Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. will hold a partial strike Wednesday in the South Korean carmaker's domestic plants in protest against the "anti-union" Yoon Suk Yeol government, the union said. Hyundai's day-shift and night-shift workers will hold a two-hour strike Wednesday, respectively, under the guidelines of the Korean Metal Workers' Union, a union spokesman said over the phone. The KMWU has been calling on the Yoon government to stop union repression and for

South Korea plans to allow overseas financial firms to participate in the local foreign exchange market in the fourth quarter, the finance ministry said Wednesday, in the latest move to meet "global standards." Under the measure, the country will allow foreign institutions that obtain registration from the South Korean government to participate in the South Korean foreign exchange market, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Currently, foreign institutions can only partici

Seoul shares opened lower Wednesday, bucking overnight gains on Wall Street, as investors await key US inflation data and major firms' second-quarter earnings results. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 3.32 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,559.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6 percent. Federal Reserve officials have said the US central bank will likely need to r

South Korean banks' net income from overseas businesses decreased in 2022 from a year earlier on increased bad debt expenses, data showed Wednesday. The net income of domestic banks' overseas businesses sank to $991 million from $1.17 billion on-year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS attributed the decrease to a rise in banks' bad debt expenses intended to prepare for bad loans amid global rate hikes. The banks' interest income rose 13.7 percent on-year

South Korea's job additions remained stronger than expected in June on the back of the senior workforce, data showed Wednesday, although the on-year growth slowed for the third consecutive month. The number of employed people came to 28.81 million in June, up around 333,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. South Korea's on-year job additions slowed for nine consecutive months through February before rebounding in March, when they rose 469,000 on-

Seoul shares finished nearly 2 percent higher Tuesday, led by gains in techs and telecoms, as investors eye this week's US inflation data for clues on future rate hikes. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 41.79 points, or 1.7 percent, to finish at 2,562.49, snapping its five-session losing streak. Trading volume was moderate at 584.15 million shares worth 10.46 trillion won ($8.08 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners

South Korea's statistics agency said Tuesday the country has been selected as the host of an international statistics event scheduled for 2027, which will bring together experts and government officials from around the world to share knowledge in the field of statistics. South Korea will host the World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute in 2027 in the southeastern port city of Busan, marking the second time for the country to host the biennial event, following it

South Korea's exports fell 14.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July due to sluggish shipments of chips, data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments reached $13.3 billion in the July 1-10 period, compared with $15.5 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports fell 26.9 percent on-year to $15.5 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.27 billion. In June, South Korea's outbound shipments fell 6

Policy fund urged to support Korean businesses' attempts to acquire tech firms overseas

South Korean stocks finished lower Monday amid US rate hike woes. The local currency went down against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.01 points, or 0.24 percent, to finish at 2,520.7, extending its losing streak to the fifth consecutive session. Trading volume was moderate at 553.1 million shares worth 9.53 trillion won ($7.29 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 450 to 428. Foreigners sold a net 152.9 billion won worth of local e

US Fed’s potential rate raise this month could widen Korea-US rate gap to 2 percentage points

Shares of South Korean battery materials firm EcoPro rose to over 1 million won ($766.58) during trading hours Monday, surpassing a significant bar for a stock listed on Kosdaq. The stock price of EcoPro closed at 965,000 won, lower than its previous closing price of 988,000 won. It hit a record high of 1.01 million won earlier during the day. As of closing, the market cap of EcoPro stood at 25.69 trillion won, shoulder to shoulder with tech giants Kakao and Naver, which are worth 22.14 trillion

South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Monday amid continued concerns over the US Federal Reserve's additional rate hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.59 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,531.3 in the first 15 minutes of trading. All US stock indexes finished lower Friday amid woes over the Fed's additional rate hikes. In Seoul, big-cap shares opened mixed. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics shed 0.43 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix traded flat. Le

South Korean stocks dropped by more than 1 percent on Friday to extend their losing streak to the fourth day amid US rate hike woes. The local currency went down against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 29.58 points, or 1.16 percent, to finish at 2,526.71. Trading volume was high at 602.7 million shares worth 10.2 trillion won ($7.8 billion) with decliners far outpacing gainers 656 to 236. Foreigners sold a net 41.3 billion won worth of local equities, wit

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Friday amid concerns over the US Federal Reserve's additional rate hikes and Samsung Electronics' poor earnings guidance. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 23.55 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,532.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading. All US stock indexes finished lower Thursday with investors' concerns over the Fed's potential additional rate hikes following stronger-than-expected US employment data. In Seoul,