospi, 42 firms progressed with a combined market capitalization of 206.57 trillion won ($184.89 billion) as of Friday, jumping from 65.77 trillion won logged 20 years ago, according to the Korea Exchange. The three disap
Feb. 1, 2021
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Hyundai Motor, KDB earmark W74.5b to invest in mobility startups
Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it has partnered with state-run lender Korea Development Bank to create a fund of 74.5 billion won ($66.6 million) to support open innovation of the South Korean automaker giant and its supply chain. The fund primarily targets domestic startups dedicated to eco-friendly cars and smart cars, as well as companies with futuristic mobility technologies with regards to urban air mobility and purpose-built vehicles. Major backers of the fund include Hyundai Motor, K
Feb. 1, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on pharmaceutical gains
South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by strong pharmaceutical gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.35 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,991.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top cap Samsung Electronics slipped 0.12 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.22 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics added 1.64 percent, and Celltrion jumped 6.64 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem moved up 0.55 percent, and rechargeable battery maker Sam
Feb. 1, 2021
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Korea considers extending ban on short selling until June
South Korea’s top financial regulator is likely to extend the temporary ban on short selling by institutional and foreign investors until as late as June, as it plans to establish a system that would enable individual investors to short sell stocks around that time, market officials said Sunday. At a Jan. 25 meeting, the Financial Services Commission reportedly encouraged working-level officials from stock brokerage firms to pick up the pace to set up the short selling system for retai
Jan. 31, 2021
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Korean investors turn net sellers of GameStop shares
South Korean investors were net sellers of US-based video game retailer GameStop solely on the day when the short squeeze started to materialize, data showed Sunday. Korean investors -- both individuals and corporations -- net sold GameStop shares worth $54 million on Tuesday, according to the latest data from the Korea Securities Depository. Trading data from Wednesday, when GameStop‘s share price peaked, was not available as the foreign securities settlement date is three business days
Jan. 31, 2021
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BlackRock emerges as LG Display blockholder
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, owned over 5 percent of Seoul-based LG Display ordinary shares as of January without the purpose of shareholder engagement, a filing showed Sunday. BlackRock Fund Advisor, a fully owned subsidiary of BlockRock, and its 13 specially related parties held a combined 17.8 million common shares in the South Korean company for 375.1 billion won ($335.7 million) as of Jan. 22. They have some 100,000 shares in the form of American depositary receipts
Jan. 31, 2021
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Number of overdraft accounts on rise amid bull market
The number of new credit loans via overdraft accounts has been on a sharp rise as South Korean retail investors are scrambling to borrow money for stock investment, fueled by a recent market bull run, industry data showed Sunday. The five major banks here -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup -- saw their customers open a total of 43,143 overdraft accounts between Jan.1-28, which equates to a combined average of nearly 2,000 daily. The overdraft balance surged by 1.21 trillion w
Jan. 31, 2021
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S. Korean retail investors buy net W26tr worth of stocks in Jan.
South Korean retail investors snapped up a net 25.8 trillion won ($23 billion) worth of local stocks in January alone, data showed Sunday, in the latest sign of their relentless buying spree. Individual investors bought a net 22.3 trillion won worth of stocks in the main market and a net 3.5 trillion won of shares in the secondary-KOSDAQ market in January, according to the data compiled by the bourse operator Korea Exchange. The figure amounted to 40 percent of their total net stock purchases,
Jan. 31, 2021
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Seoul stocks tipped to remain under selling pressure next week
South Korean stocks are likely to come under selling pressure next week following this week's choppy trading, as market volatility is expected to remain high over massive foreign selling and profit-taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,976.21 points Friday, down 5.24 percent from a week ago. The index crashed below the 3,000-point level for the first time since surpassing the psychologically important threshold on Jan. 7. The fall was largely attributed to for
Jan. 30, 2021
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Short sellers under siege everywhere have it really bad in Korea
Retail investors hell-bent on watching stocks go up have made life miserable for short sellers around the world. In South Korea, the government is piling on too. Lawmakers who oversee the country’s $2 trillion stock market are discussing plans to extend one of the world’s longest bans on short selling, amid pressure from mom-and-pop punters who drive more than two thirds of daily trading. Calls to make the 10-month ban permanent are mounting. More than 203,000 people have signed a
Jan. 30, 2021
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Stock markets decline for four straight sessions on foreign sellout
South Korea’s stock markets fell for four consecutive sessions on Friday, driven by foreign investors‘ sellout. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index began the day in positive territory but fell below 3,000 points for the first time since Jan. 6 when it recorded 2,976.21 points. The index plunged 3.03 percent, or 92.84 points, to 2,976.21 points on Friday, marking the largest daily decline since Aug. 20, 2020. Foreign and institutional investors sold a net of 1.43 tri
Jan. 29, 2021
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Mirae Asset Daewoo logs over W1tr in operating profit
South Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo said Friday its consolidated operating profit exceeded 1 trillion won last year, making it the first Korean financial company to reach the milestone Its consolidated group operating profit surged by 52 percent to 1,104 trillion won ($988 million) in 2020, while its profit before tax increased 26 percent to 1.12 trillion won. It posted 818.3 billion won in net profit, a 23 percent on-year increase. The company said it ushered in an era of over 1
Jan. 29, 2021
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Kospi dips by 3% to below 3,000 on foreign dumping
The South Korean benchmark stock index plunged below the 3,000-point threshold Friday on massive foreign dumping, largely generated by valuation concerns over local stocks and a liquidity squeeze in China. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 92.84 points, or 3.03 percent, to close at 2,976.21 points, registering the largest daily loss since Aug. 20 last year. Trading volume was high at about 972 million shares worth some 23.8
Jan. 29, 2021