SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s construction downturn is continuing to weigh heavily on the nation’s banks, with major lenders reporting persistently high levels of bad loans tied to the troubled sector. According to third-quarter disclosures released on Wednesday, the country’s five major banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — SK Securities on Tuesday released South Korea’s first financial-sector report aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), marking a significant step toward integrating biodiversity and natural-capital risks into mainstream financial reporting. TNFD, launched in 2021, promotes global standards for assessing and publicly disclosing how companies depend on and [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Two senior Coupang executives sold tens of millions of won worth of company stock shortly after a massive data breach occurred — but before the company acknowledged the incident — raising concerns about potential insider trading. According to a Dec. 2 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s venture capital market is showing signs of revival after a prolonged slump, with third-quarter investment surpassing 4 trillion won for the first time since the pandemic era. The rebound has raised hopes that the country’s startup ecosystem may finally be emerging from its downturn. According to quarterly data [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Dollar deposits by companies at local banks rose at the fastest pace of the year in November as firms accelerated efforts to increase their dollar holdings amid a strengthening U.S. dollar, industry data showed Sunday. Companies’ outstanding dollar deposits at five major commercial banks, including KB Kookmin Bank and [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Merchants in Seoul’s historic Namdaemun import market say the sharp fall of the Korean won has pushed them to the brink, driving up wholesale prices and dampening consumer demand as the currency sinks to its weakest level since the 2009 global financial crisis. On Tuesday, the won briefly touched 1,467.7 [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s average household income rose for the ninth consecutive quarter in the third quarter of this year, partly driven by a sharp increase in transfer income, government data showed Thursday. The average monthly income of households came to 5.44 million won (US$3,699) in the July-September period, up 3.5 [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Wednesday that South Korea stands ready to take “decisive action” to curb excessive volatility in the foreign-exchange market, as the won continues to face downward pressure against the U.S. dollar. “The won tends to react more sensitively than other currencies,” Koo told reporters, adding that [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean consumer confidence climbed to its highest level in eight years this month, buoyed by easing trade uncertainty and stronger-than-expected economic data, according to a Bank of Korea survey released Tuesday. The central bank’s Composite Consumer Sentiment Index (CCSI) rose to 112.4 in November, up 2.6 points from October [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The International Monetary Fund held its forecast for South Korea’s 2025 economic growth at 0.9%, saying the economy has entered a recovery phase in the second half of the year and is positioned for a more meaningful rebound in 2026, according to the finance ministry. The projection is unchanged from [...]