With apartment prices soaring in the South Korean capital of Seoul, a growing number of residents are leaving the city for its surrounding areas, data showed Thursday.  According to data from Statistics Korea, from January to May, an average of 8,823 people moved out of the city each month. The agency forecast that the total net outflow for 2021 would reach 100,000. This contributed to overall changes in population. While Seoul‘s population declined 102,475 in the last six months,

Excess funds held by South Korean households and nonprofit agencies fell in the first quarter from a year earlier as banks tightened lending rules, the central bank said Thursday. Net financial funds -- the value of financial assets minus financial liabilities -- held by local households and nonprofit organizations serving households amounted to 44 trillion won ($38.5 billion) in the first quarter, down from 65.9 trillion won a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea

South Korea's tax revenue increased 10.8 trillion won ($9.5 billion) in May from a year earlier amid an accelerating economic recovery and a boom in property and stock markets, the finance ministry said Thursday. The country collected 28.4 trillion won in taxes in May, compared with 17.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government said capital gains tax income rose amid a boom in asset markets and corporate tax income also extended gains. I

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as the US Federal Reserve's minutes signaled that the world's largest economy would not hurry its timeframe for tapering its asset purchasing program. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 7.43 points, or 0.23 percent, to trade at 3,292.77 points as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.01 percent and 0.34 percent, respecti

South Korean authorities are zeroing in on new types of financial crimes using financial technology platforms and digital assets still operating under vague legal boundaries. Seoul Main Customs, the regional office of the country’s customs agency, said Wednesday that it has discovered unlawful foreign exchange dealings in which dozens of people had tried to take advantage of the “kimchi premium.” “Kimchi premium” refers to the gap in cryptocurrency prices on dom

South Korean credit card issuer Hyundai Card said Wednesday it has launched new credit cards which offer ultimate rewards, exclusively for owners of Hyundai Motor’s premium luxury sedan Genesis. Branded as Genesis Card edition, it is subdivided into two types -- mobility service and electric vehicle service. Depending on their car models, the Genesis owners can choose which card to use.  Cardholders, who are registered at Hyundai Motor‘s membership program called Blue Member

As the local job market has remained in limbo due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of South Koreans in their 20s have started their own businesses, data showed Wednesday.  According to data compiled by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, a total of 449,000 startups were launched by individuals between January and April amid a feeble employment market.  Of the total, people aged 30 and under opened 59,000 enterprises during the cited period, up

BUSAN -- Blockchain experts gathered in Busan -- a city designated as a blockchain special zone -- on Wednesday to assess the city’s potential to become the center of a global digital information ecosystem. Introducing the city’s blockchain projects that are taking place here, Shin Chang-ho, director of the Future Industry Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, said the blockchain technology has paved the way for the nation’s port city to transform into a financial hub and a glo

South Korean stocks closed lower Wednesday after hitting an all-time high the previous session amid growing concerns over a surge in new COVID-19 cases. The Korean won sharply fell against the US dollar on risk-averse sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 19.87 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 3,285.34 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 14.3 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 663 to 202. F

Credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings revised South Korea’s economic growth outlook for 2021 by 0.4 percentage point to 4 percent Wednesday. The revision comes six months after the agency projected the Asia’s fourth-largest economy to grow 3.6 percent in January, which was then deemed more optimistic than the government’s projection. “We’ve always been optimistic about Korea’s recovery prospect. This year, we see a growth of 4 percent and next year at

The value of stocks traded on South Korea's over-the-counter (OTC) market has exceeded 22 trillion won ($19.3 billion) on a recent market rally, data showed Wednesday. The capitalization of the K-OTC totaled 22.1 trillion won as of end-June, up about 30 percent from six months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA). It marks the largest market value since Nov. 13, 2014, when Samsung SDS Co., an IT service unit of Samsung Group, traded on the K-O

South Korean real estate investment trusts (REITs) saw their assets jump nearly 22 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid a robust property market, government data showed Wednesday. A total of 282 REITs had some 63 trillion won ($55.5 billion) in combined assets as of the end of December, up 21.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the land ministry. The number of REITs was also up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. REITs, which can be traded on major exchanges, invest in

The South Korean economy is on a modest recovery track, but its upward momentum may lose steam due to a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a recovery track amid solid exports, but it also faces high economic uncertainty from the fast spread of the more contagious delta COVID-19 variant and spiking virus cases, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "Due to the surge i

The combined amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges made to Asia's No. 4 economy shot up 71.5 percent on-year in the first half of 2021, data showed Wednesday, amid growing hopes of a post-pandemic economic recovery. Foreigners pledged to make a combined investment of $13 billion over the January-June period, compared with $76.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The investment that arrived here rose 57.3 percent over the period t

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as a surge in new coronavirus cases weighed down investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 14.92 points, or 0.45 percent, to trade at 3,290.29 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. South Korean stocks got off to a weak start after health authorities said the daily virus caseload topped 1,200 to reach a record high for this year. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics, which earlier estimated better-than-expecte