Despite a number of REITs attempting to make their market debuts on the nation’s main bourse Kospi in the second half, their value remains underestimated, according to the chief of the Korea Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts on Wednesday. “Beginning with IGIS Value Plus REIT’s list on the Kospi in July, 10 REITs have either been listed or waiting to be listed in the market in the second half. Unlike our expectation, nominal values of the REITs were underestimated,&

Exports by South Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sank at a double-digit rate in the second quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday. Local SMEs' overseas shipments came to $22.5 billion in the April-June period, down 13.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, marking a sharp turnaround from the 2 percent on-year increase in their exports in the first quarter, which were worth $24.2 bil

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea surged to a new record high in June, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid pandemic-caused uncertainties that pushed both businesses and individuals to boost their currency holdings. Foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $84.53 billion as of end-June, up $3.61 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The amount marks the highest since the BOK began compiling such data in June 2012

SEJONG -- The number of young South Koreans preparing for job exams rose in May this year, data showed Wednesday, as job markets are hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The data released by Statistics Korea showed that 804,000, or 17 percent, of 4.73 million economically inactive youths aged 15-29 prepared for exams in May to land jobs, up 1.7 percentage points from the same period last year. Among the 804,000 people, 28.3 percent were preparing for state exams to become low-ranking public

The number of people using financial mobile apps, including for banking and stock trading, has surpassed users of apps for online shopping and games, industry data showed Wednesday. According to the data by mobile big data platform IGAWorks, a total of 31.16 million people with Android devices used financial applications in June, compared with 23.63 million people using e-commerce apps and 19.84 million mobile game users. "The number of financial app users greatly increased following the

South Korea's state pension operator has raised exposure to pharmaceutical and tech stocks this year amid the coronavirus outbreak while unloading retailers and other virus-hit issues, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The National Pension Service (NPS), the biggest institutional investor in South Korea, newly bought stakes of 5 percent or more in 24 companies traded on the country's major and secondary bourses as of Friday, according to CEO Score. DoubleU Games Co. was the pension provider

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Wednesday as investors cashed in profits following a sharp gain in the previous session over economic recovery hopes. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 0.14 point or 0.01 percent to 2,228.97 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Seoul shares closed up 1.4 percent Tuesday as investor sentiment was boosted by a European Union economic stimulus deal and hopes for coronavirus vaccines. Overnight, Wall Street

Foreign investors have turned to net buyers of top-cap Samsung Electronics Co. this month following months of massive selling, data showed Wednesday. Offshore investors' net purchase of Samsung shares stood at 1.07 trillion won ($900 million) in the first 21 days of July, making the tech giant their most-bought issue, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. The figure represents a sharp turnaround from their previous selling binge. In the first five months of the year, foreigners sold

Scholars in Seoul on Thursday lashed out at financial authorities, saying their policy drive to nurture local hedge funds five years ago was a hasty decision. Pointing to the dispersed monitoring power of the nation’s two financial regulators, the upper organization of the two, the Financial Services Commission, should be disbanded, they said. “To prevent more fraud cases involving homegrown hedge fund asset managers, a drastic change in local financial supervision system has to

Tax burden increases for upper-middle tax bracket amid heated market

The Korean government on Tuesday reiterated vows to remove bottleneck problems faced by individual stock investors, according to the regulatory Financial Services Commission. “The active participation of individual stock investors shored up the (domestic) stock market in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said FSC Vice Chairman Sohn Byung-doo, in a financial risk management policy meeting held at the Korea Federation of Banks headquarters in central Seoul. “(The governme

Buoyed by the recovery of global oil prices, South Korea’s producer price index rose 0.5 percent on-month in June, ending a monthslong slide, the nation’s central bank said Tuesday. The producer price index for all commodities and services here inched up 0.5 percent on-month to 102.52, data released by the Bank of Korea showed. It had remained flat in May after extending a decline in the February-April period, weighed down by the coronavirus pandemic. “The recovery of global

South Korean shares closed up 1.4 percent on Tuesday after leaders of European Union (EU) member nations reached a massive stimulus package deal to support pandemic-hit economic activities. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 30.63 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at 2,228.83. Trading volume was high at about 906 million shares worth some 15.5 trillion won ($12.9 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 565 to 279. Foreign

Founder of Seoul-based same-day deliery startup Kurly, Sophie Kim, was listed among the top 10 female founders in the world by fundraising, data showed Tuesday. The founder of Market Kurly had raised the eighth-most money on the list as of June, raking in a combined $282 million since Kurly’s inception in 2014, according to data compiled by Businessfinancing.co.uk, a research and information provider in UK. Kim was the only Korean and one of four from Asia. The list of Asian entreprene

South Korea‘s commercial real estate market has been relatively less affected by the pandemic as the demand for both prime offices and logistics assets remains stable partly thanks to high liquidity and profit-seeking investors, reports showed Tuesday. The higher market liquidity coupled with the resilience of the economy, has instead beefed up competition for deals involving “core assets,” or prime office buildings that offer investors a stable source of income. “The