South Korean benchmark indexes continued to be upbeat Wednesday, following the government’s additional economic measures to counter the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The nation’s main bourse Kospi rose to a high of 1,992.20 points in intraday trading, up 0.59 percent from a day earlier, while the secondary Kosdaq crossed the 700-point mark for the first time in a year. The Kospi index closed at 1,989.64, up 0.46 percent while Kosdaq ended at 708.76, up 1.78 percent. The gains wer

  South Korea's corporate tax revenue is expected to decline this year for the first time in six years due to the coronavirus impact on major industries, a local think tank said Wednesday. The country's corporate tax revenue rose in the past five years to 72 trillion won ($59 billion) in 2019 from 45 trillion won in 2015, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). This year, however, corporate tax revenue could reach an estimated 56.5 trillion won, 12 percent lower than

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea reached a four-month high in April, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid market fluctuations caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. Foreign currency deposits here came to $78.18 billion as of end-April, up $2.89 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marks the highest since $79.94 billion tallied at end-December. The monthly increase, however, marks a sharp slowdown from a $6.78 billi

SEJONG -- Service output declined in 14 provinces and cities in South Korea in the first quarter of this year as the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on the service industry, data showed Wednesday. However, service output in Seoul -- home to one-fifth of South Korea's 51 million-strong population -- rose 2.3 percent on-year in the first quarter, helped by robust gains in the financial and property sectors, Statistics Korea said in a report. The southern res

South Korea's household debt grew at the slowest pace in one year in the first quarter, central bank data showed Wednesday, amid a sharp decline in spending apparently caused by the new coronavirus outbreak that is expected to hurt the whole economy. Outstanding household credit came to 1,611.3 trillion won ($1.31 trillion) as of the end of March, up 11 trillion won from a revised 1,600.2 trillion won tallied three months earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Th

State-run think tank forecasts positive growth despite COVID-19 fallout

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday despite heavy overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by renewed fears over the coronavirus pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 3.09 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,983.70 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 390.51 points, or 1.59 percent, to close at 24,206.86 Tuesday (US time). The sharp decline came one day after global stock markets rallied on reports of positiv

SEJONG -- South Korea will step up efforts for an economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic as the nation is returning to normal activities, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. Hong made the remarks at a meeting with economy-related ministers as schools reopened for high school seniors, about 80 days later than the original semester start day of March 2. Unlike other nations, South Korea has not enforced lockdown measures to combat the virus. Instead, the nation implemented

The South Korean stock market was upbeat Tuesday on hopes of the successful development of a coronavirus vaccine in the US. The local currency rose against the US dollar. Local shares opened sharply higher in early morning trading with the nation’s main bourse Kospi soaring 2.26 percent to 1980.84 points. Continuing the momentum throughout the day, the index closed at 1,980.61, up 2.25 percent. The local rally came on the heels of news reports about the positive results of US pharmac

Cross-border transactions of public funds will kick off this month in South Korea and four other Asia-Pacific countries, to expand corporate and individual investors’ portfolios, according to the Financial Services Commission on Tuesday. The scheme named Asia Region Funds Passport system enables cross-selling of public funds among five countries in the Asia-Pacific region -- South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The system will be implemented on May 27, as Korea&rsquo

With the National Assembly likely to pass revisions to the Electronic Signature Act on Wednesday, fintech groups and mobile carriers are projected to dominate the related market with their existing online identification services. The revision bill -- likely to be among a set of legislations that the 20th National Assembly will pass at its last plenary meeting –- is projected to fuel privatization of the e-signature industry by abolishing the nation’s public e-certificate system, a

Plans include delivery services of alcoholic drinks with food

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Tuesday, joining other Asian and global stock markets in a rally that came on hopes of a vaccine for COVID-19. The local currency sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) spiked 43.50 points, or 2.25 percent, to close at 1,980.61, extending its winning streak to a third day. Trading volume was moderate at some 762 million shares worth about 11.7 trillion won ($9.55 billion), with gainers outnumbering l

South Korea’s Ryukyung PSG Asset Management and retailer Lotte Shopping are facing legal action from entities that proposed to buy four Lotte Mart discount stores for some 550 billion won ($448.4 million) in 2019, according to industry sources on Tuesday. The prospective buyers, real estate developer Moon Development Marketing and subsidiary the Korea Asset Investment Trust, filed a lawsuit in April against Ryukyung PSG -- a local asset management company that oversaw some 1.59 trillion

The Korea Exchange (KRX) said Tuesday it has started providing remote learning program to facilitate untact -- non-face-to-face contact -- services for foreign institutions in the wake of the prolonged coronavirus outbreak. The nation’s sole stock market operator used to offer offline education programs to offshore institutions such as stock exchanges, supervisory authorities and financial companies, but it has now launched online services by providing video clips on its official English