A South Korean investor consortium led by Gwangju-based construction conglomerate Jungheung Group has signed a memorandum of understanding to initiate talks surrounding the acquisition of a 50.75 percent stake in Daewoo Engineering & Construction, a filing showed Monday. Following the nonbinding agreement, the investor group -- comprising Jungheung Group and investment bank Mirae Asset Securities -- will carry out due diligence before signing a binding deal with the company‘s largest

Global credit card giant Visa has appointed Patrick Storey, former chief operating officer of consulting and analytics business, as the new head of its overseas unit covering South Korea and Mongolia. He replaces Patrick Yoon, who had led Visa‘s Korea and Mongolia operations since 2018. Joining Visa in1996, Storey worked in the risk management, operations and sales departments in global and regional businesses, according to the company. “Based on his more than 20 years of experi

Asia’s fourth-largest economy to shed an annual 1.1% or $7 billion in exports if carbon border tariff imposed, central bank says

Lotte Rental, the South Korean car rental service unit under Lotte Group, said Monday that it is looking to take a leap forward to lead future mobility platforms through its market debut on the nation’s main board Kospi this month. “We have provided various rental services as the industry’s No. 1 company with the goal of creating better lives for our customers,” Kim Hyun-soo, CEO of Lotte Rental, told reporters during an online press briefing. “We’re looking

South Korea has recouped 69.7 percent of the public funds it spent to bail out troubled financial firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Monday. The country retrieved 327.9 billion won ($284.3 million) in the second quarter out of the 168.7 trillion won in state funds spent to save firms from bankruptcy, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The recovery rate was up from 69.5 percent recorded at the end of March, it added. The government

South Korea said Monday it plans to release 80,000 tons of rice into the market this month in a bid to deal with supply shortages and stabilize prices. The move will raise the amount of reserved rice released into the market since January to 370,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry earlier said it will release up to 370,000 tons of rice into the market this year. The government said the August plan is aimed at coping with a potential spike i

South Korea's manufacturing activity reached a seven-month low in July amid the spread of the delta coronavirus variant here, a global market researcher said Monday. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the country's manufacturing industry came to 53 last month, down 0.9 point from the previous month, according to a survey by IHS Markit. It marks the lowest point since December, though July is the 10th straight month that the index has remained the 50-point mark that separates contraction f

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, helped by strong economic data that fueled optimism for a quick economic rebound from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.44 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,216.76 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a bullish start as South Korea's July exports jumped 29.6 percent on-year to a record high amid high demand for chips and autos. Top cap Samsung Electronics added 1.02 percent, and No. 2 chi

South Korean imports of beer touched a five-year low in the first half of the year amid a nationwide boycott of Japanese products, data showed Monday. The value of beer imports stood at US$106.5 million in the January-June period, down 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The amount represents the lowest first-half tally since the $79.4 million recorded in 2016. The Netherlands was the largest exporter of beer to South Korea, followed b

Mid-sized local cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea are shutting down as the country’s finance regulator has caught some of their illegal activities recently, and stricter regulations are to be implemented to allow their business operations, industry sources said Sunday. According to the sources, the 11 exchanges that have used fraudulent collective accounts will most likely close business as Financial Services Commission plans to stop their transaction and notify illegal activities to the

Battlefield of credit loans set to be extended to W750t home loan market

Hyundai Capital Services, the country’s leading auto financing company, said Sunday that it launched an online knowledge sharing platform for its global entities to share new strategies and up-to-date progress of product development. The “Online Knowledge Sharing Platform,” which to be developed into a global product hub, will help global entities to share product strategies, experiences and knowledge from the different regions in real time, the company said. The online pl

South Korea's exports jumped 29.6 percent on-year in July to a record high, extending their gains to a ninth consecutive month as the global economy maintained a recovery, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments came to $55.4 billion last month on strong auto and chip sales, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The monthly export volume marked the highest level since South Korea started compiling related data in 1956. The country's exports over the first

South Korea’s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, gained a cumulative 5.8 percent in the first five months of this year, a preliminary estimate showed Friday. This robust growth brought the value of the world’s third-largest pension fund to 892.3 trillion won ($775.9 billion) as of May, approaching the unprecedented 900 trillion won mark despite lingering COVID-19 uncertainties in the global capital market. The news came a day after the NPS extended Chief Investment

Buyout firm Hahn & Co., a proposed buyer of a controlling stake in Namyang Dairy Products, said Friday it is considering legal action against ex-Chairman Hong Won-sik, as the proposed seller delayed the deal on the date of the transaction without consent. This comes as the proposed seller put off the extraordinary shareholders meeting scheduled Friday morning by six weeks to early September, citing “more time needed to contemplate on the deal before closing upon the request of both p