The Financial Services Commission of Korea rolled out plans Thursday to strengthen the role of private equity firms in carrying out corporate bailout measures, a move aimed to discourage the practice of credit banks being reluctant to declaring insolvencies of financially distressed firms. The projected 8 trillion won ($7.09 billion) fund, where state-owned lenders would first contribute half of...

The following is the first in a series of articles breaking down the presidential candidates’ major economic pledges in a simulated question-and-answer format by gathering their answers from official websites, media interviews, public speeches, books and more. The first installment delves into proposals on chaebol reform. -- Ed. The upcoming May 9 presidential election is unusual in the sense th...

South Korea's finance minister said Thursday that the recent signs of a recovery in world trade will help Asia's fourth-largest economy make a rebound despite lingering uncertainties at home and abroad. "As the South Korean economy highly depends on exports and global demand, the upside trend in the world economy will be a boon for the country," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a ministerial m...

South Korean shares traded slightly higher late Thursday morning as investors still remained cautious in making bets on risky assets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 3.14 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,132.05 as of 11:20 a.m. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics lost 1.09 percent after starting out on a strong note. The company announced earlier in the day that preorders for ...

South Korea's central bank on Thursday revised up its growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent for 2017. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol announced the estimate in a news conference after the BOK Monetary Policy Board kept its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent in April. The BOK's gross domestic product growth estimate for 2017 is 0.1 percentage point hig...

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady for April to support the country's growth, despite a recent US rate hike. The Bank of Korea kept its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent for the 10th consecutive month in April after dropping the rate to its lowest level to bolster Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Last month, the US Federal Reserve raised its key rate by a...

South Korea's funds market grew big in size, gaining some 100 trillion won ($8.73 billion) in just two years, but the gain has not been all healthy with bigger lumps of money going to non-stock investments, industry data indicated Thursday. The Korea Financial Investment Association put the country's net fund assets at a record amount of 500.63 trillion won as of Friday. The value had just surpa...

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday on the back of robust gains in tech firms. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 4.95 points, or 0.2 percent to 2,133.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board, with tech shares leading the gain. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics added 0.24 percent, and major chipmaker SK hynix moved u...

South Korea's jobless rate fell slightly last month on the back of increased employment in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 4.2 percent last month, edging down 0.1 percentage point from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, the rate ...

Kookmin Bank launched a group to help the company gather feedback from its expat customers Wednesday. The group is made up of 12 expats, non-Korean online community users and bloggers. It is expected to compile feedback from the foreign customers of Kookmin Bank for a year. An event to celebrate its launch took place at the main branch of Kookmin Bank in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Wednesday. The move ...

The South Korean government said Wednesday that it will deal with mounting household debt in a stable way through strengthening risk management capabilities, as the debt delivers a blow to Asia's fourth-largest economy amid higher interest rates. "The issue of household debt is closely linked with the finance sector and the real economy," said Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn in a meeting in Seoul...

South Korean stocks closed slightly higher Wednesday ending a six-day losing streak, although the rise was limited due to heightened geopolitical tension surrounding the Korean Peninsula, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 5.06 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 2,128.91. Trade volume was moderate at 405.1 million shares worth 3.8 trillion won ($3.32 billi...

The on-year job growth in South Korea hit a 15-month high in March on the back of more hiring in the construction and retail sectors, government data showed Wednesday. According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed people increased by 466,000 in March from a year ago to reach 25.27 million. The on-year growth was the fastest since December 2015. The unemployment rate in Asia’s fourth-lar...

South Korea's household loans extended by local banks rose 10 percent in March from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding household loans from local lenders came to 713.9 trillion won ($621 billion) as of end-March, compared with 649 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with February, the am...

The won's movement against the dollar widened slightly in March from a month earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday. The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rate averaged 0.47 percent last month, compared to 0.39 in February, the Bank of Korea said. "The won rose against the dollar in March due to increased exports and inflows of foreign capital into local stock markets...