The South Korean government said Wednesday that it has successfully sold $2 billion worth of foreign exchange equalization bonds. “The government has successfully sold $1 billion worth of dollar-denominated bonds and euro-denominated bonds worth about another $1 billion,” the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.The dollar-denominated bonds with a 30-year maturity carry an interest rate of 4.143 percent. It marks the first time the country has issued foreign currency-denominated bonds with a 30

South Korean lenders are reaching out to wealthy Chinese customers as they seek new growth engines amid ultra-low interest rates and lackluster demand on their home turf.Local banks have been providing Chinese-language banking services to mostly blue-collar laborers in southwest Seoul. However, recent moves highlight their efforts to tap affluent Chinese who have already emerged as a major force in the retail sector. Woori Bank, the flagship unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, said Tuesd

South Korean stocks finished 0.33 percent higher to reverse an earlier choppy session Tuesday as investor sentiment was buoyed on news of Samsung Everland’s plans to go public in the first quarter of next year. The South Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 2,008.56, up 6.56 points from Monday’s close after moving in a tight range. Trading volume was moderate at 241.84 million shares worth 4.49 trillion won ($4.38 billion), with dec

South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in 19 months in May, maintaining their upward trend after a protracted slow price gain that prompted concerns over deflation, a government report showed Tuesday.The country’s consumer price index rose 1.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the fastest on-year rise since October 2012, when it advanced 2.1 percent, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, rose 2.2 percen

Global investment banks and rating agencies forecast that South Korea's economy will advance in the mid 3-percent range this year, data showed Monday, lower than estimates by local government and institutions. Projections from 33 major IBs and credit rating agencies said South Korea's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic performance, is expected to grow 3.63 percent this year, according to Bloomberg data. Last year, the Korean economy grew 3 percent.Barclays and Wells Fargo p

South Korea’s automobile and consumer electronics sectors are feeling the pinch of a strong local currency that is forcing some to downgrade second-quarter earnings estimates, industry sources said Sunday.The Korean won started to strengthen against the U.S. dollar in late March and rose to 1,020.1 won to the greenback as of Friday, compared with an exchange rate that hovered in the 1,060 won to 1.070 won range in the first few months of 2014.According to Korea Automotive Research Institute, a t

The South Korean government ranked near the bottom among nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of how far it has come in “privatization” of various public services, a report by a local think tank showed Sunday.According to the Korea Institute of Public Finance, the percentage of public services contracted out to private firms stood at just 6.8 percent of gross domestic product. This placed South Korea at 26th among 28 OECD countries checked.Contracting out

South Korea’s exports dropped 0.9 percent from a year earlier in May while its imports rose slightly, the government said Sunday.The country’s outbound shipments amounted to $47.88 billion last month and imports gained 0.3 percent on-year to $42.53 billion, with the trade surplus coming to $5.35 billion, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.May marked the 28th consecutive month the country has posted a trade surplus.The ministry attributed the drop in exports partly to a cut i

Emerging-market stocks climbed for the first time in three days as Samsung Electronics Co. led a gauge of technology companies to a record after U.S. data added to signs the world’s biggest economy is rebounding.Samsung, which gets a third of its sales from the U.S., rose 1.9 percent in Seoul. Lenovo Group Ltd. posted its longest rally since 2003 in Hong Kong as Chinese technology companies surged on bets they will benefit from the government’s dispute with the U.S. over cyberspying. South Afric

South Korea’s economy is expected to grow 3.7 percent this year, a state-run think tank forecast Tuesday, amid expectations that the economy might be recovering from a long-term slump.Reflecting recent changes in calculation methodology for gross domestic product, however, the Korea Development Institute said its latest growth outlook represented about a 0.1-0.2 percentage point downgrade from the previous growth outlook unveiled in November last year.“The actual downgrade stemmed mostly from a

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok on Monday urged the business community to increase its spending and scale up investment plans to revive waning domestic demand in the wake of the Sewol ferry disaster. “Consumption-related economic indicators, hit by the public’s continuing pain over the ferry disaster, are showing signs of decelerating contraction,” Hyun said during the meeting of the public-private consultation body for creative economy.But he said cooperation between the

South Korea’s terms of trade improved in April from a year earlier as prices for imports fell at a faster pace than those for exports, the central bank said Friday.The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods came in to 89.3 in April, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.In January, the trade terms posted the first on-year decline since November 2012. The figure is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. The base year is 201

Monthly household income in South Korea grew 5 percent on-year during the first quarter, thanks to improving labor market conditions that led to more employment, a government report said Friday.The income of households consisting of two members or more averaged 4.4 million won ($4,300) per month during the January-March period, up from 4.2 million won a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. When adjusted for inflation, income grew 3.9 percent.The growth rate is faster than t