The finance ministers of South Korea and France have held a virtual meeting to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and agenda items ahead of a key international financial meeting, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire had an online meeting on Thursday ahead of next week's meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20 (G-20) economies, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The G-20 finance ministers

South Korea's consumer prices grew more than 2 percent for the third straight month in June on higher prices of farm and oil products, data showed Friday, underscoring expectations that a rate hike within this year may become more plausible amid an economic recovery. The consumer price index rose 2.4 percent on-year in June, slowing from a 2.6 percent on-year gain the previous month, the fastest rise in more than nine years, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The inflation gai

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, taking a cue from Wall Street gains that stemmed from positive economic data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 4.38 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 3,286.44 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks advanced despite rising concerns over the new coronavirus outbreaks, backed by hopes of a fast global economic rebound. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.38 percent on improving manufacturing and jobless da

South Korean game developer Krafton has decided to lower its initial public offering price range ahead of its market debut on the country’s benchmark Kospi next month, following criticism from both financial authorities and market watchers saying that its valuation is “overrated.” The company made some corrections on its prospectus Thursday via DART -- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board -- by reducing a target price band and the number of ne

South Korea’s tech-heavy Kosdaq set its new yearly-high closing mark on Thursday, surpassing 1,035 points. The secondary bourse closed at 1,035.64, up 5.68 points, or 0.55 percent, from the previous session’s close. This year’s previous closing high was 1,031.88, set on April 20. The index once reached as high as 1,036.47 in afternoon trading, thanks to foreigners and institutional investors’ extending buying sprees. It was the second highest point in nearly 21 years,

Korea Investment Corp., South Korea‘s sole sovereign wealth fund, pledged to increase its exposure to alternative assets to 21 percent by 2024, from 16.1 percent as of May 2021, its Chief Executive Officer Jin Seung-ho told reporters Thursday. The institutional investor, managing $183.1 billion in assets as of end-2020, aims to maximize its long-term expected return by capitalizing on the risk of tying up capital in less liquid assets, and to spread out the risk into various asset classe

South Korea’s internet-only banks are battling to secure top talents as they prepare to take on their next big challenges -- a public listing for KakaoBank and the official launch of Toss Bank. KakaoBank said Thursday that it had exceeded 1,000 employees as of the end of June, more than doubling the workforce of 390 it had in 2017 when it launched. The company is preparing for its initial public offering, which is expected to raise more than 2 trillion won ($1.77 billion). Toss Bank a

South Korea will carry out massive public-private R&D collaboration projects to capture the biggest share of the global rechargeable battery market by 2030, the country’s top economic policymaker said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will soon announce detailed strategic plans to make the country the largest producer of next-generation rechargeable batteries to stay ahead of global rivals. In 2020, Korean rechargeable battery makers topped the world marke

A top financial regulator called Thursday for banks to minimize "unnecessary" household loans as policymakers warn of growing financial imbalances amid a surge in home prices. Eun Sung-soo, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remarks at a meeting with chief executives of 13 banks earlier in the day. Eun's remarks also came as the Bank of Korea has hinted that it could conduct its first post-pandemic rate hike later this year as the nation's economic recovery

Some 80 percent of South Koreans will receive 250,000 won ($220) each in the latest COVID-19 cash handout program, officials said Thursday. After a pangovernmental meeting, officials said they have decided to earmark 10.4 trillion won for the nation’s fifth cash relief program. The money will be funneled from the nation’s 33 trillion-won second COVID-19 extra budget for this year, which the ruling party and government jointly unveiled Tuesday. The “bottom 80 percent income b

JB Financial Group on Thursday laid out mid-and long-term strategies to step up its sustainable business management focused on environmental, social and corporate governance values. In a statement, the holding group of Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank introduced its ESG goals under a new company vision titled “Marching toward a better future with JB Financial.”  The company will strive toward adopting a swift response to climate-related risks, achieving carbon neutrality, ethic

Hanwha General Chemical and Hanwha Energy have sold a 0.74 percent stake in US electric truck maker Nikola Corp. as part of efforts to secure funds for new eco-friendly projects, including hydrogen, a filing showed Thursday. Green Nikola Holdings, Hanwha’s US subsidiary, offloaded 2.9 million shares from its previously owned 22.13 million shares, according to its US Securities and Exchange Commission filing published Wednesday there. Following the transaction, its equity holding in Nikol

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) said Thursday it will provide 180 trillion won (US$159 billion) worth of loans related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) by 2030. The state lender made the pledge while announcing its ESG management road map to mark the 45th anniversary of its foundation at its headquarters in Seoul. The road map also includes the issuance of ESG bonds worth $20 billion by that year to extend loans to the ESG sector, Eximbank said. ESG bonds ref

Energy demand here is expected to rise over the summer in sync with the recovery of industrial activities and hotter-than-usual weather conditions, the industry ministry said Thursday. The country's maximum electricity demand is estimated to range from 90.9 to 94.4 gigawatts (GW) during the peak of this summer, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ceiling is based on the assumption that the average temperature hits 30.2 C during the peak. The estimated peak summer ene

K-Bank, South Korea's first internet-only bank, said Thursday its customers and deposits grew sharply in the second quarter of the year amid the coronavirus outbreak. The number of customers stood at 6.19 million as of the end of June, 2.28 million more than three months earlier, the lender said, which is led by telecom giant KT Corp. The online lender's outstanding loans totaled 5.09 trillion won ($4.5 billion), up 1.29 trillion won from the first quarter, which marks the largest quarterly in