Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Speaker floats dual citizenship as solution to falling births
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Seoul stocks open higher on progress in US stimulus moves
South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains from Wall Street, as investor sentiment was buoyed by progress in US stimulus moves. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 6.67 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,286.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.62 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.35 percent. US lawmakers have been making efforts to reach an agreement on new stimul
Aug. 5, 2020
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K bank ups ante with non-face-to-face mortgage service
In its first step since resuming operations, internet-only lender K bank unveiled a mobile mortgage loan service on Tuesday, allowing customers to borrow money without visiting brick-and-mortar banking branches. Utilizing data scraping technology to gather customers’ credit information online, the bank can easily calculate loan limits and interest rates for customers, officials said. It has also reduced the number of documents needed when taking mortgage loans -- the bank only requires
Aug. 4, 2020
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Kospi notches record high for 2020 amid economic rebound hopes
South Korea’s main bourse Kospi on Tuesday hit the highest point over the last year, with retail investors continuing their buying spree for a fifth consecutive session after tracking an overnight Wall Street rally led by economic rebound hopes. The Kospi opened higher at 2,272.33 -- up 21.29 points, or 0.95 percent, from the previous session. The strong start continued throughout the day to close at 2,279.97, its highest of the year, surpassing 2,267.25 on Jan. 22. The index hit an intr
Aug. 4, 2020
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S. Korea to add 132,000 more houses in Seoul-Gyeonggi to solve supply-demand gap
South Korea will add 132,000 residential units in Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area, in continued efforts to improve the demand-supply imbalance and to curb housing prices, according to the nation’s fiscal chief on Tuesday. It also promised to ease some of the disputed construction regulations, allowing timeworn apartments to be redeveloped into skyscrapers under certain conditions, but refused to remove the development ban on most greenbelt areas, citing preservation needs. &
Aug. 4, 2020
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Seoul stocks almost hit 2-year high on economic rebound hopes
South Korean shares rallied Tuesday, nearly hitting a two-year high, as signs of economic recovery improved investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 28.93 points, or 1.29 percent, to close at 2,279.97, after briefly touching the year's high of 2,284.66 points. The closing marks the highest since 2,309.57 points on Oct. 2, 2018. Trading volume was moderate at about 713 million shares worth some 9
Aug. 4, 2020
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[Herald Interview] ‘Race for core assets overseas still competitive amid pandemic’
The pandemic may have shifted Korean real estate investors away from risk toward more conservative assets overseas in hopes of finding bargains, but they are likely to face strong competition from local investors also looking for a flight to safety, experts here said. “During 2020, many investors, including Korean investors, have been anticipating a discount for core assets as a result of the coronavirus, but this discount has not materialized,” Sean Choi, head of the capital market
Aug. 4, 2020
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Kakao Games pushes for September IPO
Kakao Games, the games unit of Korea’s mobile giant Kakao, has submitted a registration statement to the Financial Services Commission, with an intention of listing on the nation’s tech-heavy Kosdaq market in September. By issuing 16 million new common shares, at a price between 20,000 won and 24,000 won ($16.70-$20.10) each, the game developer looks to raise as much as 384 billion won, Kakao Games said Monday via DART-- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosu
Aug. 4, 2020
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Seoul stocks open sharply higher on overnight Wall Street rally
South Korean shares opened sharply higher Tuesday, tracking an overnight Wall Street rally led by economic rebound hopes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.35 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,274.39 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Estimate-beating July manufacturing data in the United States, China and Europe raised hopes for a global economic rebound, despite the global rise in new coronavirus infections. The NASDAQ Composite advanced 1.47 percent to a fresh
Aug. 4, 2020
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[News Focus] Questions persist on effectiveness of ‘tenant protection’ laws
Debates are heating up in the housing market and among political parties over the merits of the recently introduced tenant protections laws. While the ruling party saw the new rules as a vital step in stabilizing the bubble-prone market, opposition parties blamed the demanding new rules for further cutting back on the supply of housing. “The new tenant protection laws were effectuated in an unprecedented speed in order to minimize market confusion,” said Lee Hae-chan, chairman
Aug. 3, 2020
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Macquarie Korea infrastructure fund’s profit inches up in H1
Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund said Monday it saw a slight increase in its return on investment and its dividend payout to end-investors in the first half of 2020. According to the final estimate, MKIF recorded a return of 191.2 billion won ($160.3 million), up 1.2 percent on-year. MKIF also vowed to pay 360 won per share to investors in interim dividends, or a 6.2 percent dividend payout ratio, for the first half. MKIF, trading on the nation’s main bourse Kospi since 2006, has com
Aug. 3, 2020
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Asiana creditor blasts HDC for looming W2.5tr deal collapse
Policy lender Korea Development Bank on Monday turned its blame to Hyundai Development Co., the proposed buyer of indebted Asiana Airlines, over its delayed 2.5 trillion-won ($2.09 billion) acquisition deal from Kumho Industrial, the owner of the troubled air carrier. The KDB, one of the creditors of Asiana Airlines, also refused to accept HDC’s call for an extra round of 12 weeks of due diligence on the nation’s No. 2 air carrier -- in addition to the previous seven-week proce
Aug. 3, 2020
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Seoul home prices now exceed 12 years’ average salary
A Seoul citizen has to save their entire income without spending a dime for more than 12 years in order to buy a house in the city due to the country’s soaring apartment prices, data showed Monday. The capital city’s house price to income ratio, or PIR -- a widely used measurement of house affordability in a given region -- reached 12.13 in 2019, said Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, quoting data from the National Assembly Research Service. The
Aug. 3, 2020
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Viva Republica launches credit card processing subsidiary
Viva Republica, operator of mobile fintech platform Toss, said Monday that it has launched a payment gateway subsidiary called Toss Payments. The establishment of the new subsidiary comes after the fintech company reached an agreement with mobile network giant LG Uplus in December, taking over full ownership of the latter’s payment gateway unit. A payment gateway is a service that authorizes credit card payments. With the new subsidiary, Viva Republica aims to take e-commerce payment
Aug. 3, 2020
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Seoul stocks end tad higher on EV battery makers' rally, tech gains
South Korean shares closed slightly higher Monday due to an advance in EV battery makers and tech shares, bucking concerns over the global resurgence of the COVID-19 infections. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 1.67 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 2,251.04. Trading volume was high at about 636 million shares worth some 13.4 trillion won ($11.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 515 to 325.
Aug. 3, 2020
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Seoul stocks open lower on chip, auto losses
South Korean shares opened lower Monday, led by a decline in chip and auto shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7.75 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,241.62 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The fall is largely attributed to the losses in top caps. The political feud between the United States and China, South Korea's two largest trade partners, also sapped investor sentiment. Large caps traded mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.69 percent,
Aug. 3, 2020
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Banking groups strive for digitalization amid lingering virus risks
The performance of South Korean financial groups was all over the map in the April-June period, and the coronavirus pandemic is prompting many to draw up digitalization plans for the second half of the year. The nation’s list of top groups by earnings got a reshuffle in recent weeks, with Shinhan Financial Group -- which had maintained the top spot for some time -- handing over the crown to KB Financial Group. Shinhan Financial said Friday it posted net profit of 873.1 billion won ($725
Aug. 2, 2020
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Amid bio rally, unlocked SK Biopharma shares in spotlight
Shares of SK Biopharmaceuticals held by institutional investors will be up for sale Monday after a lockup period, drawing attention to its impact on bio equities that are zooming. According to South Korea’s sole stock securities operator Korea Exchange on Sunday, the lockup banning investors from trading shares after the initial public offering of the company will be lifted. Some 13.2 million shares were allotted to institutional investors right after the drug company was listed on
Aug. 2, 2020
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Doosan sells golf club for 1st bailout payback
Financially stressed Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction said Sunday it has closed a deal to sell its golf course for 185 billion won ($155.33 million), enabling it to make debt repayment for the first time since a bailout package earlier this year. Part of the sales proceeds -- roughly 120 billion won -- went to creditors, which have so far injected 3.6 trillion won in the cash-strapped Doosan Group. A consortium composed of construction firm Moamiraedo and Hana Financial Group is th
Aug. 2, 2020
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Bridge institution to assume liabilities of scandal-ridden Lime funds
South Korea is looking to launch a bridge institution to take over all the assets, as well as the liabilities, of the scandal-ridden hedge fund Lime Asset Management and ensure that its end-investors can retrieve their investments as planned. A group of 20 financial institutions -- involved in selling hedge funds of Lime -- named Kang Min-ho, former chief risk officer of Hanwha Investment & Securities for a two-year term -- as head of the new bridge institution with 5 billion won ($4.2 mill
Aug. 2, 2020
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Seoul stocks to be in tight range next week; data, stimulus packages in focus
South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range next week, as investors remain watchful over the US stimulus package under way, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,249.37 points on Friday, up 2.22 percent from 2,200.44 points a week ago. The index increased in the first four sessions of the week, due to massive foreign buying of market heavyweights and better-than-expected earnings by Samsung Electron
Aug. 1, 2020