Hyundai Card said Wednesday it has joined forces with delivery platform operator Woowa Brothers to launch a credit card that provides tailored benefits for food-delivery service Baedal Minjok. A credit card specifically designed for a food-delivery service is the first of its kind here. Commerce companies and airlines, including eBay Korea, Korean Air and Starbucks Korea, have issued a similar private label credit card. “Baedal Minjok and Hyundai Card will keep working together to offe

South Korea’s consumption has recovered slightly on the back of the government’s emergency cash handout, but its economic activity and exports remain sluggish, still weighed down by risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. “The slowdown in Korea‘s consumption has decelerated, but economic activity remains sluggish due to falling external demand on the global spread of COVID-19,” the Korea Development Institute said in it

Stricter jeonse loan regulations will be imposed starting from Friday, the nation’s financial regulator said Wednesday, adding more pressure on the real estate market as it already faces a series of measures set to curb soaring housing prices. The latest version restricts jeonse loan guarantees and bans loan requests by buyers who already own a house in high speculation areas.  The move came in line with the 21st set of housing price regulations imposed under the Moon Jae-in admini

The CEO of Optimus Asset Management has been taken into custody by prosecutors for a probe into allegations that the private equity firm fraudulently solicited funds worth tens of millions of dollars from investors. The arrest came on Tuesday night shortly after the Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant for Kim Jae-hyun, citing sufficient evidence to support the criminal allegations against him and the severity of the case. The company's second-largest shareholder surnamed Lee and

South Korea said Wednesday it will push for the conclusion of a mega Asia-Pacific trade deal this year to help boost ailing exports and cope with the growing protectionism around the globe in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic. The country plans to participate in another round of online talks with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Thursday to address remaining agenda items, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. ASEAN and its dialogue

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Wednesday following overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.44 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,164.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Major US stock indices ended their winning streaks on Tuesday (local time) as a recent surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases dented hopes for a quick economic recovery. Negative economic forecasts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and

The value of Japan's exports to South Korea sank to a near 11-year low in May due to the coronavirus pandemic and Tokyo's export controls, data showed Wednesday. Japan shipped 329.3 billion yen ($3 billion) worth of goods to its neighboring country in May, down 18 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and the Japan Tariff Association. The value of Japan's exports to Seoul rose to 415 billion yen in February from 371.6 billion

South Korea's energy demand is expected to drop for a second year in 2020 due to the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, a report said Wednesday. The country's annual energy consumption is likely to contract 1.4 percent on-year this year, according to the report from the Korea Energy Economics Institute. Last year, overall energy consumption in Asia's fourth-largest economy fell 1.3 percent on-year to 303.5 million tons of oil equivalent (TOE), the first decline since the country's foreign

Citibank Korea said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot consulting service to bolster its untact (contactless) digital customer service. According to the South Korean subsidiary of the New York-based bank, the service provides round-the-clock consulting for customers that need immediate consulting. It can be used after adding Citibank channel via messenger app KakaoTalk. The AI chatbot will help customers find the nearest Citibank branch and provide information

South Korea’s cash-strapped flag carrier Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to sell its inflight meal catering and duty-free units to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. “As for the divestment of inflight catering services and duty-free operations, Korean Air has given Hahn & Co. the exclusive rights to negotiate,” it said in a disclosure after a board meeting at 4 p.m. “Korean Air will continue to discuss the details about the transaction with Hahn &

Coworking space giant WeWork said Tuesday that it plans to upgrade its online startup acceleration programs in a bid to support local firms that aim to expand overseas. WeWork Korea held online forums, workshops and conferences this year to connect venture capitalists and industry experts with fledgling startups via its WeWork Labs platform, which offers budding firms access to seasoned experts, investors and other peers through mentoring programs and networking events. WeWork began the Labs

South Korean stocks fell by more than 1 percent Tuesday amid growing fears over the resurgence of the new coronavirus at home and overseas. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 23.76 points, or 1.09 percent, to close at 2,164.17, ending its three-session winning streak. Trading volume was high at about 837 million shares worth some 14.7 trillion won ($12.3 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 581 to 263. The index erased

South Korea’s top financial regulator Tuesday vowed to induce fair competition between conventional financial companies and Big Tech groups, in preparation for the forthcoming digital shift in the local financial industry. “Responding to the non-face-to-face trend triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, a growing number of major technology companies, or Big Tech, have been pursuing (new opportunities) from the financial services industry,” said Financial Services Commission Chair

SK Biopharmaceuticals shares continued to soar on Tuesday, outpacing its parent company SK Holdings by market capitalization on the nation’s main bourse Kospi. Shares of the bio unit of South Korean conglomerate SK Group began trading at 214,500 won ($179.85), then spiked by 51,500 won, up 24.01 percent, to reach 266,000 won in the first 10 minutes of trading. The stock was still on the rise but slightly fell to 216,500 won, at the closing bell. Due to the stock rally, the firm’s

South Korea accounted for the biggest share of imports to China in 2019, but its slice has been shrinking in recent years due to intensifying competition with other Asian players, a think tank said Tuesday. While South Korea accounted for 8.42 percent, the largest share, of China's overall imports in 2019, the portion marked a slight drop from 9.65 percent posted a year earlier, according to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). Instead, Association of Southeast Asian