The Bank of Korea said Wednesday that it will release its first batch of US dollar reserves in the financial market next week in accordance with a currency swap deal with the US Federal Reserve. “Negotiations on the swap contract are still underway and we plan to start supplying US dollars next week,” BOK Deputy Gov. Ryoo Sang-dai told reporters. The US dollars will be made available in differe...

The plunging crude oil prices may increase pressure on South Korea’s financial market with rising volatility forcing investors to secure cash, not to mention its negative impact on the economy. The sharp drop in oil prices in recent weeks has rattled the stock market, already reeling from the deepening coronavirus pandemic. Oil refining and chemical industries are bearing the brunt, not only fro...

Concerns about the fast-spreading novel coronavirus are fueling growing demand for “untact banking,” but foreign residents in South Korea still cannot subscribe to online banking services, due to the lack of a verification system. Untact banking refers to online or mobile banking services without physical contact between bank staff and customers. Online-only banks, which have been in Korea sinc...

The price gap between apartments in areas south and north of the Han River has increasingly widened last month, data showed Wednesday. In February, the average price per pyeong (3.31 square meters) for apartments in 11 areas of Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul surpassed 40 million won ($32,372) while apartments in 14 areas in Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul, recorded 27 million won ($21,851), according to ...

NongHyup Financial Group’s committee for nominating executive members announced Tuesday that it has recommended incumbent Vice President Son Byung-hwan as the sole candidate for the new CEO post of its bank subsidiary. The announcement came after the bank’s former CEO Lee Dae-hoon offered to resign earlier this month. Son, 58, joined the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in 1990 and ...

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea has donated 250 million won ($201,000) to nonprofit groups to support small business owners and senior residents living in Daegu, the southeastern city hit hardest by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Korea Eximbank has donated 100 million won to the comprehensive welfare center for the elderly staying at home alone, outsourced by the Ministry of Health an...

Shinhan Bank said Sunday that its call center employees will start remote working as part of its preventive measures against the spread of the new coronavirus. A total of 150 call center employees working regular hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. will start working from home starting Monday. The list, however excludes those who deal with telecommunications fraud and sign language. The decision came ami...

South Korean banks are seeing a surge in deposits, reflecting investors’ concerns amid growing uncertainties in the capital market, according to latest data Sunday. Nearly 36 trillion won ($30 billion) flowed into bank deposits last month -- the largest in five years -- Bank of Korea data showed. According to the central bank, the combined bank deposits came to nearly 1770.1 trillion won, up 35...

The Bank of Korea said Monday that it had appointed Lee Hwan-seok, the incumbent head of its research department, as its new deputy governor, a senior post within the central bank that had been vacant for nearly two months. Lee, 55, joined the BOK in 1991 and built his career in its policy departments, including research and monetary policy, the bank said. He also served as monetary policy boar...

Applications to register trademarks reminiscent of the deadly novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, are on a rapid rise in Korea, according to data from the Korean Intellectual Property Office. Since the government reported the first confirmed case of the acute respiratory disease on Jan. 20, a total of eight trademarks christened “corona” have been applied for at the patent office -- from both indivi...

South Korea’s financial watchdog is likely to slap sanctions on the tobacco giant KT&G over accounting fraud allegations, according to officials Wednesday. The Financial Supervisory Service sent a preliminary notice to KT&G last month, concluding that the firm violated financial reporting standards by reporting its Indonesian affiliate Trisakti in its consolidated financial statements even thoug...

“This year is momentous for the city’s environmental sustainability,” the mayor said. “We will expand our environmental policies to be identified by global citizens as one of the three international eco-friendly cities alongside Frankfurt, Germany, and Curitiba, Brazil.” The mayor, who was elected in 2010, has led the Human City project aimed at pursuing a balance between economic growth and soc...

Korea’s benchmark Kospi on Monday rose less than 1 percent, barely recovering past the 2,000-point mark after crashing in the previous session over expectations on an interest rate cut in the US. The local currency closed at 1,193.70 won against the US dollar, strengthening 20 won from the previous session’s close. The benchmark bourse Kospi opened slightly high at 1,997.03 -- rising 10.02 poin...

Prosecutors raided Daishin Securities, KB Securities and Woori Bank on Thursday as part of a probe into the snowballing Lime Asset Management fiasco. Investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office executed a search and seizure operation at the headquarters of Daishin Securities and KB Securities in central Seoul and KB Securities’ office in Yeouido in the morning. Prosecutor...

The number of taxpayers owning expensive homes, subject to higher property tax, surged at the fastest pace in Jamsil, southern Seoul, data showed Sunday. The number of home owners who paid comprehensive real estate holding tax rose 36.1 percent on-year from some 15,000 to nearly 21,000 in Jamsil, said Rep. Kang Byung-won of ruling Democratic Party, quoting data from the National Tax Service. Th...