Most Popular
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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With Indonesia unable to pay full share, what’s next for KF-21 fighter project?
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[KH Explains] Can tech firms' AI alliances take on Nvidia?
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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[Grace Kao, Meera Choi] Has money displaced romance on dates?
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Will China's self-sufficient dream in HBM come true?
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Seoul stocks end flat on retail buying
Seoul stocks ended flat on Thursday, unchanged from a session earlier, as institutions and individuals' buying offset foreign selling. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended flat to close at 1,857.07. Trading volume was moderate at 864.4 million shares worth 10.52 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 452 to 401. The main index closed unchanged after US shares fell overnight following the International Mon
April 16, 2020
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Stocks open lower on Wall Street tumble
South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 12.68 points, or 0.68 percent, to 1,844.4 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday (local time), US stocks closed lower as investors absorbed various data showing the COVID-19 outbreak has hurt the world's largest economy. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.86 percent, the S&P 500 was down 2.2 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Inde
April 16, 2020
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BC Card to acquire controlling stake in K-bank
BC Card, a credit card processing firm owned by telecom giant KT, said Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it will acquire a controlling stake in internet-only K-Bank in a bid to save the cash-strapped online bank. The announcement came a day after the card company held a board meeting, where the board decided to buy a 10 percent stake in the bank from the telecom firm for 36.3 billion won ($29.8 million) on April 17. With the planned stake purchase, the card company will become the seco
April 15, 2020
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Sale process of KDB Life insurer gains traction
The state-owned Korea Development Bank will soon pick a preferred bidder for KDB Life Insurance, which it recently put up for sale after acquiring it a decade ago, according to news reports Wednesday. Private equity fund JC Partners is widely believed to have been shortlisted. “JC Partners is the only interested party that has completed due diligence so far,” an official from the policy bank was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. The private equity firm reportedly plans to
April 15, 2020
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Gold zooms to 6-year high on new monetary measures
Gold prices are hitting the roof in South Korea -- highest level in six years -- as investors are flocking to safe-haven assets amid escalating fears given market uncertainties, latest data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Exchange Gold Market, the price stood at 66,740 won ($54.90) per gram at Tuesday’s close, surging 2.4 percent from the previous session. The price had surged to 68,240 won the same day, the highest since March 2014 when the gold market first opened. 
April 15, 2020
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Dark clouds loom over credit ratings of Korean firms
South Korean companies are bracing for a massive credit rating downgrade as the novel coronavirus spillover threatens their business outlook, according to industry sources Wednesday. The weakening prospect of retailers, petrochemical firms and manufacturers in the wake of the coronavirus spread appears to be putting pressure on their liquidity. On Tuesday, the credit outlook of three companies for straight bonds was revised to “negative,” according to three credit rating agencies -
April 15, 2020
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Corporate bond market shivers despite steps to calm down
Despite the government‘s bond-buying initiative aimed at shoring up liquidity, South Korea’s corporate bond market is rattled by changes in credit outlooks that reflect lingering uncertainties on falling oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, Hanwha Solutions’ corporate bonds meant to raise 210 billion won were undersubscribed by institutional investors. Absent in the bidding was the vehicle dubbed the “bond market stabilization fund,” a state commitment
April 14, 2020
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Conglomerates’ R&D spending grows 7.8%
South Korean conglomerates increased spending on research and development despite falling sales last year, according to a report Tuesday. The combined R&D spending of 208 conglomerates last year came in at 53.5 trillion won ($44 billion), up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to a report on the nation’s large businesses released by corporate tracker CEOScore. The companies’ combined annual revenue, on the other hand, dropped 0.8 percent to 1,709.7 trillion won durin
April 14, 2020
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S. Korean stocks rebound 1.72% amid hopes of virus outbreak
South Korean stocks rebounded 1.72 percent higher Tuesday as investor sentiment was buoyed by hopes the global coronavirus outbreak is peaking and better-than-expected Chinese data. The Korean won gained ground against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 31.32 points to close at 1,857.08. Trading volume was heavy at 872 million shares worth 9.8 trillion won ($8.1 billion), with gainers far outpacing losers 757 to 106. The country reported 27 new case
April 14, 2020
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Property transfers among family members jump
A growing number of homeowners, including those with multiple houses, in some of South Korea’s major cities have given houses to family members instead of selling them to avoid hefty holding taxes, data showed Monday. The number of houses traded among family members in Daegu has more than doubled on-month from 254 in January to 632 in February, according to data compiled by the Korea Appraisal Board, a government agency that evaluates property values. The figure for Gwangju also increas
April 14, 2020
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Seoul stocks open higher amid eased virus woes
South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday as the country witnessed a daily number of new coronavirus cases below 30. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.28 points, or 0.84 percent, to 1,841.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The country repoted 25 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the nation's total infections to 10,537. Most large-cap stocks rose across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.31 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix was
April 14, 2020
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Lime investors to lose over half of principal
Investors in two funds of Lime Asset Management, a South Korean hedge fund that fell from grace on a deluge of scandals, are expected to lose over half of their money, according to redemption plans issued Monday. Investments in two master funds -- Pluto FI D-1, dedicated to privately placed bonds, and Tethys II, which targeted mezzanine instruments – were frozen due to illiquidity last year. Their total value will fall to a combined 534.7 billion won ($439.18 million) according to the pl
April 13, 2020
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Foreigners’ monthly stock sell-off far exceeds previous record high
Foreigners sold a net 13.45 trillion won ($11.04 billion) worth of local shares last month, far outpacing the previous record high, data showed Monday. The March tally beats the previous largest number in August 2007 of 9 trillion won, and is about four times higher than the January figure of 3.23 trillion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. By country, investors from the United States dumped the most at a net 5.5 trillion won, followed by British investors who offloaded a n
April 13, 2020
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WeWork names new chief for Korea
Coworking space giant WeWork said Monday that it has appointed Chun Chung-joo (Patricia) as the new general manager of its South Korean office. Chun has 20 years of experience at global and Korean companies under her belt. Most recently, she served as chief strategy officer of food delivery firm Delivery Hero Korea, leading development of business strategies and proceeding with investments and merger and acquisition deals. She was also responsible for managing government relations, corpora
April 13, 2020
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Seoul down 1.9% on virus woes, weak data
South Korean stocks closed 1.88 percent lower Monday as investors were concerned about the spiraling number of COVID-19 infections in major economies despite signs of a slowdown locally, analysts said. The Korean won sharply fell against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) decreased 34.94 points to close at 1,825.76. Trading volume was high at 1 billion shares worth 9.4 trillion won ($7.73 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 694 to 180. South Korea detec
April 13, 2020
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KDB in talks with local PEF to sell life insurer
State-run policy lender Korea Development Bank is in talks with South Korea’s private equity firm JC Partners to sell a life insurer unit as part of its restructuring process, an industry source said Monday. JC Partners is the only bidder participating in the preliminary stage that is undergoing a due diligence for the acquisition, the source added. KDB said further details cannot be disclosed because the talks are ongoing with the potential buyer before signing a deal. “Regardi
April 13, 2020
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SparkLabs partners with Shinhan Capital for startup fund
Seoul-based global startup accelerator SparkLabs said Monday it has joined hands with nonbanking lender Shinhan Capital to create a 10.1 billion won ($8.28 million) fund to support early-stage startups. The vehicle is aimed at investing in SparkLabs alumni and other early-stage startups with growth potential, as well as secondary investing in fast-growing companies in the fields of health care, biotechnology and manufacturing. The fund is co-managed by SparkLabs and Shinhan Capital, and
April 13, 2020
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Seoul stocks open lower despite US gains
South Korea's exports fell sharply from a year earlier in the first 10 days of April amid the economic fallout from the new coronavirus, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments came to $12.2 billion in the April 1-10 period, down 18.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the cited period also slipped 18.6 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavir
April 13, 2020
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How does coronavirus affect individuals’ financial management?
Individual subscribers are rapidly losing faith in savings deposits amid ultralow rates and volatile markets, with withdrawals topping 7.7 trillion won ($6.36 billion) in March, nearly a 35 percent increase from each of the previous two months. According to data compiled by five commercial banks -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and NH Bank -- the combined withdrawals from individuals’ savings and deposit accounts last month reached some 7.7 trillion won from
April 13, 2020
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‘S. Korea’s stock market to foster recovery from 2H’
Despite lingering volatility, South Korea’s main bourse Kospi is expected to recover starting from the second half of this year if the novel coronavirus comes under control globally and that sense of stability boosts consumption demand on the back of policy efforts, research heads of brokerages in Seoul said Sunday. “As pent-up demand sparks and corporate earnings increase with the government’s liquidity support, stock markets will gradually rise from the second half,”
April 12, 2020