Bitcoin’s trading price declined to about 55 million won ($47,200) locally Wednesday afternoon, only 24 hours after it touched 60 million won for the first time in three months, data from Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange showed. The decline came as El Salvador became the world’s first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender Tuesday. Bitcoin, the original and largest cryptocurrency, hit the 60 million-won milestone on Feb. 20 and continued to rise to 82 mi

South Korean stocks extended losses to the second straight session Wednesday as investors offloaded tech shares amid concerns about regulations against online platform giants. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 24.43 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,162.99 points. Trading volume was high at about 839.72 million shares worth some 16.89 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 560 to 307. Foreigners sold a net 283 billion won worth of local

Growing number of ISA subscription at securities firms show money moving from banks to equities

South Korea has placed an excessive tax burden on members of its top income bracket in recent years, a think tank said Wednesday, suggesting that this could cause an exodus of wealthy Koreans. The income tax rate on annual earnings exceeding 1 billion won ($858,400) rose twice in the last five years to the current 45 percent, a report from the Korea Economic Research Institute showed. In 2017, the year President Moon Jae-in took office, the rate increased to 42 percent from 40 percent. It was

Industrial Bank of Korea said Wednesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Small and Medium Sized Bank through a videoconference, in a bid to share IBK’s knowledge and expertise in financial support for small companies. Under the agreement, IBK will help Saudi SME Bank in developing a credit loan system and products, business strategies, risk management measures and IT and computer systems. IBK will also form a taskforce with working-level staff to directly communicate a

The average rent for semibasement apartments in Seoul on two-year “jeonse” leases topped a record 100 million won ($85,900) this year, suggesting low-income households in the city are facing heavier financial burdens, data showed Wednesday. Jeonse, a two-year housing lease that requires a lump sum deposit, for semibasement apartments measuring 60 square meters or smaller in the capital city came in at an average of 104.4 million won as of end-August, according to the Land Ministry d

Daily card spending in South Korea rose 8.4 percent in the first half from a year earlier, supported by increased online purchases amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. Holders of credit and debit cards spent an average 2.7 trillion won ($2.3 billion) per day in the January-June period, compared with 2.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). Credit card spending rose 10.2 percent on-year to a daily average of 2.1 trillion won, led by

South Korean banks' household loans grew at a slower pace in August from the previous month due largely to slowed growth in overdrafts for stock investments, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding bank loans to local households came to 1,046.3 trillion won ($898 billion) as of end-August, up 6.2 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The August reading slowed from a 9.7 trillion won on-month increase in July, the data showed. The BOK

South Korea's central bank is expected to raise its interest rate in November to cope with concerns over a financial imbalance, a report said Wednesday. "The Bank of Korea is likely to raise its benchmark rate to 1 percent from 0.75 percent at its Nov. 25 policy meeting in consideration of worries about a financial imbalance related to an economic recovery, rising inflation and the hot housing market," Woori Finance Research Institute said in the report on the local financial market.

South Korea's exports of industrial materials, parts and equipment set a new record in the first seven months of 2021, data showed Wednesday, on the back of the country's efforts to beef up competitiveness of the key industrial sectors amid the prolonged trade row with Japan. Outbound shipments from the sectors came to $203.2 billion in the January-July period, up 23.3 percent on-year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports also moved up 25.5 perc

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street amid concerns about the pace of US economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 18.16 points, or 0.57 percent, to trade at 3,169.26 points in the first 16 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.76 percent and the S&P declined 0.34 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inched up 0.07 percent after the release of a disappointing US jobs report

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that it would maintain South Korea’s credit rating and keep the economic growth projection positive, citing economic resilience, despite the latest wave of the pandemic hitting the country. During a webinar on assessing regional outlooks, Jeremy Zook, director at Fitch Ratings, expected the credit rating for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to remain intact from its July projection of AA-, the fourth-highest level of the agency’s

South Korea’s financial services lobby groups have called on regulators to take a step back from their involvement in corporate internal affairs, industry sources said Tuesday, apparently irked by the authorities’ clampdown on their chiefs held responsible for private fund misselling scandals. Six representative bodies for financial service firms here, including commercial banking, brokerage and insurers, filed a joint request Monday asking regulators to hand the companies’ b

South Korean stocks retreated Tuesday amid lack of major market-moving events as investors still assess weak US job data and its impact on the Federal Reserve's timeline for tapering its stimulus. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) decreased 15.91 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 3,187.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 745 million shares worth some 11.7 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainer

Stock trades carried out through mobile transaction platforms in South Korea hit an all-time high in 2020, data showed Tuesday, reflecting retail investors’ strong appetite for stock investment during the pandemic-hit market. The daily average amount of stock transactions via mobile trading systems came to 26.66 trillion won ($23.03 billion) last year, up 219.6 percent on-year from 8.34 trillion won, the Bank of Korea said in its annual report on financial information. An average of 11