South Korean stocks rebounded Thursday as investors sought oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather the previous session. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 5.86 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 3,177.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 467 to 383. Foreigners sold a net 147 billion won, and insti

Market April 22, 2021

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled compared to a year earlier on a base effect and an improved product mix. Net profit for the three months that ended in March jumped to 1.52 trillion won ($1.36 billion) from 552.68 billion won a year ago, the company said in a statement. The net result exceeded the median forecast of 1.32 trillion won by local brokerages. In the first quarter, Hyundai suspended some of its assembly lines in Korea due to shortages of p

Industry April 22, 2021

South Korean household goods and cosmetics maker LG Household & Health Care Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose more than 10 percent on robust sales despite the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 258.8 billion won ($231.9 million) in the January-March period, up 10.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit expanded 11 percent on-year to 370.6 billion won. Sales climbed 7.4 percent to 2.04 trillion won. The operating

Industry April 22, 2021

Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce its expanded lineup of customizable home appliances to global audiences next month as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Samsung sent media invitations on Wednesday for its BESPOKE HOME online event on May 11 to showcase its latest products and technologies that can enrich users' home experiences. BESPOKE is a brand promoted by Samsung that allows consumers to tailor their own configurations by mat

Industry April 22, 2021

New Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon promised Thursday to bring hope and vitality to a city plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic and matters of people's livelihoods. Oh said he would make five pledges to the nation's capital of 10 million during a virtual inauguration ceremony held two weeks after he took office. Those promises, he implied, are based on the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration to address the plight of small business owners in a pandemic and fix a turbulent housing market. "The R

Politics April 22, 2021

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans inched up in February from the previous month, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.33 percent at the end of February, up 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was up 0.1 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly bec

Economy April 22, 2021

The number of layer chickens raised in South Korea fell to the lowest in more than three years in the first quarter, affected by the outbreak of bird flu across the nation, data showed Thursday. The number of layer chickens reached 62.1 million as of end-March, down 14.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest number since the third quarter of 2017, when the number of such chickens came to 51 million. The number of ducks raised in the cou

Social Affairs April 22, 2021

The portion of South Korean exports settled using the country's currency inched down in 2020 from a year ago, data showed Thursday. The use of the won accounted for 2.5 percent of all export settlements last year, down 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The slight decline was attributed to Washington's economic sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program, which led to decreased use of the won in settling exports to the Middle East. Wo

Economy April 22, 2021

South Korean women have suffered employment strains more than men amid the pandemic as job posts in the in-person service segment, hard hit by the virus outbreak, sharply eroded, a report showed Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to married women in the labor force, compared with previous economic turmoil when married men suffered sharp job losses, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). The number of employed women aged between 25 and 54 declined

Economy April 22, 2021

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Noh Kyu-duk spoke by phone with acting US Assistant Secretary of State Sung Kim on Thursday and discussed Washington's policy review on North Korea. "The two sides noted that South Korea and the United States have closely been working together and coordinating on the course of the ongoing US policy review on North Korea, which is at its final stage," the ministry said in a release. Noh and Kim also agreed to continue consultations at every level

Foreign Affairs April 22, 2021

The volume of container cargo processed at South Korea's seaports rose 1.3 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2021 as global trade continued to recover from economic jitters sparked by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's oceans ministry said Thursday. Container cargo processed at the seaports reached 7.29 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-March period, rising from the previous year's 7.19 TEUs, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. TEU stands

Economy April 22, 2021

About 1 in 3 South Korean households raised pets in 2020, a survey showed Thursday, with the number of pet dogs and cats here reaching 8.6 million. The number of households raising pets was estimated at 6.38 million in 2020, up 8 percent from the previous year's 5.91 million, according to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The figure roughly translates into 28 percent of the country's 23 million households. The calculation was based on the annual surve

Social Affairs April 22, 2021

The daily turnover of South Korea's securities market soared more than 18 percent in the first quarter amid a stock market rally, data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Securities Depository, the daily amount of local stock and bond transactions settled by the agency averaged 30.7 trillion won ($27.5 billion) in the January-March period, up 18.5 percent from three months earlier. Compared with a year earlier, the daily turnover was up 6.9 percent. The average daily turnover of the count

Market April 22, 2021

South Korea has inoculated nearly 2 million people so far as the country ramps up its COVID-19 immunization drive by providing more shots and securing more doses. An accumulated 1,903,767 people were administered with their first shots as of Wednesday as part of the nationwide campaign that kicked off on Feb. 26, accounting for 3.66 percent of the country's 52 million population, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. An accumulated 60,622 people have been fully vaccinat

Social Affairs April 22, 2021

Five Army members and two Air Force officers tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. Four of the soldiers and the two officers tested positive after either their recent vacation or coming into close contact with civilians who were confirmed to have been infected later, according to the ministry. The remaining member is a soldier in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan, who had been in isolation after one of his colleagues tested positive, it added. The new v

Defense April 22, 2021