South Korean stock markets had a roller coaster day on Wednesday on foreign sell-offs, despite signs of inter-Korean rapprochement in the wake of South Korean envoys‘ meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the previous day. Market watchers remained mixed on whether the North Korean momentum would lead to a long-term upward drive in the local stock markets,  On Wednesday, the top-tier stock market Kospi and the second-tier Kosdaq both fluctuated. Opening lower, both Kospi and Kos

Ion Investments, which is controlled by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, has sold a part of its stake in South Korean biopharma company Celltrion and its distribution unit Celltrion Healthcare in a block deal worth around 1.1 trillion won ($1.03 billion).　News of the deal, which was made after the market’s close on Tuesday, led to the price of Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare plunging by more than 10 percent Wednesday.According to news reports, Temasek on Tuesday

Those in their 20s are most active in investing in cryptocurrencies in South Korea, a survey showed Wednesday, as state regulators move to rein in the virtual currency frenzy in Asia's fourth-largest economy.Amid concerns over a bubble, the government banned the opening of new virtual accounts for cryptocurrency investors and requires those that bought and sold the currency to use real-name accounts, and not the virtual system favored in the past.Bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies have

Korea faced far more import restrictions from the United States than any other country in February amid Washington's growing trade pressure on its ally, a trade body said Wednesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy was subject to 196 import regulations from the rest of the world as of Monday, with the US accounting for 40 of them, the highest number, according to the Korea International Trade Association.Of the American restrictions, 30 cases were anti-dumping investigations, eight were countervaili

Government focuses on lobbying key US counterparts, refrains from reciprocal tariff

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 11th installment. - Ed.Since last year, South Korea’s financial watchdogs warned retail investors about crowdsourcing funds for peer-to-peer project finance, saying that their repayment capabilities could only be determined on projected cash flow without collateral.The high return -- often at above 10 percent -- that the instrument promises to the lenders, triggered

SK Holdings decided in a board meeting Monday to hand over the controlling stakes of its brokerage arm worth 51.5 billion won ($47.9 million), or 10 percent of the firm, to Seoul-based private equity firm J&W Partners.If the deal gets the nod from the Financial Services Commission and J&W Partners manages to acquire all the shares until February 2019, SK Group will be free of regulatory drag for failing to divest itself of a financial arm. SK Holdings, a major shareholder of SK Securitie

Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong on Tuesday set out on his second trip to Washington, DC in a week to meet with government officials and lawmakers to get Seoul exempted from proposed steel product tariffs announced by the United States.His trip comes as US President Donald Trump is set to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports this week, a move certain to affect Korean steel producers.During the four-day visit, Kim plans to meet senior policymakers, including US Trade Representative Rob

A looming global trade war is feared to deal a blow to corporate Korea as Asia's fourth-largest economy banks heavily on exports for its economic growth, analysts said Tuesday.The world's three major economic powerhouses are locking horns with one another after US President Donald Trump has threatened high tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.China, the world's second-largest economy, is reportedly mulling retaliatory duties on American farm imports, with the European Union said to be prepar

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday he's "not backing down" from his plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The action is expected to come this week, with Trump earlier announcing plans to introduce a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. The new duties would hurt Korea, the No. 3 exporter of steel products to the US last year, after Canada and Brazil. "People have to understand, our country, on trade, has been ripped o

Korea's current account surplus narrowed in January from a month earlier due mainly to a jump in the deficit of the service account, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's current account surplus reached $2.68 billion in January, down from a surplus of $4.09 billion a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.It marked the 71st consecutive month of a current account surplus, which started in March 2012. The services account deficit widened to $4.49 billion

Industrial restructuring has been going adrift under President Moon Jae-in’s administration, deepening concerns about the weakening of the country’s economic fundamentals.In December, the administration announced a new direction for corporate restructuring, which focused on ensuring a balance between financial logic and industrial consequences and considering the effects on regional economies and employment.To fit into the redefined approach, the government’s main arm for indus

Monetary policymaker gains confidence in belt-tightening measures

Prosecutors in South Korea have decided not to indict commercial bank KEB Hana Bank for offering preferential loans to Chung Yoo-ra, according to a news report Monday.Chung, 22, is a daughter of Choi Soon-sil, ex-president Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidante who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in February for a corruption scandal which led to the impeachment of Park last March. KEB Hana Bank issued a standby letter of credit worth 386,600 euro ($476,200) to Chung in 2014, when she wa

Korea's top economic and monetary policymakers agreed on Monday to cooperate to reduce any fallout from a much expected rate hike in the United States and from growing trade protectionism, Seoul's finance ministry said.In a meeting held earlier in the day, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol shared the view that current economic recovery trends can be maintained but that there are a slew of external risk factors as well. "(The two) shared the view that the US F