Prices soar to 24-year high in June, first-time rate hike by 50 basis points likely

South Korea’s central bank said Tuesday that foreign reserves in June saw the sharpest decline since November 2008, when the country was dealing with the global financial crisis, feeding concerns of the weakening value of the Korean won against the US dollar. “Korea’s official foreign reserves as of end of June 2022 amounted to $438.3 billion,” the BOK said in a statement. It was down $9.43 bill...

South Korea's exports of farm and fisheries products grew 14.6 percent in the first half of this year on solid demand for Korean food, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods came to $6.21 billion in the January-June period, up from $5.42 billion from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The figure represents the l...

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Tuesday after the key index hit a 20-month low the previous session amid global recession woes. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 18.62 points, or 0.81 percent, to 2,318.96 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap stocks gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.7 percent and chip giant...

South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest clip in nearly 24 years in June due mainly to soaring energy costs, data showed Tuesday, fanning expectations of a sharp rate hike this month. Consumer prices soared 6 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 5.4 percent on-year spike in May, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest inflation rate si...

South Korean stocks dipped for a fourth consecutive day to hit a fresh 20-month low Monday as investors worry the US Federal Reserve's move to curb inflation may trigger a deeper-than-expected economic recession. The local currency inched up against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.08 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,300.34, the lowe...

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering revising the law on foreign exchange transactions for the first time since it was legislated 23 years ago, officials said Monday, drawing market eyes to whether the government would be granted the authority to impose financial sanctions on overseas traders “independently.” Under the current law, the Korean government is only entitled to a...

South Korea’s key stock index plummeted to a fresh low for the year in morning trade on Monday as recession fears grew ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate-setting meeting scheduled next week. The benchmark Kospi opened 0.23 percent higher from the previous closing at 2,310.73, but soon fell below the 2,300-mark to hit a new low of 2,288.92 in morning trade. Kospi has plummeted some 22 percent sin...

The Finance Ministry said Monday that the government would respond to any signs of economic weakness before it turns into a crisis by closely tracking indicators pointing to a worsening outlook, like inflation or recession, ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate hike next week. The country’s five economic chiefs -- the finance minister, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s economic adviser and three separate ch...

South Korea's sole icebreaker kicked off its 13th Arctic mission Monday to conduct research on clues about climate change in the North Pole, a local polar research institute said. The Araon left the western port of Incheon for a 92-day mission to study the causes of abnormal weather conditions there and the impact of global warming on its ecosystem, the Korea Polar Research Institute said. It i...

South Korea's electricity demand touched a fresh all-time high in June as the country was struck by an early heat wave, data showed Monday. The country's maximum power demand averaged 71,805 megawatts (MW) last month, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier and marking the highest tally for any June, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. June also represented the first time the figure...

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Monday, tracking a US rebound last week as investors closely watch the US Federal Reserve's next move to curb inflation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 9.92 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,315.34 in the first 15 minutes of choppy trading. Major US indexes on Friday (US time) reversed their earlier losses to end higher, as investors ...

Business leaders of South Korea and Japan called Monday for the leaders of the two countries to hold a summit at an early date to address pending bilateral issues and help restore economic ties. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren -- major business lobbies in the two countries -- made the joint call during their annual meeting that was resume...

South Korea's finance minister, the central bank chief and financial regulators said Monday they will step up policy coordination to minimize fallout from rising interest rates at home and abroad. In a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, they discussed economic and financial situations amid heightened external economic uncertainty from the prolonged war between Russia and Uk...

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday that he would help Korean companies sell more goods overseas by offering more loans at a time when Korea’s exports snapped 15 months of double-digit growth in June, stocking recession worries. The trade deficit in January-June this year reached $10.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded in the first six months of a year, despite record-high exports ...