Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 9.8 percent in October from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 24,257 units last month from 22,101 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models were the Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDI SUV, Volvo XC40 B4 AWD SUV and BM

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki vowed Wednesday he will do his best to perform his duties in sync with the president after his resignation offer over a taxation issue was rejected. "In conformity with the intention of the personnel authority, I will do my utmost to do my official duties as a deputy prime minister," Hong said during the parliamentary budget and accounts committee's interpellation session. "As parliament kicks off its review of the (2021) budget bill, I will do my b

South Korean shares opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as investors awaited the results of the US presidential election. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 20.98 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,364.29 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   The local market followed gains on Wall Street as preelection polls favored Democratic nominee Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, raising investor hopes for reduced uncertainties surrounding

South Korea's foreign reserves climbed for the seventh straight month in October due to a rise in the value of non-dollar assets and an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves came to a record high of $426.5 billion as of end-October, up $5.96 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 pos

The proportion of South Korean office workers taking a keen interest in stock investment has surged in recent months as retail investors began a buying boom, betting on gains from market volatility, a survey showed Tuesday. According to job portals Job Korea and Albamon, half of the 593 wage-earning respondents said they invested in stocks. The figure was 22.8 percentage points higher than two years ago, when the same survey was conducted.　 The survey also showed that 76.7 percent were investi

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki offered his resignation on Tuesday, in an apparent response to the market backlash against the government’s proposed changes to the taxation rules. “I have offered my resignation and submitted my letter today, taking responsibility over the prolonged disputes,” the fiscal chief said during a parliamentary finance committee meeting. His abrupt announcement came while answering a question from Rep. Ch

National debt tops 800 trillion won for 1st time

South Korean stocks rallied Tuesday on hopes the shares will advance after an apparently imminent US presidential election result. The local currency closed at 1,134.1 won against the US dollar, down 0.5 won from the previous session’s close. The nation’s benchmark Kospi closed at 2,343.31, up 43.15 points, or 1.88 percent, from the previous session. The index prolonged its uptrend since marking 2,315.81 earlier in the day. Foreign and institutional investors scooped up 208.1 bill

Apartment units in southern Seoul's Gangnam-gu stood out among housing options in South Korea’s capital city in October in terms of their valuation, as they are increasingly regarded as a safe haven in times of uncertainty in housing market regulation. The estimate comes as multiple-home owners are struggling to keep multiple flats in their portfolio due to tougher housing regulations to stamp out the speculative buying. The price gap between Gangnam-gu and adjacent districts in southeas

Doosan Group's scholarship foundation signed a deal Tuesday to sell its 3.16 percent stake in Doosan Fuel Cell Co., the fuel cell maker said. The foundation will sell 2.27 million preferred shares in Doosan Fuel Cell after the market closes via a block deal, Doosan Fuel Cell said in a regulatory filing. The stake sale to be made Thursday will lower the interest in Doosan Fuel Cell held by the group's holding company, Doosan Corp., and major shareholders to 50.31 percent from 53.47 percent.

Non-face-to-face payments have surged 17 percent on-year since the outbreak of COVID-19, a report released by the central bank on Tuesday showed. Contactless payments made via electronic devices and other noncash methods inched up by 1.4 percent on-year in the first nine months of this year, the Bank of Korea said in a report.　 “Contactless payment transactions have expanded as usage of mobile payments have increased compared with actual credit or debit card payments,” the report

Woori Financial Group said Tuesday it would implement an employee training program starting this month, to enhance its digital capabilities. For the program, the group will publish storyboards online about how to create digital financial services, make a good use of e-marketing methods and study consumer trends, officials said.  Employees from digital finance units across the banking group’s affiliates -- Woori Bank, Woori Card, Woori Finance Research Institute and Woori FIS, a fina

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said Tuesday it had launched an online sales channel on Naver, South Korea’s biggest search portal, to support social ventures operated by young entrepreneurs.  The lender has partnered with Naver’s donation platform, called “Happybean,” and opened up an online market there, which will be run until Nov. 30.  As of Tuesday, six social enterprises were selling a wide variety of products ranging from food to clothing, while introdu

Doosan Infracore Co. said Tuesday its Chinese unit has produced its 200,000th excavator in the country. The accumulated output came 26 years after South Korea's leading construction equipment maker entered the Chinese market in October 1994, the company said in an emailed statement. The Chinese excavator market is expected to grow by 275,000 units this year, surpassing last year's overall sales of 200,000 units, Doosan Infracore said. Sales of excavators by the company rose 21 percent to 14

At the recent e-Leaders 2020 meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea ranked first in the Digital Government Index, which the OECD conducted for the first time. The latest result, a consecutive achievement after the OECD ranked Korea first in the OUR (Open-Useful-Reusable) Data Index in 2019, showed that Korea is leading the world’s digital government transition and innovation. The Digital Government Index measures the level of digital transformation an