SEJONG -- Spiraling import prices of grain are expected to bring about further price hikes in local processed food products and food offered at restaurants, with a state-run agency predicting a continuous climb of grain prices in the third quarter of the year. In a recent report, the Korea Rural Economic Institute forecasted that grain import prices would climb 16 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter. A peak in the international prices of grains such as wheat, corn and

A joint task force launched by the Financial Services Commission on Wednesday kicked off its first monthly meeting on setting up a framework for digital assets like bitcoin, a week after the top financial regulator said it would work to remove regulatory uncertainty facing South Korea’s crypto industry. Introducing a legal framework for cryptocurrencies is part of the larger deregulation initiative the FSC has been pursuing since President Yoon Suk-yeol, who had pledged to make that happe

Seoul shares snapped their three-day winning streak Wednesday as investors await the latest minutes of the Federal Reserve that will give them an idea of its future rate policy to combat high inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 17.05 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,516.47 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 410 million shares worth some 7.04 trillion won ($5.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers

Samsung Life Science Fund has invested $15 million in US biotech Senda Biosciences in efforts to foster core technology of next-generation biopharmaceuticals, Samsung Biologics said Wednesday. Senda Biosciences is a therapeutics platform company specialized in programming to the cell by using the code from natural nanoparticles. The US biotech’s platform includes a messenger RNA engine and the first-ever atlas of nature-derived programmable systems at the molecular level and across all k

A top financial regulator said Wednesday that it is necessary to step up global cooperation in effectively responding to crimes involving digital assets as transactions take place across borders with their impact on traditional financial markets fast expanding. Kim So-young, vice chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), highlighted the need in the inauguration meeting of the recently launched private-government task force on digital assets, adding that more efforts should be made to pro

SEJONG -- South Korea's contraband trade shot up 60 percent in the first half of the year on a spike in tariff evasion and country-of-origin violations, the customs agency said Wednesday. The Korea Customs Service (KCS) said it detected and confiscated about 3 trillion won (US$2.3 billion) worth of illegal goods and unlawful transactions in the January-June period, compared with 1.9 trillion won a year earlier. Yet the number of contraband cases sank 28 percent on-year to 849 in the six-mon

Seoul shares opened higher Wednesday as investors await the latest Federal Reserve's minutes that will give them an idea of its future rate policy to combat inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.71 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 2,540.23 points as of 9:15 a.m. The main index got a boost amid market speculation that inflation pressure is peaking, making a global recession less likely, analysts said. The Fed minutes will be available Wednesday (US tim

The Financial Supervisory Service will look into financial institutions that handled an unusually large volume of short selling when the local markets were jumpy, the watchdog’s chief said Tuesday, as retail investors step up calls for greater oversight over the practice they say leaves them outgunned by institutional investors. Individual investors have long complained that the bearish market practice that profits from a drop in share prices is not as rewarding as it should be as regulat

South Korean shares advanced for a third straight session Tuesday amid investors' speculation that central banks in major economies may tone down their monetary tightening after weak economic data from China. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 5.58 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 2,533.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 389 million shares worth some 7.9 trillion won ($6 billion), with losers outnumbering

Yoon’s first housing policy aims to tackle supplies in metropolitan area

South Korean retail investors have been bagging up overseas exchange traded-funds in recent weeks as the global stock market has been struggling under bear market signals, data showed Tuesday. Retail investors interested in overseas investments have added more high-return, high-risk ETFs to their portfolios, seeking to profit from the volatile global market. Of the top 10 overseas investments from local investors from July 13 to Friday, seven were ETFs, latest data compiled by the Korea Secur

SEJONG -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it plans to focus on how to swiftly address damage to victims of unfair business acts, rather than punishing companies, in an effort to overhaul its law enforcement procedures. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) also said in a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol that it plans to take stern actions against tech giants' abuse of their market dominant status or companies' collusion to fix prices. The regulator said it plans

South Korean shares opened a tad higher Tuesday led by tech advances, tracking overnight US gains, despite woes over China's economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 7.57 points, or 0.3 percent, to trade at 2,535.51 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks got off to a solid start despite weaker-than-expected economic data from China, the country's top trading partner. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics advanced 0.33 percent as its de facto chief Lee Jae-yon

A South Korean bank’s rejection of a foreign customer’s request to open a new bank account due to the person’s full name being deemed “too long” is “discriminatory,” the state rights watchdog said Monday. A foreign resident here, whose name was withheld, filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea after a request to open a personal business account was rejected at a local bank branch in July last year, a document released by the

Foreign holdings of South Koreans stocks on the benchmark Kospi dipped to 606.2 trillion won ($464.1 billion), or 30.51 percent of the total, Thursday -- the lowest level since August 2009 as fears over US Federal Reserve rate hikes and a possible recession have dampened investor optimism. Data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday heavy net selling by foreign investors this year. They had offloaded 10.6 trillion won in shares as of Friday. The Kospi closed at 2,527.94 that day, a 15 percent dr