Owners of the world’s two largest memory chipmakers -- Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong and SK Group’s Chey Tae-won -- boasted of their business confidence during a walk with President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. The conglomerate chiefs were among eight business representatives that took a 25-minute walk around the Cheong Wa Dae garden after a more official business meeting.　 In response to Moon’s expression of concerns about a slowdown in the semiconductors market, Sa

SEJONG -- The atmosphere on the streets at year-end was not the same in 2018 as what people remembered from past years. To explain it, they pointed to the large number of struggling small business owners amid a sagging economy burdened by weak private consumption.Another barometer of consumption during a short period is the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall Feb. 2-6 this year, a time on which many industries are pinning their hopes.One question is whether Chinese tourists will visit South Kore

South Korea’s mortgage-backed lending rates have hit a three-year high, affected by the central bank’s latest key interest rate hike. As local banks mark up their loans accordingly, the country’s household debt burden is expected to face new pressures.The Korea Federation of Banks said Tuesday that the Cost of Funds Index -- a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans also known as Cofix -- for new loans was set at 2.04 percent for December, up 0.08 percenta

KB labor union seeks third-party deliberation, may strike again in end-January

Shares of a South Korean engineering firm skyrocketed on Tuesday on recent reports that it could handle engineering design for projects to reconnect and modernize inter-Korean railways.Shares of Yooshin Engineering, which specializes in railway design and construction, soared 29.92 percent from the previous trading in the morning, hitting a 52-week high. It was being traded at 25,400 won ($22.67) per share on the country’s tech-heavy Kosdaq bourse as of midday. Among several engineeri

DRAM export price marks 5-month decline amid industry slowdown

South Korea's financial watchdog said Tuesday it will step up efforts to help local banks adopt new global rules on bank capital standards in 2022. Global financial regulators agreed on the new banking regulations, known as Basel III, in 2017 but finally endorsed a revision of some rules earlier this week at a meeting of the Basel's oversight body attended by governors and heads of supervisory bodies, the Financial Supervisory Service said. Basel said the revision will "result in a weighted

Samsung Securities has set up a special desk devoted to dollar-denominated bonds, reflecting South Korea’s growing interest in dollar assets over the US Federal Reserve’s continuing rate hike, the firm said Monday. It aims to provide better guidance to its customers by providing relevant information on the price and currency, the company said. It added that it will help investors to determine the “right timing” to purchase bonds at the market price.  The brokerage ho

About 80 trillion won in ‘shadow banking’ loans may face insolvency amid market downturn

Public concerns over heavy fine dust concentration in recent days have lifted stock prices of local personal care product manufacturers and home appliance makers Monday. Personal care products company Monalisa, which manufactures and distributes face masks for fine dust, jumped 11.39 percent from the previous trading day. It was traded at an opening price of 4,060 won ($3.61) per share.Firms listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq such as Welcron and Okong, also manufacturers of protective masks al

Woori Bank formally adopts financial holding company structure, pledges immediate acquisition of asset management, real estate investment trusts and saving banks

South Korea will continue its efforts to encourage banks and other financial institutions to direct more loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, a senior financial regulator said Monday. Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a regular meeting of the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities around the world, in Switzerland earlier this week.  The outstanding loans f

President Moon Jae-in will hold a meeting this week with the leaders of the country's largest businesses, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.The meeting will be held Tuesday at Cheong Wa Dae, involving top executive officers of about 130 major businesses, including vice chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics Co. The scheduled meeting follows the president's meeting with small and medium-sized business leaders last week."As in the meeting with small, medium-sized busines

The value of South Korean stocks offloaded by foreign investors last year reached $5.66 billion, the largest in seven years, driven by US-China trade war and uncertainties tailing US interest rate hike, data from the Bank of Korea showed. They have become the net sellers for the first time in three years. But they remained strong buyers in the bond market, purchasing $13.91 billion worth of bonds last year.On a monthly basis, foreigners remained net buyers in the securities market for two consec

Trading of South Korean shares is projected to take place within a narrow range this week amid growing concerns about a prolonged US government shutdown and the impending Brexit vote in the UK, which are dampening investor sentiment. The two political risks, combined with lackluster fourth-quarter earnings projected for US and Korean firms, will likely push the main Kospi bourse into a “boxpi” situation, according to analysts. “Boxpi,” a combination of the words “Ko