Loans extended by South Korean insurance companies rose 1.6 percent in the first quarter, but the loan default rate remained unchanged, the financial regulator said Thursday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 238.4 trillion won ($200.4 billion) as of the end of March, up 3.7 trillion won from the end of December, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement. Their loans to households increased 0.1 percent to 121.3 trillion won in the first quarter, while lending to companie

South Korea's exports and imports will likely outperform those of major economies this year but face a slump due to sluggish demand in major economies caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's central bank said Thursday. "Global demand for imports is expected to greatly drop this year due to the stronger-than-anticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a report submitted to the National Assembly. "However, when considering better-th

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, following the Federal Reserve's dismal US economic forecast and the absence of stronger stimulus tools earlier anticipated amid the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 13.42 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,182.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The drop came after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell predicted that the economic damages of COVID-19 may have lasting effects despite the Fed's plan to keep the curr

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports soared in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, mainly due to a calendar effect but raised hopes for a recovery in global trade as more nations eased coronavirus lockdown measures. The country's outbound shipments jumped 20.2 percent to $12.3 billion in the June 1-10 period from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period, however, fell 9.8 percent on-year. Compared

South Korea will help private firms create more jobs, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday, in the latest effort to protect jobs that have vanished due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move came after the government has pushed to create 550,000 jobs in the public sector as the nation's job market remained grim due to falling exports and consumption. The government will encourage private firms to open 50,000 jobs for young people in July, and smaller firms will be given benefits for jo

The state coronavirus relief funds have been spent mostly on dining out and grocery shopping, the interior ministry said Wednesday, based on an analysis of credit card data.    The Ministry of Interior and Safety analyzed credit and debit card transactions from May 11-31 from eight financial firms to find out about spending behavior with the relief money.    As of May 31, a total of 5.67 trillion won in relief money was spent, and restaurants were the biggest spending dest

The unauthorized transactions on Toss, an online money transfer platform operated by fintech startup Viva Republica, are likely to trigger extensive inspections of similar solutions by the financial watchdog. “We plan to conduct reviews of fintech systems that adopt payment technology similar to Toss, if necessary,” an official from the Financial Supervisory Service said. “Some 40 companies could be subject to such inspections,” the official added. The Seoul-b

Nation’s economy will only shed 1.2-2.5% in 2020, while global economy will face a 6-7.6 percent contraction

Woori Financial Group’s privatization plan, which has been stalled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak here coupled with its plunge in stock price, is likely to move forward again, on account of its recent stock price recovery, government sources said Wednesday. The Public Fund Oversight Committee under the policymaking Financial Services Commission, overseeing Woori’s privatization, plans to discuss the sell-off of the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance’s stake in Woori in

South Korean stocks closed higher for the ninth consecutive session Wednesday, while investors sat on the sidelines before the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting currently in progress, analysts said. The Korean won gained against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 6.77 points, or 0.31 percent, to finish at 2,195.69. Trading volume was moderate at 695 million shares worth 12.6 trillion won ($10.6 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 500 to 34

Korea’s IT-led stock market attractive for tech share investors, weak currency, governance issues still hurdles

Samsung Asset Management said Wednesday it has launched a fund to pool South Korean retail investor’s money into a signature fund by London-based quantitative hedge fund manager Man AHL. By investing in Man AHL’s TargetRisk fund, the Korean feeder fund is expected to offer capital growth through a long-only exposure, under which the fund manager takes advantage of profit opportunities by betting solely on undervalued assets. The Korean feeder fund, dubbed Samsung MAN Investment Ba

   The number of unemployed in South Korea in May hit the highest level in more than a decade as businesses continued to freeze jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday.  According to data released by Statistics Korea, the number of employed totaled at 26.93 million last month, shedding 392,000 jobs compared with a year earlier, which marked the third consecutive monthly loss.  This was the first occurrence since the country reported job losses for four s

NH NongHyup Bank announced Wednesday its partnership with a local law firm as well as blockchain developer to set up a consortium for jointly developing financial services using virtual assets. The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with law firm Bae, Kim & Lee and Hexlant, a blockchain technology laboratory, to launch a joint institution for the research and development of cryptocurrency exchanges.  The move came as the revised bill of the Act on Report and Use of Specif

South Korea's household debt continued to grow at a steady pace in May, but the rise in corporate loans sharply slowed from a month earlier, possibly reflecting ample liquidity for local firms, central bank data showed Wednesday. Fresh bank loans extended to local households came to 5 trillion won ($4.17 billion) in the month, slightly up from 4.9 trillion won the month before, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rise in home-backed loans slowed to 3.9 trillion won from 4.