Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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Jin Ok-dong tapped as chairman candidate for Shinhan Financial
Shinhan Bank President Jin Ok-dong, 61, has been appointed as the final candidate for the new chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, South Korea's No. 2 bank by total assets, Thursday. The group said that nonexecutive directors of the group unanimously voted for Jin at a candidate recommendation meeting held at the firm's headquarters in central Seoul. Other candidates were Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung and Shinhan Card CEO Lim Young-jin. Though it was rumored that cur
Dec. 8, 2022
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MBK chairman named 'hero of philanthropy'
Seoul-based private equity house MBK Partners Founder and Chairman Michael Byung-ju Kim has been named one of the 15 “Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy” by US business magazine Forbes for the second year in a row. He was the only Korean to make this year’s top philanthropist list. Kim was one of only three people -- the other two being billionaire brothers Ronnie and Gerald Chan who are the co-founders of Hong Kong’s Morningside Group -- to be recognized for two consecu
Dec. 8, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower after US losses
Seoul stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight falls on Wall Street, amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following solid economic data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.05 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,381.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The unexpectedly strong US jobs report and service sector activity released early this week bolstered the case for the Fed to keep policy tightening to tame runaway inflat
Dec. 8, 2022
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Court denies injunction against delisting of cryptocurrency Wemix
A Seoul court on Wednesday denied an injunction request filed by the operator of cryptocurrency Wemix to block the enforcement of crypto exchanges' decision to delist the coin. In late November, the Digital Asset eXchange Association -- an alliance formed by Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax -- announced they will terminate transaction support to the cryptocurrency operated by online games company Wemade, from Dec. 8. They said Wemade had provided false information on the planned numb
Dec. 7, 2022
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Seoul shares down for 4th day amid U.S. rate hike woes
Seoul shares extended their losing streak to a fourth day Wednesday amid concerns the Federal Reserve may keep its aggressive monetary tightening following solid U.S. economic data. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 10.35 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,382.81. Trading volume was moderate at 323.9 million shares worth 5.9 trillion won ($4.5 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 540 to 311. Institutions and foreigners sold
Dec. 7, 2022
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[Newsmaker] ‘Long live the bill’ in cashless society
Banknotes with higher face value have a longer life span, with highest denomination here of 50,000 won ($38) presumed to be used for more than 15 years, a central bank report showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea announced the results of a study on the average life span of Korean banknotes, making a presumption based on a sample survey of the notes in circulation in 2022. The results showed 10,000-won and 50,000-won bills have much longer lifetimes than bills of a smaller face value. The lifetime
Dec. 7, 2022
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S. Korea's key policy rate likely to peak at 3.5 % next year: S&P
South Korea's central bank will continue raising its key policy rate, possibly peaking at 3.5 percent in 2023, an economist at global credit appraiser S&P Global Rating said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea has hiked the rate by a combined 2.75 percentage points since August last year to tame inflation. The rate currently stands at 3.25 percent. "We expect the APAC central banks not to follow very closely the US Fed policy in terms of how quickly, how aggressively to increase interest
Dec. 7, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower on Wall Street falls
Seoul stocks opened lower on Wednesday, tracking overnight falls on Wall Street, amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following strong economic data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 7.11 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,386.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The stronger-than-expected US jobs report and service sector activity released early this week are spooking investors amid concerns that the Fed may not imminently sl
Dec. 7, 2022
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Seoul shares down for 3rd day amid US rate hike worries
Seoul shares closed lower to extend their losing streak to a third day on Tuesday as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following unexpectedly strong US services data. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 26.16 points, or 1.08 percent, to 2,393.16. Trading volume was moderate at 359.75 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($4.8 billion), with decliners outnumbering ga
Dec. 6, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower after Wall Street falls
Seoul stocks opened lower on Tuesday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as concerns grow that the US Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following strong services data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 16.19 points, or 0.67 percent, to 2,403.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US service sector activity unexpectedly picked up in November, raising concerns that the Fed may not imminently slow down the pace of rate increases. Fed Chair Jerome Powe
Dec. 6, 2022
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Lotto 6/45 marks 20th anniversary with 8,000 jackpot winners
Around 8,000 people have won first prizes for South Korea’s most popular lottery Lotto 6/45 in its 20 years of history, with their combined jackpot totaling 16 trillion won ($12 billion), according to the lottery commission on Monday. According to the Korea Lottery Commission, an organization under the Finance Ministry, the number of first prize winners of the Lotto reached 7,803 as of Nov. 26 this year since its debut back in 2002. On average, 7.5 people won first prizes per draw, which i
Dec. 5, 2022
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Seoul shares end lower amid US rate hike worries
Seoul shares closed lower on Monday as investors remain concerned that the Federal Reserve may continue its aggressive monetary tightening following a stronger-than-anticipated US jobs report. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 15.01 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,419.32. Trading volume was moderate at 379.8 million shares worth 7.6 trillion won ($5.87 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 446 to 407. Institutions and forei
Dec. 5, 2022
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JB Financial honored with ESG award
JB Financial Group has been honored with the ESG Excellent Company Award by the Korea Institute of Corporate Governance and Sustainability (KCGS) at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, on Friday. “We see this recognition as an opportunity to further strengthen our responsibility and role in taking the lead in sincere and advanced ESG management,” the financial group said in a statement. Since 2011, the KCGS has been evaluating local companies' performance in environment, soc
Dec. 5, 2022
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South Korea's foreign reserves up in November on dollar's fall
South Korea's foreign reserves increased in November as the dollar-converted value of holdings rose thanks to the greenback's fall, central bank data showed Monday. The country's foreign reserves stood at $416.1 billion as of end-November, up $2.09 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea. It marked the first growth in four months. The rise came as the value of its non-dollar holdings increased when converted into the dollar thanks to the greenb
Dec. 5, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower amid US rate hike woes
Seoul shares opened lower Monday as investors are concerned that a stronger-than-expected US jobs report may lead to aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 2.34 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,431.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The index gained 1.08 percent last week to end at 2,434.33 Friday as the Fed suggested the central bank is heading for a slowdown of rate hikes after four successive 75 basis-point increases to tame inflati
Dec. 5, 2022
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[Photo News] Healing concert for Hana family
Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo (front, center left) and celebrity psychiatrist and author Oh Eun-young (front, center right) pose for a picture following a "healing concert" in Seo-gu, Incheon, Friday, for family members of Hana employees to share their various concerns. Some 500 attendees participated in the event in person, while 2,000 others joined via video links. (Hana Financial Group)
Dec. 4, 2022
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How wealthy is 'wealthy' in Korea?
Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday. The 2022 Korean Wealth Report compiled by a think tank under KB Financial Group was based on a study conducted in June and July, including a face-to-face survey with 400 respondents with more than 1 billion won in financial assets. It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won. There were
Dec. 4, 2022
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Hahn & Co. acquires SKC's industrial film biz for $1.2b
South Korea’s largest private equity firm Hahn & Company said Friday it has completed the acquisition of the industrial film business of SK Group affiliate SKC in a deal worth 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion). The latest deal is the largest merger and acquisition closed in the country this year amid M&A jitters globally. The company said SKC’s industrial film business has full potential as its products are widely used in advanced technologies for the display, mobile and se
Dec. 2, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower after Fed-driven rallies
South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, as investors took a breather after recent rallies fueled by optimism that the US Federal Reserve may slow the pace of interest rate hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 21.94 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,457.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Latest US data showed its manufacturing contracted last month for the first time in 2 1/2 years, with a measurement of consumer spending having risen at a slower-than-expected pace in Octo
Dec. 2, 2022
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Korean won strengthens after US Fed hints at smaller rate hike
The South Korean won rose to a four-month high on Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve hinted at a possible slowdown of its aggressive rate hikes. The Korean currency strengthened to 1,299.7 won against the greenback as of closing time, back below 1,300 won for the first time in four months. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday at an economic forum. The Fed has hiked interest r
Dec. 1, 2022