South Korea’s carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors held onto their shares of the world automotive market in the third quarter of this year despite the strengthening local currency and a global economic slowdown, industry data showed Sunday.According to the data, Hyundai and Kia, the flagships of Hyundai Motor Group, sold a combined 1.89 million cars in the July-September period, up 2.7 percent from a year ago.The figure accounted for 9 percent of the global automotive demand of 20.9 million es

South Korean investors have been raising their bets this year by putting their money into higher-profit, higher-risk financial instruments, trying to do better than the country's deposit rate of around 2 percent, industry data showed Sunday.According to the data, seven local banks including Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank sold 5.3 trillion won (US$5 billion) worth of equity-linked trusts (ELTs) and equity-linked funds (ELFs) during the first nine months of the year.The outstanding amount of the tw

British banking group Standard Chartered aims to foster South Korea as the hub for renminbi internationalization amid the Chinese currency's increasing clout in the global market, its board chairman said in an interview."If the global economy is to grow successfully in the future, currency is going to be an important part of that. That is why we believe the internationalization of the renminbi is going to be part of the economic story," John Peace told Yonhap News Agency in an Oct. 23 interview

South Korea, Australia and Indonesia on Friday did not join the launch of a regional bank led by China to fund infrastructure projects in Asia, amid Washington's concerns over the new regional lender as it competes with established multilateral lenders such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB). China is pushing to set up the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a counterbalance to the ADB and the World Bank, dominated by the United States, Japan and Western economic powers, as it seeks t

South Korean stocks edged 0.27 percent down Thursday as investor sentiment was dampened by overnight losses on Wall Street, but the losses were narrowed by better-than-expected corporate earnings of large-cap companies, analysts said. The local currency declined against the U.S. greenback.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 5.32 points to 1,931.65. Trading volume was moderate at 363.9 million shares worth 4.27 trillion won ($4.05 billion), with losers slightly leading gainers 41

Foreign investors increased their holdings of won-dominated bonds in South Korea last month on the back of global economic woes and a sluggish local stock market, financial data showed Thursday.Offshore investors purchased local bonds worth a net 2.8 trillion won ($2.66 billion) last week, the highest weekly figure in 16 months, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service.They bought 496.8 billion won worth of government bonds and 2.3 trillion won worth of monetary stabil

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao said Thursday that he does not have a stance on South Korea's interest in joining China's push to set up a regional bank to fund infrastructure projects in Asia, but cautioned that the proposed China-led bank should meet international standards.    Nakao made the comments in response to remarks made on Wednesday by South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan in Beijing that Seoul is willing to join the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investme

Foreign investors increased their holdings of won-dominated bonds in South Korea last month on the back of global economic woes and a sluggish local stock market, financial data showed Thursday.Offshore investors purchased local bonds worth a net 2.8 trillion won (2.66 billion) last week, the highest weekly figure in 16 months, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).They bought 496.8 billion won worth of government bonds and 2.3 trillion won worth of monetary s

South Korea has borrowed nearly 70 trillion won (US$66.6 billion) worth of short-term money, including Treasury bills, over the past three years to make up for financial shortfalls in running government affairs, government data showed Thursday.According to the data submitted by the finance ministry to the National Assembly, the government borrowed 68 trillion won worth of short-term money from 2012 to September this year. The money includes issuances of Treasury bills and borrowing money from th

Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol on Wednesday emphasized the need to bolster financial stability to brace for a negative change of course in the global economy.Speaking at a financial forum in Seoul, Lee told participants that Asia's fourth-largest economy should improve its economic fundamentals as well as resilience to effectively cope with negative spillover effects stemming from changes in external circumstances, according to documents released by the BOK.The BOK chief said the count

South Korea's bourse operator on Tuesday unveiled a set of new indices that track high dividend-paying stocks, hoping that they will serve as key investment tools in the era of low market rates and low growth.The four new indices -- the KOSPI high dividend index, the KRX high dividend index, the KOSPI dividend growth index and the KOSPI preferred share index -- track stocks paying high dividends, stocks with stable dividend growth and preferred shares, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).  Usu