Creditors of Asiana Airlines announced Friday that they would pull the plug on a stalled deal to sell the cash-strapped airline to property developer HDC Hyundai Development Co. after 10 months of negotiations. They also decided to inject an additional 2.4 trillion won ($2.02 billion) in industrial stabilization funds to normalize operations at the air carrier for another disposal attempt. “Today, Kumho Industrial Co. has notified HDC Hyundai Development Co. that the merger and acquisiti

South Korea will focus on investing in digital infrastructure, including its Data Dam project, to combat future risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s finance minister said Friday. “Due to the novel coronavirus, our economy and society has been seeing an acceleration of digitalization,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said, in an opening speech delivered at the Digital Economy Forum hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. &l

South Korean shares closed nearly flat on Friday amid growing valuation woes in the financial markets. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.21 points, or 0.01 percent, to close at 2,396.69. Trading volume was moderate at about 872 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 456 to 377. Foreigners sold a net 164 billion won, while retail investors purchased a net 451 billion won

The Korea Herald is running a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. Investors in Asia are cheering the prospect of more Chinese companies listed in the US seeking a dual listing in Hong Kong. The catalyst for the acceleration in this trend is legislation which is likely to pass through the US Houses of Congress. The US legislation, Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, has two components that has raise

Kakao Games continued its bullish run on the Kosdaq market, with shares spiking by a daily permissible limit of nearly 30 percent for a second consecutive day Friday. As soon as trading began, the company’s stock price reached 81,100 won ($68.22) per share, up 18,700 won or 29.97 percent from the previous session’s close. It was more than triple the offering price of 24,000 won. The price also maintained throughout the day. It soon rose into the third most valuable stock on the Ko

South Korea's industrial electricity consumption fell to a four-year low in July amid an economic slump caused by the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The volume of power consumed by the nation's industrial sector reached 23,468 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in July, down 4.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), South Korea's state-run utility. The figure is the lowest industrial power consumption for July since the 23,238 GWh recorded in

South Korea‘s government vowed Friday to apply a speedy process to the payment of special disaster relief subsidies so that those heavily hit by the COVID-19 fallout may receive the money before the Chuseok holiday at the end of this month. “We shall simplify the qualification examination standards, and hand out the subsidies first, and carry out the (detailed) verification afterwards,” said Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of finance, in an economic policy meeting at Go

South Korea's money supply grew at the fastest pace in nearly 11 years in July as household and corporate lending grew amid a long streak of low rates and the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Friday. The country's M2 stood at 3,092.8 trillion won ($2.6 trillion) as of end-July, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It accelerated from a 9.9 percent on-year gain in June and marked the fastest on-year rise since 10.5 p

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said Friday that it will nurture digital technology workforces to improve the management and production procedure of its shipyards. A program to be run by the software education center of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will train experts of ship-related digital technologies, the shipbuilder said in an emailed statement. This program will help innovate management and improve productivity in the shipbuilding industry

South Korea's consumption has shown signs of slowing down due to a recent resurgence of new coronavirus infections, but the pace of decline in exports eased, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly economic report, called the "Green Book," the Ministry of Economy and Finance also flagged the economy's continuing uncertainty stemming from the virus resurgence. "South Korea's indicators of domestic consumption took a turn for the worse because of a resurgence of COVID-19

South Korea's exports fell 0.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of September amid the economic fallout from the new coronavirus, customs data showed Friday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $14.9 billion in the Sept. 1-10 period, compared with $15 billion a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period dropped 11.9 percent. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted trade and halted production around the globe, wi

South Korean shares opened slightly lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 3.73 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,392.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI's decline is largely attributed to the US tech retreat and unimproved jobless benefits data from last week. The tech-laden Nasdaq composite fell 221.97 points, or 1.99 percent, to 10,919.59 on Thursday (New York time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average l

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Thursday its chairman Lee Dong-gull has been named to lead the South Korean policy lender for another three years. Lee's second term, which is set to begin on Friday, comes amid a series of stalled corporate sell-off deals, including how to normalize Asiana Airlines Inc. Major property developer HDC Hyundai Development Co. had sought to acquire the country's second-biggest airline, but the 2.5 trillion-won ($2.1 billion) deal appears likely to c

Domestic industrial sectors that are reeling from the coronavirus fallout in South Korea are unlikely to see a drastic rebound and probably face longer-lasting financial strain, officials of credit rating agency the Korea Investors Service said Thursday. Korean businesses dedicated to auto parts manufacturing, oil refining, hotels, duty-free shops, theaters and aviation are seeing a negative credit outlook and facing heightened financial pressure, making them subject to credit downgrading in t

Hyundai Card, the credit card company under automotive giant Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday that it has issued 450 billion won ($379 million) in green bonds to fund alternative energy and environmental projects. The won-denominated bonds that mature in one year and two months to 10 years are sold only to Korean institutional investors. The company issued the same bonds in August last year. Proceeds from the green bonds will be used in providing financing for eco-friendly vehicles, such