Korean Air Lines Co. will decide this week on whether to sell 1 trillion won ($820 million) worth of stocks as part of self-help measures amid the growing coronavirus impact on the airline sector, industry sources said Monday. Korean Air plans to hold a board meeting Wednesday to determine the exact size and the schedule of the rights issue, an airline official told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. Shareholders of the country's biggest carrier will be given the rights to buy the stocks to

The number of investors holding Samsung Electronics shares surged more than five times after the company divided the face value of stocks two years ago, data showed Sunday. According to data filed by the Financial Supervisory Service, common shares issued by Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest chipmaker, were held by more than 1.36 million investors in the first quarter, a 565 percent increase from the same quarter two years ago, with 241,513 investors. Stocks worth 1.25 trillion w

An online application for the government's emergency coronavirus relief funds to all households began on Monday morning. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said nine local credit card companies started receiving online applications through their websites or mobile phone applications. The application is available, first, for those who wish to receive the financial aid in the forms of credit or debit card points, which is scheduled to arrive two days after the application. For the first w

South Korea's exports sank 46.3 percent on-year in the first 10 days of May amid the shock from the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $6.9 billion in the May 1-10 period, compared with $12.5 billion for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period slipped 30.2 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is denti

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday on less pessimistic jobs data from the United States, which shot up to the highest rate since the Great Depression but still managed to be below market expectations. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.13 points, or 0.67 percent, to 1,958.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The unemployment rate in the US shot up to a whopping 14.7 percent in April, from 4.4 percent posted a month earlier. The dismal data, however, still

Foreign investors have ramped up their investment in South Korean bonds this year amid the country's relatively favorable economic conditions, data showed Monday. Offshore investors held 140.9 trillion won ($115 billion) worth of listed government and corporate bonds as of end-April, up 17 trillion won from the end of last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. It marks the first time that foreigners' holdings of South Korean bonds have surpassed the 140 trillion-

South Korea’s national debt per capita stood at 14.83 million won ($12,145) as of Saturday, data from the National Assembly showed Sunday, feeding concerns that the growing figure may take a toll on the nation’s economy amid sluggish growth projections. National debt held by Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 769.18 trillion won in the same period, according to the data provided in the form of a debt clock on the website of the parliament’s budget office. It has

The mergers and acquisitions scene in South Korea remains relatively vigorous, as small and medium-sized enterprises are looking for more chances to cash out assets amid the continued COVID-19 threat to markets and industries. With a slowing number of confirmed cases, deals that have been postponed for weeks due to the virus are back on the table. Below is a roundup of major M&A deals here and their progress in the previous week. Centroid to take over Woongjin book unit Woongjin unveiled

Credit card issurers will start receiving registrations of relief subsidies on Monday under governmental guidelines that could expand payment transaction volume by 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion). The news comes along with the central government’s move to distribute 14.3 trillion won among Korean citizens to help them fight the fallout from the coronavirus. Of the total, around 10 trillion won is expected to be spent via credit cards, according to market observers. Taking subsidies via cr

Prior to the Morgan Stanley Capital International Korea Index’s May adjustment, South Korea’s securities firms are eyeing whether Hanjin KAL will be able to join the club despite its low liquidity. Led by a share price rally, the market capitalization of Hanjin Group’s holding company jumped to nearly 5.14 trillion won ($4.21 billion) on Friday, far exceeding the MSCI’s minimum standard for the Korea index, estimated at between 1.7 trillion won and 1.8 trillion won. B

The Korea Consumer Agency said Friday that the number of e-commerce-related claims filed by consumers aged 60 or older has grown rapidly in recent years. From 2017 to 2018, the number of the entire claims filed by those in the age group, via the agency’s consumer consulting center rose by 3.5 percent annually. Of the claims, 51.2 percent were linked to products or services bought on online commerce platforms, while 24.5 percent and 4.5 percent were respectively related to purchases via

The state-run National Pension Service said Friday that it will form a committee next week to take charge of recommending a new chief. The post of NPS chairperson has been vacant since Jan. 7, when Kim Sung-ju stepped down to run in the April 15 general elections. The world’s third-largest pension operator, with some $600 billion in assets, is currently headed by acting Chairman Park Jung-bae. It is expected that the committee will pick three to five candidates, and the minister of he

Market Kurly, a fast-growing grocery delivery startup, announced on Friday that it has attracted 200 billion won ($164.3 million) in Series E funding. Led by investment firm DST Global, a group of global investors, including Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Fuse Venture Partners, SK Networks and Translink Capital and Aspex Management participated in the new round of funding. The Series E brings the South Korean startup’s total funding to 420 billion won. The new funding round

South Korea will save more than 300 billion won ($246 million) in 2021-2024 by aborting or merging state-subsidized projects, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday. “We have made a rigorous assessment this year as an effective fiscal operation has become more crucial than ever in order to overcome the fallout of COVID-19,” said Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol in a state subsidy management committee meeting at Seoul Government Complex. Later in the day, Koo was name

South Korean stocks closed higher Friday as investor sentiment got a boost from less-than-pessimistic economic indicators from the United States and China, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 17.21 points, or 0.89 percent, to finish at 1,945.82. Trading volume was moderate at 775 million shares worth 7.82 trillion won ($6.4 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 588 to 227. Seoul stocks got off to a solid st