The Korea Herald

Seoul decides to ban short selling

Aug 9, 2011

The Financial Services Commission said Tuesday that it has decided to bar investors from short selling on the local stock market over the next three months.Amid the instability of the Korea Exchange in the wake of the European debt crisis, the regulator reinstated the ban for the first time in more
Officials strive to placate investors

Aug 9, 2011

Authorities say ready to supply liquidity if necessaryFinancial authorities have been striving to restore investor sentiment, downplaying concerns over fiscal woes in Europe and the United States.The Financial Services Commission and its executive body, the Financial Supervisory Service, held
Korea rattles from biggest 2-day drop since 2008

Aug 9, 2011

Market crashes while officials try to soothe investorsSeoul stocks continued to drop, hitting a 13-month low Tuesday as institutional investors shunned local shares on fears that Asia’s fourth-largest economy could be hit hard by the historic debt crises in the U.S. and Europe.The KOSPI dipped as lo
Market sees similarities, differences from 2008

Aug 9, 2011

As Seoul shares plummeted to a 13-month low and concerns about an economic crisis rose, some analysts said the market turmoil looked similar to the financial crisis of 2008.They said the start of the tumbling of shares was comparable to the global equity sell-off that occurred in 2008, which was spa
U.S. crisis may have little impact here: BOK

Aug 9, 2011

The historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating late Friday and subsequent mass sell-off in equity markets around the world have threatened to hamper Korea’s economic growth, leaving few options for the central bank in its scheduled policy-setting meeting this week.Standard & Poor’s downgraded the
Bonds lure investors seeking safer assets

Aug 9, 2011

As the twin crises in the U.S. and Europe send global equity markets plunging, investors are seeking safer destinations, particularly bonds, in South Korea.The Bank of Korea said in a report on Tuesday that the yield on three-year Treasury bonds saw a drop of 30 basis points between Aug. 2-8 as inve
Bargain hunters prepare to pounce

IndustryAug 9, 2011

Analysts cautiously say it may be good time to invest in Korean stocksThe Korean stock markets this week are the Asian crisis revisited, according to many investors on Tuesday who watched with despair as the main bourse tanked in just 48 hours. None of the nation’s brokerages correctly predicted suc
Obama seeks to reassure faith in U.S. credit

IndustryAug 9, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Eager to calm a nervous nation, President Barack Obama on Monday dismissed an unprecedented downgrade in the nation’s credit rating, insisting investors will stand by the United States even as stock markets plunged. Obama said Washington can fix its ills by showing more political w
EU gives 200,000 euros in North Korea flood aid

North KoreaAug 9, 2011

The European Union has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to an international charity group to help flood victims in North Korea, a U.S.-funded radio station reported Tuesday. The EU, which shipped food aid to the impoverished state to feed its starving people last month, has donated 200,000 e
Unification Ministry targeted in cyber attack

Foreign affairsAug 9, 2011

South Korea’s Unification Ministry was the target of an attempted cyber attack, an official here said Tuesday, as the latest in the string of hacking attacks that Seoul suspects have been orchestrated by its northern rival. Unidentified people tried to hack into the website of the Unification Minist
U.N. chief urges Korea to play bigger global role

Foreign affairsAug 9, 2011

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on South Korea to play a bigger role in international affairs as he made his first official visit to the country after reelection in June to a second five-year term as the U.N. chief.He arrived in Seoul from Japan as part of a two-nation
Opposition camp rejects nominees Kwon and Han

PoliticsAug 9, 2011

The parliamentary judicial committee refused to endorse the justice minister and prosecutor-general nominees on Tuesday after opposition parties boycotted the hearings.“The hearings on the two nominees are not yet over,” said Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party.“We shall not
Students gather in Songdo for model U.N. conference

Social affairsAug 9, 2011

Undergraduate and graduate students from 61 countries will take part in an annual model conference hosted by the United Nations at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, starting Wednesday through Sunday.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to give a keynote speech on Thursday, after which he will
Officials under fire for lack of disaster readiness

Social affairsAug 9, 2011

The local and central governments have come under fire for the nation’s lack of disaster readiness made apparent by the floods that ravaged the country this July.Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has also drawn criticism for his decision to continue with the already highly controversial plebiscite vote on free
Parties near deal on savings bank losses

PoliticsAug 9, 2011

Government opposes plan to compensate depositors beyond statutory limitLawmakers from rival political parties are pushing to fully compensate the financial losses of depositors at nine savings banks that collapsed this year, stirring another round of controversy over populism. Representatives of the