South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as bargain hunters sought oversold stocks on expectations of a rebound. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 31.54 points, or 1.08 percent, to 2,939.85 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The key stock index got off to a strong start after three days of losses. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics added 0.98 percent, but No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 0.73 percent. Internet portal operator Naver jumped 2.41 percent, and

South Korea said Thursday it has sold about $1.3 billion worth of foreign exchange stabilization bonds at the second-lowest ever rates amid solid demand. The government sold US dollar-denominated bonds worth $500 million with a maturity of 10 years and five-year euro-denominated debts worth $700 million, according to the finance ministry. The dollar bonds carry a yield of 1.769 percent, or 25 basis points more than the rate of US 10-year Treasuries, while the euro bonds carry a yield of minus 0.

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 16th straight month in August as exports remained robust and revenue from cargo shipping rose amid the global economic recovery, the central bank said Thursday. The current account surplus reached $7.51 billion in August, down from $8.21 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. The current account has been in the black since May last year. In April 2020

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government will impose a tax on gains from virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies, next year as planned. Hong reiterated the stance, adding necessary infrastructure is in place and delaying the taxation plan further could hurt the reliability of government policy. 　 “It appears to be difficult to readjust or delay taxation on virtual assets, considering legal stability or policy reliability,” Hong told lawmakers during a parliamentary

South Korean activist fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement has bought 100 billion won ($84 million) in exchangeable bonds issued by weapon system developer LIG Nex1, a filing showed Wednesday. The investment is aimed at improving LIG Nex1’s performance under the criteria of environmental, social and governance responsibility and giving birth to LIG Nex1’s new line of business, according to KCGI. The investment manager did not elaborate on its future ESG strategy for the defe

South Korean stocks fell nearly 2 percent Wednesday, while the Korean won fell to a 14-month low against the US dollar amid ongoing investor concerns over the debt crises of Chinese property developers and the impasse in the US Congress on raising the debt limit. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 53.86 points, or 1.82 percent, to close at 2,908.31 points, the lowest finish since Dec. 30 last year. Trading volume was moderate at about 887.63 million shares worth some

Price hike this year surpasses annual gains observed in post-Asian financial crisis in early 2000s

Shinhan Financial Group said Wednesday it has decided to invest 18 billion won ($15.1 million) into three startups offering cutting-edge technologies as part of its bigger plan to boost the group’s digital capabilities. Three startups that attracted the funding include Galaxy Corp. which owns intellectual property rights to virtual characters for metaverse platforms as well as Xinapse, an artificial intelligence technology-based startup. Shinhan plans to collaborate with the firms to e

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday the government is expected to log a larger-than-expected surplus in tax revenue this year as the economic recovery gathers pace. In July, the government forecast the country is expected to collect 314.3 trillion won ($264 billion) in tax revenue for this year, up 31.5 trillion won from its earlier forecast of 282.7 trillion won. But the National Assembly Budget Office forecast a larger surplus, saying that the country may record excess tax revenue of

The nation’s top financial regulator said Wednesday it is preparing to announce new measures to curb snowballing household debts.  “South Korea‘s growth pace of household debt has been much more rapid than other countries. The Financial Services Commission has been stepping-up efforts to prevent households’ high indebtedness from posing a major threat to the Korean economy,” said FSC Chairman Koh Seung-beom at a parliamentary audit session for the financial re

South Korea-domiciled investors went on to sell Tesla stocks during the third quarter of this year, and instead turned to health care stocks in the United States, data showed Wednesday. This indicates that Korean investors’ enthusiasm over the growth potential of the Palo Alto, California-based electric vehicle giant since early 2020 has started to wane. Instead, they were seen betting on normalization hopes amid a fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. From July to September, Korean inv

South Korea's internet banking services continued to grow in the first half, with the number of users and daily transactions rising to new highs, central bank data showed Wednesday. 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 (BOK). The figure is the simple sum of all registered users at 18 internet and mobile banking service providers in the country,

South Korea's trade ministry on Wednesday called for the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hold discussions to prevent global environmental regulations, including Europe's new carbon policy, from hindering global free trade. The European Union announced earlier that it will adopt the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is expected to be fully implemented in 2026 following a transition period of three years. "We need to hold multilateral discussions to avoid env

South Korea's exports of agricultural products rose 12.3 percent on-year in the first nine months of 2021 on the back of the strong popularity of "hallyu," the Korean wave of pop culture, around the globe. Outbound shipments of foodstuffs came to $6.1 billion in the January-September period, compared with $5.5 billion posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.   Experts said the Korean Wave generated by K-p

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 6.6 percent in September from a year earlier due to fewer working days and supply glitch that stemmed from parts shortages, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 20,406 units last month from 21,839 a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. "The monthly sales results are attributable to fewer working days due to the Chuseok h