Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts maker affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday that it will retire treasury stocks worth 587.5 billion won ($546 million) over the next three years as part of its plan to enhance shareholder value.In a special directorate meeting, the company said that it would retire its current 1.61 million treasury stocks, worth around 40 million won, officials said.The company currently holds 2.04 million stocks, which are to be converted into 1.61 million units after a

South Korea's central bank chief will attend a meeting with his counterparts from countries of Southeast and Northeast Asia later this week, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will attend the 21st meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three finance ministers and central bank governors to be held in Manila on Friday, according to the BOK.ASEAN Plus Three is a forum aimed at enhancing cooperation between ASEAN and the three East Asian countries of South Kore

SEJONG -- South Korea's consumer prices increased more than 1 percent in April on a rise in prices of agricultural and industrial goods, government data showed Wednesday.The country's consumer price index climbed 1.6 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 1.3 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The April figure is well below the Bank of Korea's target of 2 percent for the year, stoking speculation that the central bank'

WASHINGTON -- The United States will levy antidumping duties on imports of South Korean carbon and alloy steel wire rod due to their harmful effect on the domestic industry, a US trade panel said Tuesday.The US International Trade Commission said it had determined that a domestic industry was being "materially injured" by imports of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from South Korea, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Britain.The Commerce Department determined in March that the five countr

The local currency strengthened against the greenback for two consecutive trading days until Monday on heightening expectations of a thaw in inter-Korean relations after a summit between North and South Korea. As of the trading session’s close Monday, the US dollar was trading at 1,068 won, according to the Seoul Money Brokerage. The market closed Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday. The won-dollar exchange rate dropped 12.9 won from Thursday’s close and 8.6 won from Friday’s

WASHINGTON  -- The United States on Monday formally exempted South Korea from steep tariffs on steel imports, saying the move was in line with national security interests.US President Donald Trump earlier announced a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from all countries in principle, citing the need to protect the nation from what his administration called a threat to national security."Today, President Donald J. Trump issued two proclamation

Overly-hyped sentiments have begun to give way to skepticism toward a flurry of promises made by founders of distributed ledger systems like blockchain and the digital currencies encrypted and traded on them.Fanning such cynicism was the global race to place cryptocurrency transactions into regulatory frameworks to deter speculation and prevent crimes like money laundering. Such moves have resulted in noticeable declines in prices of cryptocurrencies.The volatility in the cryptocurrency market o

With a thaw in inter-Korean relations raising expectations for possible infrastructure projects in the North, concerns are growing over decreasing budgets set aside to build and refurbish social overhead capital in the South.It is still too early to discuss economic cooperation with North Korea as there remain many hurdles to its denuclearization that would be rewarded with the lifting of international sanctions on the impoverished regime. If the North would eventually take steps to scrap its nu

SEJONG -- Reductions in legal work hours to go into effect from July 1 are raising expectations for better quality of life outside of the office in a country where people put in some of the longest work hours in the world, but they are also fueling worries about lost jobs and wages, economic observers said Monday.Laws were revised to set legal working hours at 52 per week, down from 68. The new regulations will be applied first at work sites with 300 employees or more.South Korea has long been k

South Korea's industrial output fell in March from a month earlier on a dip in production in the automaking and machinery sectors, government data showed Monday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 2.5 percent on-month in March, following an adjusted 0.8 percent on-month gain in the previous month, according to the data by Statistics Korea.From a year earlier, industrial output plunged 4.3 percent, following a 6.8 percent on-year fall in February.Productio

Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s asset management firm, had its target date fund product rank No. 1 in terms of yearly return on the Korean market. A TDF refers to a collective investment scheme in the form of a mutual fund or collective trust fund, whose asset allocation mix of the portfolio becomes conservative -- largely from equities to bonds -- in the coming of an individual investor‘s target date, typically for retirement. The scheme was introduced in the early 199

Korea Credit Data, a South Korean startup providing accounting software to small and mid-sized companies, will embark on a project to develop a blockchain-powered solution for SMEs, the company said Friday. Dunamu, operator of Korea‘s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, will coordinate with KCD to develop the blockchain solution to lower procurement cost and help SME operators get easier access to structured securities.The project will be on the back of investment from Dunamu &

South Korea’s stock markets ended higher Friday in the wake of a historic inter-Korean summit that signaled the path to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The top-tier Kospi closed at 2,492.40, up 0.7 percent from Thursday’s close, while the second-tier Kosdaq came to 886.49, up 0.8 percent. Earlier Friday morning, the Kospi had breached the 2,500 mark, hitting an intraday high of 2,508.13 for the first time in over a month.The Kospi and the Kosdaq saw net purchases by foreign

Ongoing peace gestures involving North Korea could have positive impacts on South Korea's equity markets, though global woes would limit their upward momentum, a global investment bank said Friday.Marking the culmination of a series of inter-Korean reconciliation moves in recent months, the historic inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is now underway at the border truce village of Panmunjom.  "It seems markets are beginning

With drummed up expectations for a more stable Korean Peninsula upon the inter-Korean summit on Friday, stocks of South Korean firms related to cross-border businesses have seen sharp gains.The firms are associated with the inter-Korean business initiative pledged by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Named “New Economic Map of the Korean Peninsula,” it contains plans to jointly develop areas across the peninsula, including Kumgangsan, Kaesong industrial park and the Korean De