Foreign investors’ net purchase of South Korean stocks are estimated to go beyond 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in the first half of 2017, the highest since 2009, data showed Sunday. Their combined net purchase in the first-tier and second-tier stock markets reached 10.3 trillion won from January until Friday, according to data by Koscom, a market watcher launched by the Finance Ministry and the Korea Exchange.Of the total 10.3 trillion won, offshore net purchase in the main bourse amount

Market July 2, 2017

South Korea’s main bourse index touched 2,400 for the first time in its history in early morning trade Thursday, before closing at record-high.Opening at 2,396.81, up 0.6 percent from Wednesday’s close, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index surpassed 2,400 at around 9:50 a.m. Thursday.Following the historic touch, the Kospi closed at 2,395.66, up 0.55 percent from the day before. It marked the third this week that the Kospi hit an all-time high. Foreign and institutional in

Market June 29, 2017

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn has been at the vanguard of fostering business cooperation with the United States, years before uncertainties emerged upon the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has expressed skepticism toward the two countries’ free trade agreement.Kim’s ties with leading business figures in the US, including Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner, has made him one of the rare South Korean business representatives who is able to bridge the differences betwe

Industry June 28, 2017

The Composite Consumer Sentiment Index in South Korea hit a new high for the last six years and five months, data showed Tuesday. The CCSI reached 111.1 in June, up 3.1 points from the previous month, according to data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the highest since it recorded 111.4 in January 2011. The index surged for five consecutive months after dropping for three straight months to hit about an eight-year low in January, at 93.3.For nearly six years, the CCSI hovered at around 100, w

Economy June 27, 2017

The main bourse in South Korea resumed its record run in 11 trading days on Monday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Market Index closed at 2,388.66, up 0.42 percent, or 10.06 points from Friday closing. The index hit the record-high after it closed at the previous record at 2,381.69 on June 9. The Kospi inched close to the 2,400 mark by hitting its intraday high at 2,390.70 in the late afternoon trade.Offshore investors purchased shares valued at 34.1 billion won ($30 million) in total, while

Market June 26, 2017

The prolonged slump in crude oil prices may put a damper on the South Korean central bank’s anticipated monetary tightening, industry watchers said Monday. This came after oil prices spiraled to a record-low the previous week and the Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol picked the latest fluctuation on the oil price as one of the “external downside risks” in carrying out its monetary policy.“The prolonged crude slump has dampened the expectations for the inflation and normaliza

Market June 26, 2017

The Financial Supervisory Service said Sunday it has been in talks with the Financial Services Commission to raise the attention of the debts of the self-employed.The FSS and the FSC are reportedly focusing on breaking down the debts owed by the self-employed and helping the Moon Jae-in administration tackle and contain the rise of household debt. The government is set to announce a comprehensive measure against skyrocketing household debt in August.In doing so, the FSS is currently drawing up a

Market June 25, 2017

Item trading involving cash exchange is often seen as the culprit behind game-related crimes in South Korea, even causing cases of fraud or physical violence among game players. The feature is also behind the popularity of, or the gamers’ obsession with, South Korea‘s first-generation massively multiplayer online role-playing PC game “Lineage.”More recently, item trading has apparently become the deciding factor in the game developer’s stock prices.Ahead of the rele

Market June 22, 2017

The financial regulators launched a probe Wednesday on the massive short sellings of the game developer NCsoft the previous day, amid market concerns over alleged insider trading. On Tuesday, a day before the highly-anticipated release of the mobile game “Lineage M,” stocks of its developer NCsoft plunged 11.4 percent in the closing compared to Monday. This came on the heels of a hearsay circulating online at around 2:30 p.m. that the mobile version of the mega-hit PC game “Lin

Market June 21, 2017

South Korea’s stock markets are unlikely to be dampened despite foreign cash flight triggered by the MSCI’s plans to add China A Large Cap shares to its benchmark emerging markets index starting next year, according to the Financial Services Commission on Wednesday.The looming investors’ capital exodus of up to 4.3 trillion won ($3.76 billion) and reduction of their proportion in the emerging markets index by between 0.23 percent and 15.27 percent “will put little pressur

Market June 21, 2017

Kim Kyung-min, 27, was not aware of a pilot project by the Bank of Korea to reduce the use of coins until she was told by The Korea Herald.“Things would be convenient if I were able to receive change directly through my bank account,” Kim said, adding that carrying coins “can sometimes be a hassle.” Dubbed “Coinless Society,” the BOK’s project has got a lukewarm response from the public during its two months of operation. The project encourages users to

Market June 21, 2017

Korea Asset Management Corp. is building a track record of sharing knowledge abroad on nonperforming loan resolution.On Thursday, the state-run asset manager shared with a group of Vietnamese officials its know how on debt resolution and its experience of overcoming a financial crisis in 1998, during a session held in Busan.The firm has opened doors not only to offshore public representatives, but also academic circles. Students and faculty members from the Paris Dauphine University and Universi

Market June 19, 2017

The Fair Trade Commission filed a complaint with the prosecution Sunday against the head of local construction giant Booyoung Group for falsifying reports to the state-run antitrust agency, officials said.Booyoung Chairman Lee Joong-keun is accused of excluding seven companies being managed by his relatives from a list of the group’s subsidiaries, and possessing shares in six affiliates under borrowed names.The 76-year-old tycoon is the seventh-richest man in South Korea with unlisted stock asse

Industry June 18, 2017

Apartment prices in South Korea on average grew nearly three times faster than current household income over four years under the previous administration, data showed Sunday. The price of jeonse -- referring to deposits for a two-year lease of a house instead of monthly payments -- also rose sixfold compared to income over the cited four years. The average current monthly household income rose by 8.7 percent, from 3.93 million won ($3,470) at the end of 2012 to 4.27 million won at the end of 201

Market June 18, 2017

China has been striving to take the lead in reshaping regional and global economic governance by creating a fresh network that connects Eurasia and South Pacific through a multilateral development financing institution, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.In 2013, China’s President Xi Jinping expressed the country’s aim to leverage and realize its centerpiece foreign policy, the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Since 2015, China has encouraged 65 countries to partici

Market June 16, 2017