South Korean stocks finished lower Thursday, as foreign investors extended their selling binge into the fifth day. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 9.1 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,363.19.Trade volume was a moderate 256 million shares worth 5.12 trillion won ($4.54 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 442 to 329.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street bu

The head of South Korea's central bank said Thursday that the North Korean risk factor has raised uncertainties for Asia's fourth-largest economy.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been escalating over North Korea's long-range missile and nuclear programs.On Tuesday, North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan in what North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says was a prelude to containing the US Pacific territory of Guam.The missile launch drew strong UN condemnati

South Korea’s fertility rate fell to a seven-year low last year, data by Statistics Korea showed.The total fertility rate, or the average number of babies that a woman is projected to have during her lifetime, reached 1.17 in 2016, down from 1.24 a year earlier.The number of newborns also declined 7.3 percent to a record-breaking low of 406,200 last year.The average age that a woman had her first child was 31.4 last year.To tackle the low birthrate that would hurt the country’s econo

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it will consider adjusting banks' loan-to-deposit ratio requirement to help slow the growth of household lending. The idea was one of the topics being discussed at a meeting of government officials earlier in the day to revamp regulations on capital markets. The meeting was led by Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission.In a statement, the FSC said it "will review the feasibility of changing the weight of the househol

South Korea aims to create 200,000 new jobs in the health care sector over the next five years in an effort to improve medical services, the health ministry said Thursday.The government forecast that some 100,000 new jobs will be created naturally over the next five years, with another 100,000 positions being made with the government's policy intervention. It said such growth is possible as health care is the country's next growth engine after information technology. The plan was announced durin

South Korean stocks traded slightly lower Thursday morning as foreign investors are set to extend their selling to a fifth straight day.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.88 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,364.40 as of 11:15 a.m.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics up 0.48 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 0.15 percent, and POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, gained 1.93 percent.In contrast, Naver, the country's top Internet portal operato

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Thursday that it has put four more affiliates of large business groups under tight restrictions on mutual investment and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission said 1,281 firms were on its monthly watch list as of end-August, up four from the previous month.They are owned by the country's 31 largest business groups, including Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group, with assets of 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) or more. Three groups, like Hanwha and LS

South Korean companies' equity and debt sales edged up on-month in July due mainly to a rise in stock issuance, government data showed Thursday. Local companies raised 14.4 trillion won ($12.8 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, compared with 14.3 trillion won in June, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Stock sales, including 10 initial public offerings, reached 1.27 trillion won in July, up 88.8 percent from the previous month. "A total of ten c

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street, although there is still lingering woes over North Korea's provocations.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.24 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,372.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.39 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 0.73 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, dropped 1.05 percent, while AmorePacific, the

South Korea's industrial output rose at the fastest pace in six months in July on gains in cars and electronic devices, government data showed Thursday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries climbed 1.9 percent on-month in July, turning around from a 0.5 percent on-month drop in the previous month, according to the data by Statistics Korea.It also marked the fastest on-month gain since January when it posted a 2.8 percent rise.From a year earlier, output also edg

South Korean stocks finished higher on Wednesday, recovering from a market rout caused by North Korea's latest missile launch a day earlier. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.55 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,372.29.Trade volume was light at 302 million shares worth 4.51 trillion won ($4.01 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 441 to 346.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight g

The South Korean government will reduce the debt ratio of public corporations to 152 percent by 2021 as part of its efforts to improve the balance sheets of state-funded agencies, the finance ministry said Wednesday.Under a long-term financial management plan, 38 public firms, including the Korea Electric Power Corp. and the Korea Land & Housing Corp., are required to maintain their debt-to-total asset ratio at an average of 152 percent from 178 percent in 2016 in the next five years, accord

Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday that it has revised up South Korea's growth forecast for this year on the back of strong investment growth.Moody's adjusted South Korea's gross domestic product growth to 2.8 percent for 2017, up from its previous estimate of 2.5 percent."Overall growth is supported by strong investment growth," Moody's said in a global macroeconomic outlook. It said South Korea's export momentum is showing signs of a slowdown, but it remain

South Korea's health insurance outlays rose to 33.9 trillion won ($30.1 billion) during the first half of this year, a report showed Wednesday, partly on the back of more senior citizens requiring medical attention.According to the report by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and the National Health Insurance Corp., the total amount to cover medical examinations, hospitalizations and drug purchases rose 9.2 percent on-year from January through June.The report showed that the mone

The amount of foreign securities held by major South Korean institutions rose 41.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to an increase in South Korean investment in foreign bonds and stocks, central bank data showed Wednesday.As of the end of June, the value of foreign securities held by South Korea's institutional investors came to $210.1 billion, compared with $148.52 billion from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.Quarter-on-quarter, th