South Korea's state-run pension fund has posted exponential growth since its inception about 30 years ago, but it still has a long way to go in order to serve its intended purpose, analysts said Tuesday.South Korea adopted the state pension program in 1988 to guarantee income for the elderly after retirement, and to provide coverage for disabilities and surviving family members.  According to data from the National Pension Service, the number of subscribers to the National Pension Fund came

Business associations said Tuesday they are expecting the biggest economic delegation so far to accompany President Moon Jae-in on his China trip next month.The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea International Trade Association opened their websites to accept applications from companies who want to join the delegation. This was a change in practice for the KCCI, which usually conducts the process through separate contacts.The application period ended Monday.Moon is scheduled to

South Korea's single-person households saw their income drop at the fastest clip in about four years in the third quarter due to the country's rapid population aging, government data showed Tuesday.The average income of such households stood at 1.68 million won ($1,540) in the July-September period, down 3.51 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.It marks the biggest on-year drop since the 3.54 percent decline during the fourth quarter of 2015.

Recent data showing a continuous decrease in Korea’s real household income has strengthened calls for balancing the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth policy with regulatory and labor reforms to help create more jobs.The average monthly income earned by households with two and more members across the country stood at 4.53 million won ($4,165) in the July-September period this year, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier on nominal terms.Adjusted for inflation, however, the fi

After Barclays created structured debt security products called exchange-traded notes in 2006, the Korea Exchange in November 2014 opened markets to trade the structured products to meet growing demand for high-return investments amid low key rates and an aging society. Three years later, the market operator has seen visible growth of its ETN market, on the back of the sole market operator’s efforts to diversify the types of products, ranging from ones designed to hedge losses to those wit

South Korea‘s third quarter economic growth was the second highest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, on the back of strengthening exports, data showed Monday.　Korea’s economy grew 1.4 percent from July to September of this year compared to the previous quarter, the data showed. The figure marked the second-highest on-quarter jump among all OECD members behind Latvia, which edged out Korea at 1.5 percent. 　The country’s strong economic grow

South Korean banks' mortgage rates have surged over the past 17 months despite a freeze in the country's benchmark interest rate, industry data showed Monday.Annual mortgage rates charged by South Korea's major lenders have risen by 0.4 percentage point to more than 0.8 percent since May last year, according to the data from the Korea Federation of Banks.As of October, the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea had the highest interest rate of 3.55 percent on 10-year mortgages, up slightly over 0.8

Tension is building up within the financial market over whether the central bank will increase the nation’s key interest rate this week, for the first time in more than six years.The market consensus as of Sunday was that the Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board, which is to hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, will raise the current record-low rate of 1.25 percent by 0.25 percentage points.Hints an imminent rate hike have been building up for some time. Last month, while freezing

This is the 45th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdMid-stage osteoarthritis treatment developer TissueGene’s market cap rose by more than 2 trillion won ($1.84 billion) within three weeks of making its debut, becoming the fifth-largest firm on South Korea’s second-tier Kosdaq market Friday. The stock performance of the Maryland-headquartered firm reflects a market-wide biotech boom built on overheated investor anticipation

South Korea's household debt soared 34.4 percent over the past three years, buoyed by the government's policy of easing lending regulations for home mortgages and by low interest rates, data showed Saturday. At the end of September, household debt stood at 1,419.1 trillion won ($1,306 billion), up 362.7 trillion won from three years earlier, according to data by the Bank of Korea. In comparison, household debt grew by 165.2 trillion between September 2011 and September 2014.  In August 2014

Financial authorities started to investigate financial companies in relation to the accounts under borrowed names allegedly belonging to Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, an issue raised during the parliamentary audit last month.The Financial Supervisory Service on Friday said that it has since earlier this week been carrying out inspections on all the banks and securities firms which opened accounts under borrowed names for Lee.The currently bed-ridden conglomerate chief is thought to have 1,021 of

Korea’s second-tier Kosdaq market is continuing to soar, exceeding the 800-marker for the first time in more than a decade on Friday. 　The Kosdaq index rose 4 points (0.50 percent) to 800.80 as of 9:32 a.m., surpassing 800 for the first time since Nov. 7, 2007. The index opened at 797.97, jumping 1.17 points (0.15 percent). 　The Kosdaq ended up closing at 792.74 on Friday, down 4.06 points, however, managed to exceed 800 in intraday trading .　“The US stock market is closed for the ni

South Korea's consumer confidence in November hit its highest level in seven years as tensions subsided over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, a central bank poll showed Friday.The composite consumer sentiment index for November stood at 112.3, up 3.1 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The BOK attributed the rise in consumer confidence to eased tensions between North Korea and the US ove

South Korean stocks finished slightly lower Thursday as investors took a wait-and-see stance amid the lack of momentum, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 3.36 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 2,537.15. Trade volume was slim at 248.4 million shares worth 5.2 trillion won ($4.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering loser 499 to 272.On Wednesday (local time), the major US indexes retreated from their latest record hi