Kakao Pay said Wednesday that it logged a net loss in the third quarter due to increased expenses and investments. The company’s third-quarter revenue rose 73 percent on-year to 331.2 billion won ($280 million) on the growth of transaction volume and financial business. With an operating loss of 1.01 billion won, however, its net loss came to 1.8 billion won in the July-September period, data from the company showed. Kakao Pay, the financial technology arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp.

The number of employed people in South Korea grew for the eighth straight month in October, marking the lowest unemployment rate in eight years and signaling a gradual recovery in the country’s labor market from the effects of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. According to the data from Statistics Korea, the number of hired workers surged by 652,000 on-year to 27.7 million, showing a continual increase since March. Unemployment was 2.8 percent, down from 3.7 percent last year -- the l

Woori Financial takes lead in extending loans to ESG-oriented companies

South Korean stocks slumped more than 1 percent Wednesday amid concerns about the rising inflation pressure. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) decreased 32.29 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 2,930.17 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 559 million shares worth some 9.5 trillion won ($8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 807 to 86. Institutions sold net 236 billion won, while retail investors bought 235 bill

South Korea's central bank chief will hold a meeting with economic experts this week to exchange views on recent economic trends, officials said Wednesday. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will meet seven economic experts from major think tanks, including the Samsung Economic Research Institute, at a Seoul hotel Thursday, according to the bank officials. Lee occasionally held the "discussion on economic trends" with experts from various economic sectors, but no such meetings have been

The steelmaking conglomerate Posco has promised to create 25,000 new jobs over the next three years as part of the government's youth job and education support project, the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday. Posco and its affiliates will hire 14,000 people annually for three consecutive years and run support programs for partners and startups to recruit 11,000 people over that period. The plan was revealed during a partnership announcement event between Posco and the Prime Minister's Offi

South Korea has suffered continuous capital outflows of foreign stock funds amid the recent lackluster performance of the domestic market. Thanks to their selling spree, Asia’s fourth-largest economy has seen a further decrease in foreign ownership, data showed Wednesday. Offshore investors sold a net 31 trillion won ($26.2 billion) of local stocks from January to October, having already surpassed last year’s combined net sales of 24.3 trillion won, according to data from the Financ

The pace of household debt growth in South Korea slowed down in October, while the yields on both short-term 3-year and benchmark 10-year Treasury notes saw gains in the same period, data showed Wednesday. The outstanding household loans extended by banks here gained 5.2 trillion won ($4.3 billion) on-month to 1,057.9 trillion won, Bank of Korea data showed. The gain was less sharper compared with a 6.4 trillion won on-month gain observed in September, an on-year increase of 10.6 trillion won

South Korean banks' loans to households grew at a slower pace in October, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid the government's tightened regulations on lending amid worries about soaring household debt. Banks' household loans stood at 1,057.9 trillion won ($897.3 billion) as of end-October, up 5.2 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. The on-month growth slowed from a 6.4 trillion won rise in September. It is also much smaller than an increase of 1

Bond issuance in South Korea rose sharply in October from the previous month due to increased debt sales by financial firms and the government, data showed Wednesday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 65.4 trillion won ($55.4 billion) last month, up 8.4 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Last month's increase compares with a 9.6 trillion-won on-month plunge recorded in September. Sales of fi

The members of the South Korean central bank's rate-setting board have voiced concerns inflation could be higher than current levels if housing costs are taken into consideration, minutes from the latest policy meeting showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea issued the minutes of the Oct. 12 meeting when its seven-member board held its key policy rate unchanged at 0.75 percent. "In August, the consumer prices in the US grew 5.3 percent, much higher than a 2.6 percent rise in our country, whic

South Korean multiplex operators suffered huge losses in the third quarter amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, but their bottomline is expected to improve thanks to the nationwide move to return to normalcy, financial data showed Wednesday. CJ CGV, the No. 1 multiplex operator under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its operating loss reached 77.5 billion won ($65.7 million) over the July-September period, narrowing from an operating deficit of 96.8 billion won a year ago. Its

South Korea's exports to India shrank 3.5 percent in the first nine months of this year from 2019 due to import controls and a delay in the recovery of the emerging economy, a top business lobby said Wednesday. Overseas shipments to Asia's third-largest economy came to $11.41 billion in the January-September period, compared with $11.82 billion during the same period two years earlier, according to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI). The decline contrasts with a 16.5 percent on-year sur

South Korea reported job additions for the eighth straight month in October in the latest sign the country's economic recovery has continued despite the fourth wave of the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 27.74 million last month, 652,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The reading was lower than an on-year increase of 671,000 in September when South Korea reported the largest job additions in more than seven y

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street that stemmed from rising inflation pressure. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) decreased 11.3 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,986.06 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a lackluster start, as investors are worried the rising inflation pressure may advance the Federal Reserve's tapering timeline. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.6 percent, and the Dow Jones Industr