South Korea’s financial districts Yeouido and Jung-gu have experienced the country’s ups and downs throughout modern history, with few businesses surviving the political and financial upheavals.And only a few are as steeped in the nation’s financial history as Woori Bank, one of South Korea’s four major lenders, established 119 years ago. The bank’s roots are embedded in Daehan Cheon-il Bank, which was established by Emperor Gojong in January 1899 with funds from th

Market March 12, 2019

Citibank aims to achieve 25 percent growth in revenue from client work in intra-Asia trade corridors this year by boosting its corporate financing business in the region, the firm said Monday.A key strategy in achieving the goal is to help businesses based in Asian nations to enter other Asian markets, it said. The bank’s key corridors are South Korea to ASEAN, Korea to China, Korea to India, Japan to ASEAN, Japan to China and China to ASEAN.　 To solidify its presence in the Asian mar

Market March 11, 2019

The cash dividends of South Korea’s four major financial groups topped 2.5 trillion won ($2.23 billion) in 2018, according to reports Sunday.According to the groups -- KB Financial, Shinhan Financial, Woori Financial and Hana Financial -- they handed out a combined 2.52 trillion won to shareholders in dividends last year. The amount was up 8.8 percent from the previous year, when they paid a record 2.3 trillion won. It was also 157.3 percent higher than 979.9 billion won in 2011 when

Market March 10, 2019

Monthly data usage by smartphones surpassed 400,000 terabytes for the first time in January, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, boosted by growing use of video streaming services and mobile games. The data traffic amounted to 403,812 TB in January, up 1.5 percent from the previous month, the data showed. The January figure increased 28.7 percent on-year, and marked a 17-fold increase from usage in January 2012, the data showed. Data traffic on smartphones that support LTE, o

Industry March 7, 2019

Taking a leaf from YouTube trends, such as eating shows, major South Korean brokerage firms are using the video sharing platform to increase online interaction with investors and inject creativity into market reports. Kiwoom Securities, an online brokerage services provider, has been a front-runner in the trend for years, with 22,193 subscribers to its YouTube channel as of Tuesday. The channel, launched in 2013, has the most subscribers among local brokerage firms. Most of the uploaded content

Market March 6, 2019

South Korean securities firms are seeking to solidify their presence in both local and overseas real estate markets this year by clinching licenses as real estate trust operators while expanding territories in the overseas property market. On Sunday, the Financial Services Commission granted preliminary licenses to three securities companies.They join 11 real estate trust operators, which are all brokerage houses. The three are also the first few to obtain licenses in 10 years.The three firms ar

Market March 5, 2019

South Korean securities firms saw their local branch network fall below 1,000 in late 2018, with the rise of mobile trading infrastructure here, data showed Monday.According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of brick-and-mortar branches of 55 securities firms with at least one business unit here came to 979 at the end of last year. This is 46 branches less than the previous year.  Along with the shrinking branch network, the number of employees at the firms declined

Market March 4, 2019

Analysts recommend stocks related to new industries and technologies for investors mulling to expand their investment portfolios this year, with the latest rally in the Seoul bourses boosted by a foreign buying spree clouding judgments. The main keywords are electric vehicle, 5G, and content streaming services, they say.  Among them, the EV battery market is projected to expand 30 percent annually for a decade, according to Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.Ana

Market March 1, 2019

Share prices of North Korea-related businesses on the Seoul bourses took a brutal hit Thursday on news of failed nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea, while defense shares surged.The South Korean stock market and the won plunged Thursday, with the benchmark Kospi closing 1.8 percent lower from the previous closing, the biggest one-day fall since Oct. 23, and the won slipping 0.5 percent against the US greenback.  Once soaring shares of South Korean firms with business ties to

Market March 1, 2019

The South Korean stock market, the Korean won and bond prices lost ground Thursday following the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which ended without any agreement contrary to widespread anticipation for a breakthrough.The nation’s main bourse Kospi closed 1.76 percent or 39.35 points lower from the previous trading day at 2,195.44, while the Kosdaq ended 2.8 percent lower at 731.25. The Kospi marked its biggest daily percentage loss since late

Market Feb. 28, 2019

South Korean investors have been turning their heads toward funds that invest in Vietnamese stocks, which have been boasting a strong presence among foreign funds, market data showed Thursday, as a summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea was held in the Southeast Asian country.Sixteen South Korea-based investment funds established with a balance of more than 1 billion won ($892,000) saw net inflows of 109.8 billion won over the past three months as of Tuesday, according to financial

Market Feb. 28, 2019

North Korea has taken the Hanoi summit between US President Donald Trump and its leader Kim Jong-un this week as an apt opportunity to express its interest in Vietnam’s market reform of “doi moi,” amid divided opinions among experts here whether the economic model “fits the mold.”Vietnam, a socialist nation, is often remarked for its economic development, after it successfully promoted a slew of market-oriented reforms in the 1980s and ’90s, recuperating from the damages of the 1954-75 Vietnam W

North Korea Feb. 27, 2019

Stocks of South Korea’s solar energy-related businesses rose Monday on the latest reports that China might be mulling changes to a major solar power subsidy policy announced last year. A meeting between China’s National Energy Administration and companies involved in the solar energy industry took place last week and participants discussed whether subsidies for utility-scale projects would be renewed, reports said.  The subsidies were largely halted in June 2018, resulting in lo

Market Feb. 25, 2019

The total dividend payments by listed companies in South Korea are likely to exceed 30 trillion won ($26.7 billion) this year, data showed Sunday, reaching a record high in light of mounting pressure from the country’s largest investor, the National Pension Service, to raise their dividend payouts.The total cash dividends of 612 Kospi- and Kosdaq-listed companies that have disclosed figures for 2018 as of Sunday amounted to 27.5 trillion won, according to Seoul-based financial data provide

Market Feb. 24, 2019

With the US-North Korea summit scheduled to take place in Hanoi this week, North Korea-related stocks have been buoyed by the latest conciliatory mood, and a rally is forecast into the future. Shares of South Korean resort operator Ananti, an operator of a resort at Kumgangsan in the North, was among the most traded shares on the Kosdaq bourse last week, with its weekly transactions amounting to nearly 705.3 billion won ($626.9 million), according to the Korea Exchange. The firm’s shares c

Market Feb. 24, 2019