South Korean stocks traded slightly lower Friday morning as foreign investors continued to unload local shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 3.33 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,359.86 as of 11:15 a.m.Bourse heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics up 0.39 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, fell 0.44 percent, and POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, declined 0.58 percent.Naver, the country's top Internet portal operator, lost 0.26 percent, while Hyu

South Korea's top financial regulator on Friday urged credit card firms to cut marketing spending and provide safer and more convenient payment services. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remark at a meeting with top executives of credit card companies as the industry has been under pressure over competition with online payment services and a cut in credit card processing fees for small merchants. Choi said credit card firms "need to revamp their high-cos

The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in July, due to a slight rise in people who could not pay off their debts, government data showed Friday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.48 percent at the end of July, up 0.05 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.Compared to a year ago, however, the rate was down 0.3 percentage point, it said.  "In July, newly delinquent l

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 5.97 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,369.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.60 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, fell 0.15 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, opened flat, while AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, advanced 0.69 percent.The local currency was trading at 1

Internet-only bank K-Bank said Thursday it posted a net loss of 40.5 billion won ($35.9 million) in the first-half of this year, hit by a jump in spending as it launched operations in April. K-Bank said it attracted deposits worth 643 billion won and made loans worth 600.3 trillion won as of the end of June. K-Bank, which is led by KT Corp., the nation's biggest fixed-line Internet operator, spent about 90 billion won in setting up infrastructure for its Internet banking system, the lender

South Korean stocks finished lower Thursday, as foreign investors extended their selling binge into the fifth day. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 9.1 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,363.19.Trade volume was a moderate 256 million shares worth 5.12 trillion won ($4.54 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 442 to 329.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Street bu

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it will consider adjusting banks' loan-to-deposit ratio requirement to help slow the growth of household lending. The idea was one of the topics being discussed at a meeting of government officials earlier in the day to revamp regulations on capital markets. The meeting was led by Kim Yong-beom, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission.In a statement, the FSC said it "will review the feasibility of changing the weight of the househol

South Korean stocks traded slightly lower Thursday morning as foreign investors are set to extend their selling to a fifth straight day.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.88 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,364.40 as of 11:15 a.m.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics up 0.48 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 0.15 percent, and POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, gained 1.93 percent.In contrast, Naver, the country's top Internet portal operato

South Korean companies' equity and debt sales edged up on-month in July due mainly to a rise in stock issuance, government data showed Thursday. Local companies raised 14.4 trillion won ($12.8 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, compared with 14.3 trillion won in June, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Stock sales, including 10 initial public offerings, reached 1.27 trillion won in July, up 88.8 percent from the previous month. "A total of ten c

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street, although there is still lingering woes over North Korea's provocations.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.24 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,372.53 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was up 0.39 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 0.73 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, dropped 1.05 percent, while AmorePacific, the

South Korean stocks finished higher on Wednesday, recovering from a market rout caused by North Korea's latest missile launch a day earlier. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.55 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,372.29.Trade volume was light at 302 million shares worth 4.51 trillion won ($4.01 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 441 to 346.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight g

South Korean stocks traded slightly higher Wednesday morning as concerns over North Korea's latest missile launch abated.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.31 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,366.05 as of 11:15 a.m.On Tuesday, North Korea lobbed a ballistic missile over Japan in a move that could pose serious security challenges for Northeast Asia.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics down 0.17 percent. SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rose 1.18 p

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street, although there is still lingering woes over North Korea's provocations.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.86 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,365.80 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday, North Korea lobbed a ballistic missile over Japan in a move that can sharply raise tensions in Northeast Asia.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.39 percent up, while SK hynix, a major chi

Stock markets in South Korea recouped earlier losses Tuesday, after being rattled yet again by another North Korea missile test in the morning, while local currency and short-term bonds remained weak.Korea’s primary stock market index Kospi closed at 2,364.74, down 0.23 percent from Monday. The index had tumbled by 1.58 percent at the lowest in late morning trade, but the daily loss began to gradually narrow in the afternoon. The secondary Kosdaq market gained 0.16 percent, after seeing 0.

　Jeju Air’s operating profit grew by 2,448 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year, reaching a record high for twelve consecutive quarters, the airline said in a statement Tuesday.　Jeju Air recorded a second-quarter operating profit of 16.2 billion won ($14.4 million) and sales of 228 billion won, which was a 40.7 percent jump compared to the same period last year. In the first half of the year, the company recorded sales of 468.2 billion won, up 3