A majority of South Korean manufacturers expect their business conditions to improve in the third quarter from three months earlier on a global economic recovery, a poll showed Wednesday. A survey of about 2,400 manufacturing firms put the business sentiment index (BSI) at 103 for the July-September period, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said. The figure is up 4 points from the current quarter and marks the first time in about seven years that the reading has stayed above th

SK Inc. said Wednesday that its board had approved an initial public offering of its wholly-owned subsidiary SK REITs in the second half. This opens doors to SK REITs' plan to raise 231.2 billion won ($204.3 million) from the IPO, or 5,000 won apiece, as suggested in the prospectus earlier this month. Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities and SK Securities will be underwriters of the IPO. SK REITs will start trading on the Korea Exchange‘s main board Kospi, followin

South Korea has been enjoying robust exports of automobiles and chemical products to the European Union over the past 10 years on the back of its free trade agreement (FTA) with the world's single largest economic bloc, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles came to $8.4 billion in 2019, which doubled from $3.3 billion tallied in 2010, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. South Korea became the first Asian country to implement an FTA wi

The Bank of Korea (BOK) and state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) will extend their purchasing of corporate bonds, including low-rated debts, and commercial papers to further stabilize bond markets until the end of this year, the central bank said Wednesday. In May last year, the BOK approved an 8 trillion-won ($6.64 billion) loan to a special purpose vehicle, which was set up by the KDB, to buy subprime corporate bonds and commercial papers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The vehicle had been sc

South Korea will begin its annual consultation meetings with global rating agency Fitch Ratings this week over the country's economic conditions, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday. The government will hold online meetings with the agency from Wednesday to July 8 to discuss the country's economic situations and its growth outlook. Fitch will hold a series of meetings with officials from the finance ministry, the Bank of Korea, the Ministry of Unification and other institutions. Finance M

New home permits in South Korea swelled nearly 20 percent in the first five months of the year amid rising housing prices, the government said Wednesday. Construction permits issued for new homes stood at 186,743 units in the January-May period, up 19.9 percent from a year ago, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. New construction permits in the South Korean capital of Seoul spiked 39.6 percent to 30,915 over the cited period. New home permits issued in the capital

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on US stock gains, following a US drugmaker's announcement that its vaccine turned out effective against the spreading virus variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 11.25 points, or 0.34 percent, to trade at 3,297.93 points as of 9:15 a.m. The Kospi got off to a bullish start, taking a cue from Moderna's announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine produced protective antibodies against the highly contagious delta variant. Ov

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Wednesday excessive demand for home buying could ease amid the central bank's move toward monetary tightening and stricter regulations on household lending. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned that housing prices could fall if a severe external economic shock occurs at a time when households have maintained high levels of leverage. "An inflow of liquidity into the housing market could slow down as the country is set to implement measures to slow

Global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. has ranked first in the number of patents filed in South Korea over the past five years, data showed Wednesday. Samsung registered 19,588 patents with local authorities between 2016 and June 10 this year, the most among local companies, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The number accounts for 13.8 percent of a combined 141,752 patents filed by 345 companies out of the country's top 500 firms by sales over the cited period. Samsu

South Korea's industrial output bounced back in May, but retail sales fell by the most in 10 months in the latest sign that the recovery of private spending still remains weak amid the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The industrial output inched up 0.1 percent in May from the previous month, rebounding from a 1.2 percent on-month contraction in April, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. From a year earlier, it rose 7.3 percent. The rebound came as production in the public adm

South Korean stocks retreated for the second straight session Tuesday as concerns of new coronavirus variants weakened investors' appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.21 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 3,286.68 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 14.2 trillion won (US$12.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 549 to 303. Foreigners sold a net 550 b

80% of Koreans to receive relief cash -- except for households with annual salary over W100m

Housing polarization is rapidly deepening in South Korea, with the gap between the highest- and lowest-priced apartments widening to its greatest level on record in June, data showed Tuesday.  According to data from KB Kookmin Bank’s real estate services platform Liiv On, apartment prices in the top 20 percent range reached an average of 1.1 billion won ($978,000) this month, gaining nearly 200 million won on-year. This marked the highest number since the lender started to compile

Kakao Pay, the payment services unit of mobile giant Kakao, could make its market debut in August, the same month its sister company KakaoBank goes public, industry watchers suggested Tuesday. The company received approval on its application for a preliminary qualification examination for listing from the Korea Exchange on Monday, also the same day KakaoBank, a banking arm of the messenger giant, made its August IPO official. After discussing the timeline with its lead underwriters Samsung Sec

Shares of Hybe, the South Korean entertainment agency behind the hugely popular boy band BTS, plummeted more than 7 percent on Tuesday after a major investor, STIC Investment, unloaded its holdings via a block deal. Before closing down 7.37 percent to 289,000 won ($256), Hybe’s shares dropped by as much as 8.17 percent to 286,500 won on Tuesday. South Korea’s leading private equity fund STIC Investment sold 2.86 million shares, or 7.57 percent of the total shares in Hybe, a regu