SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Hana Bank, a major commercial bank in South Korea, has partnered with Circle, which manages USDC, a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, in a bid to explore stablecoin business opportunities, officials said Monday. The partnership stems from a comprehensive business agreement signed between the two companies in [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s central bank said Monday it has signed a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its Vietnamese counterpart, the State Bank of Vietnam, to promote bilateral partnership. The updated MOU, initially signed in 2004, aims to deepen cooperation in various areas between the two central banks, including monetary policy [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Following the recent U.S.-South Korea trade agreement, South Korea’s shipbuilding stocks have seen a significant rise, propelling related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to top performance rankings. The surge in stock prices has drawn substantial interest from individual investors, sparking speculation on whether the upward trend will continue. As of August 8, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea recorded its largest-ever current account surplus in June, driven by rising exports of semiconductors and other key items, central bank data showed Thursday. The country’s current account surplus reached US$14.27 billion in June, up from $10.14 billion the previous month, according to the data compiled by the [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has entered a new era of trade uncertainty as the United States officially begins implementing President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” policy, levying a 15% duty on a wide array of Korean exports starting midnight on August 7 Eastern Time. The tariffs, part of Trump’s broader strategy to realign [...]
SEOUL, August 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top 100 publicly listed companies have significantly ramped up shareholder returns, with total payouts rising by more than 35% over the past two years, according to new data released Wednesday by corporate tracker CEO Score. The report found that shareholder returns — including dividends and share buybacks [...]
SEOUL, August 6 (Korea Bizwire) – A new study by South Korea’s National Pension Research Institute has challenged a widely held assumption that the country’s economic and labor trends will eventually converge with those of advanced economies like the United States and Japan. In a report titled “A Study on the Convergence of Demographic and [...]
SEOUL, August 5 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s major banks are ramping up restrictions on home-backed loans and jeonse (long-term rental deposit) financing, signaling a coordinated move to cool the property market and manage household debt more tightly. On August 5, Hana Bank announced it would halt new applications for mortgage and jeonse loans scheduled for [...]
SEOUL, August 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s recent breakthrough trade agreement with the United States—touted as a major diplomatic win—may offer temporary relief on tariffs but leaves the door open for further pressure from Washington on sensitive trade issues, experts warn. The deal, struck on July 30, outlines a sweeping $450 billion investment and [...]
SEOUL, August 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s emergency consumer coupon program, launched to revitalize local economies, achieved a 90% disbursement rate within just 11 days of rollout, but has since come under scrutiny over illegal cash conversions and human rights concerns related to the card’s design. The “Livelihood Recovery Consumer Coupons,” issued in prepaid [...]