Total sales transactions in South Korea’s housing market last year crossed the 300 trillion-won mark for the first time over abundant liquidity and low interest rates, according to a report released by property platform operator Zigbang on Monday. The report, based on the data of real transaction prices of houses last year, showed the sales volume reached an all-time high of 360.8 trillion won (...

The startup develops a four-legged robot that moves like a dog, multi-axis force sensors and robotic arms that can sense and dodge objects or humans on their own. The company’s quadruped robot, also named Aidin, uses torque sensors in its joints to cope with uneven ground and surfaces. “Enabling robots to move with four legs on the uneven ground in a stable manner requires a higher level of rob...

After US Congress confirmed Joe Biden as the presidential election winner, leading US stock benchmarks surged to record highs on Thursday (local time). South Korea’s main bourse also hit an all-time high in intraday trading on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index for 30 top-performing US firms, rose 0.69 percent to 31,041.13 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.56 percen...

He added that the company would keep making efforts to expand its global presence, manage potential risks beforehand, seize opportunities in new segments while using emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain. Mentioning the ongoing spread of COVID-19, Korea Investment & Securities CEO Jung Il-mun stressed the need to routinize the company’s risk management to ...

Holdings of small shareholders in the nation’s largest company, Samsung Electronics, grew to 6.5 percent in 2020, up from 3.6 percent at the end of 2019, data showed Sunday. The number of small stockholders is expected to have more than tripled from 568,313 to 2 million during the same period. Small shareholders refer to individual investors who have less than a 1 percent stake. The portion of ...

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has become South Korea’s richest stakeholder, replacing his father’s name that held the title for decades, data showed Wednesday. The vice chairman’s stock value stood at 9.07 trillion won ($8.35 billion) as of Tuesday, nearly 2 trillion won more than last year, according to CEO Score, a local corporate researcher. Stock ownership of the 49-year-ol...

South Korea’s housing price rally, sparked by a supply shortage and tightened regulations throughout the year, is likely to continue next year, stoking concerns about housing market instability. According to KB Financial Group in a report, housing prices across the country will see an upward march overall next year while two-year rentals requiring a refundable lump-sum deposit in lieu of monthl...

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin remained on an upward trend Monday, after crossing the 30 million-won ($27,300) mark for the first time in the South Korean market over the weekend. Hitting a high of 30.59 million won, the digital coin traded above the level of 30 million won throughout morning trading, according to Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange run by financial technology firm Dunamu. The price of on...

Fried chicken franchises marked the largest on-year sales increase last year on growing demand for takeout and delivery, data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, fried chicken franchises saw their sales jumping 21.7 percent in 2019, with each branch selling about 200 million won of products and services on average. “Increased chicken prices, along with the inclusion of delivery fees...

The growing number of small businesses, including restaurants and mom-and-pop stores closing down their operations amid the lingering coronavirus crisis, has seriously affected commercial real estate markets as well, a report said Wednesday. The report published by KB Financial Group suggested that commercial property markets will continue to suffer next year, along with hotel, commercial space ...

Samsung shares came under the market spotlight as the amount of inheritance tax was set at a record 11.03 trillion won ($9.96 billion) based on closing prices of the stocks on Tuesday. Among shares held by late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee are those of tech giant Samsung Electronics, IT solutions developer Samsung SDS, construction firm Samsung C&T, and insurer Samsung Life Insurance. According ...

The local initial public offering market was all the rage in 2020 as nearly 300 trillion won ($272.9 billion) poured in, three times more than 2018 or 2019, according to industry data on Sunday. This year’s IPO market will come to a close with materials firm Sukgyung AT making its debut on Wednesday. Other than special-purpose acquisition companies and companies that merged with listed firms, a...

Financial regulator Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it has ordered online-only bank Kakao Bank to beef up its plans to deal with emergent situations, such as shortage of capital. The watchdog regularly assesses financial companies’ capital adequacy and risk management schemes, and it orders them to fix inefficient emergency measures if there is any. It was the first time for th...

South Korea’s National Pension Service is likely to log a 7 percent return on its investments this year, the nation’s welfare minister said Wednesday. “Investment environments seem to be on a recovery path with domestic and global economic indices improving and the (local) stock market hitting record highs recently,” said Park Neung-hoo, minister of health and welfare, who chairs the NPS’ asset ...

Bitcoin on Wednesday came under market watch after it spiked nearly to $20,000 earlier this month and continued its rally for days, on the back of institutional investors diversifying their portfolios. The most popular cryptocurrency remained above $19,000 per coin for a third straight day Wednesday morning, according to Upbit, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges here operated by local f...