The Korea Herald

Stocks open lower on US losses

Sept 9, 2016

South Korean stocks opened lower on Friday on overnight losses in Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 17.57 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,046.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks closed lower on Thursday on a slump in tech stocks, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 0.3 percent to 18,479.91 points in the face of a dip in Apple Inc.Apple Inc. fell some 2.5 percent as its latest iPhone 7 failed to appeal to Wall Street.Most large caps traded mixed
Chaebol firms owned by heirs depend more on intragroup deals

Sept 8, 2016

Chaebol companies owned by potential heirs from the business-controlling family make easy money, relying on contracts from affiliate companies, a phenomenon that latest data shows is strengthening despite increased scrutiny. According to an analysis by the Fair Trade Commission of 47 large conglomerates and their 1,274 affiliate companies, intragroup trade accounts for 59.4 percent of all sales at companies wholly owned by the heirs as of end-2015, up 7.6 percent from a year earlier. The share o
Household debt rises in August amid low interest rates

Sept 8, 2016

South Korea's household debts rose in August despite the government's efforts to tackle the potential risk factor for Asia's fourth-largest economy, central bank data showed Thursday.The balance of household loans extended by local banks amounted to 682.4 trillion won ($623 billion) as of the end of August, up 8.7 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.Of the aggregate debts, mortgage loans extended by banks rose by 6.2 trillion won to 512.7 trillion won.Last month, th
Korea's money supply up 6.9% in July: BOK

Sept 8, 2016

The money supply in South Korea grew nearly 7 percent on-year in July due to increased deposits, both in local and foreign currencies, by households and companies, the central bank said Thursday.The nation's "M2" totaled 2,348.3 trillion won ($2,147 billion) in July, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It marks a 0.7 percent rise from June.M2 is a measure of the money supply counting the currency in circulation, including bank debentures and deposits with a maturi
Economy still hindered by weak consumption, exports: gov't report

Sept 8, 2016

The South Korean economy has hardly shown clear signs of recovery in recent months, as a slight upturn in exports was counterbalanced by slowing private consumption, coupled with rising uncertainties in the face of an imminent US rate hike, a government report said Thursday."Recently, the economy is experiencing a slowdown in domestic demand due to the expiration of a tax-cut program, with exports posting a rebound on one-off factors," the finance ministry said in its monthly economy assessment
Stocks open higher on eased Fed rate hike woes

Sept 8, 2016

South Korean stocks opened higher on Thursday on speculation that an interest rate hike in the US may be delayed.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.4 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,069.28 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite reaching a new record high, while the Dow Jones industrial average edged down. Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics rising 0.49 percent.Top automaker
[Reporter’s column] W100b irony of Hanjin fiasco

Sept 7, 2016

The fall of Hanjin Shipping, Korea's largest container line, has brought about a global cargo chaos. With many of its vessels unable to dock or unload cargo at ports, owners of the stranded cargo are in a panic. Other Hanjin clients who planned to ship merchandise to the US or elsewhere for the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping seasons are scrambling for alternatives. Global freight rates have soared. But in this Hanjin Shipping crisis, cargo is not the only thing in peril. Korea's drive to re
S&P says Korean economy likely to grow 2.9% on average until 2019

Sept 7, 2016

A senior official of the global rating agency Standard & Poor's on Wednesday said the South Korean economy could grow at an average rate of 2.9 percent per year until 2019.Kim Eng Tan, senior director of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at S&P, made the assessment of Asia's fourth-largest economy, citing South Korea has globally competitive companies and its industrial sector is properly distributed.He said South Korea's expected average annual growth rate between 2016 and 2019 is higher than thos
Announcement-The Investor introduces AI journalism

Sept 6, 2016

The Investor, the online English-language business news portal by Herald Corp., began providing articles written by an artificial intelligence writer Tuesday. The company’s AI writer, named Herald Robot or HeRo, is the first to provide English-language business news written by an AI program in Korea.HeRo will mainly focus on news regarding corporate performance and finance, stock markets as well as closely monitor changes in the shareholding structures of Korean companies. HeRo will initially pr
Korea's economic recovery still remains stuttering: think tank

Sept 6, 2016

The South Korean economy is experiencing feeble recovery momentum in recent months as exports and facility investment continue to falter amid a slowdown in domestic consumption, a state-run think tank said Tuesday."Other than the rapid increase in construction investment, overall economic activities have shown little signs of improvement," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions."With the expiry of the excise tax cut, retail sales moder
Households' overseas spending hits record high in H1

Sept 6, 2016

South Korean households' overseas spending hit a record high in the first half of 2016 from a year earlier on increased outbound travel to neighboring countries, the central bank said Tuesday.South Korean households spent 13.6 trillion won ($12 billion) overseas in the January-June period, up 10.7 percent from the same period last year, the Bank of Korea said.The figure accounts for 3.7 percent of households' total spending in the first half.The first-half data does not include local households'
Over 5,000 Koreans file suit against power supplier over electricity rate

Sept 5, 2016

Over 5,000 South Korean citizens have filed a suit against the state-run electric power supplier over its controversial electricity rate system which critics say excessively charges users, their legal representative said Monday.Lawyer Kwak Sang-eon said he filed the suit against the Korea Electric Power Corp. with the Seoul Central District Court earlier on the day, representing a total of 5,368 plaintiffs who seek 500,000 won ($452) in compensation each. The plaintiffs said the power supplier m
BOK to use automated data collection for economic forecasts

Sept 5, 2016

The Bank of Korea will use an automated system to collect, save and update raw data on exports, imports, output and other economic indicators to help it better project how the nation's economy would perform in coming months, a bank official said Monday. So far, BOK officials have put raw data into the bank's database by hand. A computer-assisted data collection system is expected to help the BOK save time in collecting and saving data. On Monday, the BOK opened a bid to select a company to devis
Anti-graft law to affect 40,919 organizations

Sept 5, 2016

South Korea's anti-corruption commission said Monday the anti-graft law that will go into effect in late September will affect 40,919 organizations, signaling massive changes in gift-exchanging traditions throughout the country.The Kim Young-ran anti-graft law, aims to bring more transparency to workers in certain sectors who should maintain higher ethical standards than ordinary citizens. The Constitutional Court also gave a nod to the law that will be enforced starting on Sept. 28.Under the po
Taxes on pension funds increase as baby boom generation goes into retirement

Sept 5, 2016

Taxes collected from pension funds have increased 25-fold over the past five years, an indication that the people of the baby boom generation have started to retire in large numbers, tax authorities said Monday.The baby boom generation accounts for approximately 14 percent of South Korea's population and refers to people born between 1955 and 1963. Those born in 1955 are likely to have retired over the past four to five years as they turned 57, the average retirement age. Within the generation,