South Korea has recouped 67.9 percent of the public funds it sunk into ailing financial firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The quarterly retrieval rate rose 0.1 percentage point at the end of March, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. During the January-March period, the government recouped 165.3 billion won, including 133.8 billion won from the sale of the government's stake in Woori Bank, according to the statement.South Ko

South Korea has trumped other Asian Pacific countries in terms of mobile financial service usage, a report showed Monday.Users in South Korea had over 7 billion sessions in banking apps in 2016, which was nearly four times as many compared to Australians, according to the latest report by online-based global mobile app tracker App Annie. The report was based on the screening carried out in 13 Asian Pacific countries. The report analyzed how mobile devices are transforming banking and financial s

South Korean shares ended sharply higher Monday to breach the 2,300 point mark for the first time ever on renewed hopes for improved economic recovery following the launch of the new Moon Jae-in administration, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.55 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,304.03. The Kospi had previously hit intra-day highs exceeding the 2,300 mark three times this year, but backtracked before the end of trading. "Consumer sentiment has improve

The combined assets of South Korea’s four leading conglomerates Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG reached 864.9 trillion won ($774.3 billion) last year, up 33.5 percent from 647.6 trillion won in 2011. The proportion of these four groups in terms of total assets among the top 30 conglomerates in Korea also rose by 3.5 percentage points from 49.1 percent in 2011 to 52.7 percent.

Financial regulators in South Korea said Monday they were seeking the entry of a fourth credit appraiser into the market, to improve credit rating market confidence and reduce collusive ties between rating agencies and the firms they evaluate.The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service in a release Monday said the third-party committee will hold its first meeting next week, in order to evaluate the credit rating market. The committee, launched in December 2016 compris

Kakao Bank, the second online-only bank in the country set to start its services in June, has joined the Korea Federation of Banks.The KFB said Monday that Kakao Bank had become the 22nd banking institution under the federation Friday. All commercial banks in operation in South Korea are members of the KFB, which gathers views from the banking sector and submits them to the parliament or financial regulators as a whole.In January, K bank entered the association as the country’s first onlin

South Korean shares breached the 2,300-point mark for the first time ever as foreign investors scooped up major tech stocks amid sound corporate earnings, bucking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.55 points, or 0.68 percent, to an all-time high of 2,304.03.Trade volume was slim at 334.55 million shares worth 5.74 trillion won ($5.04 billion), with advancers outnumbering losers

Following his nomination by President Moon Jae-in on Sunday as deputy prime minister for the economy and finance minister, Kim Dong-yeon said his main objectives will be to revitalize the country’s lagging economy by increasing the effective tax rate and adding more jobs.“I think the next five years will be our last chance to save the economy,” Kim said during a press conference at the Government Complex in Gwacheon on Sunday.“In the short term, we will concentrate on int

South Korean banks and credit card firms might face difficulty in raising their fees, as the financial authorities began reviewing President Moon Jae-in’s pledges to adopt a new regulation to toughen rules on financial fees, industry sources said Monday.Moon, who believes in big government and its larger role in the market, had vowed to “adopt a system to evaluate the legitimacy of financial fees,” according to the booklet of his election pledges.  The Financial Services C

Debate is heating up here on whether and how to reshape the government’s trade bodies to cope with mounting external pressures.During his campaign, President Moon Jae-in vowed to transfer the trade functions of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.He said the decision by his predecessor Park Geun-hye to remove trade functions from the Foreign Ministry was “wrong,” siding with the view that the measure weakened the country’s ability

South Korean shares traded higher late Monday morning as foreigners scooped up shares of large tech companies, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.12 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,300.6 as of 11:20 a.m.The broad index opened higher but soon paired earlier gains as institutional buyers turned to a selling mode.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 0.76 percent, with smaller rival LG Electronics adding 0.61 percent to hit a record high. SK hynix advanced 2.

More than 17 percent of state financing projects were rated as "poor" in the latest efficiency assessment this year, the finance ministry said Monday.Out of 1,415 projects worth a combined 116.1 trillion won ($103.9 billion) run by 50 government ministries and agencies in 2017, 249 schemes received the lowest grade, with 238 plans appraised as "excellent," according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The government carries out an efficiency test on state financing proje

South Korean pensioners find it difficult to live only on monthly payments from the state pension scheme as the amount comes to less than a quarter of their pre-retirement income, a government report said Monday.The state pension's so-called income replacement ratio for South Koreans aged 65 or older with an average subscription period of 23.8 years amounts to 23.9 percent, according to the report by the Board of Audit and Inspection.  The figure means South Korean pensioners receive a mont

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, buoyed by bullish tech large caps, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 15 points, or 0.66 percent, to reach 2,303.48 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Big tech shares pushed up the market, although large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained more than 1.3 percent, with smaller rival LG Electronics adding 0.74 percent to hit a record high. SK hynix advanced 1.66 perce