SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s economic growth ranking among major advanced and emerging economies plunged 10 spots in the second quarter from three months earlier as its recovery lost ground, data showed Tuesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded 0.6 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, compared with a 1.1 percent expansion for the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Daily credit card spending in South Korea hit a record high in the first half of this year, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign that plastic has become one of the most favored tools for payment. The amount of transactions processed through credit cards came to 1.76 trillion won (US$1.5 billion) a day [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Kakao Bank, South Korea’s second Internet-only bank, implemented a 500 billion won (US$441.9 million) capital increase on Tuesday as a part of a refinancing plan to bolster its lending business. Kakao Bank, launched in late July with paid-in capital of 300 billion won, has attracted about three million accounts [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — While the alleged development of a hydrogen bomb by North Korea is keeping the military on alert, Donald Trump’s allusions to a possible termination of the Korea – U.S. Free Trade Agreement is keeping the nation’s economy in a similar state. In the latest stream of news either decrying [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – A new study has claimed housing prices in Seoul are more expensive than London and Los Angeles, considering the average household incomes in each city. The study released by the Bank of Korea on Sunday shows the average housing price is over 10 times higher than the disposable annual income [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean builders’ business confidence touched a 19-month low in August due mainly to government measures to cool the housing market, a poll showed Monday. The construction business survey index (CBSI) stood at 74.2 last month, down 11.2 points from the previous month and at its lowest level since [...]
SEJONG, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s industrial output rose at the fastest pace in six months in July on gains in cars and electronic devices, government data showed Thursday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries climbed 1.9 percent on-month in July, turning around from a 0.5 percent on-month drop in [...]
SEOUL, Sep. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite earlier reports, SK Hynix officials have denied speculation that the South Korean memory chip maker is considering taking legal action against Toshiba as the Japanese conglomerate moves toward a deal with Western Digital, the South Korea media reported. Contrary to a number of reports in the South Korean [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A new international cruise terminal will be completed at the eastern port of Sokcho this week to accommodate a growing number of travelers coming to Korea through the coastal city, the oceans ministry said Wednesday. The port will be fully completed on Thursday with the commemorative ceremony scheduled for [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Banks in South Korea saw their financial health improve slightly in the second quarter of this year helped by modest gains in their profits, the financial regulator said Wednesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 18 commercial and state-run banks stood at 15.37 percent as of end-June, up 0.23 [...]