Spurred by IBK case, unions seek representation on board, more leverage

South Korea's economy grew slightly faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2019, although this had no effect on the overall economic expansion for last year, central bank data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, 0.1 percentage point higher than earlier expected, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's annual growth, however, remained unchanged at 2 percent. The annual growth w

South Korea's headline inflation rose 1.1 percent in February from a year earlier, marking an increase of over 1 percent for the second straight month, the statistics agency said Tuesday. The inflation rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy increased 1.5 percent in January, the highest in 14 months, Statistics Korea said. South Korea's headline inflation was below 1 percent every month in 2019. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, increased 0.6 percent from a ye

OECD cuts Seoul’s growth pace to 2%, global figure to 2.4%, in interim outlook

Budget will far surpass W6.2tr allocated for MERS crisis in 2015

  Korea’s benchmark Kospi on Monday rose less than 1 percent, barely recovering past the 2,000-point mark after crashing in the previous session over expectations on an interest rate cut in the US.  The local currency closed at 1,193.70 won against the US dollar, strengthening 20 won from the previous session’s close. The benchmark bourse Kospi opened slightly high at 1,997.03 -- rising 10.02 points, or 0.5 percent, from the previous session. It dipped below 1,980 points

A coalition led by South Korea’s activist private equity fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement called Delta Air Lines a “partner” in its pursuit for a control over Hanjin Group and its crown jewel Korean Air in a note Monday. This reflects KCGI’s drastic turn from the previous week when the activist investor questioned Delta’s increase in Hanjin KAL stake -- to 11 percent in February -- as the family-controlled Hanjin Group had entered into a proxy battle tha

Shares of South Korean companies dedicated to novel coronavirus testing kits soared on Monday, amid rising demand. Local diagnostic kit makers are launching devices that detect coronavirus infections, which allow authorities to test over 10,000 people a day as of current -- from around 1,000 two weeks prior. One of them is Seegene, a maker of the real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis assays. The Seoul-based company closed at 40,400 won ($33.8) per share, up 10.7 percent Monday, on the

Amid foreign investors’ massive short sales, need for stricter rule raised; FSS, FSC differ in views

Seoul stocks opened higher on Monday on a technical rebound and comments by the Federal Reserve chairman on a possible rate cut to reassure the markets hit by the spreading coronavirus outbreak.    The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.60 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,989.61 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment appears to be somewhat buoyed after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled on Friday (US time) that the central bank was open to

Credit card transactions nearly halved last month as the fast-spreading COVID-19 fears dampened consumer sentiment, according to latest data Sunday. The overall credit card payments from Feb. 1-23 stood at 28.2 trillion won ($23.5 billion), down 45 percent from 51.3 trillion won in January, as per eight credit card issuers, including Shinhan Card, Samsung Card, Hyundai Card and BC Card. The transactions declined 32 percent, when deducting a week’s average amount -- approximately 10 tri

BC Card’s experiment of contactless payment system for autonomous convenient store draws market attention

Capital market reflects President Moon’s coronavirus policy

State-run Korea Development Bank said Friday it had chosen two external partners to operate funds with a combined 120 billion won ($99.2 million) of public money to support South Korea’s drive for supply chain autonomy. The two partners are BNW Investment-Industrial Bank of Korea consortium and SKS Private Equity-Korea Investment Private Equity group. These were among nine applicants to manage the funds. Each group is mandated to attract at least 40 billion won investment from the priva

Analysts say extra fiscal budget positive, but market reaction cloudy