South Korea plans to closely monitor prices of major agricultural, livestock and fishery goods starting next week in a bid to help stabilize inflationary pressure ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, a senior government official said Friday. The government will monitor the price movements of 17 items that are mainly used for holiday preparation meals, including napa cabbage, beef, eggs and rice, according to First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon. Next year's Lunar New Holiday runs from Jan.

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Friday, as the country's spiking new coronavirus cases fanned concerns about tougher virus curbs. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 21.59 points, or 0.71 percent, to 3,007.98 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment worsened as South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 7,000 for the third consecutive day Friday amid the waning immunity and colder weather. Most large caps traded lower in Seoul. M

South Korea’s top financial policymaker said Thursday that he is seeking to work with other government bodies to prevent monopolistic practices by big tech companies holding vast amounts of personal data while promoting financial companies’ investment in financial technology.　 The remark came amid growing concerns over the market dominance of Naver Financial and Kakao Pay -- the fintech services offered by the country’s largest internal portal and messenger app operator,

South Korean stocks advanced for a seventh consecutive session Thursday amid eased concerns about the omicron variant of the new coronavirus. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 27.77 points, or 0.93 percent, to close at 3,029.57 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 496 million shares worth some 12 trillion won ($10.2 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 656 to 187. Institutions bought a net 620 billion won, wh

South Korea's government debt level is not high enough to negatively affect its sovereign ratings in the near future, the global credit appraiser S&P Global Ratings said Thursday. Kim Eng Tan, senior director at S&P, said Korea's debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to reach slightly more than 40 percent by the end of next year, lower than the 50 percent estimate by the Korean government. "l just state very clearly that I don't think the Korean government ratings will be negatively affec

Foreign investors purchased a net of about $2.52 billion worth of shares on South Korea's stock market in November as they picked up chips and other related tech shares, central bank data showed Thursday. That marked a turnaround from the previous month's net selling of local stocks by foreign investors valued at $2.65 billion, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The net purchase was mostly driven by increased investment in chipmakers and related tech firms amid expectations their ov

South Korea's central bank said Thursday that it will adjust the extent of its loose monetary policy stance "appropriately" in consideration of inflation, the pandemic and monetary policy directions of major economies. In a monetary policy report to lawmakers, the Bank of Korea (BOK) cited uncertainty linked to global supply disruptions, the resurgence of the coronavirus and the emergence of the omicron COVID-19 variant as major risk factors that could weigh on the economy. "As

Bond issuance in South Korea inched down in November from the previous month amid rising interest rates, data showed Thursday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 65.8 trillion won ($56.1 billion) last month, down 200 billion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Last month's decrease compares with an 8.4 trillion won on-month jump recorded in October. Sales of financial bonds declined by 2.5 trillion won

South Korea's internet banking services continued to grow in the first half of the year, with the number of users and daily transactions rising to new highs, central bank data showed. The number of internet banking users, including mobile banking, came to 186.5 million as of end-June, up 5.6 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The figure is the simple sum of all registered users of 18 internet and mobile banking service providers in the country, meani

South Korea's tax revenue fell 6.2 trillion won ($5.3 billion) in October from a year earlier as the government delayed the payment of some taxes by small merchants and firms hit by the pandemic, the finance ministry said Thursday. The government collected 32.9 trillion won in taxes in October, compared with 39.1 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Tax revenue increased every month between January and September from a year earlier as corporate tax inc

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday, led by advances by auto and chemical stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.28 points, or 0.18 percent, to trade at 3,007.08 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.64 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 percent on easing concerns about the omicron variant of the new coronavirus. In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.28 p

South Korean stocks rebounded Wednesday on foreign buying amid growing hopes that the omicron variant would not derail a global economic recovery. Analysts in Seoul also said that stocks will shake off their pandemic-caused weakness early next year when supply disruptions are resolved. The main benchmark Kospi closed at 3001.80, up 0.34 percent from a day earlier, surpassing the 3,000-mark again for the first time since Nov. 24. The junior tech-heavy Kosdaq closed at 1006.04, up 0.94 percent f

South Korean stocks advanced for a sixth straight session Wednesday on the back of eased concerns about the omicron variant. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 10.08 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 3,001.8 points. The key index retrieved the 3,000-point mark for the first time in about two weeks. Trading volume was moderate at about 482 million shares worth some 11 trillion won ($9.4 billion), with losers outnumbering g

SEJONG -- Deputy prime minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that home prices in some districts of Seoul and others nationwide have stabilized. During a meeting with real estate-related ministers, Hong said prices of some apartments in Seoul have “stabilized to the level before entering a possible downhill phase.” His remarks indicate that some districts of the capital might be seeing a plateau or slowdown in prices. He said the trend of stabilization has been at

South Korean banks' loans to households grew at a slower pace in November amid the government's stepped-up control on home-backed loans and other lending, central bank data showed Wednesday. According to the data from the Bank of Korea, banks' household loans stood at 1,060.9 trillion won ($901.2 billion) as of end-November, up 3 trillion won from a month earlier. The on-month growth decelerated from a 5.2 trillion won growth in October. Of household loans, mortgage loans grew 2.4 trillion wo