Most Popular
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Koreans, Americans differ on prestigious jobs: lawmakers vs. firefighters
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Only half of S. Koreans willing to marry: data
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Disgraced ex-minister rises as major threat to ruling party
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Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community
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Summit for Democracy opens in Seoul in mega-election year
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Med professors to resign starting March 25
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Dyson founder visits Seoul for global debut of new hair dryer
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Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI
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Ryu Joon-yeol, Han So-hee confirm dating since early 2024
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NK leader guides firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers
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Standard Chartered CEO mentors university students in S. Korea
London-based Standard Chartered Bank CEO Bill Winters mentored Korean university students seeking careers in finance in an contact-free manner as part of his monthlong visit to the country, the lender’s Korean subsidiary said Thursday. Winters and 13 university students on Wednesday discussed issues related to social finance, changes in the financial environment in the post-COVID-19 era and the “fourth industrial revolution” in the program via videoconferencing, Standard Char
Sept. 10, 2020
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Kakao Games makes stellar stock market debut, lands No. 5 on Kosdaq
Kakao Games, the gaming arm of Korean mobile messenger giant Kakao, made a strong market debut on the tech-heavy Kosdaq on Thursday, trading at more than double its initial public offering price. Shares of Kakao Games began trading at 48,000 won ($40.50), twice the offering price. The opening price of a newly listed stock is determined between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. in the first trading session and it can reach up to 200 percent of its IPO price, according to the nation’s sole bourse oper
Sept. 10, 2020
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No. of reported offshore account holders jumps 24%
The number of foreign account holders that reported to the National Tax Service surged 24 percent on-year to 2,685 worth nearly 60 trillion won, data showed Thursday. In June, 1,889 residents of Korea reported accounts to NTS, each holding a balance of 4.2 billion won on average, while 796 Seoul-based corporations documented accounts, with an average balance of 65.2 billion won. Their total account balance came to 59.9 trillion won ($50.5 billion), down 2.6 percent from the previous year. The n
Sept. 10, 2020
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Seoul stocks open sharply higher on Wall Street rebound
South Korean shares opened sharply higher Thursday, tracking an overnight rebound on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.48 points, or 1.11 percent, to 2,402.29 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index got off to a strong start after a 1.09 percent fall the previous session. Tech shares soared, taking a cue from a rebound in US tech heavyweights. The tech-laden Nasdaq composite rose 293.87 points, or 2.71 percent, to 11,141.56 on Wednesday (New
Sept. 10, 2020
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TVXQ’s Yunho stars in Shinhan’s campaign for millennials
K-pop duo TVXQ’s Yunho was featured in a promotional video for Shinhan Financial Group’s campaign promoting healthy lifestyles for millennials, launched Wednesday. Participants in the three-month social media campaign will receive five tasks to complete every two weeks, designed to “boost their confidence” in areas tied to hobbies, perceptions of the environment and society, talent, exercise and networking. They can then upload photos or videos on social media showing
Sept. 9, 2020
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COVID-19 changing how Korean LPs think about infrastructure bet
Even before the pandemic, South Korean institutional investors pursued safe bets in infrastructure investment, given their tendency to work with top-tier external partners to manage their money and to join the final round of fundraising for those external partners. They became more conservative in the wake of COVID-19, representatives of Korean institutional investors said Tuesday at Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit Virtual Experience 2020, hosted by the London-based financial intelligence
Sept. 9, 2020
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Seoul stocks dip over 1% on Wall Street-triggered sell-offs
South Korean shares dipped more than 1 percent Wednesday, as investors dumped market heavyweights following a plunge in the US stock market. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 26.1 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 2,375.81. Trading volume was moderate at about 929 million shares worth some 15.2 trillion won ($12.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 618 to 240. Foreigners sold a net 117 billion won, extending the
Sept. 9, 2020
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KDB chief likely to take second term
Lee Dong-gull, chairman of South Korea’s largest state-run lender the Korea Development Bank, has de facto clinched his second term in office, officials said Wednesday. Once the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae makes it official, Lee is to become the first KDB leader in 26 years to serve two consecutive terms and the fourth to do so in the state-run bank’s 65-year history. Speculation about the KDB’s leadership had been rampant as no plausible candidates were in sight wh
Sept. 9, 2020
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KDB finalizes acquisition of Indonesian financial firm Tifa Finance
The state-run Korea Development Bank said on Wednesday that it has recently completed the process to acquire the Indonesian company Tifa Finance. The latest takeover, which is in line with the government’s drive to beef up economic and geopolitical relations with countries in Southeast Asia, is aimed at expanding operations in the local market. In December, the Korean bank signed a contract to acquire an 80.65 percent stake in the Indonesian financial company from DSU Group, a manufact
Sept. 9, 2020
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Mirae Asset Daewoo’s customer assets surpass W300tr amid stock investment boom
Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo said Wednesday that its customer deposits exceeded 300 trillion won ($252 billion) as of end-August, amid growing interest in stock investments in times of ultralow interest rates. At the end of last month, the securities firm’s customer deposits neared 301 trillion won, up more than 60 trillion won from the 239 trillion won recorded at the end of last year. The customer deposits include retail and corporate investors’ money put in their s
Sept. 9, 2020
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Mirae Asset set to acquire Amazon logistics centers in US: sources
Mirae Asset Global Investments, the asset management arm of South Korean financial group Mirae Asset, was selected as a preferred bidder to acquire Amazon’s logistics centers in the US for $17 million, according to local industry sources Wednesday. The three logistics centers, located in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina, have been put on sale by Scannell Properties, a US real estate development firm, they said. The centers handle Amazon’s last-mile delivery. While Amazon is set to
Sept. 9, 2020
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FSC to provide safeguards for heavy debtors
To help delinquent debtors get back on their feet, Korean authorities plan to draft new legislation that enables them to request a debt restructuring program to financial institutions and have a mediator in the process, the Financial Services Commission said Wednesday. The “consumer credit bill” can force local lenders to cease debt collection activities, upon the debtor‘s request, and offer a revised version of a repayment program within 10 working days. Currently, borrowe
Sept. 9, 2020
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Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street plunge
South Korean shares opened sharply lower Wednesday, taking a cue from a drop in tech stocks on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 27.2 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,374.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment worsened as key US stock indexes tumbled, with tech shares in particular falling deep. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite plummeted 465.44 points, or 4.11 percent, to 10,847.69 on Tuesday (New York time). The Dow Jones Industrial Av
Sept. 9, 2020
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Kakao Games to debut on Kosdaq on Thursday
Kakao Games, the game developing unit of South Korean mobile giant Kakao, will debut on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market Thursday, the Korea Exchange said Tuesday. The company's public offering price is 24,000 won per share. It logged record-breaking IPO subscription early this month, far outperforming SK Biopharmacueticals, which went public in July. Subscription deposits for Kakao Games shares were estimated at 58.55 trillion won ($49.4 billion), almost double the 30.99 trillion won deposited fo
Sept. 8, 2020
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CLSA derides Moon’s New Deal fund
A report by Hong Kong-based investment bank CLSA lashed out at President Moon Jae-in‘s Korean New Deal initiative and the 20 trillion-won ($16.8 billion) fund to finance the projects, claiming his scheme promotes moral hazard and is designed to win votes. In the report titled “Moon’s debut as a fund manager,” Paul Choi, head of Korea research at CLSA, addressed possible negative impacts due to the government’s fund scheme, such as the “blowing of a bubble&rd
Sept. 8, 2020
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BOK to buy 5tr won worth of state bonds by end-year to stabilize market
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday it plans to buy state bonds worth 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion) directly from the market by the end of this year in a bid to stabilize the debt market. The move is aimed at tackling potential market jitters and easing a sharp rise in market rates in a preemptive manner as the government is expected to increase bond issuance, the BOK said in a statement. The government plans to sell more bonds to finance the fourth extra budget designed to cushion the fallo
Sept. 8, 2020
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Seoul stocks surpass 2,400-level on European monetary easing hopes
South Korean shares gained for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as investors pin hopes on the possibility that the European Central Bank (ECB) may signal further easing moves in its upcoming monetary policy meeting. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.69 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 2,401.91. Trading volume was high at about 966 million shares worth some 17 trillion won ($14.3 billion), with losers outnumberi
Sept. 8, 2020
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Apartment prices in Seoul, elsewhere continue to soar
Despite the government’s claim that the housing market is stabilizing, apartment prices in Seoul increased in August from the previous month and the same was true for other cities across the nation, data showed Tuesday. The number of listings for “jeonse” rentals, which involve a large lump-sum deposit in lieu of monthly rent, and regular monthly rentals have dramatically decreased in recent weeks. Furthermore, landlords began raising rents before the government implemented
Sept. 8, 2020
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Korean asset managers take heat from H2O fund freeze
Korean asset management houses are facing a ripple effect from London-based investor H2O Asset Management‘s decision to halt fund withdrawals for four weeks and to draw up measures to seek redress from the fund freeze, according to an announcement Tuesday. VI Asset Management and Kiwoom Asset Management, both based in Seoul, have their combined investment of 460 billion won ($387 million) suspended from the redemptions, as the asset managers had bought mutual funds managed by H2O through
Sept. 8, 2020
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Seoul stocks open higher on tech, bio gains
South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday, buoyed by tech and bio gains on the main bourse. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.84 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,401.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index rose above the 2,400-point mark as chipmakers continued to gain despite lingering valuation pressure on tech shares in major economies. Large caps traded mixed in Seoul. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 1.59 percent, with No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix ed
Sept. 8, 2020