Financial regulators in South Korea said Monday they were seeking the entry of a fourth credit appraiser into the market, to improve credit rating market confidence and reduce collusive ties between rating agencies and the firms they evaluate. The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service in a release Monday said the third-party committee will hold its first meeting nex...

Kakao Bank, the second online-only bank in the country set to start its services in June, has joined the Korea Federation of Banks. The KFB said Monday that Kakao Bank had become the 22nd banking institution under the federation Friday. All commercial banks in operation in South Korea are members of the KFB, which gathers views from the banking sector and submits them to the parliament or financ...

South Korean shares breached the 2,300-point mark for the first time ever as foreign investors scooped up major tech stocks amid sound corporate earnings, bucking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 15.55 points, or 0.68 percent, to an all-time high of 2,304.03. Trade volume was s...

Following his nomination by President Moon Jae-in on Sunday as deputy prime minister for the economy and finance minister, Kim Dong-yeon said his main objectives will be to revitalize the country’s lagging economy by increasing the effective tax rate and adding more jobs. “I think the next five years will be our last chance to save the economy,” Kim said during a press conference at the Governme...

South Korean banks and credit card firms might face difficulty in raising their fees, as the financial authorities began reviewing President Moon Jae-in’s pledges to adopt a new regulation to toughen rules on financial fees, industry sources said Monday. Moon, who believes in big government and its larger role in the market, had vowed to “adopt a system to evaluate the legitimacy of financial fe...

South Korean shares traded higher late Monday morning as foreigners scooped up shares of large tech companies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.12 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,300.6 as of 11:20 a.m. The broad index opened higher but soon paired earlier gains as institutional buyers turned to a selling mode. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 0.7...

South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, buoyed by bullish tech large caps, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 15 points, or 0.66 percent, to reach 2,303.48 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Big tech shares pushed up the market, although large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained more than 1.3 percent, with...

Developing external uncertainties will heighten sensitivity of the main bourse of South Korea, according to market experts Friday. The first-tier market has been riding on momentum for nearly a month backed by first-quarter earnings surprises of local listed firms and President Moon Jae-in‘s highly-anticipated move to improve corporate structure and induce institutional investors to adopt a stew...

The Korea Exchange will launch a new web portal in June to provide information on short-selling in the local stock market and facilitate individual investors’ access, the market operator said Thursday. The beta version of the website will kick off Monday, through which the KRX is expected to gather feedback from investors until June 16, 10 days ahead of the official launch of the service availab...

South Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Friday as investors remained cautious amid no fresh leads following a recent rally led by robust corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency edged down against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.66 points, or 0.07 percent to close at 2,288.48. Trading volume was moderate at 415.2 million shares worth 5.78 tr...

The government's dividend income from its stakes in public companies rose sharply this year on improved earnings of state-funded companies, the finance ministry said Friday. Public companies' dividend payments to the government totaled 1.56 trillion won ($1.38 billion) in 2017, up 27.4 percent from 1.2 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The ministry ...

The Bank of Korea has completed moving more than 10 trillion won ($8.88 billion) of cash -- previously stashed in an underground vault -- to its Gangnam office, bank officials said Friday. The move comes as the central bank will be starting its three-year renovation of its headquarters in central Seoul from the second half of the year. This will include reconstruction of the main annex building ...

Under the new Moon Jae-in administration, the Finance Ministry has set up renewed guidelines for next year’s budget prioritizing Moon’s key policies, such as job creation and income growth, the ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it has revised its budget guidelines for 2018, which had been announced on March 31, to reflect the new government’s key policy tasks. “To ...

South Korean stocks trading was nearly unchanged late Friday morning, with tech blue chips losing ground while auto large caps moved upward, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 1.59 points, or 0.07 percent, to hit 2,288.41 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech giant Samsung Electronics fell more than 2 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix shedding over 1 percent. Top automaker Hyu...