South Korea will supply 114,000 public 'jeonse' houses by 2022 to help tackle a shortage of the two-year contract-based rental homes, the transport ministry said Thursday. The government plans to purchase existing homes to convert them into public jeonse houses mainly for the underprivileged who have difficulties in finding such homes, as higher demand has pushed up jeonse prices amid low rates and a recently passed related bill, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a stat

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday after hitting a nearly three-year high the previous session, as valuation pressure and concerns of surging COVID-19 cases offset vaccine hopes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.41 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,533.23 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks fell after hitting a 33-month high in the previous session. Investor wariness increased on valuation pressure and rising coronavirus cases. Market kingpin Samsung

The South Korean currency dropped against the US dollar Thursday after currency authorities warned that they are ready to take actions at any time to curb the won's sharp gains. The local currency ended at 1,115.6 won to the greenback, down 11.8 won from the previous session, when the won rose to a 29-month high of 1,103.8 to the dollar. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that FX authorities are closely monitoring the market, warning that excessive currency volatility is not

South Korean shares hit the highest in 33 months Wednesday on a rally in bio stocks amid concerns over a flare-up of new coronavirus outbreaks. The Korean won surged to a 29-month high against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.49 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 2,545.64. The reading marks the highest closing since 2,568.54 points on Feb. 1, 2018. Trading volume was moderate at about 911 million shares worth some 13.3 trillion won ($12 billion),

The financial regulator’s latest move to introduce regulations on the payment settlement system is facing a backlash from the industry, and especially the central bank. The trigger was the revision bill of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, drafted by the Financial Services Commission and submitted to Rep. Youn Kwan-suk of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who chairs the parliamentary National Policy Committee. The bill includes e-payment business deregulations for big te

Buoyed by the progress of coronavirus vaccine development and monetary easing policies, expectations are on the rise that the global economy can get itself out of the virus crisis soon. The Asia-Pacific region is predicted to post 9 percent growth in its domestic production rate in 2021, and the robust on-year growth will be driven mainly by a strong recovery in private consumption, according to an Asian branch of investment bank Morgan Stanley on Wednesday. “Private consumption could em

Shinhan Bank teams up with CJ Olive Networks, LG U+ for “MyData” platform, blurring lines between industries

The price of largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin reached a recent high dating back nearly three years, rising more than 4 percent within 24 hours amid investors’ rising demand for safe investments, digital currency data showed Wednesday. According to US-based cryptocurrency data provider CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin surpassed the $17,000 per bitcoin mark on Tuesday. The figure was the highest since $20,089 observed in December 2017. As of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday here, bitcoin traded at $17,769.48,

Listed companies in South Korea posted improved earnings in the third quarter from a quarter ago, possibly signaling a rebound from the previous pandemic-hit quarters this year, data showed Wednesday.  In the July-September period, the combined net profit of 590 out of 655 firms that are listed on the main KOSPI bourse and close their books on Dec. 31 came to 25.6 trillion won ($23.2 billion) on a consolidated basis, up 81.3 percent from three months ago, according to the data compiled by

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea rose to a record high in October as exporters raised dollar holdings amid the country's improving exports, central bank data showed Wednesday.   Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $93.32 billion as of end-October, up $7.87 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).   The tally rebounded from September, when the FX deposits declined for the first time si

The number of holding companies in South Korea declined this year from a year earlier due largely to a fall in mid-sized holding firms, the country's antitrust regulator said Wednesday. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said a total of 167 holding companies were registered with the country's antitrust regulator as of end-September, down from 173 the previous year. The registered holding companies consist of 157 general holding firms and 10 financial ones. A fall in the number of small an

South Korean shares opened nearly flat Wednesday, as investors remained worried over soaring COVID-19 cases. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.16 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,539.31 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came to a muted start despite vaccine hopes, as South Korea's new coronavirus cases hovered above 200 for the fourth day in a row Tuesday, with authorities warning that infection cases may further increase due to cluster infections in greater S

Capital spending by large South Korean firms rose more than 10 percent in the first nine months of the year despite lower sales due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Combined investments by 362 big businesses in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 63.2 trillion won ($57.1 billion) in the January-September period, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score. The solid increase came as their total sales fell 4.5 percent on-year

South Korea’s mobile-only commercial lender Kakao Bank said Tuesday that it plans to raise 250 billion won ($226 million) from Hong Kong-based private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners. Under the plan approved by the board the same day, Anchor Equity Partners will complete the payment by Dec. 7 to buy 1 million new ordinary shares of Kakao Bank, as the lender plans to fetch a combined 1 trillion won by year-end before its initial public offering next year. Kakao Bank also said US inves

On Sept. 24, the National Tax Service held an opening ceremony at its Seoul Regional Office for the Seoul branch of NTS Data Lab. This is the first offshoot of the NTS Data Lab, which has been in operation in the city of Sejong since 2018. The NTS Data Lab is a secured facility whose main purpose is to promote research that may inform tax policies. It gives researchers access to microdata that had been used to compile national tax statistics for further analysis. Most of the data held by NTS