The dollar-won volatility eased in May from a month earlier in line with a more stable global financial market, central bank data showed Tuesday.The session-over-session changes in the dollar-won exchange rates averaged 0.41 percent in May, compared to 0.43 in April, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.  "The won rose against the dollar in May due to bullish local stock markets and political uncertainty in the United States," the statement said.On Friday, South Korean stocks clo

Market June 13, 2017

The money supply in South Korea jumped 6.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the central bank said Tuesday.The nation's "M2" totaled 2,450.2 trillion won ($2.16 trillion) in April, compared to 2,299 trillion won a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. Month-on-month, the money supply gained 0.6 percent, the statement said.The growth rate of the money supply has been on the decline since October 2015 as companies decreased domestic credit.M2 is a measure of the money

Economy June 13, 2017

Eggs imported from Thailand will arrive in South Korea next week, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday, as the government seeks to contain rising prices amid the latest bird flu outbreak.Some 2 million eggs imported by a local company will arrive in South Korea via ship sometime between next Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (Yonhap)It will be the first time for eggs from the Southeast Asian country to be sold here. Currently, eggs from six

Industry June 13, 2017

Insurers are likely to face difficulty in raising premiums on auto and indemnity medical insurance as the government of President Moon Jae-in is considering a plan to tighten controls on products, officials said Tuesday. The move, which appears to be aimed at easing financial burdens of low-income people, is expected to take shape as Moon appoints a new head of the Financial Services Commission, the nation's top financial regulator. Ruling party officials have raised the idea of tightening price

Market June 13, 2017

South Korean securities companies have considerably reduced the number of their overseas branches over the past six years due mainly to their unprofitability, data showed Tuesday.Thirteen local brokerages had a combined 57 overseas branches as of the end of March, compared with 89 branches six years earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Financial Investment Association. Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co. had the most overseas branches with 14, followe

Market June 13, 2017

An anticipated interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve is likely to have little impact on South Korean bonds because the market has already priced in the change, analysts said Tuesday. This week, the Fed is almost certain to increase its key interest rate for the third time in six months, with an additional rate hike eyed in September.  Although the Fed has tightened its monetary policy, analysts expected the Bank of Korea to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low at least till

Market June 13, 2017

South Korea's national tax revenue continued to rise in the first four months of the year bolstered by an increase in corporate and value added taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The government collected a total of 105.3 trillion won ($93.1 billion) in dues in the January-April period, up 8.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The amount is equal to 43.5 percent of the 242.3 trillion won in tax revenue earmarked for 2017. Taxes collected so

Economy June 13, 2017

Global equity funds continued to post net inflows into the South Korean market last week on its recovering economy and improving corporate earnings, industry data showed Tuesday.Four international funds investing in South Korea allocated a combined $210 million for the South Korean equity market in the week to Friday, marking the fifth consecutive month of net inflow, according to the data by Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co. and global fund tracker Emerging Portfolio Fund Research. The global e

Market June 13, 2017

South Korean stocks opened higher on Tuesday despite overnight Wall Street losses, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 9.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,163.05 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Monday (local time), US stocks dropped, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropping for a second straight session.Large-cap stocks on the Seoul bourse were mixed across the board. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics inched up 0.09 percent, and global chipmake

Market June 13, 2017

South Korea's vice defense minister recently made a visit to the deployment site of a US missile defense system amid political controversy here, an official said Tuesday.Suh Choo-suk, who took office last Wednesday, is a member of the inter-agency task force to follow up President Moon Jae-in's call for a review of "domestic procedures" associated with the deployment of THAAD at a former golf course in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.A THAAD interceptor

Defense June 13, 2017

NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is expected to arrive in North Korea on Tuesday amid heightened tensions between the United States and Pyongyang, a news report said.Former US basketball star Rodman was spotted at Beijing International Airport, with his trip to North Korea coming at a time when North Korea is detaining four Americans, according to CNN.This photo unveiled by North Korea's state news agency on March 1, 2013, shows NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman surrounded by reporters at an airpor

More Sports June 13, 2017

Having already surpassed his previous career home run total in 2017, SK Wyverns' outfielder Han Dong-min has emerged as the biggest -- and also the unlikeliest -- power threat in South Korean baseball.Prior to Tuesday's action, Han found himself leading the Korea Baseball Organization with 20 home runs and a .685 slugging percentage. He's tied with NC Dinos' Xavier Scruggs for the league lead with 49 RBIs, though Han has driven in those runs in 228 plate appearances, 28 fewer than Scruggs.Before

Baseball June 13, 2017

South Korea men's football head coach Uli Stielike has said his team is ready to end an ongoing away drought in the World Cup qualifying stage this week.South Korea will take on Qatar at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday in a key qualifying match for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The kickoff is 10 p.m. Tuesday (local time) and 4 a.m.Wednesday in Seoul.At a press conference held on the eve of the contest, Stielike said his players are prepared for a victory. Uli Stielike, head coach of the S

Soccer June 13, 2017

NEW YORK -- The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog expressed serious concern Monday about North Korea's nuclear program and urged Pyongyang to come into compliance with its international obligations."I remain seriously concerned about the nuclear program of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano told a meeting in Vienna of the agency's Board of Governors, according to the UN website.(Yonhap)"It is deeply regrettable that the DPR

North Korea June 13, 2017

WASHINGTON -- South Korea could end up giving US President Donald Trump a pretext to pull American troops out of the country if it reverses the decision to host the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system, a US expert warned.Scott Snyder, chief Korea analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, made the case in an article in Forbes magazine after Seoul suspended the deployment of an additional four THAAD launchers pending an environmental assessment.(Yonhap)The remark suggests persisting

Defense June 13, 2017