South Korea's finance ministry said Tuesday it would delay the implementation of a revised tax scheme designed to widen the taxation base among foreign investors in the face of strong calls from related industries to scrap such a move.Under the revised tax schemes, the Seoul government was planning to collect capital gain taxes from foreign investors who own more than 5 percent stakes in locally listed companies, lowering the ownership threshold from 25 percent.But the ministry said it would rev

About 8 percent of virtual bank accounts for cryptocurrency trading have been converted to real-name bank accounts, a week after the government ended anonymous trading of cryptocurrencies, industry sources said Tuesday. The real-name trading system, which came into effect from Jan. 30, is part of the government's latest measures to curb speculative investment into virtual coins amid growing fears that a cryptocurrency bubble may be set to burst.There are about 1.74 million cryptocurrency account

South Korea faces far more import restrictions from the United States than any other country in a clear sign of growing American trade pressure on its ally, a trade body said Tuesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy was subject to 196 import regulations from the rest of the world as of Monday, with the US taking up the lion's share of 40 cases, according to the Korea International Trade Association.Of the total American restrictions, 30 cases were anti-dumping investigations, with countervailing du

Foreign buying of shares traded on the secondary KOSDAQ market in 2017 reached the highest level since the global financial crisis, with their ownership hitting a fresh high, data showed Tuesday.Offshore investors bought a net 3.14 trillion won ($2.88 billion) worth of shares on the minor bourse last year, the largest since the 2008 worldwide financial debacle, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.The previous record was set in 2013, when foreigners' net buying came to 1.

South Korea’s services account deficit widened to $3.77 billion in December last year, from a deficit of $730 million a year earlier due to a rise in overseas trips and foreign business services, preliminary data by the Bank of Korea showed Monday.Such a sharp rise in deficit in the service account has led to the country‘s current account surplus to narrow in December, marking $4.09 billion, down from a surplus of $6.96 billion a year earlier.For all of 2017, Korea’s current ac

South Korea’s stock markets tumbled and sovereign bond yields rose sharply Monday in sync with other bearish financial markets in the United States and Asia, amid the US Federal Reserve’s signal for a March rate hike, the hawkish remarks of outgoing Fed chair Janet Yellen and the strengthening dollar. Analysts here said the impact on the market from the hawkish US Fed is inevitable, but at the same time played down possibilities of a lingering impact on the market. Korea’s top-

Recent economic indicators point to the weakening vitality of the Korean economy shored up largely by an increase in exports.Business sentiments remain pessimistic as manufacturing and construction sectors are suffering setbacks. Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, has dropped to an 18-year low, reflecting sluggish domestic demand.Manufacturing output shrank 6.6 percent from a year earlier in December, following a 1.7 percent on-year decline in the previous month, accord

Advertising firm Cheil Worldwide's stocks were predicted to benefit the most from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics thanks to its business projects for the games, a survey of securities firms showed Monday.Cheil Worldwide was picked as the expected beneficiary of the Olympics by six of the 10 securities firms that participated in the survey by Yonhap. The securities companies were asked to name three stocks that they saw as gaining the most from the sports event that opens Friday."Cheil

South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in December last year from a year earlier due mainly to a sharp rise in the deficit in the service account, central bank data showed Monday. The country's current account surplus reached $4.09 billion in December, down from a surplus of $6.96 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.It marked the 70th consecutive month of a current account surplus, which started in March 2012. The services account deficit wide

Tension is expected to escalate this week in the financial circles as the regulators tightened grip over the persisting recruitment scandals which allegedly involve some of the banking groups’ chiefs while the corresponding banks remained in denial, gesturing at taking the case to court if necessary.Adding further to the conflict is their discord over stock dividends. In the wake of improved operating profits last year, banks are seeking to increase shareholders’ dividends but regula

This is the 50th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.Posco ICT, an affiliate of steelmaking giant Posco, is one of a few stocks that step outside the box of dominantly strong sectors such as biopharma on the second-tier Kosdaq bourse, showing a stellar performance on its “smart” business portfolio.Growing global demand for building “smart” cities -- those built on infrastructure powered by information and communi

South Korea's two major banks are suspected of creating lists to give undue hiring favors to the families and acquaintances of influential figures, sources said Sunday.The Financial Supervisory Service has recently filed complaints with the prosecution against five banks, including KEB Hana Bank and KB Kookmin Bank, over alleged irregularities in hiring new staff.  The complaints allegedly included the two banks' lists of candidates suspected of receiving preferential treatments in the hiri

 The median price of apartments in Seoul surpassed 700 million won ($651,000) for the first time in January. According to KB Bank, the price rose 3 percent from the previous month, reaching 705 million won. The bank has been conducting surveys on the median apartment price since December 2008. The median price is the figure in the middle of the numbers that range from lowest to highest.　

The top economic policymakers of South Korea and China agreed to boost bilateral tourism and economic cooperation, Seoul's finance ministry said Friday, in a sign that Beijing may stop its retaliation against South Korean companies over the stationing of a US missile system. The agreement came after talks between South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and his Chinese counterpart, He Lifeng, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, earlier in the day. Kim has said

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world in market cap, sank further in South Korea on Friday, amid government talks for tighter regulation on the unfettered market. It was trading below the world average in Korea at around 7.7 million won ($7,090) per coin at around 9:50 p.m., a decrease of nearly 25 percent in 24 hours, according to the a local cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb.Bitcoin plummeted a day after the police raided the operator of Bi