SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s benchmark stock index surged past the 4,000 mark for the first time on Monday, a milestone that has energized investors and set off new warnings that the market may be overheating. The Kospi has soared nearly 18 percent in October alone, repeatedly setting record highs in recent weeks. [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s main stock index has surged faster than any other in the Group of 20 nations this year, propelled by foreign investors betting heavily on the country’s dominant semiconductor industry and other major blue-chip companies. The benchmark Kospi index has climbed 68.5 percent since Jan. 2, adding 1,643 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s central bank is signaling that any won-pegged stablecoins introduced into the domestic market should be issued through regulated banks, warning that private issuers could threaten financial stability and weaken monetary control. Stablecoins could “unlock new possibilities” for the economy, the Bank of Korea said in a report [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Relying too heavily on construction investment to stimulate South Korea’s economy could backfire, the Bank of Korea cautioned in a new report, citing Japan’s decades-long struggle with sluggish growth after its asset bubble burst. In a study released Sunday titled “Lessons from Japan and China’s Prolonged Weakness in Construction Investment,” [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Trading activity on South Korea’s main stock market has climbed to its highest level in more than four years, propelled by a powerful rebound in semiconductor shares and renewed retail and foreign investor interest. Average daily turnover on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index stood at 16.6 trillion won ($11.5 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit will turn the quiet, temple-dotted city of Gyeongju into a theater of global power politics. South Korea, long wedged between the gravitational pulls of Washington and Beijing, suddenly finds itself not as an observer, but as host—and potential broker—of an uneasy regional order. For [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean high school graduates who fail to secure employment within three months of finishing school face dramatically lower chances of landing stable, well-paying jobs, according to new research released Thursday. The study, conducted by the Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI), analyzed 792 high school graduates who did not pursue [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — As negotiations over tariff reductions and investment pledges continue between Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo, The Wall Street Journal has cast doubt on the scale and practicality of the enormous investment commitments reportedly sought by the Trump administration. In an editorial published Tuesday, the paper warned that the administration’s demand — [...]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top economic policymakers gathered in Washington this week, pressing to finalize a landmark trade agreement that could redefine the industrial and strategic alignment between Seoul and Washington. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met Thursday for what officials described as an “in-depth” two-hour discussion [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top policy aide to President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that the government is considering a comprehensive overhaul of real estate taxation — including possible hikes in property holding taxes — as it moves to rein in surging home prices in Seoul and surrounding regions. Kim Yong-beom, the [...]