Seoul-based KB Kookmin Bank has steered clear of litigation in controlling Indonesian subsidiary Bank Bukopin, as its minority shareholder in Indonesia dropped all charges against South Korea‘s largest commercial bank, a filing showed Tuesday. Bosowa Corporindo, which was holding a 11.6 percent stake in the Indonesian midsized bank, has reached an out-of-court settlement for the 20.8 trillion-Indonesian-rupiah ($1.5 billion) charges against the bank‘s new controlling shareholder an

The number of registered employees, who are eligible for state insurance programs, in South Korea rose 2.2 percent on-year in 2019, data showed Tuesday. There were 24.35 million registered employees in 2019, compared with 23.38 million in 2018, according to the data released by Statistics Korea. About 20.48 million people worked the same job in 2019, while some 3.87 million people changed jobs, the data showed. Of the people who changed jobs in 2019, people aged between 15 and 29 accounted fo

South Korea's tax revenue rose 13.8 trillion won ($12.4 billion) in April from a year earlier due largely to an increase in the collection of capital gains taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 44.9 trillion won in taxes in April, compared with 31.2 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The rise in tax revenue was mainly attributable to an increase in capital gains tax income from housing transactions and fund investments.

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Tuesday on increased valuation pressure after the key stock index closed at an all-time high the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 3.08 points, or 0.09 percent, to reach 3,249.04 points as of 9:17 a.m. The Kospi got off to choppy start after it finished the previous session at a record high of 3,252.12 points. Stock prices fluctuated as investors take a wait-and-see mode, seeking more clues to fathom the ou

South Korea's current account surplus sharply narrowed in April as higher oil prices increased the country's import bill, the central bank said Tuesday. The current account surplus reached $1.91 billion in April, narrowing from a surplus of $7.82 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. Since the country logged a deficit of $3.33 billion in April last year, the largest in almost a decade, on faltering e

Experts say Kospi headed for fresh highs as foreign investors return

With growing signs of an interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve as early as this year, a hawkish turn there will increase debt burdens in South Korea if policymakers here fail to take timely steps, a think tank said Monday. Debt interest payments per Korean household could gain as much as 2.5 million won ($2,249.62) on average if the US Fed decides to raise its interest rate from the current near-zero level, a report from the Korea Economic Research Institute showed. The KERI projecte

Two thousand employees at South Korea’s troubled state housing developer will be out of jobs as a result of a reform triggered by a massive land speculation scandal, the government said Monday. The Korea Land and Housing Corp. will streamline its organizational structure, cutting 20 percent of the company’s workforce, to focus on its key functions -- housing welfare and home supply. Other noncore administrative functions will be abolished or transferred to other bodies such as the

Two-year apartment leases, known locally as jeonse, have jumped by some 44 percent in Seoul since the beginning of the current Moon Jae-in administration, data showed Monday. The average price of a two-year refundable lease on a high-rise apartment came in at 426.2 million won ($384,000) when the Moon administration began in May 2017, but the price had risen 44.2 percent to 614.5 million won as of last month. During the same period, the average jeonse price per square meter soared 43 percen

South Korea's stock market closed at an all-time high Monday as weaker-than-expected US jobs data helped ease concerns over the potential rollback of the country's expansive monetary policy. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 12.04 points, or 0.37 percent, to close at 3,252.12 points, marking the highest closing ever. Trading volume was high at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 18.8 trillion won ($16.9 billion), with lo

South Korean asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments said Monday its assets under management for retirement schemes have surpassed the 10 trillion-won ($9 billion) mark for the first time among Korean peers. As of June 1, assets pooled for Mirae Asset’s retirement schemes came to a total of 10.1 trillion won. The asset management unit of Mirae Asset Group pooled nearly 2 trillion won during the first five months of 2021. Since 2011, the figure has jumped more than eightfold

The South Korean economy is on a modest recovery track as exports remain robust and a slump in private consumption has eased, a state-run think tank said Monday. The country's exports and facility investment have expanded amid a global economic recovery, while sluggishness in consumption has eased, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "The Korean economy is recovering at a modest pace as exports maintain a favorable trend and the slug

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Monday it has set up a division to better investigate alleged unfair business activity related to digital ads by online platform operators. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said it has established a division in charge of digital advertisements under its ICT team amid growing influence by platform operators, such as Google and Facebook, in the customer-tailored online ads market. Established in November 2019, the ICT team has mainly conducted probes

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it plans to release 80,000 tons of rice into the market this month to cope with supply shortages and stabilize prices. The move will raise the amount of reserved rice released into the market since January this year to 290,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry earlier announced it plans to release up to 370,000 tons of reserved rice into the market this year. The combined production of rice came

South Korea said Monday it plans to increase the number of government-supported shipping services to North America starting next month to help local exporters cope with the hike in freight costs. Under the plan, the country will operate four shipping schedules to North America monthly starting July under cooperation with HMM Co., South Korea's largest shipper, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The figure marks a sharp rise from the previous plan to operate two shipping s