Most Popular
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Qoo10 liquidity crisis sparks massive complaints, fears of wider damage
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Yoon urges municipalities to embrace foreigners
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What is happening at Hybe?
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Korea unveils tax reform bill to spur economy
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S. Korea to consent to Japan's Sado mines gaining World Heritage status: official
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Actor’s excessive airport security sparks probe into human rights violations
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Crowded public transport, long commutes top stressors for Seoul, Gyeonggi workers: survey
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Man who let his father die due to financial difficulties to be released on parole
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Actor Yoo Ah-in accused of sexual attack
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S. Korea, China shifting from tensions to cooperation: Seoul
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[News Focus] Seoul housing prices climb 7% since May
SEJONG -- Housing prices in Seoul have continued to renew their all-time highs this year, in addition to a surge over the past few years since the mid-2010s. Many apartment complexes in the capital have recorded a 100-150 percent increase in price between 2016 and 2020. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average trading price of homes in Seoul reached 39.33 million won ($33,100) per 3.3 square meters as of Oct. 15. This posted a 7.3 percent increase in just five months from&n
Oct. 19, 2021
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VR, AR videos to be registered as intellectual property in S. Korea
Virtual reality and augmented reality videos alongside designs on streets, walls and human bodies will be eligible to be registered as intellectual property in South Korea from Thursday, the nation’s IP office said Tuesday. According to the Korean Intellectual Patent Office, the newly revised law would protect digitally produced designs with various purposes including communication, medical and security. Previously, such designs were able to be filed as IP when they formed part of items.
Oct. 19, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on US tech gains, easing virus woes
South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street and eased concerns over the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.48 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,032.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a strong start on overnight gains on Wall Street and easing virus woes. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.84 percent to 15,022 points as investors monitor the inflation factors, while the Dow Jones
Oct. 19, 2021
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Kakao Bank, Dell heads discuss future finance platform
Kakao Bank CEO Yoon Ho-young and Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technology, discussed further cooperation between the two companies and ways to improve competitiveness in the midst of the digital transformation, officials in Seoul said Monday. Dell provides server, network and data storage services to Korea’s largest internet-only bank. The online meeting between the two was held last month to seek cooperation in cloud and big data solutions, Kakao said, without elaborating on w
Oct. 18, 2021
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Chaebol families borrow almost W5tr against stocks
Stock-secured borrowing by the families of South Korea’s conglomerate founders amounted to almost 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion), led by managerial transfers and business restructuring, data showed Monday. According to local market analysis company Leaders Index, as of October the nation’s 29 family-controlled conglomerates had received a combined 4.82 trillion won worth of loans backed by stocks in the groups’ affiliates, up 92 percent from 2.5 trillion in the first half
Oct. 18, 2021
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Hana partners with Hyundai, Kia for connected car financial services
South Korea’s Hana Bank on Monday said it has teamed up with the nation’s top automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia alongside fintech startup Finda to develop financial services and products tied to connected car technologies. A connected car refers to a car equipped with internet access, usually a wireless local area network. This allows the car to share internet access and data with other devices inside and outside the vehicle. Though details are currently in the works, Hana plans to
Oct. 18, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Rethinking emissions as investing opportunities
The world has been witnessing deadly catastrophic events like wildfires and heat waves over the past couple of years, and climate change is considered a major culprit behind them. Such extreme weather events show no signs of abating despite decreased greenhouse gas emissions due to COVID-19 pandemic since last year, which signals that climate change is a problem of the present, not a problem of the future. Addressing the urgency of the matter, Je Hyun-joo, managing partner at impact investment
Oct. 18, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking
South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors attempted to cash in gains from the key stock index's three-day advance. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 22.9 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,992.16 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a lackluster start amid sell-offs in most sectors. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics lost 0.86 percent to 69,500 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.42 percent to 97,000 won. Top automaker Hyundai
Oct. 18, 2021
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Boxed-in Kospi leads to surge in forced liquidations
As South Korea’s benchmark Kospi plunged below 3,000 points last week for the first time in nearly seven months, the daily volume of forced selling of stocks by local brokerages reached a 14-year high. The daily average amount of forced liquidations marked 26.5 billion won ($22.4 million) from Oct. 1 to Thursday, according to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association. It marked the highest level since April 2007, when the daily average volume came to 29 billion won. The
Oct. 17, 2021
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Tightened credit lending continues despite eased rules on housing loans
South Korea‘s major banks are set to loosen control on extension of “jeonse” loans for homes, but their tightened grip over personal credit loans will continue under pressure from financial authorities, industry sources said Sunday. Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. NH NongHyup Bank, which in August decided to temporarily stop offering jeonse loans until Nov. 30, will resume
Oct. 17, 2021
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Homegrown private equity firm STIC Investments to go public in December
South Korean private equity firm STIC Investments is poised to carry out a backdoor listing to start trading on the domestic stock market in December, a filing showed Sunday. Following the move, STIC Investments will become the first Seoul-based private equity investment manager to be listed in three years. Seoul is home to high-profile buyout powerhouses including MBK Partners, Hahn & Co. and IMM Private Equity -- none of which are listed on the stock market. According to the f
Oct. 17, 2021
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Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range
South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1 percent to 70,100 won ($59.28) on Friday, after remaining below the sensitive threshold for four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.88 percent to 3,015.16 points in the same day. Samsung Electronics, Korea’s largest company by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors -- some 4.54 million -- as of the end of June. Samsung’s stock prices soared to as high as 91,000 won on Jan. 11 but li
Oct. 15, 2021
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KDB’s W10tr investment in fossil fuels contradicts green pledge: lawmaker
The state-run Korea Development Bank extended or guaranteed loans worth a combined 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for fossil fuel projects in the last decade, data showed Friday, reflecting growing concerns about greenwashing in the nation’s financial sector. From 2011 to 2020, the KDB extended loans worth a total of 6.9 trillion won and guaranteed a further 3.3 trillion won worth of loans for natural gas or oil projects, data submitted by the state-run bank to ruling Democratic Party
Oct. 15, 2021
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Nonghyup chairman urges embrace of metaverse
Nonghyup Financial Group Chairman Son Byung-hwan on Friday highlighted the group’s efforts to incorporate the metaverse into its businesses. “Many experts predict that the era of the metaverse is what will come next after this smartphone era,” Son said, urging the company’s executives to “study the possibility of commercialization with interest in the metaverse.” In accordance with Son’s vision, the group said it plans to set up a metaverse task force
Oct. 15, 2021
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Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range
South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1.3 percent to 70,300 won ($59.46) during Friday morning trade, ending a price slide that lasted four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.89 percent to 3,015.14 points. Samsung Electronics, the largest company in the nation by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors, who amassed 2.78 trillion won worth of its shares in the 10 trading days ending Wednesday. Friday’s increase followed an indust
Oct. 15, 2021
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Mamamoo’s agency to go public in November
Rainbow Bridge World, the South Korean entertainment agency behind all-female band Mamamoo, said Friday that it has filed a registration statement with the country’s financial watchdog and will go public on the nation’s secondary bourse, Kosdaq, in November. According to the statement, the agency aims to issue 1.25 million shares. It plans to offer new stocks for public subscription at a price between 18,700 won ($15.80) and 21,400 won a share. The book-building process, where an u
Oct. 15, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on US gains
South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street, with tech shares leading the market gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 27.4 points, or 0.92 percent, to 3,016.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.73 percent to 14,823 points amid hopes of strong corporate earnings in the third quarter, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.56 percent to 34,913 points. In Seoul, market bell
Oct. 15, 2021
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Yanolja to acquire 70% stake in Interpark's e-commerce businesses
Yanolja Co., a leading South Korean travel platform operator, said Thursday that it signed an agreement to buy a 70 percent stake in e-commerce businesses of Interpark Corp. for 294 billion won (US$248 million). Yanolja said its move to acquire Interpark‘s travel, performing arts, shopping and book businesses is intended to make inroads into the global travel market dominated by foreign platform companies. “The two companies will cooperate to strengthen the competitiveness and
Oct. 14, 2021
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Seoul stocks jump on stabilizing currency market, move to ease supply bottleneck
South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday, as investors were relieved by the stable currency rate and Washington's move to ease supply chain disruptions. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 44.23 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 2,988.64 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 607 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 745 to 130. Foreigne
Oct. 14, 2021
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[Exclusive] Alceon raises Korean capital for debt strategies in Australia
Sydney-based investment manager Alceon has raised a combined 55 billion won ($46.3 million) of capital from a South Korean institutional investor for its nonbank loan strategies designed to finance Australian real estate development projects. Alceon‘s senior debt vehicle, named Alceon Australian Real Estate Corporate Senior Loan Fund, received capital from Korean allocator ABL Life Insurance from last year until September, bringing its fund under management to A$383 million ($283 million)
Oct. 14, 2021