The Korea Herald

Currency swap not on agenda for finance ministers of Korea, Japan

Aug 25, 2016

South Korea and Japan will hold a finance ministers' meeting this weekend to discuss various economic and financial topics, the finance ministry here said Thursday.South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso will meet in Seoul on Saturday, with 70 officials, including vice ministers, from the two countries having working-level sessions before and after the meeting, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.The upcoming bilateral meeting will be the seve
Korean shares open lower on oil price woes

Aug 25, 2016

South Korean shares opened slightly lower Thursday as investors became wary of recent dips in global oil prices.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 4.45 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,039.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The decline also followed overnight losses on Wall Street.The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.35 percent to close at 18,481.48, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging 0.81 percent to 5,217.69.Investors were apparently spooked by an earlier report that US
Shares of firms with higher foreign ownership gain more

Aug 25, 2016

South Korea's listed companies with increased foreign ownership saw their share prices climb relatively more than their peers this month, data showed Thursday.According to the data by Daishin Securities Co., the top 20 issues in terms of foreign ownership gains reported an average return rate of 6.32 percent in the first 23 days of August.The yield rate dwarfed the comparable 1.67 percent for the entire main KOSPI market. Out of the 20 companies, 15 saw their share prices gain ground.Electronic
Korean stocks close lower on US rate hike, oil price concerns

Aug 24, 2016

South Korean shares closed slightly lower Wednesday as foreigners turned to selling amid concerns of a US rate hike and a further decline in global oil prices. The local currency lost ground against the US greenback.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 6.17 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,043.76. Trading volume was slim at 280.2 million shares worth 4.03 trillion won ($3.59 billion).Gainers outnumbered losers 404 to 388.The index opened slightly higher but later pared earlier gai
Korean stock market to use AI for monitoring

Aug 24, 2016

South Korea will set up a new stock market monitoring system using artificial intelligence by 2018, the nation's bourse operator announced Wednesday.The move is intended to counter unfair stock trading taking advantage of information technology, social micro-blogging sites and robo-advisors, according to the Korea Exchange."Market monitoring to predict and early warn of abnormal trading is necessary by using IT based on big data and AI," said Kim Young-choon, head of the market oversight system
Over 40 foreign currencies available for online exchange from October

Aug 24, 2016

Banks will expand their online foreign currency exchange services to more than 40 different currencies, starting from October. According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday, the financial wachdog will work together with the lenders to increase the variety of foreign currencies available for online exchange and pick-up at the Incheon International Airport. Currencies that are considered rare to get here, including the Vietnamese dong, Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Russian
Korea Eximbank holds EDCF camp for students

Aug 24, 2016

The Export-Import Bank of Korea, or Korea Eximbank, held a three-day camp starting Wednesday for college students providing them an opportunity to share ideas and visions about international development and cooperation. According to the bank on Wednesday, about 50 local university students took part in the camp dubbed “Economic Development Cooperation Fund Camp,” being held for the 13th year at the bank’s headquarters in Yeouido and employee training center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Korea E
Insurers' financial status improves in Q2

Aug 24, 2016

The financial health of South Korean insurance firms improved in the second quarter of this year thanks to increased net profits and the higher bond prices they possess, data showed Wednesday.The risk-based capital, the minimum required liquid reserves for a financial institution, of 56 life and non-life insurers averaged 288 percent at the end of June, up 14.1 percentage points from three months earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The average RBC of 25 life insurers rose to
Korea to hold annual meeting with Fitch on credit assessment

Aug 24, 2016

The South Korean government will have an annual consultation with Fitch Ratings Inc. this week on the country's credit valuation, the finance ministry said Wednesday.Led by Thomas Rookmaaker, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch, the delegation will visit South Korea for meetings with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance from Wednesday to Friday.Fitch will look into South Korea's macroeconomic policies, including its mid- and long-term plans, and financial issues like household debt and corp
[Herald Interview] Activist-turned-lawmaker takes aim at chaebol

Aug 23, 2016

Chaebol model fundamentally flawed, needs urgent reform, says Rep. Chae
Stock rally likely to continue until end of 2016: analysts

Aug 23, 2016

The recent buoyancy of the Korean stock market is forecast to persist until the end of the year, according to numerous market analysts. The pessimism that ran deep in the local financial market, as the country’s main benchmark Kospi remained at around 1,900 points until early this year, has faded away with the index replacing its previous records for the year’s new highs in the past week. The benchmark Kospi closed at 2,049.93, gaining 7.77 points from the previous trading session.Analysts are b
W57tr of bailout funds yet to be recouped

Aug 23, 2016

Including around 3 trillion won ($2.68 billion) that the financial regulator hopes to retrieve from state-owned Woori Bank, the South Korean government is yet to recoup a total of 56.6 trillion won worth taxpayers’ money used for company bailouts. According to the Financial Services Commission on Tuesday, the regulator has recovered 112.1 trillion won of the 168.7 trillion won of public funds injected into the private sector since 1997. In the first half of this year alone, 470.8 billion won was
Insurers' assets jump in H1 amid weak earnings

Aug 23, 2016

Insurance companies in South Korea saw their assets surge more than 10 percent on-year in the first half of 2016, but life insurers suffered a plunge in earnings due mainly to increased insurance payments, data showed Tuesday.The combined assets of the country's 25 life and 32 nonlife insurance firms came to 1,002.2 trillion won ($890 billion) as of the end of June, up 10.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. It marks the first time for their
Central bank, regulator at odds over household debt

Aug 22, 2016

Finance Ministry to unveil plans to curb borrowings
[NEWSMAKER] Mixed views on Samsung Electronics stock

Aug 22, 2016

After a two-day record-breaking rally, Samsung Electronics shares on Monday took a breather, closing 0.6 percent lower than the previous session. As soon as the Seoul market opened, Samsung Electronics shot to another intraday high of 1,692,000 won, but lost all of its gains on heavy foreign profit-taking. After choppy trading, it settled at 1,665,000 won at close. Local stock analysts seem mixed on the future direction of the market bellwether stock, which alone accounts for nearly 20 percent o