Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Thursday it has suspended two of its domestic plants as at least eight workers have been confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus. Kia halted the operations of two plants in Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, from late Wednesday and sent all of the 6,000 plant workers home, a company spokesman said over the phone. "As of 3:30 p.m., nine assembly line workers were confirmed to have been infected with the virus," he sai

South Korea and China on Thursday began to operate irregular flights to allow Korean residents in China who returned here due to the coronavirus outbreak to go back, the transport ministry said. Korean Air Lines Co. and Xiamen Airlines will offer a total of seven flights from Incheon, west of Seoul, to Qingdao, Zhengzhou and Xiamen from Thursday until Oct. 15, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. All passengers are required to submit the results of a coronavirus te

SEJONG -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday asked the National Assembly to approve a fourth supplementary budget by early next week, in order to give emergency handouts to small merchants ahead of the Chuseok holiday season. The ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party reached an agreement earlier this week to vote on the fourth extra budget bill this coming Tuesday. That day is a potential deadline for the government to provide relief handouts to small mercha

South Korean retail investors have poured nearly 100 trillion won ($85.2 billion) into domestic and overseas stocks this year amid ample liquidity and low interest rates, data showed Thursday. Individual investors' net buying of shares traded on the country's main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets came to 55.9 trillion won as of Wednesday this year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Investor deposits at brokerage houses for stock investment stood at 56.7 trillion won as of Tuesd

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street that stemmed from tech valuation concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 11.69 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,424.23 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Despite the US Federal Reserve's signal to keep the near-zero rate till 2023, the local stock market remained bearish. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 1.25 percent to 11,050.47 points on Wednesday (New York time). The S&P 50

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo should keep his seat for a third term, the banking group’s outside directors decided Wednesday, bolstered by his bold moves in expansion of nonbanking businesses and acquisition. The group’s chairman recommendation committee, made up of KB’s seven outside directors, chose Yoon as the sole and final candidate for the next chairman role. The incumbent chief would have to gain final approval at a shareholders meeting scheduled Nov. 20 t

Acknowledging South Korea’s relatively effective control of COVID-19 and its appropriate fiscal response, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently increased its outlook for Asia’s fourth-largest economy this year, officials said Wednesday. It also reiterated the need to sustain expansionary fiscal policies, warning that hasty belt-tightening as the economy is slowly recovering could dampen growth prospects for next year. In its biannual Interim Economic

South Korean investors are inching closer to taking over a student housing facility in the United States from US real estate developer Lincoln Ventures for roughly 140 billion won ($119.37 million), local brokerage arm Korea Investment & Securities said Wednesday. The 18-story building, Moontower, has four underground levels and houses 166 units with 567 beds. The high-end student residential facility will serve the University of Texas at Austin starting in the fall 2020 semester. Its 19,0

Singapore-based online marketplace platform Carousell said Wednesday it had raised a combined $80 million funding from an investor group led by South Korean internet giant Naver. Along with Naver, other Korean investors, including Mirae Asset-Naver Growth Fund and NH Investment & Securities, took part in the consortium. Credit Suisse advised the deal. The funding enabled Carousell to exceed a $900 million valuation, according to the startup. Since launching in 2012, Carousell has been

Market feels prolonged impact from record-long monsoon rains, typhoons

South Korean entertainment giant CJ Group executive Lee Mie-kyung, widely known as Miky Lee, has been chosen as vice chairwoman of the board of the Academy Museum opening next year in Los Angeles. According to the homepage of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Wednesday, its board of trustees has appointed Netflix's CEO Ted Sarandos as chair and Miky Lee as vice-chair. Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos was named treasurer, while producer Kimberly Steward was reelected as secretary.

KB Financial Group said Wednesday it has selected chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo as the final candidate for the post of chief of the South Korean banking giant. Yoon, who has been leading KB Financial since 2014, will begin a third three-year term as KB Financial chairman if approved at the KB Financial's extraordinary shareholders' meeting in November. Under his leadership, KB Financial has been racing to expand non-banking business in a bid to diversify its revenue sources. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks ended their four-session winning streak on Wednesday, as investors rushed to reap profits from the recent stock rally. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 7.66 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,435.92. Trading volume was moderate at about 755 million shares worth some 11.6 trillion won ($9.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 543 to 308.' Institutions dumped a net 328 b

Top internet-only bank’s value exceeds four major financial groups’ total market cap

South Korean airlines will not impose fuel surcharges on international routes in October on low oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Wednesday. The surcharge for one-way tickets on international routes will remain at zero next month, unchanged from a month earlier, according to the sources. Local air carriers' fuel surcharges on international routes will stay at zero for the seventh consecutive month, raising expectations that the zero rate may last down the ro