South Korea's economic recovery momentum has weakened due to the slowdown in the manufacturing sector amid a global supply chain shortage and energy crisis, a state-run think tank said Sunday. "The recovery in manufacturing weakens as global supply chains remain clogged, since an improvement of external conditions lost steam," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economic assessment report. The manufacturing firms' shipments have fallen, while the inventory-to-ship

South Korea's exports of fishery products grew 20.5 percent on-year in the first 10 months of this year, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of fishery products reached $2.24 billion during the January-October period, compared to $1.86 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Exports to China rose 48.1 percent to reach $540 million, and those to the United States and the European Union surged 24.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively.

Rather than discussing the question of whether non-fungible tokens are a fad, traditional financial institutions are instead asking how they can be incorporated within their business models, according to speakers from major financial firms who gathered at a three-day conference on NFTs. The tokens are digital counterparts of real-world assets, largely visual art and music. More importantly, each NFT is unique, with ownership being traced and protected through blockchain technology. Given that

South Korea's benchmark stock index is likely to move in a tight range next week, although volatility may increase due to policy uncertainties, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (closed at 2,969.27 points Friday, nearly unchanged from 2,970.68 points a week ago. The KOSPI fluctuated as investors waited and digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting results, particularly its stance over potential rate hikes. According to the FOMC meeting results, the US central b

US investment firm KKR & Co. said Friday it has acquired newly issued redeemable convertible preferred shares of South Korean energy company SK E&S for 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion). The investment, via KKR‘s Asia Pacific Infrastructure Fund, will provide KKR with an opportunity to receive cash or in-kind redemption for repayment in the future, as well as an opportunity to convert the securities into common shares of SK conglomerate’s natural gas arm, according to KKR. The

Rainbow Bridge World, the South Korean entertainment agency behind girl group Mamamoo, said Friday that it is looking to spur growth globally by raising funds through its initial public offering scheduled for later this month.  “We will further accumulate experience in producing high-quality content by making active investments (after the IPO). We are poised for a leap in the global market as an integrated content provider,” Kim Jin-woo, co-chief executive officer at Rainbow Br

Netmarble Neo, the development unit of South Korea’s top gaming company Netmarble, has scrapped its plan to go public, on the back of its lackluster performance and underperforming gaming stocks listed on the local market, according to investment banking sources on Friday. The company withdrew its preliminary application for an initial public offering a day earlier, which was submitted to the Korea Exchange in June. Blaming “stagnant market situation” for the thwarted plan,

South Korean stocks retreated on Friday, led by institutional sell-offs. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) lost 13.95 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 2,969.27 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 676 million shares worth some 12.4 trillion won ($10.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 608 to 269. Institutions sold a net 446 billion won, while retail investors purchased 388 billion won. Foreigners bought a ne

Convenience store chain operator BGF has confirmed Friday its plan to acquire a stake in engineering plastic resin maker Kopla for at least 180.8 billion won ($152.6 million), in a strategic move to enter into a new business, sending its shares jumping nearly 30 percent at some point. According to filings with the Financial Supervisory Service, BGF is poised to acquire 11 million common shares of Kopla from Kopla President Han Sang-yong and his affiliated parties and through a new rights offer

South Korea logged a current account surplus for the 17th straight month in September thanks to solid exports amid the rebounding global economy from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Friday.  The current account surplus totaled $10.07 billion in September, up from $7.51 billion a month earlier, according to data by the Bank of Korea. The amount was slightly smaller than the previous year's surplus of $10.34 billion. The September figure marked the 17th straight month that

South Korean stocks opened lower Friday, largely amid losses in the financial and bio stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KospiI) fell 10.23 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,972.99 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 0.57 percent to 71,000 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.42 percent to 107,500 won, and Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, moved up 0.7 percent to 215,500 won. Among losers, pharmaceutical

Human desire for constant, convenient and unique interactions in digital spaces defines where the future of finance, as well as KakaoBank, is headed, the CEO of South Korea’s largest online lender said Wednesday. “People say the ‘uncontact’ phenomenon has triggered digitalization of industries under the pandemic, but they still love to contact, they just want to do it in a digital space. And we are going to see how such human desire will reshape the future of industrie

The presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Thursday that he would push for winning a developed market status for South Korea from Morgan Stanley Capital International to revive the undervalued stock market here, if elected. “The price-earnings ratio in the domestic stock market is about one-third compared to other advanced economies. We must mitigate the so-called ‘Korea discount,’” Lee Jae-myung said during a conference with a group of repo

The US Federal Reserve’s decision to dial back its bond-purchasing program in November will have a limited impact on the Korean financial market, the Korean government said Thursday while vowing to monitor market uncertainties surrounding the inflation outlook in the US. As widely expected, the Federal Open Market Committee, the US Fed’s monetary policymaking body, announced that it would reduce its bond purchases by a total of $15 billion a month starting in November. It left it

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung vowed to contribute to South Korea’s swift transition into a carbon neutral society with the financial giant‘s net-zero goals at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the firm said Thursday. The chief of Korea’s second-largest banking group by total assets on late Wednesday introduced Shinhan Financial’s own plans to achieve carbon neutrality in finance dubbed the “zero carbon drive