SEJONG -- South Koreans have sharply increased their shopping through computers and smartphones in recent years, which is taking up more than 20 percent of their total consumption.The rapid growth of online shopping transactions has been backed by systematic parcel delivery services, which send products to consumers across the country in one to three days.Almost every kind of product -- from drinking water, food and cosmetics to clothing, home appliances and furniture -- are available on online

South Korean stocks fell Friday, while the won closed higher against the US dollar, hours after Washington’s remarks that it is considering to impose anti-subsidy duties on nations that undervalue their currencies against the greenback. The announcement, which came amid an intensifying US-China trade dispute, put Korea at risk of higher tariffs, alongside the world’s second-largest economy China, Japan, India, Germany, and Switzerland.  The benchmark Kospi closed 14.28 points, o

President Moon Jae-in visited a southeastern rural village Friday to encourage farmers who were busy planting rice. He briefly planted rice himself and attended the test operation of an agricultural drone and a self-driving rice-planting device in Oksan village in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to his office, Cheong Wa Dae."Given the reality of rural areas suffering difficulties from the aging population and labor shortages, there's a desperate need to develop and sp

 

The inaugural Korea Fintech Week event kicked off in Seoul Thursday, bringing together more than 50 local startups and 2,500 attendees to share business ideas and clinch new investment opportunities.The three-day event taking place at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul through Saturday is organized by the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service and Fintech Center Korea.The CEOs of fintech operators, including mobile payment platform Kakao Pay, personal finance managem

The overseas branches of South Korean financial institutions reported a 37 percent growth in their combined net profit on-year to nearly $1.3 billion last year, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday.Overall, 79.1 percent of the combined net profit came from branches in Asia. China contributed the most with $252 million, with Hong Kong and Vietnam each tailing behind at $235 million and $157 million, respectively.  The number of overseas branches operated by the firms i

Overseas card spending by South Koreans fell in the first quarter, despite the rising number of outbound tourists, as a weaker Korean won discouraged them from swiping cards overseas, central bank data showed on May 23.　In the January-March period, Koreans spent $4.68 billion using cards abroad, down 3.3 percent from three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.　Quarterly card spending peaked at a record $5.07 billion in the first three months of 2018. But it declined for two

The wage gap between male and female workers at large firms here widened in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Thursday.Women working for 202 major listed companies were paid an average 15.37 million won ($12,910) in the January-March period, or 63.5 percent of the median pay of 24.2 million won for male employees, according to the data by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news and information arm of Yonhap News Agency.It was slightly lower than the 64.6 percent ratio recorded during

As South Korea’s financial regulators prepare to issue new operational licenses for internet-only banks here next week, all eyes are on the approval prospects of Toss Bank and Kiwoom Bank -- the two consortia currently in the running for preliminary permits. 　Up to two licenses are up for grabs, though the Financial Services Commission, the country’s chief financial regulatory body, has hinted it may approve only one. 　 The FSC’s review panel and the Financial Supervisory Servi

Export-oriented economy continues to face trade friction factors

SEJONG -- The manufacturing industry has come to a standstill in output and productivity that could further weaken the nation’s already lackluster economic growth, which has suffered as a result of sagging exports and weak private consumption.According to Statistics Korea, the manufacturing production capacity index stood at 101.4 in February 2019 -- the lowest level in 33 months, since May 2016, when it posted the same figure. Though the index inched up to 101.6 in March 2019 (the la

Lotte Holdings said Tuesday that it has selected a consortium of MBK Partners and Woori Bank as the new preferred buyer of Lotte Card, amid legal irregularities surrounding former negotiations partner Hahn & Co.　 The holdings unit of the Korean-Japanese retail conglomerate said in a disclosure that it had initially chosen local private equity fund Hahn & Co. as its preferred bidder on May 3, but that the priority period for negotiations had expired as of May 13. As a result, Lotte deci

Costco Wholesale Korea, the South Korean unit of the US wholesale giant, will officially switch to Hyundai Card as its credit card partner from Friday in line with contract stipulations, the credit card company said Tuesday. This means that starting Friday at all Costco outlets in Korea, Costco members will only be able to pay with a Hyundai credit card or cash under the wholesaler’s single-network credit card policy. Samsung cards will no longer be accepted.The change follows an agreement

Fiscal chief hints at market stabilizing measures, if necessary

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in government has repeatedly expressed its commitment to lower housing prices in Seoul, amid an extraordinary situation in which many apartments surged in price more than 50 percent from late 2016 through 2018.Most of its anti-speculation measures have been mapped out by the Finance Ministry, the Land Ministry and the Financial Services Commission.But the presidential office has refrained from seeking to normalize apartment prices by normalizing interest rates. This is des