South Koreans in their 40s and 50s now face higher chances of loan default and delinquency, with those who took out loans from more than one financial institution increasing by nearly 100,000 from last year, data showed Thursday. This has spurred concerns that a significant number of borrowers in those age groups could be taking out additional money to repay existing debts, with aggressive rate hikes in recent months requiring them to pay more in interest. Borrowers in their 40s and 50s who

JB Financial Group, a Jeonju-based financial holding company, said Thursday it has renamed its subsidiary Mega Investment to JB Investment. The finance company inked a deal to take over Mega Investment from South Korean online educational service provider MegaStudy in May for 48 billion won ($36.5 million). The deal was signed as part of the regional bank’s efforts in diversifying its business portfolio, said JB Financial Group. The newly named JB Investment is a venture investment firm

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to South Korea's free economic zones (FEZs) more than doubled in the first half of this year to hit a three-year high amid post-pandemic economic recovery, data showed Thursday. The country's nine FEZs received $560 million worth of FDI commitment during the January-June period, up 164 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is the highest figure si

Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell 5.1 percent on-year in the second quarter of this year amid global supply disruptions due to the prolonged crisis in Ukraine and China's lockdown of major cities over the COVID-19 pandemic, the oceans ministry said Thursday. Cargo handled at the country's ports came to 373.98 million tons in the April-June period, compared with 394.17 million tons a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Handling of export-import c

South Korea's exports rose 14.5 percent in the first 20 days of July from a year earlier, but the country suffered a trade deficit on higher global energy costs, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $37.25 billion in the July 1-20 period, compared with $32.52 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports jumped 25.4 percent on-year to $45.35 billion during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of $8.12

South Korean opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.24 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 2,393.09 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US. stocks rose as tech shares rallied on solid corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.15 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 1.58 percent. In Seoul, tech and chemical shares gathered ground, while financials and autos fe

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday slashed its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.6 percent amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis and aggressive monetary tightening by major countries. The latest estimate by the Manila-based bank is lower than the 3 percent growth forecast made in April. The ADB, however, maintained its earlier forecast of the country's 2.6 percent growth for next year. The bank cited the slowdown in the global economic growth and interest rate hikes

Prosecutors raided local cryptocurrency exchanges on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a fraud case in connection with the collapse of Terraform Labs’ digital coins, TerraUSD and Luna, officials said. A team of investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office began seizing transaction records and other material from Upbit and other local exchanges around 5 p.m., they said. Investors in TerraUSD and Luna filed complaints against Terraform Labs’ CEO Do Kwon

South Korean stocks ended higher Wednesday, as investor sentiment was boosted by Wall Street gains and the expected resumption of Russian gas to Europe. The Korean won gained ground against the U.S. dollar. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.88 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,386.85. Trading volume was moderate at 328.96 million shares worth 7.36 trillion won ($5.61 billion), with gainers outstripping decliners 630 to 228. Retail investors picked up shares worth a net 65.73 bil

SEJONG -- The Korean currency gained against the US dollar on Wednesday, a day after finance ministers from South Korea and the US said they could take actions like supplying liquidity for stabilization of the foreign exchange market. The price of the Korean currency climbed by 0.5 won per dollar from a trading session earlier to close at 1,312.9 won. After peaking at 1,326.1 won last Friday, the greenback fell for the third consecutive trading session. This could be attributab

South Korea's state-run National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with Moderna Inc., a US biotech company, to cooperate in the development of a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine candidate for severe fever and thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS). The institute said the deal, signed Monday, was its first joint project agreement with an overseas pharmaceutical company. The institute said it expects the research to help elevate the center's researc

The amount of stock settlements here plunged 27 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier, largely due to a slump in the global stock market, data showed Wednesday. In the January-June period, a total of 203.9 trillion won ($156 billion) worth of stock settlements were made through the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), down 27.3 percent from a year ago, according to the data. The tally also shrank 11.6 percent from six months earlier. The KSD said stock settlements were on a de

The South Korean economy is feared to slow down, as inflationary pressure has mounted and export growth could lose steam amid deteriorating external economic conditions, the finance ministry said Wednesday. Market volatility and global economic downside risks further increased, led by the Federal Reserve's fast rate hikes, China's economic slowdown, and the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine, the ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called the Green Book. "Domesti

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 32.69 points, or 1.38 percent, to trade at 2,403.66 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks rallied on better-than-expected corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.43 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite surged 3.11 percent. In Seoul, most big-cap shares gathered ground, with techs and financi

Major companies in South Korea have seen their total economic contribution soar 20 percent over the past nine years thanks to their robust growth, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The value of economic contribution created by the country's top 100 firms by sales came to 1,238 trillion won ($950 billion) last year, up 206.5 trillion won from 2012, according to CEO Score. Economic contribution refers to the economic value of a corporation's business activities shared among such interested parti