SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean regulators said Tuesday they had broken up a sophisticated stock manipulation scheme involving some of the country’s wealthiest business operators and financial insiders, in what is being billed as the first major case under President Lee Jae-myung’s new crackdown on market abuses. The Financial Services Commission, the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s semiconductor rally is spilling over into smaller suppliers, as investor optimism over improving memory prices boosts not only giants like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix but also makers of materials, components and equipment. On Monday, Samsung Electronics closed up 4.77 percent at 83,500 won, touching an intraday [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean civic groups have accused two leading food delivery platforms of unfair and misleading practices tied to their popular “one-person meal” promotions, filing complaints with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). On Thursday, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), and the Korea Consumer Federation [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to lower its benchmark interest rate for the first time under President Donald Trump is fueling cautious optimism in Seoul’s financial markets, with analysts predicting improved liquidity and renewed foreign inflows — but also warning of lingering risks tied to trade negotiations. On Wednesday [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea could soon face a tipping point where traditional monetary policy loses its potency, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong warned Friday, citing the country’s rapid demographic decline as a structural risk that could push interest rates toward their effective floor. Speaking in Washington at the International Monetary [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s presidential office said Tuesday it will not be rushed into signing a trade agreement with Washington, cautioning that a deal struck hastily could undermine the interests of Korean companies at a delicate moment in negotiations. Talks have been ongoing since late July, when the two governments reached [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean shares extended their record-breaking run on Tuesday, closing more than 1 percent higher on strong foreign inflows and a surge in chip stocks. The Korean won also strengthened sharply against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 42.31 points, or 1.24 percent, to [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Koreans in their 40s and 50s are turning to individual Treasury bonds as a preferred tool for retirement planning, according to new data from Mirae Asset Securities, the sole distributor of the instruments. Figures show that 39.3 percent of investors in such bonds over [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is facing intensifying “agflation,” as surging agricultural prices add new pressure to household costs and expose deep structural weaknesses in the nation’s farming and distribution systems. Consumer prices for agricultural, livestock and fisheries products jumped 4.8 percent in August from a year earlier, the sharpest increase in [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s corporate bond market is showing renewed strength as expectations of interest rate cuts fuel demand for higher-yielding securities, driving credit spreads to their lowest levels of the year. According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association and Infomax, the spread between three-year AA- corporate bonds and equivalent [...]