Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Suspect in murder of girlfriend's mugshot, name made public
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S. Korea, US to initiate early defense cost-sharing talks this week
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[Economy in pandemic] Is S. Korea’s stock market on recovery track?
With the COVID-19 infection curve in South Korea having slowed down in recent weeks, the local bourse is gradually recovering its momentum on the back of an influx of foreign capital. But investors still find themselves confused as the virus continues to spread in other parts of the world and authorities voice warnings against “excessive optimism.” After hitting a 52-week high at 2,255.49 points Feb. 13, the main bourse Kospi plunged to its lowest point in 11 years -- 1,439.43 --
April 20, 2020
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Seoul stocks end lower ahead of Q1 earnings season
South Korean stocks ended lower on Monday as investors await first-quarter earnings results from this week amid signs of an easing in the global coronavirus spread. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 16.17 points, or 0.84 percent, to close at 1,898.36. Trading volume was moderate at 1.1 billion shares worth 11.7 trillion won ($9.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 515 to 337. The main index declined on Monday after
April 20, 2020
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Talks underway to create bad bank to salvage Lime losses
South Korea’s financial institutions and authorities are in talks to create a bad bank to help companies recoup the losses from disgraced hedge fund Lime Asset Management, according to industry sources Monday. The Financial Supervisory Service held a closed-door meeting with 19 private financial institutions including commercial lenders Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank and securities firms Shinhan Investment and Daishin Securities to discuss details of the private bad bank, or an asset manage
April 20, 2020
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Mobile international money transfer services eased by Hana, Kakao
Commercial lender Hana Bank and internet-only Kakao Bank said Monday they have updated their respective mobile services to help locals make international financial transactions amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Hana Bank has expanded the services of its foreigners-only mobile banking app to locals to help limit face-to-face interactions that is usually required when handling international wire services here. The Hana EZ app provides artificial intelligence and big data-based service
April 20, 2020
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Seoul stocks open higher on easing virus woes
Seoul stocks opened higher Monday as signs of the easing spread of the new coronavirus helped ease investor concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.34 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,915.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the KOSPI ended up 3.1 percent to 1,914.53 amid hopes that the global coronavirus outbreak was peaking and will be slowing down. This week, investors will take a cue from companies' earnings results for the January-March perio
April 20, 2020
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[Market Close-up] Virus-hit air carriers brace for liquidity crisis
South Korea’s major airlines are likely to suffer a sharp revenue decline due to the coronavirus outbreak, putting further pressure on their liquidity, according to market watchers Sunday. Flag carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are facing a financial slump as services have been curtailed for now, but they are also facing the possibility of a debt crisis if the pandemic lingers. The market has been focusing on one of the frequent leveraging measures for Korean airlines, as they imm
April 20, 2020
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Stock-related floating money hits all-time high
Money floating around the South Korean stock market has reached a new record high amid a recent market recovery following a coronavirus-caused rout, data showed Monday. The amount of stock-related funds hit 141.79 trillion won ($116.5 billion) as of Tuesday, up nearly 24 percent from Jan. 20 when South Korea reported its first COVID-19 case, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. The figure inched down to 141.73 trillion won two days later. Stock-related funds
April 20, 2020
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[Herald Interview] ‘Strengthened shareholder rights will attract foreign investors to stock market’
South Korea’s stock market has seen a surge in capital outflow by foreign investors due to the novel coronavirus fallout, but that can be reversed, according to a top expert. In order to bring foreigners back to this undervalued market, it is crucial that locally listed firms exert all efforts to fundamentally change their corporate governance to expand shareholders’ rights, according to Daniel Yoo, head of global investment at Yuanta Securities Korea, in a recent interview with Th
April 19, 2020
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No. of fund managers hits record high as market rebounds
The number of fund managers in South Korea reached a new high in April, as the market appears to be recovering, data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of fund managers in 57 local asset management firms recorded 720, up 20 from the beginning of this year. The corresponding figure had marked the steepest rise from 2007 to 2012 when the nation saw a fund investment boom. The number of local fund managers climbed by more than 200 during the period
April 19, 2020
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IPO market stagnates as coronavirus woes drag on
South Korea’s market volatility is likely to continue as initial public offering plans for April are slipping through the cracks amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to market watchers Sunday. Sencoretech, a Seoul-based engineering firm dedicated to manufacturing steel structures, has withdrawn its listing plan on Kosdaq, which could have raised at least 27.16 billion won ($22.32 million). “Due to the high volatility caused by COVID-19, we decided to cancel the remaining proce
April 19, 2020
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Seoul stocks likely to further advance next week on stimulus: analysts
South Korean stocks are expected to continue to build up gains next week, buoyed by hopes for the reopening of the US economy and the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,914.53 points on Friday, compared with 1,860.70 points from a week ago. The KOSPI started off on a weak note on Monday by dropping nearly 2 percent on COVID-19 woes before rebounding on Tuesday and Thursday. The market was closed on Wedn
April 18, 2020
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NPS hints at expanding local stock purchases for market stability
Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo, who chairs a fund management committee under the state-run National Pension Service, said Friday that the pension operator could take part in the domestic stock market more actively, if needed, to support market stability. “The NPS’ active intervention last month has helped stabilize the stock market,” said the health and welfare minister at a meeting in Seoul in the morning with members of the committee. “The pension fun
April 17, 2020
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Kospi recovers past 1,900-mark on foreign investors‘ return
Korea’s benchmark Kospi rose 3.1 percent, recovering past the 1,900 mark Friday as investors went mining higher-risk stocks on hope of curving the peak of the novel coronavirus with a drug developed for ebola virus treatment. The local currency closed at 1,217.90 won against the US dollar, strengthening 10.80 won from the previous session’s close. The benchmark bourse Kospi opened slightly up, at 1,893.31 -- rising 44.15 points, or 2.38 percent, from the previous sess
April 17, 2020
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Govt. to announce measures to prop up sluggish job market
With the real economy facing the full impact of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the South Korean government is rolling up its sleeves to boost the nation’s job market. At a meeting with economy-related ministers, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the government would roll out a set of support measures for the job market next week. “The government will announce a package of measures to stabilize employment in South Korea after talking closely with related ministries and
April 17, 2020
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ELS issuance plunges in Q1 amid coronavirus scare
Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea plummeted in the first quarter, as lingering coronavirus concerns in global stock markets slashed demand, data showed Friday. ELS products issued in January-March stood at 21 trillion won ($17.2 billion), down 38.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). ELS refers to hybrid debt securities whose returns are determined by the performance of underlying equities, including a stock
April 17, 2020
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Seoul stocks open sharply higher on US gains
South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 44.6 points, or 2.4 percent, to reach 1,901.67 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Thursday (local time), US stocks closed higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average climbing 0.14 percent and the S&P 500 up 0.58 percent. The Nasdaq increased 1.66 percent. Large-cap shares on the Seoul bourse were trading in positive terrain. Top cap
April 17, 2020
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Meritz Securities tops salary scale in finance biz
Meritz Securities paid the highest average remuneration among financial companies last year, industry data showed Thursday. According to online job information provider Saramin, the average annual paycheck of employees at the company stood at 130 million won ($105,940), outrunning the industry average of 96 million won. The data was compiled on the annual reports of 26 commercial banks, life insurance companies, reinsurers and brokerage houses. Local reinsurer Korean Re ranked second with 12
April 16, 2020
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[Herald Interview] ‘Foreign investors will flock back to Korea in hopes of an IT boom’
Amid the new coronavirus fallout which crashed global economies and forced foreign investors to exit emerging markets, South Korea’s stock market was bound to face a blow. What marks Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, is the signs of recovery, as foreign investors have begun scooping back local shares, focusing largely on IT sectors, judging that the country has moved past its epidemic peak and is now about to engage in heavy economic stimulus. “The stock market is rebo
April 16, 2020
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Mirae Asset makes $22m earnings from BioNTech investment
Mirae Asset Financial Group said Thursday it has sold Nasdaq-listed German biotechnology firm BioNTech for $37 million, earning a hefty profit from its previous investment of $15 million. The German company is known to hold one of the three mRNA-based substance that is currently a candidate for COVID-19 vaccines. Three months after making its deal, the biotech firm went public on Nasdaq through the American Depository Receipt -- the way of making hard-to-trade foreign stocks available to inve
April 16, 2020
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Foreign land ownership here grows 3% in 2019
The value of land owned by foreign nationals here came to 30.8 trillion won ($25.1 billion) last year, and accounted for 0.2 percent of the nation’s total area, government data showed Thursday. Foreign land ownership in South Korea as of end-2019 rose 3 percent from a year earlier in terms of area, with the aggregated total at 248.7 square kilometers, according to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The corresponding area is equivalent to 0.2 percent o
April 16, 2020