Driven by corporate demand for alternative offices amid the pandemic, WeWork Korea’s revenue last year jumped 20 percent, the highest of all branches of the US co-working space firm worldwide, its new chief said. Without providing exact numbers, Patricia Chun, WeWork Korea’s general manager, said the Korean office is the only WeWork branch in the world to see 20 percent revenue growth during the peak of the pandemic last year, while the New York and London locations hemorrhaged mo

South Korea reported the first job additions in 13 months in March in the latest sign that the job market is recovering after a yearlong slump caused by the pandemic, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people reached 26.9 million last month, 314,000 more than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the first time that Asia's fourth-largest economy added jobs since February 2020, when the number of employed people grew by 492,000. The COVID-19 p

South Korea's export prices rose in March, marking the fourth straight monthly gain amid a modest recovery in exports, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, rose 3.3 percent in March from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the fourth consecutive month of an on-month rise. In February, the index rose 3.1 percent on-month. From a year earlier, the index rose 5.6 pe

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday on eased inflation woes and better-than-expected job data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 3.86 points, or 0.12 percent, to 3,172.94 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investors' sentiment improved after the country reported the first job additions in 13 months in March in the latest sign that the employment market is recovering. Also, overnight advances in the US stock market boosted appetite for risky assets. In

The growing influence of YouTube stock investing channels could have a negative impact on investors’ decisions as well as the stock markets, a study showed on Tuesday. Nam Gil-nam, senior research fellow at Korea Capital Market Institute, said during a seminar titled “The implication of growing retail investors” that information from YouTube channels could distort investors’ decisions. Using an analysis of two YouTube investment channels, Nam suggested that stock pric

Blockchain professionals and experts flocked to Seoul on Tuesday to discuss the latest trends surrounding digital assets. Topics at the seminar, dubbed World Blockchain Summit Marvels Seoul 2021, revolved around wealth transfers with the arrival of digital assets, digital transformation in the world of finance, blockchain-driven business models and regulatory hurdles, as well as the world of decentralized finance. Digital asset wallet developer Bitberry’s Chief Executive Officer Yoo Ja

Credit card issuer Samsung Card said Tuesday that it has delivered a presentation on how it is using artificial intelligence in marketing and customer analysis at an online tech conference held by chipmaker Nvidia. The online Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, which began in 2009, is an event where developers, researchers, and officials from private companies around the world share trends and information on AI, machine learning and supercomputing technologies. In its online presentation avai

South Korean brokerage firm Mirae Asset Securities is betting big on global startups going public on US stock markets. Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing recently submitted its regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. According to Bloomberg, the company’s estimated valuation stands at nearly $100 billion. When Mirae Asset invested about 300 billion won ($266.65 million) in the firm in 2018, it was valued at $56 billi

Woori Bank said on Tuesday it has completed a project led by the Vietnamese central bank to jointly set up an electronic network for financial transactions aimed at promoting cashless payments in the Southeast Asian nation. Woori Bank Vietnam was the only foreign lender among nine commercial banks selected to build the Automated Clearing House, a computer-based electronic network for processing transactions designed by the State Bank of Vietnam. The network is a part of the Vietnamese governm

South Korean stocks rose for the second straight session Tuesday on hopes for better earnings amid a global economic recovery. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 33.49 points, or 1.07 percent, to close at 3,169.08. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 16.1 trillion won ($14.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 477 to 358. Foreigners bought a net 445 billion won, while retail investors p

S. Korean crypto exchanges in their heyday on hike in transaction fees

Global investment bank raises upper-end target band for Kospi to 3,250 points

South Korean households spent a monthly average of 7.2 percent more on lottery tickets last year, compared with the previous year, data from the Korean Statistical Information Service showed Tuesday. Korean households each spent a monthly average of 590 won ($0.52) on lottery tickets last year, according to Kosis. The data also took households that didn’t purchase lottery tickets into account, in calculating the average figure. The increase in lottery ticket spending came amid a recor

Consumer financing firms in South Korea saw their combined net profit jump 24.7 percent on-year in 2020, supported by a modest gain in interest income, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of 112 credit-specialized financial firms stood at 2.56 trillion won ($2.27 billion) last year compared with a profit of 2.05 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Their interest income rose 2.9 percent on-year to 5.8 trillion won last year,

South Korea's money supply continued to grow in February, as loans to households and firms increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's M2 stood at 3,274.4 trillion won ($2.9 trillion) as of end-February, up 1.3 percent from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 jumped 10.7 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M2 is a measure of the money supply