Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a midsized shipbuilder here, will turn its industrial equipment division into a wholly owned subsidiary to boost the division's competitiveness, its parent Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Wednesday. The new entity, named Hyundai Infra Solutions Co., will be launched on May 3 next year, Korea Shipbuilding said in a regulatory filing. Hyundai Samho will focus on the construction of ships, while the envisioned spin-off entity will be de

Bitcoin on Wednesday came under market watch after it spiked nearly to $20,000 earlier this month and continued its rally for days, on the back of institutional investors diversifying their portfolios. The most popular cryptocurrency remained above $19,000 per coin for a third straight day Wednesday morning, according to Upbit, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges here operated by local financial technology firm Dunamu. After the digital coin reached a recent high of $19,850 on Dec. 1,

Amid businesses’ concerns, regulators say progress for transparency will be made through revised laws

Seoul stocks hit fresh record high on US stimulus hopes South Korean stocks snapped their two-day losing streak to end at a fresh record high Wednesday, backed by optimism over the US stimulus talks and positive reports related to US biotech company Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.97 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 2,771.79.Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares wo

The Kospi hit a new all-time high on Wednesday on growing hopes over US stimulus talks and reports on vaccine candidates, closing at 2,771.79. The tech-heavy Kosdaq also rose to 939.65, marking its highest level in nearly 19 years. Amid the continued stock market rally, the total amount of loans taken out for stock investments by individuals in South Korea has exceeded 19 trillion won ($17.37 billion) for the first time, market data showed. After crossing the 19 trillion-won mark Monday, the

The market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service said Wednesday the novel coronavirus outbreak has been posing a negative impact to the country’s real estate funds that invest in overseas properties.  A real estate fund is an investment vehicle designed to pool money from both individual and institutional investors to trade in properties. To profit, the funds usually either purchase commercial real estate for lease or provide loans to companies working on infrastructure and industri

Major South Korean companies in carbon intensive industries are jacking up investment in hydrogen across sectors to cut their greenhouse emissions and capture new business opportunities in the emerging energy sector. Hydrogen can offer solutions in fields ranging from transport to energy storage as an alternative to fossil fuels and is an important pillar of President Moon Jae-in's Green New Deal initiative aimed at going carbon neutral by 2050 and developing renewable energy industries. To e

Seven out of 10 South Koreans plan to travel abroad after coronavirus vaccines are developed, a survey showed Wednesday. According to Incheon International Airport Corp.'s recent survey, 70.2 percent of South Koreans and 82 percent of foreign nationals said they have overseas travel plans after the development of COVID-19 vaccines is completed. The survey was conducted on 1,000 Koreans and 600 foreign nationals from China, Japan, Vietnam and other countries from Oct. 30 to Nov. 20. Of them,

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday after overnight Wall Street gains, as investors pinned their hopes on a US stimulus deal. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.31 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,771.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI rebounded after a two-session retreat, despite the country's surging COVID-19 cases. Stocks increased on rosy expectations of a Santa rally, in addition to anticipations that the world's largest economy would ha

South Korea's export prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in November as the local currency continued to strengthen against the US dollar, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, declined 0.8 percent in November from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the fourth consecutive month of on-month decline after the index rose for a third month in a row in July.

An extra 60 trillion won ($54.91 billion) worth of foreign funds could flow into the South Korean stock market if the nation joins the Morgan Stanley Capital Investment Advanced Market Index, a market expert suggested Tuesday. Korea, the world’s 10th-largest exporter, ranked No. 9 in terms of stock market capitalization, making it a candidate for the MSCI list of developed markets, said Lee Hyo-seob, a senior research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, at a forum co-hosted by

SEJONG -- South Korea topped the list among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the growth of tax revenue -- the state’s income from taxation -- between 2017 and 2019. According to the France-based organization, Korea’s tax revenue was equivalent to 27.38 percent of its gross domestic product in 2019. This represents a 2.02 percentage point climb from 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration took office and tax revenue was 25.36 percent of GDP.

South Korean stocks slumped for the second consecutive session Tuesday, as investors sought to cash in part of recent gains amid spiking virus cases. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.38 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 2,756.82, with construction and bio sectors having led the KOSPI's retreat. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 15.3 trillion won ($14.5 billion), with gainers outnumberin

South Korea’s money supply saw further growth in October, as businesses and households continued its rush to secure funds amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country’s M2 – a yardstick for the nation’s cash, checking deposits and other near money deposits – gained 9.7 percent on-year and 1.1 percent on-month to 3,150.5 trillion won ($2.8 trillion) as of end-October. The 1.1 percent or 34.7 trillion won on-month gain is the second-lar

One out of every 5 couples in South Korea who got married in 2015 had no children last year, government data showed Tuesday.  According to Statistics Korea, about 18 percent of the 216,008 couples who tied the knot in 2015 and remained married as of 2019 were still childless, marking the highest figure since 2015. The percentage of childless couples married for five years has been on an upward trend, having increased from 12.9 percent in 2015 to 16.9 percent in 2018. The trend appears to