Korea seeks to regulate digital currencies

South Korea's top financial regulator said Sunday it will step up monitoring and carry out probes into money laundering, unauthorized financing and other illicit transactions of digital currencies. Joining Japan, China and other Asian nations in trying to regulate crypto-currencies, the Financial Services Commission  warned that the recent transaction volume and volatility of digital currencies are "excessive." The move by the FSC comes as the price of a bitcoin, the best-known di

Sept. 3, 2017

Ex-Seoul chief of U.S. equity fund released: ministry

The former Korea branch chief of U.S. equity firm Lone Star has been released in Italy, Seoul‘s justice ministry said Friday, dimming the prospects of his return to Korea for an inquiry into alleged irregularities surrounding the 2003 sale of a local bank.　The ministry said that a Milano-based court has recently set free Steven Lee, the Korean-American who headed the Seoul office between 1998 and 2005, apparently because the statute of limitations of the charges against him had expired.Lee

Sept. 1, 2017

Finance minister vows to clarify scope of ordinary wage

Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said on Friday the government intends to propose revisions to Korea’s Labor Standards Act in an effort to further clarify the legal scope regarding ordinary wages, amid intensifying legal confrontation between the labor and the management.　“We plan to further strengthen business roadmaps and add support to the wage system restructuring in order to prevent any unnecessary labor-management disputes,“ Ki

Sept. 1, 2017

Seoul stocks down on institutional sell-offs

South Korean stocks finished lower Friday, as investors continued to remain cautious in betting on risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 5.5 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,357.69.Trade volume was a moderate 277 million shares worth 4.67 trillion won ($4.16 billion), with gainers slightly outnumbering losers 405 to 401.The local stock market opened higher as market sentiment was boosted by overnight gains on Wall Stree

Sept. 1, 2017

Korean stocks down late Friday morning on foreign selling

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

Sept. 1, 2017

Credit card firms urged to cut costs, offer new payment services

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

Sept. 1, 2017

Banks' loan delinquency rate edges up in July

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

Sept. 1, 2017

Seoul stocks open higher on US gains

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

Sept. 1, 2017

K-Bank posts loss of W40.5b in H1

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Seoul stocks down on foreign selling

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Regulator to consider adjusting banks' loan-to-deposit ratio to curb household lending

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Korean stocks down late Thursday morning on foreign selling

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Corporate direct financing edges up in July

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Stocks open slightly higher on US gains

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

Aug. 31, 2017

Seoul stocks rebound from N. Korea's missile rout

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

Aug. 30, 2017

S. Korean stocks rebound from N. Korea's missile rout

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

Aug. 30, 2017

Stocks open higher on US gains

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

Aug. 30, 2017

Stock markets recoup losses from NK missile launch

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.

Aug. 29, 2017

Jeju Air rakes in record high Q2 operating profit

　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

Aug. 29, 2017

[Advertorial] Samsung Securities leads in consumer protection

Samsung Securities took the lead in consumer protection among nine local equity brokerages, based on an annual assessment by the financial watchdog in South Korea.According to evaluations by the Financial Supervisory Service released Monday, Samsung Securities received the highest grade of “good” in all 10 indicators of customer service in 2016, out of three grading scales -- “good,” “satisfactory” and “insufficient.” Samsung Securities’ scor

Aug. 29, 2017