South Korea's tax revenue increased 41 trillion won ($28.8 billion) in the first eight months of this year compared with a year earlier as the collection of corporate and income taxes rose, the finance ministry said Thursday. Tax revenue amounted to 289.3 trillion won in the January-August period, compared with 248.2 trillion won the previous year, according to the ministry. In August alone, the government collected 28.3 trillion won in tax revenue, up 3.7 trillion won from a year ago. Sout

Seoul stocks opened higher tracking overnight Wall Street gains, after plunging to the lowest level in more than two years the previous session on growing recession fears. The Korean won also rebounded to the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 28.66 points, or 1.32 percent, to 2,197.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI ended at 2,169.29 on Wednesday, the lowest since July 20, 2020, amid combative monetary tightening policies in major economies to

Seoul stocks dropped to the lowest level in more than two years and the Korean won tumbled to a 13-year low Wednesday on deepening concerns over a global recession in the wake of aggressive monetary tightening in major economies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell by 54.57 points, or 2.45 percent, to end at 2,169.29, the lowest since July 20, 2020, when the market closed at 2,198.20. The KOSPI dived more than 3 percent on Monday before inching up 0.13 percent the

Samsung Group’s insurance units signed a deal worth $650 million with US-based private equity firm Blackstone to expand its global alternative asset portfolio, the Korean insurers said Wednesday. Samsung Life Insurance and non-life insurer Samsung Fire ＆ Marine Insurance will invest in overseas real estate, infrastructure and private equities managed by Blackstone through the latest deal. The investment will be managed by Samsung’s asset management arms Samsung Asset Management and

The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) on Wednesday called for South Korea to consider revising regulations on electric vehicles and several other key sectors to provide more procedural clarity and flexibility in line with international standards. The ECCK made the recommendations to the South Korean government in its latest annual white paper for this year, which contains a total of 96 comments on the regulatory issues across 18 industries, including automotive, energy and environment

South Korea's global ranking in terms of digital technology competitiveness climbed to No. 8 this year, the science ministry said Wednesday, citing the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). According to the ministry, South Korea climbed four notches from last year's 12th spot in the 2022 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking report. The country ranked 19th in 2017 and later reached the 14th and 10th spots in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The IMD, a Switzerland-ba

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, amid lingering concerns over the impact of aggressive monetary tightening in major economies on growth momentum. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 11.98 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,211.88 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.43 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.25 percent. The market has been in disarray, wit

Sales of South Korea's top 500 firms have soared nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years with the information technology and electronics sector taking up the biggest share, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The combined top line of the leading businesses stood at 3,286 trillion won ($2.3 trillion) in 2021, up 39 percent from a decade earlier, according to CEO Score. The IT, electronics and electric industry accounted for the largest percentage of the total at 17.3 percent last year, up 3

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi tumbled to a fresh intraday low Tuesday in 26 months, led by a sell-off by foreign investors pricing in a sharp US downturn prompted by tighter policy to corral inflation. The index pared the losses later the day, adding 2.92 points or 0.13 percent to 2,223.86. In the afternoon, the main board slid to an intraday low of 2,197.90, the lowest level since July 24, 2020, when it reached 2,195.49. Institutional investors purchased net 245 billion won ($171 million)

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives is expanding international cooperation to help alleviate poverty in developing countries by sharing Koreans’ experience of doing so through savings. Under the guidance of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, community credit cooperatives, known as Saemaul Geumgo, were set up in Myanmar in 2017, Uganda in 2018 and Laos in 2020. Currently, 53 branches in those countries have some 13,000 members. Recently, separate federations of co

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said it will offer special interest rates of up to 2.4 percent for as long as 60 days to first-time SC customers who deposit 100 million won or more, up to 2 billion won, in money market deposit accounts. Money market deposit accounts pay interest based on the daily account balance. The bigger the deposit, the higher the interest. The promotional rate is offered to first-time customers of SC Bank Korea who open their accounts by Thursday. The promotion will end wh

Seoul stocks snapped their four-day losing streak Tuesday amid still persistent woes over aggressive monetary tightening moves in major economies that could lead to a recession. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.92 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 2,223.86. Trading volume was moderate at about 478 million shares worth some 7.8 trillion won ($5.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 481 to 381.

Brokerages in South Korea raked in a combined 23.61 billion won ($16.5 million) in fees from handling stock short selling in the first half of this year, data showed Tuesday. The amount compared with 29.28 billion won they earned from short selling-related fees throughout last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The Seoul branch of Morgan Stanley earned the largest amount at 6.44 billion won, while the Seoul office of Credit Suisse brought in 3.15 billion won in s

Seoul stocks came off to a choppy start Tuesday after an over two-year trough the previous day amid rising woes over a global recession in the wake of aggressive monetary tightening moves in major economies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.59 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,226.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI dipped 3.02 percent and the secondary KOSDAQ sank 5.07 percent on Monday as investors were increasingly concerned about a global recession caus

South Korea's inflation expectations declined for a second straight month in September amid falling oil prices, a central bank survey showed Monday. Ordinary people expected consumer prices will grow 4.2 percent over the next year, down 0.1 percentage point from 4.3 percent of the previous month, according to the poll conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The inflation expectations index has shown a gradual decline since July, when the monthly figure peaked at an all-time high of 4.7 percen