South Korea's top 10 conglomerates by assets take up over half of the country's stock market capitalization, data showed Monday, pointing to their huge clout in Asia's fourth-largest economy.According to the data by corporate tracker Chaebul.com, listed subsidiaries of the 10 largest family-controlled business groups, known as chaebol here, had a combined market capitalization of 793.9 trillion won ($680 billion) as of Wednesday, or 51.6 percent of the value of all shares traded on the main bour

South Korea's stock market has risen 11 percent in the past five years, far lower than other global markets' yield rates, as the local stock market has been locked in a tight range, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange, the country's benchmark index, the KOSPI, closed at 2,026.46 points on the last trading day of 2016, up from 1,825.74 points five years ago. (Yonhap)Japan's Nikkei 225 index came at the top of the performance list by surging to 19,114.37 points

Lee vows to come up with new employee evaluation system by June to boost efficiency

South Korea's stock funds have suffered massive redemptions in the first three weeks of this year apparently on profit-taking, data showed Wednesday, as no further momentum is expected in the equity market dogged by uncertainties.Domestic stock funds, excluding exchange traded funds, posted 1.03 trillion won ($850 million) of net outflow this year as of Monday, according to fund information provider KG Zeroin. An image of stock funds. (Yonhap)It came after a total of net 7.9 trillion won outflow

South Korean companies tend to work with the same accounting firm for a long period of time, an analysis showed Wednesday, a practice partly blamed for corroborated cover-ups of financial troubles that later blow up in damaging losses for lenders and investors.The analysis by corporate watcher CEO Score of 483 companies said that as of end of 2015, the firms on average stayed with the same accountant for 6.8 years. The trend compares to Japan where, by law, a contract with an accounting firm is

The number of unfair trading cases in South Korea's equity market reported to the nation's financial watchdog increased more than 37 percent on-year in 2016, as it tightened monitoring and supervision, data showed Wednesday.The Financial Supervisory Service said it caught a total of 208 suspected unfair trade practices, such as insider trading, stock manipulation and fraud, during the year, up 37.7 percent from a year earlier. An image of the Financial Supervisory Service provided by Yonhap News

South Korea's leading conglomerates are estimated to have increased their cash holdings last year, raising hopes for ample dividends, investment officials said Wednesday with supportive data.Samsung Electronics, the head of the pack, on Tuesday announced last year's operating profit at 29.2 trillion won ($25 billion), the fifth consecutive year of a sum nearing 30 trillion won. Cash and cashable assets totaled 88.2 trillion won, a record for the IT giant after increasing by close to 17 trillion

Hana Financial Group Inc., a major South Korean banking group, said Tuesday its net profit surged 47.9 percent in 2016 from a year earlier on synergy effects.Net profit came to 1.345 trillion won ($1.15 billion) in 2016 on a consolidated basis, compared with 909.7 billion won a year ago, the group said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)The earnings were Hana's strongest annual results since 2012.Interest income came to 4.642 trillion won in 2016, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.The group's net

Crowdfunding in South Korea has been half successful over the first year, data showed Tuesday, as the authorities pledged more efforts to promote the system.A total of 18 billion won ($15.4 million) has been raised so far from 7,172 investors to fund 121 projects, according to the Financial Services Commission. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, delivers a speech at a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the introduction of the crowdfunding system in Seoul on Jan.

South Korea’s internet-only banking service provider K-Bank has decided to delay its launch to late February from the initial plan of late January to ensure business stability and consumer protection, industry officials said Tuesday.The bank received the license from the Financial Services Commission for banking services on Dec. 14, bring it a step closer to becoming the nation’s first bank to offer financial services 24 hours without brick-and-mortar branches and bank tellers. It was also the f

Woori Bank, a major South Korean lender, said Tuesday that it has won approval from the Polish financial regulatory authority to set up a representative office in the eastern European country.Woori Bank said it will open its representative office in the southwestern city of Katowice later this month as part of its efforts to establish a bridgehead in Europe. (Yonhap)The representative office is located near an industrial complex, which is home to assembly lines of Samsung Electronics Co., Hyunda

The average starting salary of employees of public financial firms has reached nearly 40 million won ($34,000), data showed Tuesday.On average, recruits of 11 financial firms under the control of the government earned 39.85 million won a year as of 2015, according to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service, South Korea's financial watchdog. (Yonhap)The state-run Korea Development Bank took the top spot, with the average starting salary for a new recruit standing at 46.54 million won.T

The use of 50,000 won ($42.85) denominated banknotes has become more widespread, replacing smaller 10,000 won bills, central bank data showed Tuesday.According to the Bank of Korea, the circulation of 10,000 won banknotes at the end of last year was 16.24 trillion won, 5.7 percent less than the year before and the smallest since 1998. (Yonhap)Circulation is measured by the total value of banknotes issued minus the amount that has been retrieved by the central bank.  Circulation of 10,000 won bil

The issuance of asset-backed securities in South Korea dropped sharply last year, affected by the government's policy measure to slow the growth of household debt, data showed Tuesday.The amount of ABS issued in 2016 totaled 60.7 trillion won ($52.2 billion), down 26.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. (Yonhap)The decline came as the state-funded Korea Housing Finance Corp. scaled down its issuance of mortgage-backed securities by 36.7 percent on-year t

The Export-Import Bank of Korea will reduce total corporate funding this year but enhance support for prospective firms and small and medium-sized enterprises to help revive the local economy, the bank’s chief told reporters Monday. The government-owned bank will allocate 67 trillion won ($57 billion) in credit for companies this year, of which 53 trillion won will go to loans and 14 trillion won to guarantees, said Lee Duk-hoon, chairman and president of the bank. The budget is 11 perc