South Korean financial giant KB Financial Group hopes to become a company that can have a good influence on the community, its chairman said Friday. “We will all make efforts to become a purpose-driven firm that has a positive influence on the community,” Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said at the group’s strategy meeting held at a Seoul hotel under the title "Toward the Future.” The meeting was held to discuss management strategies for the latter half of 2023 to seek cha

South Korean financial giant Woori Financial Group plans to expand its corporate financing, according to its chairman Friday. "During the first half of 2023, we prioritized risk management such as controlling financial soundness and capital adequacy as the uncertainty in financial markets both in and out of Korea escalated,” Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong said at a workshop held at the group’s headquarters in central Seoul. "It was a meaningful time when bold

Seoul shares ended spiked nearly 1.5 percent Friday, extending their winning streak to a fourth day, as easing US inflation helped assuage rate hike fears. The South Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 37.07 points, or 1.43 percent, to finish at 2,628.30. Trading volume was moderate at 561.21 million shares worth 14.01 trillion won ($11.06 billion), with winners outpacing losers 442 to 428. Institutions and foreigners bought a ne

The Bank of Korea is unlikely to cut interest rates this year because of uncertainty in the inflation outlook and massive household debt, central bank Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said Friday. "It is difficult to say that we will lower the interest rates for the time being, so don't expect too much that there will be a drop in the interest rates," he said during the 45th Jeju Forum hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Jeju Haevichi Hotel Resort. "We will look at

South Korea's economy is experiencing eased downward pressures on the back of improving exports, the finance ministry said Friday, although the country still faces an ongoing economic slowdown. "(The economy's) downward pressures are easing on the back of partial recovery of the sluggish exports, sound domestic consumption, improved economic sentiment and robust employments," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a report. The ministry nevertheless mentioned an economic

Seoul shares opened higher Friday, after another softer-than-expected US inflation reading. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,606.9 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the US producer price index, another key inflation reading, came in softer than expected in June. The report came a day after June's consumer price index showed US inflation slowed to a two-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.14 percent, and t

Seoul shares ended higher Thursday to extend their winning streak to a third day as eased US inflation muted concerns over the US Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes. The South Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 16.51 points, or 0.64 percent, to finish at 2,591.23. Trading volume was moderate at 573.79 million shares worth 13.1 trillion won ($10.2 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 469 to 399. Institutions and f

Korea-US rate gap is likely to widen to 2 percentage points this month

The Bank of Korea kept its key interest rate unchanged for the fourth consecutive time as inflation seems to be on the wane. The central bank decided to hold the rate at 3.5 percent at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday, keeping the base rate steady since February. The BOK’s decision falls in line with the market projection which assumed the central bank would maintain the rate as the consumer prices growth in June fell to the 2 percent range for the first time in 21 months. Korea’

South Korea's fiscal deficit narrowed in the first five months of 2023 from a year earlier as the country cut spending on pandemic-related expenditures, data showed Thursday. The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 52.5 trillion won ($40.9 billion) in the January-May period, compared with a shortfall of 71.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea's tax revenue

Seoul shares opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, as US inflation slowed to a two-year low, easing concerns that the US Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive rate hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 17.92 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,592.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.2 percent. The US consumer price index, a key inflation

Import prices fell to the lowest in 18 months in June to extend their on-month decline for the second straight month on the back of the strengthening Korean won and stable oil prices, central bank data showed Thursday. The import price index for June stood at 130.49, down 3.4 percent from May, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The June reading marks the lowest since December 2021. The index also fell 15.7 percent compared with a year earlier, marking the sharpest decline since

A total of 8.6 billion won ($6.7 million) was returned to 7,015 people who wired money to the wrong accounts since July 2021, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Wednesday. The Misdirected Wire Transfers Recovery Support System, implemented in July 2021, is a system that returns money that was sent by mistake, which applies to those who wired amounts between 50,000 won and 50 million won. Requests for return need to be filed within a year of the date transfer was made. The average am

Seoul shares ended higher Wednesday, led by gains in tech companies and airlines, as investors await a US inflation report for clues on future rate hikes. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 12.23 points, or 0.48 percent, to finish at 2,574.72. Trading volume was moderate at 686.15 million shares worth 12.55 trillion won ($9.7 billion), with gainers outpacing decliners 496 to 362. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average adv

Visa rules to be eased to address imbalance in labor market