Stock manipulators will face confiscations of not only illegal gains but also their seed money under a revised capital market law that seeks to raise the integrity of the market. The National Assembly on Friday approved a partial revision to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act aimed at improving investor protection and preventing market manipulation. The updated law newly allows the confiscation of the assets used or offered to be used in stock manipulation schemes. Un

Unhyeongung near Anguk Station on subway line No. 3 is surely not a major Joseon-era palace that appears prominently in tourist guide books. The relatively small complex that once belonged to Heungseon Daewongun, father of King Gojong, however, is worth a visit as it embodies the final years of the dynasty before losing power to Japanese intervention in early 20th century. Not only the dark history of the consequent fall of Joseon royal line, but also the house shows the everyday lives of the r

The South Korean government has been reviewing whether to turn Korea Land and Housing Corp. into a holding company and spin-off key businesses to prevent further information leaks from the company, sources close to the matter said Friday. The reports come amid a nationwide crackdown on a massive land speculation scandal centered on LH employees who abused insider information concerning large-scale state funded land development projects. According to the sources, the Ministry of Economy and Fi

The chief of the National Pension Service, the country’s largest public pension fund, pledged Friday to take the lead in environmental, social and corporate governance investing, calling the fast-spreading global trend a must and not an option. “The NPS is fatefully engaged with the national economy. We now carry a more tremendous responsibility than ever. We have to play the role of a guide for Korea’s ESG, dubbed ‘K-ESG,’” Kim Yong-jin, the pension fund&rs

Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, shrugged off questions on Friday about a fraud case involving a major shareholder. Lee Jung-hoon, former chairman of Bithumb Korea -- the operator of crypto exchange Bithumb and Bithumb Holdings, which controls Bithumb Korea -- is currently under investigation in connection with fraud allegations. Due to a very complicated corporate structure, Lee reportedly holds a 65 percent stake in Bithumb Korea. In Oc

South Korean stocks closed in negative terrain on Friday as investors sold stocks to lock in profits. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.86 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 3,156.42 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 787 million shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 674 to 189. Foreigners sold a net 135 billion won, while retail investors purchased 59 billion won.

South Korea's exports jumped 53.3 percent on-year in the first 20 days of May on the back of robust demand for chips and automobiles, data showed Friday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $31.1 billion in the May 1-20 period, compared with $20 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Over the period, imports also moved up 36 percent to reach $31.4 billion. By sectors, South Korea's outbound shipments of chips, the mainstay export product, advanced

South Korea's producer prices increased 0.6 percent on-month in April due to a modest rise in commodity prices, extending their monthly gains for the sixth straight month, central bank data showed Friday. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, stood at 107.68 in April, compared with 107.04 a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index advanced 5.6 percent from the previous year, the BOK data showed. The prices of agricultural goods fell 8.2 p

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday on hopes for a quick economic rebound, backed by overnight gains on Wall Street and strong local exports data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 26.77 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,189.05 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start, tracking a 1.77 percent gain on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 finished up 0.55 percent and 1.06 percent, re

Cryptocurrency markets continued to experience a sellout on Thursday, triggered by a combination of negative news including China’s latest regulations. According to CoinMarketCap, a market data tracker, some 900 trillion won ($794 billion) worth of cryptocurrency was lost within less than 24 hours as of Wednesday night. That is twice as much as Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization, which stood at 474 trillion won Thursday. The price of a bitcoin was around 51 million won

Asset management firm Hyundai Investments on Thursday announced the closure of a new, 490 billion-won ($433 million) private fund dedicated to South Korea-focused acquisition financing for private equity clients. The fresh fund, closed on Tuesday, is a second installment of its kind to invest in senior debt, following a 230 billion-won fund created in February 2020. The first installment was fully invested a year after the fund close, financing private equity acquisitions of clients such as Mac

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government will roll out changes to housing policies which may include real estate taxation reforms as early as next month. While maintaining the key framework and the stance of the real estate policy announced on Feb. 4, which focuses on easing building regulations and supporting redevelopment projects in urban areas to shore up the number of new houses, “some changes will be presented within the next month after collecting public opi

The planned redevelopment of Jwawon Shopping Center, the first mixed-use building in Seoul, has cleared another hurdle as state developer Korea Land & Housing Corporation was chosen to lead the project, local media reported on Thursday. Built in 1966 in Seodaemun-gu, the structure consists of retail shops and offices on lower floors and apartments on the top floor. Although it was graded with one of the lowest scores in a safety evaluation in March, which qualifies the dilapidated buildi

Despite adjustments in South Korea’s stock market since the nation’s main bourse crossed the 3,200-point mark this year, global investment banks JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have painted a rosy outlook for the Kospi amid a solid corporate earnings forecast, reports showed Thursday. JP Morgan raised its yearly Kospi target to 3,500 from the previous estimate of 3,200, saying all sectors had recorded an earnings turnaround this year except for utilities. Especially considering the st

South Korea's household income edged up in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, but the gain was mostly attributable to the government's emergency handouts aimed at tackling economic fallout of the new coronavirus pandemic. The average household earned 4.38 million won (US$3,860) per month in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Household income earned through wages, on the other hand, slipped 1.3 percent