BC Card, a credit card processing firm owned by telecom giant KT, said Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it will acquire a controlling stake in internet-only K-Bank in a bid to save the cash-strapped online bank. The announcement came a day after the card company held a board meeting, where the board decided to buy a 10 percent stake in the bank from the telecom firm for 36.3 billion won ($29.8 million) on April 17. With the planned stake purchase, the card company will become the seco

The state-owned Korea Development Bank will soon pick a preferred bidder for KDB Life Insurance, which it recently put up for sale after acquiring it a decade ago, according to news reports Wednesday. Private equity fund JC Partners is widely believed to have been shortlisted. “JC Partners is the only interested party that has completed due diligence so far,” an official from the policy bank was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. The private equity firm reportedly plans to

Gold prices are hitting the roof in South Korea -- highest level in six years -- as investors are flocking to safe-haven assets amid escalating fears given market uncertainties, latest data showed Wednesday.  According to the Korea Exchange Gold Market, the price stood at 66,740 won ($54.90) per gram at Tuesday’s close, surging 2.4 percent from the previous session. The price had surged to 68,240 won the same day, the highest since March 2014 when the gold market first opened. 

South Korean companies are bracing for a massive credit rating downgrade as the novel coronavirus spillover threatens their business outlook, according to industry sources Wednesday. The weakening prospect of retailers, petrochemical firms and manufacturers in the wake of the coronavirus spread appears to be putting pressure on their liquidity. On Tuesday, the credit outlook of three companies for straight bonds was revised to “negative,” according to three credit rating agencies -

Despite the government‘s bond-buying initiative aimed at shoring up liquidity, South Korea’s corporate bond market is rattled by changes in credit outlooks that reflect lingering uncertainties on falling oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, Hanwha Solutions’ corporate bonds meant to raise 210 billion won were undersubscribed by institutional investors. Absent in the bidding was the vehicle dubbed the “bond market stabilization fund,” a state commitment

South Korean conglomerates increased spending on research and development despite falling sales last year, according to a report Tuesday. The combined R&D spending of 208 conglomerates last year came in at 53.5 trillion won ($44 billion), up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to a report on the nation’s large businesses released by corporate tracker CEOScore. The companies’ combined annual revenue, on the other hand, dropped 0.8 percent to 1,709.7 trillion won durin

South Korean stocks rebounded 1.72 percent higher Tuesday as investor sentiment was buoyed by hopes the global coronavirus outbreak is peaking and better-than-expected Chinese data. The Korean won gained ground against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 31.32 points to close at 1,857.08. Trading volume was heavy at 872 million shares worth 9.8 trillion won ($8.1 billion), with gainers far outpacing losers 757 to 106. The country reported 27 new case

A growing number of homeowners, including those with multiple houses, in some of South Korea’s major cities have given houses to family members instead of selling them to avoid hefty holding taxes, data showed Monday. The number of houses traded among family members in Daegu has more than doubled on-month from 254 in January to 632 in February, according to data compiled by the Korea Appraisal Board, a government agency that evaluates property values. The figure for Gwangju also increas

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday as the country witnessed a daily number of new coronavirus cases below 30. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.28 points, or 0.84 percent, to 1,841.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The country repoted 25 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the nation's total infections to 10,537. Most large-cap stocks rose across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 0.31 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix was

Foreigners sold a net 13.45 trillion won ($11.04 billion) worth of local shares last month, far outpacing the previous record high, data showed Monday. The March tally beats the previous largest number in August 2007 of 9 trillion won, and is about four times higher than the January figure of 3.23 trillion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. By country, investors from the United States dumped the most at a net 5.5 trillion won, followed by British investors who offloaded a n

Coworking space giant WeWork said Monday that it has appointed Chun Chung-joo (Patricia) as the new general manager of its South Korean office. Chun has 20 years of experience at global and Korean companies under her belt. Most recently, she served as chief strategy officer of food delivery firm Delivery Hero Korea, leading development of business strategies and proceeding with investments and merger and acquisition deals. She was also responsible for managing government relations, corpora

South Korean stocks closed 1.88 percent lower Monday as investors were concerned about the spiraling number of COVID-19 infections in major economies despite signs of a slowdown locally, analysts said. The Korean won sharply fell against the greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) decreased 34.94 points to close at 1,825.76. Trading volume was high at 1 billion shares worth 9.4 trillion won ($7.73 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 694 to 180. South Korea detec

South Korea's exports fell sharply from a year earlier in the first 10 days of April amid the economic fallout from the new coronavirus, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments came to $12.2 billion in the April 1-10 period, down 18.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the cited period also slipped 18.6 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavir

Despite lingering volatility, South Korea’s main bourse Kospi is expected to recover starting from the second half of this year if the novel coronavirus comes under control globally and that sense of stability boosts consumption demand on the back of policy efforts, research heads of brokerages in Seoul said Sunday. “As pent-up demand sparks and corporate earnings increase with the government’s liquidity support, stock markets will gradually rise from the second half,”

Banking group seals W2.34tr deal to add life insurer to nonbanking portfolio