Tensions with North Korea haven’t had any significant impact on South Korea’s trade and investment, and a sharp rise in US interest rates is a major risk for Asia’s fourth largest economy going forward, an International Monetary Fund official said Friday. “So far, we have not seen any significant impact on South Korea’s trade investments,” Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific dep...

The Financial Supervisory Service of Korea announced Friday that it took punitive action against Korea‘s four securities firms for receiving rebates from a securities-financing services company. The firms -- Mirae Asset Daewoo, NH Investment & Securities, Yuanta Securities Korea and Korea Investment & Securities -- were found to have received rebates in return for depositing customers’ money in ...

Hana Financial Group Inc., a major South Korean banking group, said Friday its net profit rose 12.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on increased interest income and other synergy effects. Net profit came to 492.1 billion won ($434 million) in the January-March period on a consolidated basis, up 54.2 billion won from a year ago, the group said in a regulatory filing. It marked th...

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Friday asked heads of banks not to recklessly collect debt from the financially-troubled shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. Zhin Woong-seob, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, directly made such request at a meeting with CEOs of 15 commercial banks including Shinhan, Kookmin, Woori and KEB Hana, after thanking them ...

South Korean stocks closed higher Friday as foreigners scooped up stocks on bargain hunting. The won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.75 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 2,149.15. Trade volume was moderate at 274.59 million shares worth 4.63 trillion won ($4.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 424 to 356. Foreign and institutional ...

State-run Industrial Bank of Korea said Friday that its first-quarter net profit jumped 15.9 percent from a year earlier on increased interest income and gains from asset sales. Net profit for the three months ending March 31 came to 437.7 billion won ($386 million) on a consolidated basis, compared to 377.7 billion won a year earlier, the lender said in a regulatory filing. The figure includes...

South Korea's finance minister held a meeting with the president of the World Bank Group to discuss ways to expand the country's participation in the organization, the ministry here said Friday. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho met with WBG President Jim Yong Kim in Washington on Thursday (local time) on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. The gather...

Jang Hong-suk got a credit line for a deposit to buy an apartment. All he did was download an app on his smartphone and open an account before applying for a loan. It took about 20 minutes before Jang got approval for the loan from K-Bank, South Korea's first Internet-only bank. "I opened a bank account with a 50 million won ($44,000) overdraft line of credit on my way home from work," said the...

South Korean stocks extended gains late Wednesday morning on a rebound in tech and telecom stocks. The won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 18.45 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,167.60 as of 11:20 a.m. Foreign and institutional investors bought a combined 123.4 billion won ($108 million) worth of stocks, while individuals shed 115.26 billion won...

South Korea increased fiscal spending on infrastructure-building projects in the first three months of the year contributed to the creation of more jobs, the finance ministry here said Friday. The government spent 14.9 trillion won carrying out social overhead capital projects in the January-March period, up 200 million won from its earlier plan, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance...

South Korea's top financial regulator on Friday called for heads of banks to play a "responsible role" in normalizing Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., as the bailout plan for the troubled shipbuilder was cleared by its stakeholders. Zhin Woong-seob, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, also asked banks not to aggressively collect debt from shipbuilders and their subcontrac...

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking gains on Wall Street and ahead of major companies' first-quarter earnings reports. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.45 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,161.60 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.85 percent on strong corporate earnings result...

KB Financial Group, the second-largest banking group in net assets, posted 870.1 billion won ($763.7 million) of net profit in the first quarter, a 59.7 percent rise on-year, according to the group’s earnings report Thursday. The net profit of the holding company, which operates financial units including Kookmin Bank, the second-largest commercial lender in market cap, skyrocketed 91.7 percent c...

The Financial Services Commission of Korea announced Thursday it would ease regulations for lenders in streamlining the debt restructuring of financially troubled firms. By revising the enforcement ordinance of the Financial Holding Companies Act, lenders will be more easily able to exclude debt-ridden firms under their receiverships from their subsidiaries in the process of converting debt into...

South Korean stocks closed higher Thursday as institutions scooped up stocks on bargain hunting. The won rose against the dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.75 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 2,149.15. Trade volume was moderate at 262.01 million shares worth 4.91 trillion won ($4.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 445 to 329. Institutional and foreign...