A fire Saturday at a Kakao data center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, has led to a server outage affecting the KakaoTalk messenger app, along with other apps such as Kakao T, Kakao Map, Kakao Metro, Kakao Webtoon, Kakao Bank, Kakao-owned portal Daum and music streaming service Melon. The internet connection for the apps has been unavailable since 3:30 p.m. "There has been a fire at SK C&C data center since 3:30 p.m. Work has begun to put down the fire, but we are uncertain when the fir

South Korea posted 19 straight months of job gains in September, although the employment growth has cooled amid worries over a recession prompted by soaring interest rates and slowing exports. According to Statistics Korea data released Friday, the number of the employed rose to 28.38 million last month, up 707,000 from the same month a year ago -- the largest annual gain since 1999 in the month of September. But the monthly increase has been declining since May, when 935,000 jobs were added. A

South Korean stocks rebounded sharply Friday, as investors shook off hotter-than-expected US inflation data and bet price increases would soon peak. The local currency gained ground against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 49.68 points, or 2.3 percent, to end at 2,212.55. The index lost 20.29 points, or 0.9 percent, from last week's closing of 2,232.84. Trading volume was moderate at 501 million shares worth 7.01 trillion won ($4.89 billion), with

SEJONG -- The chief of the International Monetary Fund on Friday dismissed the possibility that South Korea would face a financial crisis, seemingly suggesting that the current economic situation of the nation is different from the 1997 or 2008 crises. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the remarks of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came during a meeting with Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho in Washington. Georgieva picked the nat

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking an overnight surge on Wall Street as investors shook off hotter-than-expected inflation data and bet price increases would soon peak. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 34.03 points, or 1.57 percent, to 2,196.90 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street made a remarkable turnaround to close higher, after plunging significantly earlier in the session, as investors shrugged off persistently higher-than-e

SEJONG -- South Korea’s top economic policymaker on Thursday called for close collaboration between the Korean government and the World Bank Group to address major global issues, such as tackling climate change. In his meeting with WB Group President David Malpass in Washington, DC, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho stressed the role of World Bank's local liaison office at the Free Economic Zone in Incheon’s Songdo-dong, to bolster the bilateral coordination.

Samsung Electronics stocks were the most popular among senior officials serving as vice ministers or in higher positions for the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, according to a local data firm report released Thursday. According to Leaders Index, 67 out of 118 officials revealed in their financial disclosures that they were holding shares of either public or private companies, including stocks held by such immediate family members as spouse and children, as of Friday last week. Samsung Electronics,

South Korean stocks finished down Thursday amid persistent concerns that combative monetary tightening policies in major economies could drag the global economy into a recession. The local currency lost ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 39.60 points, or 1.8 percent, to end at 2,162.87. Trading volume was moderate at 781 million shares worth 6.96 trillion won ($4.86 billion), with losers far outpacing gainers 842 to 73. Institutions offload

Scandal-ridden biotechnology firm SillaJen’s shares surged by nearly 30 percent on Thursday a day after South Korea’s sole bourse operator decided to resume its trading on the secondary index. The firm's shares jumped nearly 30 percent from the previous closing to 10,850 won ($7.58), effectively ending its 29 months of suspension and quickly picking up speed from its opening price of 8,380 won. Though the closing price on the last trading day before its suspension -- May 4, 2020 --

SEJONG -- South Korea's fiscal deficit increased 15.1 trillion won ($10.5 billion) in the first eight months of 2022 from a year earlier due to spending on vulnerable groups amid the prolonged pandemic, data showed Thursday. The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 85.3 trillion won in the January-August period, larger than a shortfall of 70.2 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Monthly Public Finance report releas

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday amid persistent concerns over a global economic recession. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 9.21 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,193.26 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, Wall Street closed slightly down ahead of the release of the September consumer price index, one of the key indicators that would determine the pace of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy tightening going forward. Minutes from the Fed's Septe

WASHINGTON/SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the central bank's decision to take another big-step rate hike was necessary to cope with inflation and the strong US dollar. On the previous day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in line with efforts to bring inflation under control. It is the first time in about 10 years that the rate has risen to the 3 percent range. "There are absolutely no difference

Korea’s sole bourse operator’s decision to keep the troubled biotech firm listed on the Kosdaq prompts divided response from the market

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic policymakers said the government will allow foreign-based financial firms to “directly” participate in the local foreign exchange market during a meeting with global investment bank executives. Saying that the policy is a part of the government’s effort to provide a foreign investor-friendly environment, the officials reiterated that Korea is mapping out details on the upcoming extension of the foreign exchange market’s opening hour

Once envious employee stock ownership plans turn into investment disasters as shares crash