Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Doctors' group picks new leader amid tense standoff over increased enrollment quota
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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[Hello India] Corporate Korea sees new growth drivers in India
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Mirae Asset drops $5.8b US hotel deal as litigation escalates
Mirae Asset Global Investments, the asset management arm of Korean financial group Mirae Asset, said Monday that it scrapped a $5.8 billion deal to acquire 15 luxury hotel properties in the United States from Chinese investor Dajia Insurance, weeks after it called off the takeover. Mirae Asset, which acts on behalf of funds it manages, also said it invoked its right for the return of the 10 percent deposit from a third-party escrow agent as the transaction had failed. Amid ongoing litigation,
May 4, 2020
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Lotte chief likely to push for Hotel Lotte IPO to win power struggle
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is likely to accelerate the initial public offering of its subsidiary Hotel Lotte to consolidate his grip on the multinational group’s South Korean entities amid a resurfacing proxy battle with his elder brother Shin Dong-joo, analysts said Monday. This comes as he immediately needs to increase the value of Lotte Corp., a Seoul-based holding firm of Korean-Japanese retail giant. The Hotel Lotte IPO will not only water down its Japanese control but also
May 4, 2020
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Shinhan Bank copyrights sanction compliance manuals
In a preemptive risk management action, Shinhan Bank has registered the copyrights for the business guidelines and training videos that it has produced to comply with global economic sanctions, officials said Monday. The six articles that the bank has copyrighted include the full version of its economic sanctions compliance manual, the abridged version in Korean, the English version and three versions of related training videos in English, Chinese and Japanese. Last year, in light of the he
May 4, 2020
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[Contribution] Evaluations and research during crisis?
Lenin once said, “There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.” One of the unsung and first casualties of humanitarian crisis situations is the neglect of applied research: Research that can otherwise tell us what works, for whom, how much, why and under what circumstances. Indeed, a recent article in the journal Science discusses scientists who are having to abandon projects they have otherwise invested lifetimes in because of COVID. This is no
May 4, 2020
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Seoul stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street losses
Seoul stocks opened sharply lower Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 46.72 points, or 2.4 percent, to 1,900.84 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks plunged Friday (local time) after US President Donald Trump indicated he may consider imposing tariffs on China over its handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak, renewing bilateral tension between the world's two largest economies. T
May 4, 2020
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[Herald Interview] NK risk still matters to markets, but not more than COVID-19
The return of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the public eye on Saturday instantly dispelled rumors of regime change, as well as the snowballing concerns about turmoil in the markets here. Observers specializing in North Korean issues suggested that even if the unlikely scenario of a leadership change were to take place, market volatility would likely be short-term and less extensive than the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since North Korea is under a dictatorship, it is inevit
May 3, 2020
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Daily trading in ETN market surges in April
Profit-seeking retail investors flocked to South Korea’s exchange-traded notes market to invest in the benchmark West Texas Intermediate, triggering a record trading volume of risky derivative proucts, data showed Sunday. According to the local bourse operator Korea Exchange, the average daily trading amounts in ETN market in April reached 412.3 billion won ($336.6 million), which was nearly 20 times higher from December last year and also the largest figure since the section was launche
May 3, 2020
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[Contribution] The importance of understanding yourself
The Korea Herald is running a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. What we have experienced in the past two months is unprecedented. The COVID-19 global pandemic and the resulting physical lockdowns will deliver a massive blow to the global economy. France’s statistical office estimates the current lockdown will cost the French economy 35 percent of daily GDP as long as it continues. That means a one
May 3, 2020
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Listed firms’ earnings likely to fall more than 10% in Q2
Despite better-than-expected performance in the first quarter, South Korea’s major listed firms are likely to see their earnings dip due to the prolonged export slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a local financial market tracker said Sunday. The combined operating profit of 138 listed companies is estimated at 19.97 trillion won ($16.3 billion) for the April-June period this year, down 2.34 trillion won, or 10.5 percent, from a year earlier, according to data compiled by FN Guide
May 3, 2020
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C&W Korea to provide social distancing-friendly office model
Commercial real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield said Sunday it was looking to introduce a social distancing office design concept to help its clients reopen their workplace and embrace the new norm in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept -- dubbed “Six Feet Office” -- was unveiled as the stay-at-home restrictions has been showing signs of imminent alleviation. Ranging from creating visual boundaries using colored carpets and plexiglass shields to office signa
May 3, 2020
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KRX ditches 30% market cap rule
South Korea’s securities exchange operator, the Korea Exchange, said Wednesday that it had removed a market cap limit on the nation’s main bourse, Kospi, lifting a regulatory rule meant to prevent excessive reliance on a single stock. The 30 percent market cap rule requires securities funds, including exchange-traded funds, to reduce their holdings in stocks that account for more than 30 percent of the market value of the Kospi 200 and KRX 300 indexes. The regulation was introduced
April 30, 2020
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WeWork opens 20th location in Korea
Shared working space platform WeWork said Wednesday that it had opened a 20th location in South Korea. The location in Apro Square, WeWork Shinnonhyeon, is the 12th in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area, according to WeWork’s Korean unit. The news came over a year after its announcement in March 2019. This is the first location opened since WeWork Korea named Patricia Chun as its new general manager earlier in April. “We have strong belief in Korea as we see the growing demand f
April 29, 2020
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Seoul stocks end up for 3rd day on earnings hope
South Korean stocks ended higher for a third straight session Wednesday as investor sentiment was buoyed by expectations about robust earnings by US tech firms. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.47 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 1,947.56. Trade volume was moderate at 1.97 billion shares worth 10.4 trillion won ($8.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 570 to 272. Investors await further earnings results fr
April 29, 2020
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US-based Psomagen eyes at least W57.5b IPO in Korea
Psomagen, a US company dedicated to genome sequencing technology and DNA testing, said Wednesday it looks to raise at least 57.5 billion won ($47.2 million) in an initial public offering on the Korean bourse. Under the plan to be listed on Kosdaq, Psomagen seeks to issue 4.2 million new common shares, amounting to a 25 percent stake, and offer them to investors in an IPO set to take place in May. Shinhan Investment is an underwriter of the IPO deal. The IPO proceeds will be used to boost its
April 29, 2020
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[Herald Interview] Boosting ‘K-quarantine’ drive by safeguarding patent rights of Korean testing kit
Amid growing global demand to learn South Korea’s unique quarantine methods that have contributed to bringing the novel coronavirus under control, the nation’s patent office said Tuesday that it will closely work with overseas partners to share its know-how while protecting intellectual property rights of Korean testing kits and other related products at the same time. “The homegrown COVID-19 testing kits are seeing a soaring demand from across the globe, because companies tha
April 29, 2020
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Seoul stocks open almost flat on overnight US losses
South Korean stocks opened almost unchanged Tuesday on overnight losses in Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched up 2.18 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,936.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Tuesday (local time), US stocks gave up earlier gains to end lower on tech losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.52 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index decreased 1.4 percent. Most large-cap shares on the Seou
April 29, 2020
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Mirae Asset faces legal battle over $5.8b hotel deal
Mirae Asset Global Investments said Tuesday that Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance had not fulfilled all the requirements needed to close a $5.8 billion deal, and it was waiting for the latter to give an official explanation. Countering the Chinese insurer’s claim that the Korean firm had reneged on its obligations to closing the deal on April 17, Mirae Asset said it discovered an ongoing legal dispute between the seller and a third party while conducting due diligence on the deal. Mirae
April 28, 2020
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KDB, K-Growth vow W2.5tr growth capital with 18 partners
Policy lender Korea Development Bank and fund-of-funds investment firm Korea Growth Investment Corp. said Tuesday they have selected 18 external partners to inject a total of 2.5 trillion won ($2.05 billion) in growth capital to support the scaling up of venture companies here. Of the total of the latest batch, a combined 830 billion won will be backed by state-run financial institutions including KDB, while 50 billion won will come from the state budget. This marks the latest addition to KDB
April 28, 2020
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Koramco closes W134b fund to invest in pre-IPO REITs
Korean real estate investment firm Koramco Asset Management said Tuesday it has signed a combined 134 billion won ($109.5 million) in commitments to its two blind-pool funds to capitalize on the potential of the nation’s growing properties market. Mainly targeting real estate investment trusts that eye initial public offerings here, the funds received commitments by undisclosed institutional investors and corporate investors. A REIT refers to a company that owns income-generating commerc
April 28, 2020
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‘Lime bad bank’ to start in May, sanction process in June: FSS chief
South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday it plans to establish a bad bank in May to help companies recoup their losses from the troubled funds sold by Lime Asset Management. Citing the recent buying binge by retail stock investors here, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun urged them to be cautious about the excessive preference for high-risk and high-return investments amid the low-growth, low-interest rate environment. “During the remaining period of my term,
April 28, 2020