Park Sung-hyun, the incumbent chief strategy and sustainability officer of Shinhan Financial Group has been appointed as a new member to the prestigious Global Steering Committee under the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the banking group said Sunday.  Launched in 1992, UNEP FI is a strategic public-private association set up by the UNEP and the global financial sector with the purpose of sustainable management. It is working with more than 300

The South Korean economy is on a recovery path, aided by a mild improvement in the manufacturing sector, but it faces growing downside risks amid a global resurgence in new coronavirus cases, a state-run think tank said Sunday. The country's service industry has slackened as people refrained from making in-person contact and going outside, while the manufacturing sector has undergone a limited recovery on improving demand at home and abroad, according to a monthly economic assessment report by

Global investment banking giants, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citi have raised their 2020 average growth forecasts for South Korea’s economy, a report compiled by the Korea Center for International Finance showed Friday. The report came as the export-driven economy’s outbound shipments have been riding on a path to solid recovery. Korea’s current account surplus hit a two-year high in September as exports rebounded for the first time in seven months amid the global

Related firms’ stocks continue to remain strong amid anticipation

South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a fifth day Friday, helped by massive foreign buying amid eased uncertainties over US election results. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.71 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 2,416.5. Trading volume was moderate at about 812 million shares worth around 12.4 trillion won ($11.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 533 to 294. The KOSPI traded choppy amid profit

South Korea and Uzbekistan agreed Friday to announce the launch of trade talks at an opportune time in an effort to expand bilateral trade, the government said. The agreement was made between South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo and Sardor Umurzakov, Uzbekistan's deputy prime minister for investment and foreign economic relations, during a videoconference of a bilateral trade and economic committee, the trade ministry said. The meeting of the committee, the official

Korea Exchange Chairman Jung Ji-won is set to take the helm at the General Insurance Association of Korea next month, according to the industry sources Friday. GIAK, an organization that represents local general insurance firms, is slated to hold a general meeting on Nov. 13 to discuss the agenda of appointing Jung. The incumbent chief of the bourse operator was recommended Monday as the sole candidate of the association’s next chief. The decision will be made by representatives from the

South Korean manufacturers' domestic supply declined for the second straight quarter in the third quarter, as production remained sluggish amid the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The manufacturing domestic supply index stood at 102.7 in the July-September period, down 0.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The third-quarter tally compared with a 4.5 percent on-year drop in the second quarter, when the index fell at the sharpest pace since t

South Korean shares opened higher Friday, as investor sentiment was boosted by an overnight rally on Wall Street caused by eased uncertainties over the US presidential election. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.34 points, or 0.59 percent, to 2,428.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks continued to fare strong after a four-session winning streak, as investors pinned hopes that stocks will advance after the US election. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq com

Major foreign investment banks (IBs) have upgraded their forecasts for South Korea's economic growth for 2020 on growing expectations for an economic recovery, a report showed Friday. As of end-October, nine major global IBs, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, projected Asia's fourth-largest economy to shrink 1.2 percent this year, compared with their median outlook of a 1.4 percent contraction offered a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. T

Ahead of its initial public offering, South Korea’s leading internet-only bank Kakao Bank said it logged its highest net profit in the third quarter this year, mainly due to a turnaround in noninterest business. Net profit came to 40.6 billion won ($35.96 million) in the July-September period, up by 600 percent from a year earlier, when it marked 5.6 billion won. The third quarter‘s figure grew by 1.5 times from the second quarter’s result of 26.8 billion won. The company a

Divided US government is more boon than bane for stock market: analysts

South Korea's vice finance minister said Thursday uncertainties surrounding the US presidential election will have limited impact on the local financial and foreign exchange markets, vowing for swift countermeasures if market volatility increases.  “The US presidential election risks have already been reflected in the local financial markets. Since the US government is likely to maintain its quantitative easing policies, there is a limited possibility of volatility in the local finan

World Bank recognizes Korea’s growth and COVID-19 response as case study that other countries can learn from

South Korea’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange has concluded that it will delist Kolon TissueGene, the original developer of an invalidated joint inflammation treatment named Invossa, it announced via public filing Thursday. The KRX’s Kosdaq Market Committee held a meeting Wednesday and decided to delist the scandal-ridden drugmaker, saying it had not shown sufficient efforts to improve management. Along with failing to achieve the proposed goals that were submitted last year, t