The South Korean government's plan to reduce credit card transaction fees for smaller business owners will affect the bottom line of local card firms, a global ratings agency has said.Late last month, the government announced its plans to expand the number of business owners eligible for preferential credit card merchant fees in a move to reduce their financial burdens. "These changes are credit negative for credit card companies such as Shinhan Card Co. and Woori Card Co. whose profitabili

A set of measures will take effect next week to prevent conglomerates from entering industries that small merchants need for their livelihood, the SMEs ministry said Tuesday.The ordinance passed by the Cabinet goes into force on Dec. 13, setting the details of who can apply for industry designation, the operation of a deliberation committee that will decide on applications and any exceptions to the rules.Organizations with more than 30 percent membership by small merchants can apply for a partic

S-Oil CEO Othman al-Ghamdi has been selected as the best CEO of the year by Korean Management Association Consulting, the company said Tuesday.Al-Gamdi became the first CEO of foreign nationality to receive the award at the annual Management Grand Awards 2018 hosted by KMAC.The firm said the CEO has been recognized for his leadership since taking office in 2016. He oversaw the completion of its residue upgrading complex and olefin downstream complex projects worth some 4.8 trillion won ($4.33 bi

South Korean distiller Hite Jinro said Tuesday it has started selling its low-alcohol drink Isul Tok Tok at a major convenience store chain in Thailand, expanding distribution of the product in the country. The carbonated drink is being sold at Thailand’s Lotus Express, which has 1,500 stores nationwide.  With the latest launch, Hite Jinro products are now being sold at a total of 4,200 stores across Thailand, the company said.Hite Jinro said sales of soju in the Southeast Asian count

South Korea's consumer prices rose two percent for the second straight month in November from a year earlier on increased utility and service prices, government data showed Tuesday.From a month earlier, the index fell 0.7 percent, according to Statistics Korea.The reading marks the highest since September 2017, when the comparable figure stood at 2.1 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.3 percent on-year.Utility prices rose 1.5 percent on-year last month,

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors offloaded tech, auto and steel shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 9.82 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,122.11 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The main index ended 1.67 percent higher at 2,131.93 as the United States agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on Chinese goods for 90 days at the Group of 20 summit Saturday in Argentina.China said it will increase purchases of farm and industrial goods to reduce the tra

The number of listed firms buying back or canceling company shares increased in the first half of this year, already having surpassed 70 percent of last year's total, a corporate research report showed Tuesday.Data from the Korea Corporate Governance Service said 67 companies bought back company stocks while seven retired them in the January-June period. The sum is nearly 72 percent of 103 companies for all of 2017. The monetary sum of the transactions reached 5.3 trillion won ($4.76 billion), 2

The South Korean economy expanded 0.6 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier, central bank data showed Tuesday, amid rising concerns over an economic downturn.The July-September growth rate was the slowest since the fourth quarter of last year when the economy contracted 0.2 percent, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.Following a 0.6 percent rise in the second quarter, Asia's fourth-largest economy has been below the 1 percent expansion line for two quarters i

The interim or quarterly dividend payouts by South Korea's listed firms surged this year, thanks to Samsung Electronics Co., which took steps to win back investors, data showed Tuesday. A total of 54 listed firms paid a combined 9.1 trillion won ($8.19 billion) in interim or quarterly dividends to shareholders this year, compared with 4.6 trillion won last year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.  Samsung Electronics delivered a total of 7.2 trillion won in payments

There are seven celebrities in South Korea with stocks worth at least 10 billion won ($9 million) as of November this year, data from corporate tracker Chaebul.com showed.Three are celebrities-turned-entrepreneurs running the nation’s biggest entertainment companies, it said.The combined value of the stocks held by these seven conglomerates was 709 billion won, an increase in value of 55.2 percent compared with January.The value of all stocks owned by Park Jin-young, owner and executive pr

The Ministry of Economy and Finance was off to a rocky start Monday, as it faced mounting pressure with the delayed passage of next year’s state budget while its new minister nominee is set to have his confirmation hearing Tuesday.A concern for the ministry is that Minister nominee Hong Nam-ki could take office without a fixed budget plan, which could weaken the momentum of the government’s economic policies.The budget bill remained pending on Monday afternoon, with opposition partie

The pause in the Sino-American trade dispute may help to lower tensions, but their relations will remain contentious and will likely affect key Asian nations including South Korea, a global ratings agency said Monday.On Saturday, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks and agreed upon several measures to de-escalate trade frictions, including the US cancellation of a planned tariff hike starting next year in return for China's pledge to purchase more Ameri

The Korea Investment Corp., a sovereign wealth fund, said Monday it is adopting a set of stewardship principles to actively engage in corporate management as major shareholders.The principles require that the KIC review issues related to investment performance, risk management and governance structure that can influence long-term corporate values. They also call for partnerships with global investors who share the same goals. Officials said KIC will introduce and implement the principles in phas

South Korea and China held working-level talks Monday to seek ways to lower trade barriers and boost investment between the two nations, Seoul's trade ministry said. South Korea's ministry of trade, industry and energy and China's commerce ministry held an investment promotion meeting in Beijing, the second such talks in four years. Senior trade officials discussed ways to create a joint industrial zone and develop investment platforms and reached an agreement to expand exchanges between compani

The combined net profit for investment advisory firms shed 7.1 percent in the second fiscal quarter from the previous quarter this year, notably from a drop in collected commission fees, a regulator's data showed Monday.The net profit at 178 firms amounted to 13 billion won ($11.58 million) for the July-September period, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Profit from conventional asset management, such as equity values and trading, gained 43.2 percent to 15.9 billion won, but profit