Bank lending rates on new household loans rebounded in September for the first time in six months and interest paid by banks on new deposits also increased, central bank data showed Thursday.The average interest rate on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.03 percent last month, up 0.08 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The BOK data came a week before the government is set to announce a set of measures to cool the country's housing market

South Korea's credit card spending increased 7.7 percent on-year in September, as the prices of agricultural products rose due to an unusual heat wave, data showed Thursday.South Koreans usually spend more before and during the Chuseok holiday, one of the largest annual celebrations. Chuseok, the equivalent of Thanksgiving Day in the U., fell on Sept. 15 this year.This year, especially, a record hot spell drove up the prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products. The nation's consumer

Sales at South Korean duty-free stores fell 2.52 percent in September from a month earlier as the number of customers dropped, data showed Thursday.Sales reached $943.58 million in September, compared to $967.93 million the previous month, according to data compiled by the Korean Duty Free Association.It said the number of people who visited duty-free stores stood at 4.16 million in September, down 6.7 percent from a month earlier.Still, sales at local duty-free stores rose 36.4 percent in the f

South Korea's air passenger traffic surged from a year earlier in September with both international and domestic passengers continuing to increase, the government said Thursday.The number of international air passengers to and from the country spiked 21.7 percent on-year to over 5.99 million last month, with the number of domestic air passengers gaining 8.4 percent to 2.62 million, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Overall air passenger traffic jumped 17.3 percent t

South Korean Army's special warfare command and its US counterpart have recently carried out a joint exercise to practice "surgical strikes" against North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities, military officials said Thursday. "The US Air Force's 353rd Special Operations Group conducted a combined striking exercise against an enemy's facilities with the South Korean Army's special forces brigade at a military base in Gunsan (274 kilometers south of Seoul)," a defense official said told Yonhap

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, on Thursday reported a 13.5-percent drop in its third-quarter operating profit on the impact from the Galaxy Note 7 problem and more subscribers using contract-based mobile fee discounts.SK Telecom's operating profit amounted to 424.3 billion won ($372 million) during the July-September period, down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, according to its consolidated balance sheet.Its revenue also fell 0.4 percent on-year to 4.24 trillion won, whi

S-Oil Corp., the third-largest oil refiner in South Korea, said Thursday it swung to the black in the third quarter from a year earlier thanks to higher oil prices.Net profit reached 172 billion won ($151 million) in the July-September period, compared to a loss of 44 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Operating income surged to 116 billion won in the third quarter, from a year earlier.But sales dipped 6.5 percent on-year to reach 4.14 trillion won over the cited

The South Korean government said Thursday it will announce a set of measures to cool down the country's real estate boom next week amid concerns over mounting household credits.At a ministerial-level meeting in Seoul chaired by Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, the country's economic policymakers discussed pending issues, including an overheating in the local property market and the ongoing corporate restructuring of the shipbuilding and shipping industries.They decided to announce the government's co

South Korea's No. 2 automaker Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday that its third quarter net profit jumped 20.8 percent from a year earlier despite a slight drop in sales.In the July-September period, Kia Motors' net profit came to 664.3 billion won ($583.23 million) on a consolidated basis, compared with a net profit of 550.1 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales dropped 3.1 percent on-year to some 12.7 trillion won over the cited period, with operat

South Korea's top Internet portal operator Naver Corp. said Thursday its net profit soared 69.5 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter as its sales reached a record high on growing sales from overseas and its mobile business.In the three months ended Sept. 30, net profit came to 198 billion won ($174.1 million) on a consolidated basis, compared with a net profit of 116.85 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales jumped 20.5 percent on-year

South Korean stocks opened higher on Thursday as investors attempted to buy oversold shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.93 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,020.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.  Most large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics rising 0.38 percent. Samsung C&T, Samsung's de facto holding firm, lost 0.9 percent.Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.36 percent, and SK hynix was up 0.58 percent on its better-than-expected third-quarter e