Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man was named person of the year by the Korea Exchange, Korea’s sole bourse operator, for his contribution to the local capital market, officials said Monday. “Chairman Choi heads a leading brokerage company that helped 21 firms go public this year, including game maker Krafton, in what was the biggest initial public offering in 2021,” the Korea Exchange said. The exchange credited its first awardee Choi for becoming the first non-fa

South Korea's finance ministry on Monday revised up its 2022 growth outlook for the country's economy to 3.1 percent, saying that exports and private spending will likely gain ground despite heightened economic uncertainty. The government's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent growth forecast made in June, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry's outlook is more upbeat than the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Organization for Econ

South Korean stocks plunged nearly 2 percent Monday morning amid spreading virus concern. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 54.73 points, or 1.81 percent, to close at 2,963 points, the lowest closing since Dec. 2. Trading volume was low at about 371 million shares worth some 8.5 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 785 to 117. Foreigners offloaded a net 552 billion won, and institutions

65 technologies from chip, battery and vaccine sectors to be developed as national strategy in 2022

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Monday, tracking last week's fall on Wall Street stemming from virus concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 29.65 points, or 0.98 percent, to 2,988.08 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded lower in Seoul. Top cap Samsung Electronics shed 0.9 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix decreased 0.41 percent. Internet portal operator Naver retreated 1.95 percent, leading chemical firm LG Chem fe

South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Monday it will freeze the country's electricity rates in the first quarter of 2022 amid rising inflation. KEPCO said it has decided to set the adjusted unit fuel cost at zero won per kilowatt-hour for the January-March period of next year, the same as that three months earlier. Late last year, KEPCO adopted a flexible electricity rate system linked to global fuel prices in a move to improve its profitability. It previously

Dividends by South Korea's four major financial holding firms are expected to hit an all-time high in 2021 as they have decided to return more of their bumper profits to shareholders, sources said Monday. The combined dividend payout of the four is likely to reach around 3.83 trillion won ($3.23 billion) this year, according to the sources and an estimate by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. It would represent the largest-ever dividend payout by the four holding com

In 2021, South Korea’s two biggest financial technology firms, Naver and Kakao, saw their market capitalization expand on-year, while drugmakers faced a dip in market value. As of last week, Naver, the country’s largest internet portal, had seen a 36 percent jump in its market cap at 63 trillion won ($53 billion), while the market value for Kakao, which runs the country’s largest messenger app for smartphones, almost tripled at 115 trillion won. The hike mainly came from Kaka

From food to flower delivery services, banks confront platform, retail giants

South Korean stocks are expected to gain momentum next week, as investor sentiment will be buoyed by eased uncertainty about the US monetary policy, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Kospi closed at 3,017.73 points Friday, little changed from 3,010.23 points a week ago. The key stock index retreated on Monday and Tuesday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting. But local stocks rebounded for three straight sessions to Friday, as the outcome of t

South Korea is among the world’s biggest seller of green bonds, and one of its top issuers is planning to tap the global debt market more aggressively next year to provide sustainable funds to local companies operating abroad. Export-Import Bank of Korea, the nation’s second-largest issuer of green notes, plans to sell about $12 billion to $12.5 billion of bonds offshore in 2022, compared with around $11 billion this year, said Lee Dong-hoon, the treasurer of the bank. It expects ab

The US Federal Reserve recently said it would wrap up its pandemic-era bond purchases in March, signaling as many as three rate hikes by the end of 2022. While the South Korean financial authorities have expressed confidence that the expected rate hikes will have minimal impact on the local market, experts were divided on the matter as of Friday. The nation’s First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-won said Thursday that the US Fed’s latest decision was within market expectations, res

South Korean stocks rose for a third straight session on Friday, as foreign investors snapped up local stocks on eased uncertainty about the US monetary policy. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 11.32 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,017.73 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 438 million shares worth some 11.2 trillion won ($9.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 510 to 344. Foreigners bought a n

Gangnam-gu posts 3 percent increase in October-December period

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday the government has mobilized all possible resources to provide additional financial support to small businesses that will be affected by the new virus curbs. Kim spoke at a joint press briefing with economy-related ministers on the government's plan to pay 1 million won ($844) each to 3.2 million small business owners following its announcement of stricter social distancing measures the previous day. "We came up with additional support measures that