Apartment prices in Seoul have risen to the levels where they were before the global financial crisis of 2008, which prompted a severe market correction, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday. “I have a serious concern about one-sided anticipation that the housing market will become unstable again in the second half of this year because of new regulations that will come into effect from June,” the minister said during a policy meeting. Along with the government’s hous

Samsung Life Insurance has set up a plan to invest 20 trillion won ($17.98 billion) in financial projects linked to environmental, social and governance initiatives by 2030, the company said Thursday. After holding ESG meetings among executives recently, the insurer announced its long-term plan to make investments in renewable energy businesses and ESG bonds while cutting carbon emissions in half and reducing paper use by 60 percent by the end of 2030. The company said it will also try to pu

Online-only KakaoBank has launched a task force to expand its lending services for customers with low and midrange credit scores, the company said Thursday. The bank is planning to roll out various loan services this year, lower interest rates for credit loans and increase credit lines, offering up to 70 million won ($62,927) for customers with low and midrange credit scores. In addition, its new credit rating model will factor in both financial and nonfinancial information, such as data on

An image of a neatly dressed man welcomes visitors and answers questions on finance services on a monitor at KB Kookmin Bank in Yeouido, western Seoul. The male character, powered by artificial intelligence and modelled on TV personality Kim Hyun-wook, explains the difference between a debit and a credit card in a tone and manner identical to a real human staffer. He is a prototype of the AI bankers set to work alongside human bank staff in the near future.  KB plans to test the AI ba

South Korean stocks advanced for a fifth straight session Thursday, backed by the US Federal Reserve's economic diagnosis that partially eased market jitters over early post-pandemic inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.2 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 3,247.43 points, just shy of its all-time high close of 3,249.3 points on May 10. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.6 billion shares worth some 16.7 tri

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group said Thursday that it established a foundation focused on helping the nation’s youth overcome their social and financial issues. The Stump Foundation for Youth will have three primary areas of focus: education and support for youth shelter residents, helping children and teens receive the welfare support they need and suicide prevention programs. For children and teens in youth shelters, the foundation plans to help them become financially indep

South Korean companies saw their profitability continue their growth in 2020, but their sales declined amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The ratio of operating profit to sales of non-financial firms in the country reached 5.1 percent last year, up from 4.8 percent tallied a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). At the same time, the pretax net profit margin of South Korean companies rose on-year to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent. But their sale

South Korean brokerage firms saw their combined net profit surge 113.2 percent on quarter in the first quarter, thanks to a stock rally that helped them earn higher commission fees, data showed Thursday. The combined net profit of 57 brokerages stood at 2.98 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the first quarter, compared with a profit of 1.58 trillion won a quarter ago, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The combined brokerage fees stood at 4.54 trillion won in the first

Online shopping in South Korea increased 25.2 percent in April from a year earlier as more people used e-commerce shopping platforms amid a non-contact consumption trend caused by the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 15.1 trillion won ($13.6 billion) in April, up from 12.1 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The April reading slightly fell from a 15.9 trillion-won on-year gain in March, but the use of on

South Korea said Thursday it plans to stockpile more natural gas to maintain a stable supply of the resource amid uncertainties in the global price. Under the draft plan, the state-run Korea Gas Corp. will reserve nine days worth of gas to cope with potential disruptions in imports, compared with the previous guideline of seven days, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry said the revision is also aimed at better preparing for unexpected cold waves, which may lea

South Korea's government ministries and state agencies have requested a 6.3 percent hike in their budgets for next year as they seek to cope with post-pandemic economic recovery and implement key policy projects, the finance ministry said Thursday. Their budget proposals amount to a combined 593.2 trillion won ($533.7 billion), up 35.2 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Requests for budget spending in the health, social welfare and environmen

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday on overnight Wall Street gains, backed by the US Federal Reserve's economic diagnosis that partially eased market jitters over early post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.09 points, or 0.5 percent, to reach 3,240.32 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14 percent, following the Fed's reiteration of its stance that the ongoing price hike is likely transien

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday voiced "deep" concerns about one-sided expectations that housing prices will likely continue to rise in the second half. The minister said housing prices may stabilize as the government has a strong commitment to curbing high-flying home prices. "Market players need to be vigilant against one-sided anticipation for the housing market," Hong said at a pan-government meeting on the property market. He also cited talks of an early tape

South Korea's dependency on Japanese materials and parts plumbed an all-time low this year in the wake of Tokyo's control on exports of key products, government data showed Thursday. Imports of Japanese materials and parts came to $9.69 billion in the January-April period, accounting for 15 percent of South Korea's overall imports of those goods, according to the data from the industry and trade ministry. The proportion was down 1.1 percentage points from the same period a year earlier and the

South Korea's foreign reserves rose to a record high in May as the US dollar's weakness improved the value of non-dollar assets, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's foreign reserves came to $456.4 billion as of end-May, up $4.15 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion. The FX re