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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S. Korea, China shifting from tensions to cooperation: Seoul
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Actor Yoo Ah-in accused of sexual attack
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BOK to join move for setting global standards for stablecoin
South Korea’s central bank said Thursday it has decided to join a global movement of financial regulators to set up standards for stablecoins, saying it would adopt the rules to the local market once they are introduced. Stablecoins are a form of cryptocurrency designed to have a stable value tied to traditional government-backed currencies, or to a commodity such as gold, to dodge the volatilities that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have. The Bank of Korea’s announcement com
Oct. 14, 2021
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JPMorgan expands commercial banking in South Korea
Global investment bank JPMorgan said Thursday it has decided to expand its commercial banking business in South Korea by launching a new team focused on financing midcap companies. The banking giant has appointed Kim Min-sik, former head of the global corporate division at Standard Chartered Bank Korea, to lead its newly established corporate client banking & specialized industries team. In Korea, businesses with total assets between 500 billion won ($421.1 million) and 10 trillion w
Oct. 14, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on stabilizing currency market
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, as investors were relieved by the stable currency rate. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.39 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,969.8 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a bullish start, as the Korean won advanced against the US dollar, after depreciating sharply against the greenback over the past few days. The local currency was trading at 1,188.25 won against the US dollar, up 5.55 won from the previous
Oct. 14, 2021
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S. Korea’s first metaverse-themed ETFs listed
Four metaverse-themed exchange-traded funds went listed for the first time on the country’s stock markets on Wednesday, betting on growing interest in the new IT platform. The four ETFs are KB Asset Management’s KBSTAR iSelect Metaverse, NH Amundi Asset Management’s Hanaro Fn K-Metaverse MZ, Mirae Asset Global Investment’s Tiger Fn Metaverse, and Samsung Asset Management’s KODEX K-Metaverse Active. Samsung Asset’s ETF product is an actively managed fund,
Oct. 13, 2021
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Seoul stocks rebound on tech, auto gains
South Korean stocks advanced nearly 1 percent Wednesday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks such as tech and auto shares after a sharp plunge the previous session. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 28.03 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 2,944.41 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 743 million shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 700 to 168. Foreigners sol
Oct. 13, 2021
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Koreans blame short sellers for bear market
South Korean day traders are expressing frustration over the bearish domestic stock market in early October, in the belief that short selling by institutional investors is adding fuel to the market volatility. As of Wednesday, a public petition calling for a complete ban on short selling activities in Korea’s stock market had gained nearly 49,000 endorsements within a week, in another major collective action unfolding on presidential office Cheong Wa Dae’s website. The unnamed pe
Oct. 13, 2021
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Banks' household loan growth accelerates in Sept.
South Korean banks' household loans grew at a faster pace in September from a month earlier despite the government's toughened controls on lending, central bank data showed Wednesday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), outstanding bank loans to households came to 1,052.7 trillion won ($877.9 billion) as of the end of September, up 6.5 trillion won from the previous month. The figure is higher than a 6.1 trillion-won increase registered in August, the data showed. The reading also marked the
Oct. 13, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on bargain hunting
South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, as investors seek to buy oversold stocks after a sharp plunge the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.57 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,929.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks lifted as most tech large caps bounced back. Investor sentiment also improved on strong jobs data in September, which jumped by the largest in seven years. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. edged up 0.14 percent
Oct. 13, 2021
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Seoul shares end lower on inflation woes, foreign selling
Seoul shares closed lower for a second straight session Tuesday on foreign selling amid concerns over inflation sparked by surging prices of oil and other energy resources. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 39.92 points, or 1.35 percent, to close at 2,916.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 648 million shares worth some 12.5 trillion won ($10.4 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 572 to 310. Foreigners s
Oct. 12, 2021
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Won fades to 14-month low against dollar amid inflation concerns
Signs of a weakening Korean won are growing, as investors flock to safe haven assets amid escalating inflation concerns. The won declined to a 14-month low at the closing, hovering around the level of 1,200 won per dollar on Tuesday. The local currency traded at 1,198.8 won per dollar, weakening 4.2 won per dollar, or 0.35 percent, from the previous session’s close. It set a new record after the closing of July 24 last year with 1,201.5 won per dollar. The Korean won once depreciated to
Oct. 12, 2021
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Bitcoin price jumps 30% in Oct
Bitcoin jumped 30 percent this month to reach 70 million won ($58,378), the first time it breached that level in five months, as US financial regulators said they won’t follow China in banning cryptocurrency transactions. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap rose almost 30 percent during October to 70.99 million won as of Tuesday morning, data from crypto exchange Upbit showed. With the rally this month, bitcoin’s market capitalization reached 1 trillion won, surpassing that of
Oct. 12, 2021
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South Koreans withdraw money from retirement pensions to buy homes: data
More South Koreans are dipping into their retirement pension pots to buy homes in expectation of future gain amid soaring housing prices, causing concern over the availability of secure retirement income, a lawmaker said Tuesday. The number of people who pulled out their money from their retirement accounts early stood at 71,931 in 2020, up 79.4 percent from the 40,091 tallied in 2016, according to Financial Services Commission data submitted to Rep. Chun Jae-soo of the ruling Democratic Party
Oct. 12, 2021
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US location analytics startup snaps up seed funding from Korean VCs
New York-based property technology startup Market Stadium has raised 1 billion won ($834,400) in seed funding from venture capital houses in South Korea and abroad, the company said Tuesday. Taking part in the latest rounding were early-stage VC Kakao Ventures, financial backer Shinhan Capital and California-based Primer Sazze Partners. Angel investors including John Kim, co-founder of messaging-as-a-service startup Sendbird; and Scott Robinson, a clinical assistant professor at New York Unive
Oct. 12, 2021
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Eastspring's Korea head to serve 4th term
Eastspring Asset Management Korea said Tuesday that its incumbent Chief Executive Officer Park Chun-woong would serve a fourth term and remain in office until 2024. The decision was made in a shareholders meeting Friday, according to the company, which is fully owned by London-based insurance firm Prudential. Park took the helm at Eastspring’s South Korean unit in 2012. Its assets under management came to 11.5 trillion won ($9.6 billion) as of end-September, the 20th-highest amount fo
Oct. 12, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on US losses
South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with tech shares weighing on the main index. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 29.89 points, or 1.01 percent, to 2,926.41 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.7 percent to 34,496 as a global energy crunch increased concerns about inflation. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.6 percent to 14,486. The Korean stock market closed Monda
Oct. 12, 2021
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Lawmakers seek delay for crypto taxation
South Korea’s lawmakers are trying to push back controversial taxation on income from investing in cryptocurrencies, which is to be implemented from Jan. 1, 2022. The opposition People Power Party was drafting a proposal that eases capital gain taxes on cryptocurrencies and is expected to submit the bill as early as Tuesday. The People Power Party’s bill suggests a one-year delay for crypto gain taxation to 2023 along with a more generous tax redemption than currently planned. Th
Oct. 11, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Wealth gap widening among young Koreans: data
The wealth gap among young Koreans has widened, with data showing that familial transfer of wealth, not income differences, are aggregating the divide, a lawmaker said Monday. According to Statistics Korea data of two groups of Koreans between ages 20 to 30, the upper 20 percent of young Koreans accumulated 35 times more wealth than the lower 20 percent last year. The wealth gap increased from 776 million won ($650,000) in 2019 to 846 million won in 2020, according to Kim Hoe-jae, a member of
Oct. 11, 2021
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Korea’s edu tech startup Riiid acquires Japanese mobile app distributor
Riiid, a South Korean artificial intelligence-based education tech company, has acquired Langoo, the Japanese distributor of its service, in an effort to expand its business in the world’s third-largest economy, the company said Saturday. The acquisition is coming less than five months after it secured $175 million in series D funding solely raised from Japan’s Softbank’s Vision Fund 2, and is part of the company’s broader strategy to expand through mergers and acquis
Oct. 10, 2021
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Seoul stocks inch down on Chinese developers' debt crises
South Korean stocks closed slightly lower Friday largely on the back of growing concerns about giant Chinese property developers' debt crisis. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) declined 3.16 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 2,956.3 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 659 million shares worth some 12.5 trillion won ($10.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 484 to 384. Foreigners sold a net 49 billion won, while
Oct. 8, 2021
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Fintech unicorn Viva Republica to acquire embattled ride-hailing app Tada
South Korean financial technology unicorn Viva Republica said Friday it has signed a deal to acquire a controlling 60 percent stake in mobility firm VCNC, known for premium ride-hailing app Tada, in its new rights offering. Viva Republica, which offers various financial services under its flagship Toss brand, said the takeover is aimed at expanding its financial services business and overhauling Tada’s embattled mobility service by the end of this year, the company said in a statement.
Oct. 8, 2021