South Korea's export prices fell for the first time in four months in August as the local currency appreciated against the US dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, dropped 0.2 percent in August from the previous month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-month gain in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the first drop after the index rose for three straight months since May.

South Korean chip exports to China are feared to take a hit from US sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. due to their heavy dependence on the neighboring country, sources said Tuesday. The new sanctions, which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to Huawei without prior approval from Washington, became effective the same day. The US move forces Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, and SK hynix Inc. to stop semico

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa held a video-linked meeting on Monday and pledged to cooperate against the new coronavirus, the finance ministry said. During the talks, Hong and Asakawa agreed to encourage countries in the Asia Pacific region to cooperate in various sectors to respond to COVID-19, according to the ministry. Hong also proposed opening ADB's Seoul office to boost cooperative ties, the ministry said.  Asakawa said they sho

South Korea will enter into talks with Uzbekistan by the end of the year, seeking to sign a bilateral trade deal, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday. It will also establish a platform to help local SMEs promote and sell their products through contactless global selling channels such as Amazon. “Our economy continues to face difficulties, with exports logging negative growth for six months straight,” Hong said in a meeting of economy-related minist

South Korea's credit card companies saw their combined earnings rise in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to increased profits from card loans, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of eight card issuers, including Shinhan Card Co., Samsung Card Co. and KB Kookmin Card Co., came to 1.11 trillion won ($937 million) in the January-June period, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The hike in profit

The value of daily money transfers via mobile payment apps in South Korea rose 20.3 percent in the first half from six months earlier as online financial transactions increased amid the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily money transfers via smartphone apps, such as Toss, Naver Pay and KakaoPay, stood at 322.6 billion won ($272.3 million) in the January-June period, compared with 268.2 billion won in the second half of 2019, according to the data by th

South Korea's trade minister plans to visit the United States this week to win support for her bid to become the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee will depart for her four-day trip to Washington on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, where she plans to meet US government and business officials. During the trip, Yoo is also expected to discuss a wide array of issues related to the economic ties between South Korea and the

Shares in HDC Hyundai Development Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. fell Monday after the property developer's planned acquisition of the debt-ridden carrier collapsed last week amid the COVID-19 pandemic. HDC fell 0.2 percent to 24,700 won ($21) and Asiana plunged 2.5 percent to 3,965 won, far underperforming the broader KOSPI's 1.3 percent gain. But Asiana's parent Kumho Industrial Co. rose 1.2 percent to end at 6,820 won as the deal's rupture was already factored in the stock price. "HD

South Korean investors have poured a huge amount of money into initial public offerings (IPO) this year amid ample liquidity, industry sources said Monday. Investor deposits for IPO subscription in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 150.9 trillion won ($134 billion) between January and last week, about 1.5 times the full-year figure for 2019. A total of 45 companies have gone public this year, compared with 99 issues last year. This year's amount is also well over the 85 trillion won in

SEJONG -- South Korea seeks to launch formal negotiations with Uzbekistan by the end of this year to sign a bilateral free trade deal, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday. South Korea will complete domestic procedures this month to begin free trade talks with Uzbekistan, Hong told a meeting with economy-related ministers. Hong said Uzbekistan is one of the important partners for South Korea's New Northern Policy aimed at improving the nation's partnerships with countries located north of

South Korea's financial watchdog is considering tightening rules on unsecured loans as more people took out such lending excessively to buy homes or invest in stocks, financial sources said Sunday. The financial regulator has stiffened rules on mortgage lending in a bid to curb rising housing prices, but people rushed to take out credit loans to buy houses amid cheap borrowing costs. A rally in the stock market also prompted people to borrow unsecured loans for stock investments, including pub

South Korea's key stock index has posted the second-highest profit rate among its Group of 20 peers since this year's bottom, helped by robust buying by individuals, the bourse operator said Sunday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,396.69 points Friday, soaring 64.42 percent from 1,439.43 on March 19. All G-20 countries saw their main stock indices plunge to the year's lowest in mid-March, when investors' fear peaked over the new coronavirus pandemic. The

South Korea will focus on investing in digital infrastructure, including its Data Dam project, to combat future risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s finance minister said Friday. “Due to the novel coronavirus, our economy and society has been seeing an acceleration of digitalization,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said, in an opening speech delivered at the Digital Economy Forum hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. &l

South Korea's industrial electricity consumption fell to a four-year low in July amid an economic slump caused by the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The volume of power consumed by the nation's industrial sector reached 23,468 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in July, down 4.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), South Korea's state-run utility. The figure is the lowest industrial power consumption for July since the 23,238 GWh recorded in

South Korea‘s government vowed Friday to apply a speedy process to the payment of special disaster relief subsidies so that those heavily hit by the COVID-19 fallout may receive the money before the Chuseok holiday at the end of this month. “We shall simplify the qualification examination standards, and hand out the subsidies first, and carry out the (detailed) verification afterwards,” said Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of finance, in an economic policy meeting at Go