South Korea’s financial regulators have begun drafting contingency arrangements, such as ramping up market monitoring and readying market stabilization funds, to grapple with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, which has led the local stock market to shed 162 trillion won ($134 billion) over the last two months. “At alert level 2, we’re keeping an eye on the stock market and prepared to deploy our resources, should it need our intervention,” a source with knowledge

Study shows 41 percent earn less than W20m a year

Hana Bank said Sunday it will expand its wealth management services to trading art pieces -- both physical and digital -- amid growing retail demand for alternative assets. Hana Bank has forged a partnership with Seoul Auction Blue, an online auction house, to jointly work on developing new businesses such as nonfungible tokens and metaverse platforms, and operating online education and community platforms on art. The two will also provide traditional art services including artwork sales, art

South Korean stocks are expected to face highly volatile sessions next week as investors will pay keen attention to situations in Ukraine and the US Federal Reserve's updated stance on its monetary policy, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,676.76 on Friday, down 2.45 percent from a week earlier, amid jitters over the escalating tensions in Ukraine as Russia launched a military offensive in the East European neighbor. KOSPI rebounded on

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Friday that a support program worth 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion) will be launched to cushion local businesses from economic woes stemming from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, if needed. “We will thoroughly review the extent of damages and the financial state of our exporters and importers to prevent any difficulties stemming from the Ukraine crisis,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Koh Seung-beom said at a joint

SEJONG -- The tax administrative agencies of South Korea and India have agreed to closely coordinate on easing tax burdens for businesses by holding a bilateral meeting of chiefs, the National Tax Service said Friday. The two also have decided to exchange know-how in uncovering practices of offshore tax evasion. During their meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, NTS commissioner Kim Dae-ji expressed gratitude to his counterpart Tarun Bajaj for the Indian tax authority’s recent policy to prev

South Korea said Friday it plans to provide financial support to local exporters in an effort to minimize their potential damage from international sanctions against Russia over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The United States announced new sanctions against Russia, including export controls, over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in a bid to restrict Russia's ability to do business in major currencies. South Korea said Thursday it will join the international community in imposing sanctions against Ru

South Korea's fisheries output rebounded last year from the previous year on the back of increased fish stocks and expanded fishing grounds, data showed Friday. Total fisheries output amounted to 3.82 million tons last year, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. The 2021 tally rebounded from 3.71 million tons in 2020 when fisheries output hit a four-year low. Last year, aquaculture production increased and fisheries output from inland fishing also gained ground. By v

South Korea's total arable land dropped for the ninth consecutive year in 2021 as rice paddies shrank amid falling consumption of rice, data showed Friday. The country's arable land totaled 1.55 million hectares -- slightly more than three times the size of the U.S. state of Delaware -- as of end-2021, down 1.2 percent or 18,000 hectares from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Arable land in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on the decline since 2013 due to declin

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it has invested part of the country's foreign exchange reserves in a green bond fund for central banks in a bid to expand its investment in green projects. The BOK said it took part in the Asian Green Fund that was launched by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Thursday to invest in dollar-denominated green bonds issued in the Asian region. The BOK did not specify the amount of its investment. Green bonds are meant to raise money to support enviro

South Korea's terms of trade fell for the 10th straight month in January as import costs rose at a faster clip than export prices, central bank data showed Friday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of overall trade terms -- stood at 89.42 last month, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The figure has marked on-year declines each month since April when the index fell 0.6 percent from a year earlier. Compared wi

SEJONG -- Hybrid cars will likely be excluded from a government list of eco-friendly cars in the coming years, rendering hybrid-car owners no longer able to enjoy tax benefits or state-led purchase subsidies. During a ministerial meeting for the nation’s innovative growth in Seoul on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki unveiled a policy to regard only electric cars and hydrogen-fueled cars as low-emission cars on a midterm policy direction. He said that the g

South Korean stocks plunged more than 2 percent Thursday, as investor sentiment worsened over Russia's launch of military operations in eastern Ukraine. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 70.73 points, or 2.6 percent, to close at 3,029.57 points. Trading volume was high at about 904 million shares worth some 13.1 trillion won ($10.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 797 to 108. Foreigners dumped a net 681 bi

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate anchored at the current 1.25 percent, but sharply revised its annual inflation outlook to a decade high of 3.1 percent. The Bank of Korea’s seven-day monetary policy board unanimously voted to freeze the key rate at the level it maintained since it delivered a 0.25 percentage point rate hike in January. The January decision brought back the base rate to pre-pandemic levels, before the BOK carried out a 0.5 perc

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group has partnered up with the nation’s top university in science and technology to bolster the scientific approach toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. On Thursday, Hana said it signed a deal with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology with the goal of developing new technology based on environmental, social and governance values. The goal would be based on the institutions’ joint efforts to resolve climate change issues,