SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean shares breached the 2,300-point mark for the first time ever as foreign investors scooped up major tech stocks amid sound corporate earnings, bucking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said. The Korean won sharply rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) [...]
SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – A thaw in deadlocked relations between South Korea and China over the deployment of an advanced U.S. ballistic missile defense system is showing signs of resuscitating vitality in exchanges in the public and private sectors between the two countries. Strained bilateral relations look somewhat mitigated of late as newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in is actively trying [...]
SEJONG, May 18 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s overseas direct investment hit a record high in the first quarter of this year on increased demand for mergers and acquisitions in the retail and information service sectors, government data showed Thursday. The overall overseas direct investment totaled US$10.71 billion in the January-March period, up 30.2 percent from $8.23 billion tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by [...]
SEOUL, May 15 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s household loans extended by banks rose 9.8 percent in April from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 718.6 trillion won (US$637 billion) as of end-April, compared with 654.3 trillion won from a year earlier, according [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The latest steps by U.S. President Donald Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could undercut the price competitiveness of South Korean exports to America that are shipped through Mexico, according to experts Saturday. The concern came as the Trump administration is anticipated to kick off official steps to renegotiate [...]
SEOUL, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea Investment Corp. (KIC), South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, said Friday it posted US$4 billion in investment gains last year. The sovereign fund — which handles $110.8 billion in assets under management — reported a return ratio of 4.35 percent from its investments in overseas stocks and bonds for [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday that South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in is likely to pursue continuity in economic and fiscal policies. Steffen Dyck, senior credit officer at Moody’s, said there might be a shift in focus in sme structural reform areas, such as labor markets and social security. “We expect that [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Asiana Airlines Inc. said Wednesday its net profit more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier on currency gains. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 jumped to 96 billion won (US$85 million) from 44 billion won a year earlier, the company said in [...]
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and China will both be hurt economically by the fallout caused by the deployment of the advanced U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula, a local think tank said Wednesday. According to the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI), Beijing’s retaliation against Seoul’s decision to station a Terminal [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s exports to the United States are expected to suffer losses as much as US$17 billion over five years if the two nations renegotiate a bilateral free trade deal, according to a report on Sunday. South Korea’s businesses remain concerned after U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview last week that he will either renegotiate or scrap the free trade deal with South Korea, calling it “horrible.” If tariff [...]