Hit by the prolonged slump, South Korean shipbuilders and related businesses cut 8,670 or 14.8 percent of their workforce last year, data by industry tracker Chaebul.com showed Tuesday.The data based on 2016 business reports from 1,831 listed firms showed that their combined workforce reached 1.51 million at the end of last year, down 5,915, or 0.4 percent, from a year ago.Samsung Group slashed part of its workers as its flagship Samsung Electronics and other major subsidiaries implemented large

South Korea’s anti-trust watchdog said it has fined France’s BNP Paribas and Germany’s Deutsche Bank a combined 176 million won ($157,000) for colluding on foreign exchange forward bids.The Fair Trade Commission said officials at the two bank’s Seoul branches colluded on prices of foreign exchange forwards, prior to 44 rounds of bidding worth $224 million for two local companies from April to July in 2011. The FTC did not reveal the names of the two local firms. The two E

Korea’s major private equity firm MBK Partners has sold 5 percent stake in Coway, the nation’s largest water purifier maker and rental firm by market share, in the form of a block deal, news reports said Tuesday.A block deal refers to a trade of massive shares at an arranged price between the seller and buyers, often institutional investors, outside the open market to reduce the impact on the price of the targeted shares. The buyout fund sold the shares to major institutional investo

The money supply in South Korea jumped 6.2 percent in March from a year earlier, the central bank said Tuesday. The nation's "M2" totaled 2,436.9 trillion won ($2.1 trillion) in March, compared with 2,294.5 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.Month-on-month, the money supply gained 0.8 percent, the statement said.M2 is a measure of the money supply counting the currency in circulation, including bank debentures and deposits with a maturity of less than tw

Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea fell in April as exporters reduced their deposits of dollar-denominated earnings, central bank data showed Tuesday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local banks, domestic and foreign, reached $67.39 billion in April, down from 70.54 billion a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.  Broken down, foreign currency deposits held by domestic lenders came to $57.98 billion in April, down from $60.33 billio

South Korean stocks inched down after a strong start late Tuesday morning, as shares of key retailers and pharmaceutical companies widened losses, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated 0.9 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,289.75 as of 11:20 a.m. Lotte Shopping, which runs the department store and hypermarket chain units of Lotte Group, the country's fifth-largest conglomerate, fell 1.3 percent. Another leading retailer Shinsegae also slid 1.8 percent. Pharmaceutica

Overseas card spending by South Koreans rose 65 percent during the "golden" holiday period in May from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday.The data compiled by KB Kookmin Card Co. showed that purchases made by its credit and debit card customers in foreign countries amounted to 25.4 billion won ($22.7 million) during the April 29-May 9 holiday period, compared with 15.4 billion won from the same period last year.South Koreans could have enjoyed up to an 11-day "golden" holida

The South Korean stock market has emerged as the best performer in the world over the past month on the back of strong foreign buying, data showed Tuesday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,286.02 Friday, up 7.4 percent from a month earlier and the highest rise among bourses in major advanced and emerging markets, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Center for International Finance. Japan's Nikkei 225 came next with a 7.2 percent increase over the c

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Tuesday, buoyed by bullish tech large caps, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 13.38 points, or 0.58 percent, to trade at 2,304.03 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained more than 1 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix advancing nearly 2 percent. Brokerage firms also gathered ground, led by an around 2 percent gain by Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities. On the other hand, domesti

The Korea International Trade Association announced Monday that it plans to send a special economic mission to the United States in June, the first such visit to be made since US President Donald Trump took office in January. The 10-strong envoy group, which KITA Chairman Kim In-ho represents, will visit Washington DC and New York City during the five-day trip that kicks off on June 6. The group is expected to attend seminars on the Korea-US trade relationship, talks with offshore branches

One out of every five employees working in South Korea work 54 hours a week or longer, Statistics Korea‘s data showed Monday.While the average working hours continued to drop since the introduction of a five-day workweek in 2004, the weekly working hours have remained stagnantly long since 2010.The data comes in light of new President Moon Jae-in’s pledge to share jobs by reducing working hours.The number of employees working 54 hours or more a week reached 5.33 million last month, u

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of improving South Korea-China relations during his meeting with a South Korean delegation visiting the country, the South Korean chief of the delegation said Monday.On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the delegation led by Rep. Park Byeong-seug, a veteran politician with close ties to President Moon Jae-in, held a meeting with Xi on Sunday evening, Park told reporters. Moon dispatched the delegation on S

South Korean stocks closed higher on Monday as individual and institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks offseting a selling spree by foreigners amid uncertainties at both home and abroad, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 4.63 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 2,290.65. Trade volume was moderate at 248 million shares worth 4.58 trillion won ($4.07 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 406 to 393.Foreign