South Korea’s Hana Financial Group said Thursday that it established a foundation focused on helping the nation’s youth overcome their social and financial issues. The Stump Foundation for Youth will have three primary areas of focus: education and support for youth shelter residents, helping children and teens receive the welfare support they need and suicide prevention programs. For children and teens in youth shelters, the foundation plans to help them become financially indep

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday on overnight Wall Street gains, backed by the US Federal Reserve's economic diagnosis that partially eased market jitters over early post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.09 points, or 0.5 percent, to reach 3,240.32 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14 percent, following the Fed's reiteration of its stance that the ongoing price hike is likely transien

South Korean stocks advanced for the fourth session in a row Wednesday, backed by strong economic data fueled expectations of an increase in corporate earnings and a quick economic rebound from the pandemic. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 2.36 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3,224.23 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.5 billion shares worth some 17.5 trillion won ($15.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering

Singer and actress IU has purchased a high-end villa unit in Cheongdam-dong, a posh district in Seoul, for 13 billion won ($11.7 million) in cash, according to news reports Wednesday. The singer bought a residential unit of Eterno Cheongdam, currently under construction by Hyundai Engineering & Construction, according to local news outlet Biz.Hankook. The 20-story villa with four floors underground has one or two residential units on each floor starting from the second floor above ground.

The nonperforming loan ratio at South Korean banks declined to a record low in the first quarter due to a drop in overdue corporate loans, data showed Wednesday. The ratio of bad loans to total lending came to 0.62 percent at the end of the first quarter, down 0.02 percentage point from three months earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. From a year earlier, the ratio fell 0.16 percentage point. In the first quarter, fresh overdue lending to companies reached 1.8

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday as strong economic data fueled expectations of an increase in corporate earnings and quick economic rebound from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 6.23 points, or 0.19 percent, to 3,228.1 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks were lifted by the announcement that South Korea's consumer price index rose 2.6 percent on-year in May, marking the fastest on-year increase since April 2012. Top cap Samsun

South Korean investors' purchase of shares in electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc. hit a one-year low in May amid a drop in its price, data showed Wednesday. Domestic investors bought a net $80.8 million worth of Tesla shares in May, the lowest amount in one year, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository. It was down 45 percent from the previous month and less than one-tenth of the $939 million in January, when Tesla's share price hit an all-time high. The May tally also repre

South Korean stocks advanced for the third consecutive day Tuesday on the back of strong economic data that fueled investor appetite for risk. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 17.95 points, or 0.56 percent, to close at 3,221.87 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.4 billion shares worth some 15.1 trillion won ($13.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 577 to 272. Foreigners sold a net 37 billion won, while

Lotte Rental, the car rental service unit under Lotte Group, is moving for an initial public offering on South Korea’s main bourse Kospi in the second half of this year, according to investment banking sources Tuesday. The company submitted a preliminary application for an IPO to the Korea Exchange the day before to become the first Lotte-affiliated company to make a market debut in nearly three years. The group’s last IPO was Lotte Data Communication’s Kospi-listing in Novem

South Korea’s NH Financial Group said Tuesday that it has decided to invest a total 500 billion won ($451.9 million) in improving its information technology operations and services. “To bolster customer protection and services, we have decided to invest a total of 500 billion won in our IT operations,” NH said in a statement. Of the total investment, 320 billion won will be funneled into upgrading IT services of its flagship commercial bank, NH NongHyup Bank, while the res

Pandemic pushes banks to cut more jobs, while hiring more nonregular employees to save cost

Amid the recent market frenzy surrounding cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the volume of deposits and withdrawals made through bank accounts for virtual coin trading has surpassed 64 trillion won ($57.85 billion), data showed Tuesday.  During the first quarter, nearly 64.2 trillion won flowed in and out of real-name bank accounts from commercial lenders, including Shinhan Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank and internet-only K bank, for digital token investments through South Korea’s four major c

Shareholder engagement in the form of behind-the-curtain dialogues or proxy voting, as well as engagement with asset owner clients, should be a key for asset managers to sustain the concept of green finance in Asia, investment professionals said Monday. There is no shortcut to navigate how to persuade Asian companies to commit to net-zero pledges. Incentives to achieve the sustainable goals have so far remained elusive, while on the other hand, asset prices have yet to fully reflect climate ri

South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Tuesday as investors are keeping an eye on signs that may stoke inflation fears. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) traded down 1.36 points, or 0.04 percent, at 3,202.56 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI got off to a muted start on investor concerns over early post-pandemic inflation that may trigger tapering talks in the United States. Key Federal Reserve officials are set to comment on the state of the US economy

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit has launched a nonfungible token trading platform for the first time in the local crypto sector, the company said Monday. An NFT is a unit of data on a blockchain and represents ownership of unique digital items, such as images, sound files or text. An NFT contains data of the ownership history and the original author. As it offers royalty to the original author every time the asset is traded, the NFT technology is being increasingly utilized in the