Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Job creation lowest on record among under-30s
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NK troops disguised as 'indigenous' people in Far East for combat against Ukraine: report
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Opposition leader awaits perjury trial ruling
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Shares end 2.08% lower on eurozone debt fears
South Korean stocks closed 2.08 percent lower on Thursday as foreign investors dumped local stocks on nagging concerns about Europe’s debt crisis, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar for the sixth straight session.The benchmark KOSPI trimmed 38.64 points to 1,819.11. Trading volume was moderate at 402.3 million shares worth 5.31 trillion won ($4.57 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 658 to 178.“Contagion fears about Europe’s debt crisis gripped investor sentiment.
Dec. 15, 2011
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Koreans’ ability to repay debt falls to new low
South Koreans’ capacity to repay debt worsened to the lowest level in more than two years in the third quarter as falling share prices cut the value of their assets amid growing debt, the central bank said Thursday.The ratio of financial assets held by households and nonprofit organizations to debt, a gauge of their capacity to redeem debt, came in at 2.07 as of the end of the third quarter, down from 2.15 in the second quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.The third-quarter data marked the lo
Dec. 15, 2011
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Household loans by non-bank financial firms close to 300 trillion won
Korea’s non-bank financial firms rapidly increased their share in the household loan market, seeing their combined total reach nearly 300 trillion won ($259 billion) and even outpacing banks, data showed on Thursday. The non-bank financial companies refer to savings banks, credit card operators, and insurance firms, and their household loan expansion in recent months is viewed by authorities as an additional risk factor to the country’s broader household debt situation. The size of non-bank fina
Dec. 15, 2011
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Lone Star papers out after 8 years
FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibilityThe Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds from the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star to the civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform.The documents involve the regulator’s ruling as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own KEB between September 2003 and June 2006.After a
Dec. 15, 2011
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KDB targets world’s top 20 by 2020
State-run financial group completes acquisition of RBS Uz under global expansion strategyKorea Development Bank has set the goal of becoming one of the top 20 banks in Asia by 2015 and entering the top 20 in the world by 2020, executives said Thursday.The bank’s parent KDB Financial Group completed its takeover of the Royal Bank of Scotland Uzbekistan, or RBS Uz, in November after signing a contract in December 2010.KDB Financial Group chairman Kang Man-soo, who participated in an event to celeb
Dec. 15, 2011
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Lone Star documents disclosed in 8 years
FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibilityThe Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds in the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star to the civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform.The documents involve the regulator’s ruling as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own KEB between September 2003 and June 2006.After a fo
Dec. 15, 2011
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Lone Star documents disclosed in 8 years
FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibilityThe Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds in the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star
Dec. 15, 2011
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POSCO shares in focus after founder’s death
Steelmaker’s share stages tenfold growth on solid performancePOSCO shares attracted public attention again on Wednesday, one day after its founder and honorary chairman Park Tae-joon died. The country’s representative steelmaker is the No. 3 stock on KOSPI, with its market capitalization valued at 34.2 trillion won, easily outpacing other blue-chip shares. POSCO, whose shares closed up 500 won at 390,000 won on Wednesday, is widely regarded as one of the favorites for investors at home and abroa
Dec. 14, 2011
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Youth jobless rate continues to rise
Unemployment rate held at a three-year low in NovemberThe youth jobless rate inched up half a percent point from a year earlier to 6.8 percent in November even as the overall jobless rate stayed at a three-year low for a second month, Statistics Korea said Wednesday. The agency said the November jobless rate for those aged 15-29 grew 0.1 percent over a month. The number of graduates in their 20s who found new jobs in November fell to 3,535,000, down 40,000 from the same time last year. The figur
Dec. 14, 2011
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High-spending households increase
South Korean households with monthly spendings of 4 million won ($3,450) or more are on the rise as prices for essentials increase, a report showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, such households in the highest spending bracket accounted for 10.51 percent of all households in the third quarter of the year, exceeding the 10-percent mark for the first time.The comparable figure for 2010 was 8.79 percent, the statistics agency said, adding that spending on a vast array of goods and service
Dec. 14, 2011
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Shares end lower on lack of U.S. Fed stimulus
South Korean stocks closed 0.34 percent lower on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve failed to lay out new stimulus measures to prop up the economy, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI fell 6.31 points to 1,857.75. Trading volume was moderate at 396.6 million shares worth 4.36 trillion won ($3.77 billion), but gainers outpaced losers 433 to 381.“The market was largely lackluster. The Seoul bourse started weaker due to a lack of the Fed’s fresh economic
Dec. 14, 2011
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SC First to cut 13% of staff via voluntary redundancy
SC First Bank, the local unit of the British banking group Standard Chartered, plans to accept the request of all 813 workers who applied for early retirement, the bank said Wednesday, cutting 13 percent its workforce as part of cost cutting reforms.“We plan to accept all 813 applications for voluntary redundancy. They will work until the end of the month,” a spokeswoman at the bank said.The bank started taking applications for voluntary redundancy from those who are aged 35 or more and have wor
Dec. 14, 2011
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FSC suspected of Lone Star lies
Report says 2003 documents were written by regulators, not accounting firmFinancial regulators are suspected of fabricating documents on Lone Star Funds in 2003 when Korea Exchange Bank was acquired by the buyout fund, according to a news report.At least over the past few months, the Financial Services Commission (then the Financial Supervisory Commission) has argued that the records, submitted by an accounting firm, prove that Lone Star was eligible to own a Korean bank.But the documents were a
Dec. 14, 2011
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Lone Star records to be disclosed Dec. 15
Opposition lawmakers call for parliamentary probe into FSC over KEB dealFinancial regulators are expected to make public their stance on Lone Star Funds this week as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own Korea Exchange Bank between 2003 and 2006.“The Financial Services Commission has notified that it would send related documents on Lone Star to us on Dec. 15,” a researcher of the Solidarity for Economic Reform said Tuesday.The regulator’s coming move reflects a Nov. 24 ruling by the
Dec. 13, 2011
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FSC may be put under parliamentary probe
Opposition submits proposal to investigate into regulator’s OK of fund’s takeover of KEBFinancial regulators are expected to make public their stance on Lone Star Funds this week as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own Korea Exchange Bank between 2003 and 2006.“The Financial Services Commission has notified that it would send related documents on Lone Star to us on Dec. 15,” a researcher of the Solidarity for Economic Reform said Tuesday.The regulator’s coming move reflects a Nov.
Dec. 13, 2011
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Shares end 1.88% lower on eurozone woes
South Korean stocks closed 1.88 percent lower on Tuesday as investors had growing skepticism about the effectiveness of a new fiscal treaty for the European Union, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI fell 35.7 points to 1,864.06. Trading volume was moderate at 442.9 million shares worth 5.21 trillion won ($4.51 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 613 to 224.“The Seoul market lost ground on concerns that EU summit results may be short of fundament
Dec. 13, 2011
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NTS probes 10 companies over suspected tax evasion
South Korea’s tax agency said Tuesday that it is investigating 10 mid-sized domestic companies on suspicions they evaded taxes in transferring wealth from owners to their children through funds in tax haven countries.According to the National Tax Service, the companies are suspected of evading taxes in the process of wealth transfer by selling shares of their affiliates at well below their market value to the funds that were created under the children’s names.The companies under investigation in
Dec. 13, 2011
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Brokerages lower target share price for Samsung Card over stake sale
Samsung Card Co.’s decision to sell a 17 percent stake in its unlisted affiliate Samsung Everland Inc. to KCC Corp. prompted local brokerages to lower their target share prices for the card firm Tuesday, expressing disappointment over the lower-than-expected final transaction value. In a regulatory filing on Monday, Samsung Card said its board gave the green light to a plan to sell 425,000 shares in Samsung Everland, the de facto holding company of Samsung Group, to KCC, a local maker of constru
Dec. 13, 2011
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Public agencies to hire 44% more in 2012
Public agencies plan to expand graduate hiring by 44 percent next year to help ease youth unemployment and encourage corresponding efforts in the private sector, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said a total of 14,400 new jobs will be created across 285 public agencies next year, up from about 10,000 for this year. It decided to increase jobs set aside for high school graduates from 3.4 percent to 20 percent next year, in a decision to encourage private firms to follow the move.“It
Dec. 13, 2011
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Nearly 20% of women quit jobs after marriage
Nearly two out of five married women in South Korea were forced to stop working due to marriage, having children, child education and other family-related obligations, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the number of women who gave up their jobs due to marriage and other family-related reasons came to 1.9 million as of June. That made up 19.3 percent of all married women aged 15-54 here. Of them, 47 percent cited marriage as the major reason why they quit their jobs.
Dec. 13, 2011