South Korea proposed an extra budget of 33 trillion won ($29.2 billion) Thursday to fund another round of COVID-19 relief aid packages for people in the bottom 80 percent income bracket and smaller merchants hit by the pandemic. This year's second extra budget will be used to finance the 36 trillion-won virus relief packages, the fifth of its kind, designed to support the self-employed and vulnerable people hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Th

South Korea's exports are expected to reach a record high in 2021, a report said Thursday, on the back of the global economic recovery and stronger demand for semiconductor products. Outbound shipments are expected to reach up to $610 billion this year, up 19 percent from 2020, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The country's exports dropped 5.5 percent on-year in 2020 to $512 billion amid the COVID-19 pandemic. KOTRA attributed the rosy outlook to strong overs

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as concerns of new coronavirus variants weakened investors' appetite for risky assets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.61 points, or 0.2 percent, to trade at 3,290.07 points as of 9:15 a.m. Stocks got off to a lackluster start after South Korean authorities pushed back the easing of the social distancing measures in the greater Seoul area for a week, citing risks from the highly contagious delta strain of COVID-19. Mar

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the country will push for large-scale research and development (R&D) projects to foster the next-generation rechargeable battery industry. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government will soon unveil the detailed plan to nurture the rechargeable battery sector with the goal of the country taking the lead in the segment. The government plans to help companies secure the stable supply chains of materials for such batteries and to fost

The amount of short selling in South Korea plunged nearly 30 percent in June from a month earlier on a bullish stock market, data showed Thursday. The daily turnover of short selling on the country's main and minor stock markets averaged 506 billion won ($448 million) last month, down 28.3 percent from May, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. The main market posted a 31.6 percent tumble, with the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market registering a 13.2 percent decline. Short selling is an inves

South Korea's exports jumped 39.7 percent on-year in June to extend their gains to an eighth consecutive month on the back of a recovery in global business activities, which led to stronger demand for chips and automobiles, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments came to $54.8 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports climbed 40.7 percent to $50.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.44 billion. It marked the 14th consecut

Seoul-based financial technology startup Tru Technologies said Wednesday it raised series A investment worth $3.1 million from Korean investors. Joining the latest round were Hana Financial Investment, Hanwha Investment & Securities, KB Investment, Kiwoom Investment, Korea Growth Investment Corp., Shinhan Capital and Stonebridge Ventures. The fundraising comes in line with the growth of its electronic securities lending platform, called TruWeb. The platform, launched in 2020, has offered

South Korea and Saudi Arabia vowed Wednesday to expand ties in the clean energy sector under their joint vision to seek sustainable development through 2030. Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook met his Saudi counterpart, Khalid Al-Falih, virtually to discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral ties under the Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 Committee platform, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two countries launched the committee in 2017 in line with efforts to broaden their strate

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Wednesday it sold a net $103 million in the first quarter to help ease fluctuations in the local currency market. The BOK began releasing such data in March 2019 to help boost the transparency of its market stabilization steps. A BOK official said market smoothing operations in the first quarter came as the Korean currency weakened against the US dollar. The Korean currency closed at 1,131.8 won against the US dollar on March 31, compared with 1,086.3 won at the e

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned Wednesday that the housing market was overvalued, and that a scheduled tightening of loan regulations and a possible interest rate hike could see home prices fall. During a government meeting on the real estate market, Hong urged market participants to refrain from buying homes based on expectations of future price increases. “An inflow of liquidity into the housing market could slow down as the country is set to implement measures to slow the growt

South Korean stocks rebounded Wednesday after a two-day retreat, following a US drugmaker's announcement that its vaccine turned out to be effective against COVID-19 variants. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 10 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 3,296.68 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.6 billion shares worth some 15.3 trillion won ($13.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 436 to 380. Foreigners so

South Korea’s four major cryptocurrency exchanges have decided to launch a joint venture ahead of the upcoming implementation of domestic and global anti-money laundering regulations, the companies announced Wednesday. The heads of the four exchanges -- Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit -- got together Tuesday and signed a memorandum to create the joint venture, which will develop a system that will help them comply with the “travel rule.” The travel rule is a global standa

The value of stocks traded on South Korea‘s tech-laden Kosdaq market had reached 427.7 trillion won ($379 billion) as of Tuesday, soaring more than 50 times since its launch on July 1, 1996, data showed Wednesday. According to a report released from the Korea Exchange, the market began with a combined market capitalization of 7.6 trillion won 25 years ago, but as the number of listed firms increased from 341 to 1,506 over the cited period, the secondary bourse has rapidly increased its si

Midsized shipyard STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. said Wednesday that it has signed deals to build 12 ships with Oceanian companies. The vessels include two 10,000-ton petrochemical carriers (PCs), six 50,000-ton PCs and four 115,000-ton oil tankers, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding said. The deal for four oil tankers has an option to build two additional oil tankers, the company said. But the shipbuilder did not reveal the value of the deals, citing confidentiality clauses. The ships wil

South Korean proxy advisory firm Sustinvest on Wednesday said it has given Shinhan Financial Group the highest rating for environmental, social and governance values for the first-half of this year. Sustinvest, which also provides ESG analytics and advisory services here, assesses and rates some 1,000 listed businesses annually on their ESG initiatives. The ESG advisor said its criteria includes whether the firms’ management are eco- and society- friendly and have sustainable corporate g