Cryptocurrency exchange UPbit held a developer conference on Dec. 3. There, the new Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information to become effective next year was discussed by experts.“According to the act, a tax rate of 20 percent will be applied to virtual assets starting
KOSPI rose 0.76 percent and closed at 2,696.22 points on Dec. 3, setting a new record for the third consecutive trading session.Institutional investors posted a net selling of 286.1 billion won whereas individual and foreign investors’ net buying totaled 228.9 billion won and 62.2 billion won, respe
The Bank of Korea announced on Nov. 19 that South Korea’s external financial assets increased US$66 billion in three months to hit an all-time high of US$1,806.2 billion at the end of September this year. Of those assets, securities investment increased US$38.3 billion to US$632.6 billion. In the th
Foreign currency deposits hit an all-time high based on an increasing U.S. dollar demand from both enterprises and individual investors.The Bank of Korea announced on Nov. 18 that residents’ foreign currency deposits in foreign exchange banks increased by US$7.87 billion to US$93.32 billion last mon
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Statistics Korea announced on Nov. 16 that land owned by foreigners increased from 71,575 lots (190,550,794 square meters) to 147,483 lots (248,666,253 square meters) from 2011 to 2019 and the official price of the land rose from 24,995.7 billio
The government and the ruling party are planning to revise the Commercial Act so that the exercise of voting rights by each major shareholder and affiliate person is limited to 3 percent of issued stocks during audit committee member appointment in a listed company. The Federation of Korean Industri
Korean companies have made big progress in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology.The number of EUV lithography-related patent applications filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) peaked at 88 in 2014 and reached 55 in 2018 and 50 in 2019, according to a KIPO report on pa
The Financial Supervisory Service announced on Nov. 9 that foreign investors net bought 1,062 billion won of KOSPI stocks and 296 billion won of KOSDAQ stocks last month. The combined purchase volume is this year’s high. This has to do with the won-dollar exchange rate, which dropped last month, and
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi tabled an amendment to the Local Tax Act on Nov. 8 in order to block speculative real estate transactions by foreigners. According to the amendment, house purchase by a non-resident foreigner is subject to a tax rate of 30 percent plus the current real
The Bank of Korea announced on Nov. 5 that South Korea’s current account surplus totaled US$10.21 billion in September this year to exceed US$10 billion for the first time since September 2018.South Korea posted a current account deficit of US$3.33 billion in April in the wake of COVID-19. However,
The Ministry of Justice announced on Nov. 2 that a total of 70,254 persons applied for refugee status recognition by South Korea from 1994 to August this year. In relation to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the number of such requests was approximately 1,000 in each of the first four months of this ye
The Russian embassy in Pyongyang said on Oct. 29 that North Korea issued a currency exchange order to foreigners, telling them to use the North Korean currency instead of the U.S. dollar and stopping receiving the U.S. dollar at the Taedonggang Diplomatic Club and foreigner-only stores in Pyongyang.
The foreign currency deposits of residents, which continued to increase based on overseas stock investments and economic uncertainties triggered by COVID-19, decreased for the first time in seven months.The Bank of Korea announced on Oct. 22 that the deposits added up to US$85.45 billion at the end
People Power Party lawmaker Kang Gi-yun remarked on Oct. 20 that Chinese account for more than 70 percent of foreigners who benefited from the national health insurance of South Korea from 2015 to June this year and a total of 3,442.2 billion won of national health insurance benefits went to foreign
The Bank of Korea announced on Oct. 8 that South Korea’s current account surplus was US$6.57 billion in August this year, up US$1.71 billion from a year ago. It remained in the black for the fourth consecutive month, its goods account surplus hit a nine-month high of US$7.01 billion, and its service
Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Authority said on Oct. 7 that it will hold a forum to improve the living environment of international residents in the IFEZ at Songdo Convensia in Songdo International City on Oct. 13.The authority has been trying to improve the residential environment of foreign re
The South Korean and Japanese governments agreed to implement special entry for entrepreneurs starting from Oct. 8.The Japanese government suspended the visa-free entry of South Koreans and nullified already issued visas on March 9 in order to block the spread of COVID-19. The South Korean governmen
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at sw.kang@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Asset market volatility heightened last week in response to concerns over a pause in policy momentum amid the US presidential election. Given that it is difficult for additional policies to emerge o
The Financial Services Commission announced on Sep. 24 that the five credit card companies of Shinhan, Hana, Woori, Kookmin and Lotte would launch overseas remittance services for non-residents and foreigners in March 2021 or later.The commission held a regular meeting the previous day and decided t
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on Sept. 24 that a total of 65 foreigners have been tested positive for COVID-19 after their negative test result submission this month. Concerns are mounting over false test results and the reliability of foreign COVID-19 testing institution