South Korea plans to monitor foreign exchange liquidity conditions for non-banking institutions on a monthly basis in a bid to ease potential market jitters caused by their dollar crunch, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance unveiled a set of measures to reduce non-bank institutions' FX liquidity risks as a market rout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore their vulnerability to external shocks. "The government drew up measures to manage F

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it plans to temporarily remove tariffs on imported egg products to resolve a supply shortage sparked by the outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu here. The move, which is set to be finalized next week, would allow local companies to import up to a combined 50,000 tons of fresh eggs and seven other types of egg products without tariffs until the end of June, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This will mark a sha

Jobs offered by the government and state-run companies grew by the largest-ever in 2019 on the back of a state policy to increase hiring in the public sector, data showed Wednesday. A total of 2.6 million people were employed in 2019 by the public sector, up 151,000, or 6.1 percent, from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Jobs offered by the public sector are positions in central and provincial governments and state-run firms. The tally marked the largest on-year

The number of registered vehicles in South Korea grew nearly 3 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, with that of green cars exceeding the 800,000 mark, government data showed Wednesday. The total number of car registrations came to 24,365,979 units at the end of last year, up 2.9 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number translates into one vehicle for every 2.13 people living in Asia's fourth-largest economy. Las

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as auto and tech stocks continued to rebound. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 33.11 points, or 1.07 percent, to 3,125.77 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI traded bullish after the key index rallied 2.61 percent the previous session. Investor sentiment also lifted on overnight comments by US Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen backing a large-scale fiscal relief package to reinvigorate the world's largest economy

South Korea received a top rating in an environment, social and governance assessment conducted by US credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday. Moody’s has recently announced a list of 144 countries assessing their capabilities in handling ESG issues, with five classifications, including “positive” at the top and “very highly negative” at the bottom. Korea was one of 11 nations who rated &ldq

US-based investment adviser Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb has unloaded a 5.5 percent stake in Korea‘s brokerage house Shinyoung Securities, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday. The New York-based firm’s sales proceeds came to 30.4 billion won ($27.6 million) following decades of transactions involving its mutual funds, according to the filing. Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb’s ownership was reduced to 2.11 percent as of December 2020, making it no longer obliged to disclose itse

Dunamu, a South Korean blockchain and fintech company, said Tuesday that it has developed an indicator that measures volatility of digital asset market to help investors make decisions. The digital asset fear-and-greed index reflects market sentiment in five different levels, from ”extreme fear“ to ”extreme greed.” The index gauges market volatility with trading price and transaction volume every five minutes.  “As many domestic digital asset investors use gl

South Korean stocks jumped more than 2 percent Tuesday on stellar advances by auto-related shares, backed by expectations of improved earnings. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 78.73 points, or 2.61 percent, to close at 3,092.66 points. Trading volume was high at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 23.8 trillion won ($21.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 737 to 124. Foreigners bought a net 412 billion won, while

A group of South Korean lenders pledged on Tuesday to earmark a combined $3 billion over the next five years to spur global investment into local semiconductor maker SK hynix as part of the nation’s bid to shore up growth of futuristic technology. South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, said the lenders’ agreement with the country’s second-largest semiconductor chip manufacturer will pave the way for future economic development as the c

W130b to be spent on homegrown vaccines, treatments

South Korea’s customs agency will use Naver’s big data for efficient customs clearance of direct purchases from foreign countries, officials said Tuesday. The Korea Customs Service and Naver signed a memorandum of understanding for applying product information stored on the online platform’s shopping unit to its customs procedures. The agreement was forged to effectively block entries of harmful products such as illegal drugs and medical supplies. “The MOU for a stra

The rising US Treasury yields has become a “key variable in the global foreign exchange market,” South Korea’s vice finance minister said Tuesday, nodding towards a stronger dollar trend that has rattled emerging market currencies. “When the 10-year US Treasury yield surpassed the 1 percent mark (earlier this month), the Euro, the Japanese Yen and the Chinese Yuan all dropped against the US greenback,” Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said in a macroeconomic fin

SEJONG -- The year of 2020 is expected to record as one of the few years, where a fever of buying apartments and stocks by taking out financial loans swept over the nation. The phenomenon was triggered by skyrocketing real estate prices in the wake of a housing shortage and sharp rebound in the Kospi despite the still high infections of novel coronavirus. Though the fourth-quarter data has yet to be compiled, the figure for the January-September of last year is suggesting that more and more K

South Korea's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) saw their exports inch down in 2020 from a year earlier despite the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Tuesday. SMEs' overseas shipments totaled $100.8 billion last year, down 0.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The decrease compared with a 6.7 percent decline in exports by middling and large companies. Smaller firms' exports accounted for 19.7 percent of South Korea's tota