South Korea’s household and corporate debts saw unprecedented growth last month, data from financial authorities showed Wednesday, as risks stemming from the novel coronavirus continue to weigh on the economy. Bank loans extended to local households, including state-backed mortgage loans, increased by 9.6 trillion won ($7.88 billion) on-month to 901.9 trillion won, the Bank of Korea said. It is the highest figure since the BOK started keeping records on household debt in 2004. The corr

South Korean stocks snapped a four-day rally to end slightly lower Wednesday as foreign and institutional investors offloaded large-cap stocks amid a lack of upside momentum. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 16.46 points, or 0.90 percent, to 1,807.14. Foreign and institutional investors sold a combined 422.2 billion won ($346 million) worth of stocks, weighing down the bourse. Foreigners continued to offload local stocks f

Mirae Asset Financial Group said Tuesday it had topped the 1 trillion won ($820.48 million) mark in the group‘s combined operating profit, net profit and earnings before tax each, quoting its 2019 earnings statement. The South Korean group’s key affiliates, including brokerage Mirae Asset Daewoo, asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments, insurer Mirae Asset Life Insurance, nonbanking lender Mirae Asset Capital and Mirae Asset Consulting, recorded a combined 1.16 trillio

South Korea's exports of gold surged to over a seven-year high in February as demand for safer assets increased amid a market rout triggered by the new coronavirus, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Wednesday. Outbound shipments of gold for non-monetary use came to some $290 million in the month, the highest since $327 million posted in September 2012, according to the BOK. In terms of volume, outbound shipments of gold amounted to 5.8 tons in February, sharply up from 3.5 tons shipped the same mo

Fraudulent insurance claims shot up more than 10 percent in 2019 from a year earlier to hit a new record, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. Insurance fraud scammers obtained 880 billion won ($720 million) through wrongful filings in 2019, compared with 798 billion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The watchdog said it has detected 92,538 suspects last year, rising from 79,179 disclosed in 2018. The figures translate into 254 suspects fili

Excess funds held by South Korean households jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2019, central bank data showed Wednesday, possibly due to government efforts to curb real estate speculation. Net financial funds held by households, including nonprofit organizations, came to 91.8 trillion won ($75.3 billion) as of end-2019, up from 52.7 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK did not offer any reasons for the increase, but it ea

Hotel Shilla, a South Korean operator of luxury hotels and duty-free shops, has closed a $121 million transaction to buy a 44 percent stake in US duty-free shop operator Travel Retail Group Holdings, known for the in-flight retailing service 3Sixty Duty Free, a filing showed Wednesday. The deal, closed Tuesday, allowed the hotel and duty-free unit under Samsung to become the second-largest shareholder after 3Sixty Chairman Bernard Klepach. It marks Hotel Shilla’s first investment in a No

President Moon Jae-in unveiled plans Wednesday for another economic relief package aimed at stimulating exports and domestic demand stifled by the coronavirus pandemic. The government will provide South Korea's exporting companies with at least 36 trillion won ($29.5 billion) of trade finance for their credit and capital liquidity, he said during the fourth emergency economic council session at Cheong Wa Dae. It's meant to support exporters suffering a heavy blow due to the collapse of global

Small business owners have increasingly turned to nonbanking lending despite the higher-interest loans to withstand the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, a mutual financial institution, its banks extended emergency rescue loans worth 15.5 billion won ($12.67 million) to coronavirus-hit small business owners without credit ratings between March 11 and Friday. The demand for loans from KFCC

Seoul stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid woes over the new coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.95 points, or 0.87 percent, to 1,807.65 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index jumped 8.2 percent in the past four sessions, helped by signs of the COVID-19 outbreak slowing. But analysts said investors remain cautious, as there is still a lot of uncertainty involving the coronavirus outbreak and its im

Excessive focus on conglomerates gives rise to concerns

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday cautioned local retail investors to refrain from borrowing money when investing stocks, pointing at the excessive market volatility. In a rare message, the financial regulator noted that the current market condition is somewhat different from the 2008 global financial crisis, stressing that it has become more unpredictable than before. “Some existing investors think that now is the time to purchase undervalued shares, since they have seen e

South Korean stocks ended higher Tuesday, extending their gains to a fourth straight session as investor sentiment improved over signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.72 points, or 1.77 percent, to 1,823.60. Huh Jae-hwan, a strategist at Eugene Investment Co., said expectations for the slowing spread of the coronavirus in the United States and Europe pushed u

South Korea’s national debt last year surpassed 1,700 trillion won ($1.39 trillion) for the first time, weighed down by increased treasury bond issuance coupled with the government’s consequent fiscal expansion, a government report showed Tuesday. The national debt jumped 60.2 trillion won on-year to 1,743.6 trillion won as of end of 2019, according to the annual national financial report reviewed and endorsed by the Cabinet. The Cabinet meeting was presided by Prime Minister Chung

South Korea’s food service firm Lotte Food saw a moderate success in raising cash through investment-grade corporate bonds, as a state fund has helped fend off risks from the escalating coronavirus crisis. But analysts said Tuesday Korea is still a tough test bed to check whether the government’s stimulus package can normalize the funding market. On Monday, Lotte Food decided to raise 100 billion won ($81.77 million) after it carried out an institutional investor tranche for its AA