Korea Western Power Co. (KOWEPO) has issued US$300 million (353.85 billion won) worth of foreign currency bonds at the lowest level of spread among domestic power companies.KOWEPO announced on July 13 that it has issued 3-year international bonds worth US$300 million (353.85 billion won) with a coup

Korea Exchange (KRX) has decided to impose a 175 million won (US$148,495) fine on Bank of America Merrill Lynch's South Korean unit for violating its trading rules. Merrill Lynch’s Seoul branch reportedly served as a trading channel for U.S.-based Citadel Securities and has been suspected of dis

Foreigners bought both listed stocks and listed bonds at the same time in June. In particular, the foreign ownership of listed bonds reached a record high for two months in a row.Foreigners’ net investment in South Korean bonds came to 5.80 trillion won (US$4.91 billion) in June, according to data f

The Bank of Korea announced on July 15 that residents’ foreign currency deposits in foreign exchange banks increased by US$4.77 billion to US$70.38 billion last month. The deposits, which rebounded in May this year after falling for three months in a row, can be defined as those owned by local indiv

The combined market cap of pharmaceutical and bio firms listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market shrunk more than 4 trillion won (US$3.39 billion) this year.The market cap of pharmaceutical and biotech companies on the KOSDAQ market came to 28.90 trillion won (US$24.51 billion) as of the end of last mo

The U.S. bull market has strongly pushed up the global stock market, including South Korea. It seems that investors' attitude toward risk assets has improved as the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) implied that it would cut its benchmark interest rate again. There are still concerns over Japan’s expor

R.J. O'Brien & Associates LLC, the oldest and largest independent futures brokerage firm in the United States, is pushing into the South Korean derivatives trading market.The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said on July 11 that it approved a preliminary investment banking license plan from R

Foreign capital inflows into South Korean stocks and bonds hit a 17-month high last month.The South Korean securities market had US$4.78 billion (5.62 trillion won) worth foreign capital inflows in June, the largest amount in 17 months since January last year when US$5.22 billion (6.14 trillion won)

A recent survey has revealed that 34 South Korean listed companies have Japanese shareholders with a stake of more than 5 percent. Most of them are component suppliers in the electronics and auto industries which are the two pillars of the South Korean economy.Thirty four out of some 2,000 companies

A Cambodian court ruled in favor of World City Co. instead of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) in a trial on the "Camko City" case. Accordingly, the KDIC will have difficulty in recouping 650 billion won (US$549.45 million) worth of loans extended by Busan Savings Bank to World City, the pro

South Korea’s top steel company POSCO has become the first global steelmaker to issue sustainable bonds.POSCO announced on July 9 that it succeeded in issuing five-year environment, social and governance (ESG) bonds worth US$500 million (591.50 billion won) to investors around the world on July 8. T

The National Pension Service (NPS) will strengthen the investment functions of its overseas offices, a high-ranking NPS official said on July 8.This means the NPS will raise the proportion of overseas investment in its total investment assets. “The NPS is planning to transfer more investment functio

Hyundai Motor Group has brought the highest return to investors among the top five business groups in South Korea so far this year.The group’s listed affiliates recorded a price earnings ratio of 15.22 percent this year as of July 4, the highest among the country’s five biggest business groups, incl

South Korean investors acquired overseas real estate assets worth 7 trillion won (US$5.93 billion) in the first half of this year, a new half-yearly record. Korean securities companies and asset managers are aggressively buying global properties, mainly in Europe.The combined amount of overseas real

The top 20 companies in the secondary KOSDAQ market have lost nearly 12 trillion won (US$10.24 billion) in market value so far this year. This is because most of the biotech, media and entertainment stocks, which rank among the top in terms of market cap and are the three pillars of the KOSDAQ marke

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Choi Jong-ku said it is possible to sell Asiana Airlines Inc. to a buyer with shortcomings after making up for its weak points. However, he denied the possibility of hiving off of the airline's subsidiaries. Currently, Kumho Industrial Co. and credito

With Japan’s economic retaliation measures straining relations between Japan and South Korea, the total amount of loans given out to South Korean entities by Japanese banks plunged 3 trillion won (US$2.56 billion) from 21 trillion won (US$17.93 billion) to 18 trillion won (US$15.36 billion) this yea

There have continuously been rumors that foreign financial companies would leave South Korea. As foreign banks have increased dividend payouts despite low profitability, many suspect that they are preparing to leave the South Korean market.A case in point is SC Cheil Bank which is wholly owned by U.

Korea’s listed companies are expected to show worse results in the second quarter earnings season, which begins with Samsung Electronics’ tentative result announcement. Although expectations have been lowered amid global economic slowdown, major companies in such key industries as semiconductor, ste

The Bank of Korea announced on July 3 that South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$403.07 billion as of the end of last month, showing a month-on-month increase of US$1.1 billion.Last month, the central banks’ foreign currency-denominated assets rose in value in terms of the U.S. dollar d