The transfer of assets associated with scandal-ridden Seoul-based hedge fund manager Lime Asset Management began Thursday as South Korea’s financial regulator scrapped its license to operate in Korea the day before. In a long-awaited move, the bridge institution WellBridge Asset Management is expected to take over all 215 Lime funds to speed up the process of minimizing losses of the assets – most of which are believed to be nearly insolvent -- a key move to mitigate the financial d

Online shopping in South Korea grew 20 percent in October from a year earlier as the new coronavirus outbreak prompted people to buy goods via e-commerce platforms, data showed Thursday. The value of online transactions stood at 14.2 trillion won ($12.9 billion) in October, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The use of online shopping has been on the rise this year amid the pandemic as people refrained from visiting offline stores on

South Korea's won currency surged to a 30-month high against the US dollar Thursday and broke a key psychological level, buoyed by optimism over US stimulus talks and developments of coronavirus vaccines. The won was quoted at 1,097.00 won per US dollar at Thursday's closing, up 3.8 won from the previous session's close. It was the strongest level since June 14, 2018, when the risk-sensitive currency closed at 1,083.10 won against the US dollar. The won also broke the key psychological leve

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Thursday on valuation pressure, after the benchmark index closed at an all-time high the previous session despite the new coronavirus concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.45 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,676.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks traded choppy, with strong advances by chipmakers offset by institutional and foreign selling. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.2 percent to 29,8

South Korea plans to nurture 100,000 talented individuals in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector by 2025 by supporting related graduate schools and colleges centering on software development, the finance minister said Thursday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki also said the country plans to spend more than 23 billion won ($21 million) next year to support software firms' marketing in and forays into overseas markets. "Through AI-related graduate schools and colleges focusing on software d

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 7.5 percent in November from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Thursday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,436 units last month from 25,514 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. From January to November, foreign carmakers sold 243,440 autos, up 13 percent from 214,780 in the

Major banks in South Korea saw their "jeonse" home rental loans increase at a record pace this year amid soaring jeonse rates, industry data showed Thursday. Outstanding jeonse loans extended by the country's five major lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup -- came to 103.3 trillion won ($94 billion) as of end-November, up nearly 23 trillion won from last year. It marks the first time that the amount of yearly jeonse loans has exceeded the 20 trillion-won level.

South Korea's foreign reserves rose for the eighth straight month in November, thanks to an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's foreign reserves came to a record high of $436.3 billion as of end-November, up $9.87 billion from a month earlier, 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 bull

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that next year's budget will help South Korea's economy recover from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Hong made the remarks shortly after the National Assembly passed a 558 trillion-won ($506 billion) budget for 2021, a net increase of 2.2 trillion won to help virus-hit small merchants and secure vaccines. "Next year, (the government) will surely achieve our economy's recovery and rebound," Hong said in a Facebook post.

A Seoul court sentenced a fund manager to two years in prison Wednesday for fraudulently selling financial products of a hedge fund implicated in a massive fraud and lobbying scandal.    The former chief of a branch office of Daishin Securities Co. in southern Seoul was indicted in June for misinforming his clients while selling some 248 billion won ($225 million) worth of funds of Lime Asset Management Co. Lime Asset has been under probe since July last year over its alleged cover

South Korea’s major banks have been asking employees to accept early retirement to cut costs amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Wednesday.  More than 1,700 employees at the nation’s five major commercial banks here -- Woori, Hana, Shinhan, KB Kookmin, NH NongHyup -- were offered early retirement between the end of December last year and early this year, industry data showed. To cope with financial setbacks stemming from the pandemic, local banks ar

South Korean stocks hit another all-time high Wednesday for the second consecutive session on the back of optimism surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and US stimulus. The Korean won sharply rose to an over 29-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 41.65 points, or 1.58 percent, to close at 2,675.9. Trading volume was high at 1.05 billion shares worth around 16.9 trillion won ($15.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 475 to 353. Forei

Buoyed by foreign investors’ buying, Kospi again hits all-time closing high of 2,675.90

South Korean depository institutions' loans to self-employed people and companies grew at a much slower pace in the third quarter than three months earlier on improving business conditions, the central bank said Wednesday. Outstanding industrial loans extended by banks and non-bank depository institutions came to 1,366 trillion won ($1.24 trillion) as of end-September, up 37.8 trillion won from the end of June, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The increase was nearly half the 69.1

Korea Investment & Securities board agreed to pay 142 billion won ($128.9 million) to its wholly owned subsidiary Korea Investment Value Asset Management, as Kakao Bank moves on to raise nearly a combined 1 trillion won by year-end before an initial public offering poised to take place next year, filings showed Wednesday. KIVAM is currently the second-largest shareholder of Kakao Bank after internet giant Kakao. KIVAM‘s proceeds will be used to buy 6 million newly issued common shar