South Korean banks are scrambling to secure more 50,000-won notes ($44), saying only a limited amount of the highest denomination paper money is available due to its low return rate. According to the Bank of Korea in April, total return for 50,000-won bills in the first quarter of this year was 3.37 trillion won. The rate of refund is 58.6 percent, about 30 percent lower than the previous quarter.Industry watchers speculate the recent plunge in the refund rate is largely due to the new governmen

South Korea's top lender Kookmin Bank approved a debt workout program for Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co., a bank official said Wednesday, a move that could prompt other banks to join efforts to salvage the troubled builder."We reached a conclusion to consent to the program through a vote" after two days of intense debate," a Kookmin Bank official said, citing policy.The decision by Kookmin Bank, which has a 7.95 percent voting right among creditor banks, could push Shinhan Bank, South

Market concerns rise over Korean tech giant following Apple

South Korean stocks traded 0.13 percent lower late Wednesday morning on losses in techs and autos, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.43 points to 1,918.25 as of 11:20 a.m.   Tech shares traded lower, with LG Electronics falling 1.04 percent and flat panel maker LG Display decreasing 1.9 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix declined 0.46 percent. Top market cap Samsung Electronics, however, inched up 0.36 percent.   Carmakers also traded lower, with No. 1

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investor sentiment was dented following MSCI's decision to retain the country's emerging market status, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 6.81 points, or 0.35 percent, to 1,913.87 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares lost ground across the board, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 1.44 percent and leading steelmaker POSCO losing 0.47 percent. Top chipmaker SK hynix shed 0.46 percent.Stock

South Korea's financial authorities will monitor shares of Samsung Electronics Co. to detect possible price-rigging activity amid the recent price swings, market sources said Wednesday.The move came as the top smartphone maker suffered a 6.18 percent drop in its share price on Friday to 1,427,000 won, the lowest since Feb. 6. It fell for the fourth consecutive trading session on Tuesday to 1,389,000 won."We have intensified our oversight on the trading activities related to Samsung Electronics,"

SK hynix Inc., the world's No. 2 memory chip maker, said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Rambus Inc. on a new license deal that would cost the South Korean company a total of US$240 million over the next five years, ending a decade-long legal battle over memory chip technology. Under the new agreement, SK hynix will pay $12 million in royalties each quarter over the next five years to the U.S.-based technology licensing company for using its semiconductor technology, the South Ko

South Korea's jobless rate fell in May from a month earlier but job creation slowed amid concerns labor market conditions might remain tough for many job seekers, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3 percent last month, down from the previous month's 3.2 percent. The rate also fell from a year earlier when it was 3.1 percent.The jobless rate adjusted for inflation, however, edged up to 3.2 percent from April's 3.1 percent.J

Global investment index provider MSCI Inc. retained South Korea's emerging market status on its global equities index Wednesday, citing the country's high barrier in the financial sector."Many international institutional investors consider that the accessibility of the Korean equity market is not at Developed Market standards," MSCI said in a statement.MSCI, the research arm of U.S. banking group Morgan Stanley, announced the decision on its Web site early Wednesday morning (Seoul time). "The li

The government is set to review and rewrite all of its business regulations from square one as a means to deregulate or remove burdensome rules to boost private investment in Korea, sources said Tuesday. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, part of the Prime Minister’s Office, will lead all related state agencies in the so-called “zero-based” process of evaluating more than 1,800 regulations and guidelines governing business investments.It will then draw up comprehensive measures aimed

Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions grew at a faster pace in April than in the previous month on an increase in non-housing related loans, the central bank said Tuesday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 656.5 trillion won ($580.8 billion) as of end-April, up 1.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The April gain picked up from a 600 billion won on-month gain in March and also marked the highest