South Korean stocks closed 0.12 percent higher on Wednesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines amid a lack of market momentum and concerns over the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S.dollar.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.43 points to finish at 1,971.26. Trading volume was light at 238.6 million shares worth 3.63 trillion won (US$3.25 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 510 to 301.  "The market showed little movemen

The head of NongHyup Financial Group Inc. on Wednesday offered to resign following the massive hacking attack in March that paralyzed the network of its banking unit and the group's weaker earnings.Shin Dong-kyu, the president of the group, said in a statement that he offered to step down from the top post as he believed it would be desirable for a new head to lead the group, given "an array of difficulties facing the group."His resignation came as computer networks at Korea's major broadcasters

 South Korean stocks traded 0.12 percent lower late Wednesday morning, paring earlier gains as large-cap exporters widened losses, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.36 points to 1,966.47 as of 11:20 a.m.    Top-cap Samsung Electronics dropped nearly 1 percent and POSCO, a leading steelmaker, dipped 1.3 percent.   Domestic-oriented stocks extended their gains, with state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. rising 0.16 percent and NHN Corp., the No. 1 Inter

South Korean stocks opened a tad higher Wednesday, as large-cap financial companies drove up the main index amid concerns over exporters feared to suffer from yen weakness, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 2.15 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 1,971.34 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Samsung Life Insurance, the sixth-largest listed firm by market cap, rose 0.5 percent, with No. 4 banking firm Shinhan Financial Group soaring more than 2 percent.

STX Corp. averted default as its creditors on Tuesday agreed to provide the financially distressed company with bailout funds totaling 300 billion won ($270 million).The 300 billion won is composed of funding for the 200 billion-won-worth corporate bonds issued by STX Corp., which matured on Tuesday, and 100 billion won in emergency relief funds, said its main creditor Korea Development Bank.Over the past week, the state-run KDB and other creditors have been in a series of heated discussions whe

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea has decided to provide lower-interest and long-term loans to Indonesia and the Philippines to help them carry out businesses aimed at building social and economic infrastructures, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.Under the economic development cooperation fund program launched in 1987 to help other developing countries with their basic infrastructure facilities, the government will provide $50 million in loans for Indonesia to establish the piped sewerage syst

SK Innovation Co., the holding company of South Korea’s biggest refiner SK Energy Co., said Tuesday that it will invest about 90 billion won ($81 million) to expand its IT-related production line. SK Innovation aims to complete the expansion of the plant in Jeungpyeong, about 126 kilometers south of Seoul, by 2014, the company said in a statement. The plant produces “flexible copper clad laminate.” FCCL is a key component for the flexible printed circuit board which is used for IT devices like s

Korea saw its travel account deficit surge to its highest in seven fiscal quarters in the months between January and March this year due to the rapid depreciation of the Japanese yen, according to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday.The shortfall reached some $2 billion in the first quarter, the highest since the second quarter of 2011 when the travel deficit under the services account in the balance of payments hit almost $2.26 billion.This is primarily due to the increasing number of Koreans travelin

South Korean stocks traded 0.86 percent higher late Tuesday morning, as blue-chip domestic shares led the gains in resistance to the weakening yen, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 16.76 points to 1,965.46 as of 11:20 a.m.   State-run electricity provider Korea Electric Power jumped 1.5 percent and smallest mobile carrier LG Uplus hiked 2.5 percent.   But financial issues fell, with No. 3 banking firm Hana Financial Group slipping 0.5 percent and Sa

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, as fears of a weak Japanese yen eased following a market rattle last week, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 11.70 points, or 0.6 percent to 1,960.40 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-listed firms drove up shares, with Samsung Electronics rising 0.7 percent and auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis jumping 1.5 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,111.80 won against the U.S. dollar, down 0.1 won from Mon

A rate cut by South Korea’s central bank may not help ease low-income families’ debt-serving burdens as their debt holdings stood relatively low and income growth remained stagnant, data showed Monday.In a surprise move, the Bank of Korea on Thursday cut the benchmark seven-day repo rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent in a bid to support the government’s stimulus drive.BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo said in a press conference that the rate reduction would ease debt-serving burdens for low