BOK minutes hint at additional rate cut

The Bank of Korea (BOK) may further cut its policy rate to help minimize the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic, BOK minutes showed Tuesday. The central bank delivered a surprise rate cut in an emergency meeting of its monetary policy board held March 16, slashing the policy rate by a half percentage point to a new record low of 0.75 percent. "A rate cut itself may not be expected to promote consumption and investment by easing travel restrictions, but it is expected to he

EconomyMarch 31, 2020

Major banks’ total dividend payouts surge 20% in 2019

Six major banks in South Korea paid a combined 4.7 trillion won ($3.86 billion) in dividends to shareholders last year, which was nearly 20 percent up from the previous year, their annual reports showed Tuesday. The total dividend payouts by KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Standard Chartered Bank Korea and Citibank Korea in 2019 marked the largest amount since 2016. Comparable data was only available from 2016 as the current Hana Bank was a result of a 2015 merger between Hana Bank and Korea

MarketMarch 31, 2020

[Exclusive] Meritz Securities bond sale raises W1.2tr on path to become ‘mega IB’

Asset management firm Meritz Securities recently sold more than a trillion won of property bonds in a bid to meet government rules that require securities firms to lower debt guarantees, according to sources Tuesday. The Seoul-based firm last week sold bonds worth 1.2 trillion won ($983 million) to institutional investors and insurance firms, sources said. Some of the buyers are said to include KDB Life Insurance, IBK Pension Insurance, and Tongyang Life Insurance. The l

MarketMarch 31, 2020

COVID-19 crisis shakes up brand value ranking

Brand value rankings of companies in South Korea are facing an upheaval as the COVID-19 crisis is greatly influencing the consumption patterns, a local poll showed Tuesday. According to the BrandStock Top Index of Brandstock, e-commerce platform operators are seeing a boost in their value, reflecting the increased amount of time people are spending at home, due to social distancing and remote working. Leading e-commerce platform Coupang witnessed its rank jump from No. 54 at the end last ye

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Mirae Asset chairman donates W25b in decade

South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group said Tuesday that Chairman Park Hyeon-joo has donated his dividends for 10 years in a row -- amounting to 25 billion won ($20.5 million). In 2019, as a shareholder of Mirae Asset Global Investments and Mirae Asset Capital, Park earned a combined 1.7 billion won. The donations went to Mirae Asset Park Hyeon-joo Foundation, dedicated to scholarships for exchange programs for Korean college students. According to the firm, over 5,800 students have

MarketMarch 31, 2020

Gasoline prices dip to 1-year low

Amid plunging crude oil prices, the nation’s gasoline retail prices dipped below 1,400 won ($1.15) per liter, the lowest level in a year, industry data showed Tuesday.  As of March 30, nearly 12,000 gas stations here are selling gasoline at 1,398 won per liter on average, the lowest since April last year when the South Korean government cut the fuel tax, according to the Korea National Oil Corp.’s oil information provider Opinet.  The weekly gasoline prices also continu

EconomyMarch 31, 2020

Hyundai Motor to open mobility innovation center in Singapore by 2022

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday that it would open a mobility innovation center in Singapore to focus on developing and producing future mobility solutions by 2022.  The automaker’s new global lab called Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICs) will be located in Singapore’s Jurong Innovation District, an advanced technology manufacturing hub comprised of tech companies, factories and researchers. The establishment of the automaker’s lab over the

MobilityMarch 31, 2020

Demand for Isu Chemical’s ingredient spikes in Europe

Domestic chemical firm Isu Chemical said Tuesday it is ramping up production of a hand sanitizer ingredient as demand is soaring in Europe. The company manufactures isopropyl alcohol -- a vital ingredient for hand gels and alcohol wipes -- as the stocks of the IPA are running low amid the worsening COVID-19 outbreak. “Isu Chemical has already got marketing approval in the European Union, so there is no issue with sales in the region,” a company official said. “Though faci

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Foreigners extend stock selling streak to 19th straight session

Foreign investors on Tuesday continued to sell local stocks for the 19th consecutive session amid the coronavirus scare, data showed, with offshore investors offloading a net 72.8 billion won ($59.7 million) worth of local stocks. Since March 5, foreigners have net sold a total of 11.6 trillion won in stocks. They sold a net 1.31 trillion won on March 9, marking the biggest sell-off on record. Despite foreigners' continued selling binge, South Korea's benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Ind

MarketMarch 31, 2020

Seoul stocks spike over 2% on stimulus hopes

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Tuesday, extending earlier gains on hope for massive economic stimulus measures in major economies, such as China and the United States, to minimize the fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak. The local currency rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 37.52 points, or 2.19 percent, to close at 1,754.64. Trading volume was high at slightly over 1 billion shares worth 13.6 trillion won ($11.2 billion),

MarketMarch 31, 2020

Hyundai E&C to open sales of premium residences in Daegu

Hyundai Engineering and Construction said Tuesday it will open sales of 1,150 high-quality residential units in Daegu, Gyeongsang Province. The new residential complex, named Hillstate Dowon Central, consists of five 49-story high-rises located near Dalseong Park Station in Junggu, central Daegu. The Junggu area is expected to offer new 11,000 housing units in the future, attracting potential buyers with the location’s proximity to social and commercial infrastructures, including dep

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

SK hynix’s non-memory sales increase, while overall sales dip

SK hynix’s said Monday its non-memory semiconductor sales marked a 1.5-fold increase last year, while sales of memory products decreased by 33 percent on-year. The DRAM sales of SK hynix marked 20.3 trillion won ($16.6 billion), down 37 percent from a year earlier, while sales of NAND flash reached 5.1 trillion won, down 31 percent. The sales of SK hynix’s non-memory business, however, increased by 139 percent to reach 1.6 trillion won last year, from 650 billion won in 2018. Of

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Government lifts sanctions against Jin Air amid pandemic crisis

The South Korean government lifted its sanction on budget airline Jin Air on Tuesday, after having prohibited the company from expanding new flight routes and adding new planes for 20 months. The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport said it would remove the sanction against the budget carrier, a move that is seen to reflect the company’s recent efforts for improved management, but also comes in time when the airline industry is into a desperate situation in the wake of the COVI

MobilityMarch 31, 2020

LG donates 50,000 coronavirus test kits to Indonesia

LG Group said Tuesday its four affiliates -- LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Innotek and LG International Corp. -- have donated 50,000 coronavirus test kits to the Indonesian government. The donation was made in response to a request by the country, which lacks diagnostic kits due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, and to contribute to overcoming international difficulties caused by the infectious disease, the group said. Supplies of some diagnostic kits to the Indonesian National Board for Dis

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Nexon aims to bring gaming to stock exchange platform

Nexon’s holding company NXC said Monday it is developing an online trading platform in the form of a game, targeting young people held back by the complexity of conventional systems. The company has established a subsidiary Arques, to develop a friendly trading platform with a user interface of tycoon games for Generation MZ -- millennials and Gen Z -- who are discouraged by intricate systems despite their deep interest in investments. “Arques aims to develop a service where use

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

OCI delivers lunch boxes to locals hit by coronavirus outbreak

South Korean chemicals firm OCI said Monday it has launched a lunch box campaign for five days to support the socially vulnerable amid the coronavirus crisis. The company said its Pohang plant in North Gyeongbuk Province has started delivering lunch boxes to support the elderly people and the underprivileged in local areas from March 30 to April 3 as free community meals have been unavailable due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With voluntary donations made by the employees of Pohang plant and wi

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Banks' lending rates fall in Feb.

Lending rates on fresh loans extended by banks in South Korea continued to drop from a month earlier in February, central bank data showed Tuesday. The average interest rate on all new bank loans came to 3.08 percent in the month, down 11 basis points from 3.19 percent tallied in January, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rate on all outstanding loans came to 3.35 percent, down 0.03 percentage point over the cited period. The rate on fresh loans has been on a decline sin

EconomyMarch 31, 2020

BOK cuts US dollar share of foreign assets in 2019

South Korea's central bank said Tuesday that it slightly reduced the portion of US dollar-denominated assets in its overall foreign assets from a year earlier in 2019. As of end-2019, dollar-denominated holdings accounted for 69.1 percent of overall foreign assets held by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the central bank said in its annual report. The reading marks a 0.7 percentage point drop from a year earlier. "The portion of US dollar-denominated assets slightly fell due to a rise in the por

EconomyMarch 31, 2020

Korea should prepare for stronger US protectionist trade policies: report

South Korean companies should keep a close eye on the protectionist trade policies in the US as President Donald Trump is expected to raise trade barriers there ahead of the November presidential election amid the worldwide spread of coronavirus, a local trade association said Tuesday. The Korea International Trade Association’s new report said the coronavirus pandemic has emerged as an important variable in the Trump administration’s trade policy and the US presidential election

IndustryMarch 31, 2020

Seoul stock extend gains late Tuesday morning

South Korean stocks extended earlier gains Tuesday on massive stimulus measures around the globe to minimize the economic fallout from the new coronavirus outbreak. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) spiked 31 points, or 1.81 percent, to reach 1,748.12 as of 11:20 a.m. The index opened higher, adding 1.35 percent in the first 15 minutes of trading. Such a strong start followed overnight gains on Wall Street. "The New York stock market closed higher on the news that t

MarketMarch 31, 2020