The Korea Times

Korean ETFs accelerate global push with listings planned in Hong Kong, US

As Korea’s stock market rally continues to draw global attention, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the country’s benchmark index as well as chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to debut in overseas markets including Hong Kong and the United States, industry officials said Monday. Hong Kong-based CSOP Asset Management plans to list a KOSPI 200 ETF on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the second half of the year, which would mark the first ETF in the market directly tracking Korea’s benchmark index. The exchange already hosts leveraged ETFs tied separately to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which have attracted around 2.4 trillion won ($1.75 billion) and 7.9 trillion won in assets, respectively. “The introduction of a KOSPI 200 ETF could further improve overseas investors’ access to Korean equities,” said Lim Eun-hye, an analyst at Samsung Securities, adding that demand for Korean assets could continue expanding among Hong Kong pension funds and institutional investors. Meanwhile, in the U.S., leveraged ETF provider Leverage Shares has filed with the U.S.

May 26, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korean ETFs accelerate global push with listings planned in Hong Kong, US

Economy

Korea's chip-led rally creates unexpected gains for farms, schools

As Korea’s stock market barrels through record highs on the back of the semiconductor rally, the boom is creating an unlikely windfall that extends far beyond the trading floor, into farms and schools. Behind it are two earmarked taxes that automatically rise in line with trading activity and financial firms’ earnings. But the surge is also exposing a policy dilemma. Critics have argued that these funds were already taking in more money than they could realistically spend. Now, with the market rally expected to generate tens of trillions of won in additional tax revenue, debate is growing over how to handle the overflow — and whether the country’s decades-old tax structure still makes sense, industry officials said Sunday. Unlike broad-based taxes such as income and corporate levies that flow into the government’s general budget, the special rural development tax and education tax are purpose-specific ones designed to fund designated policy areas. The rural development tax, introduced in 1994 after Korea opened its agricultural market to foreign competition, aims to support rur

May 25, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea's chip-led rally creates unexpected gains for farms, schools

Economy

Kosdaq jumps nearly 5% on state-backed fund optimism, while KOSPI takes breather

The tech-heavy Kosdaq surged nearly 5 percent on Friday on optimism surrounding the new state-backed investment fund aimed at advanced industries like artificial intelligence and semiconductors, while the benchmark KOSPI, which posted a sharp rebound a day earlier, moved into a consolidation phase with slight gains. The KOSPI opened at 7,873.12, up 0.74 percent from the previous session, and traded largely flat through the day before closing at 7,847.71, up 0.41 percent. Samsung Electronics briefly climbed above the 300,000-won ($197) mark early in the session, setting an all-time high before reversing course to close down 2.34 percent at 292,500 won. SK hynix, meanwhile, edged up 0.05 percent to finish at 1,941,000 won. The KOSPI has seen heightened volatility since briefly surpassing the 8,000 mark during intraday trading on May 15. After breaking through the milestone, the benchmark index reversed sharply and closed the session down more than 6 percent to finish in the 7,400 range. The turbulence continued in the following sessions, with the KOSPI falling to as low as 7,053.84 intrad

May 22, 2026By Park Han-sol

Kosdaq jumps nearly 5% on state-backed fund optimism, while KOSPI takes breather

Policy

State-backed AI fund sees sellouts amid strong interest, but returns remain uncertain

Korea’s state-backed investment fund targeting next-generation industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) is drawing strong interest as investors flocked to banks and brokerages to secure allocations on Friday, the first day of public subscriptions. Within hours, online quotas at major platforms were fully subscribed, with some selling out just 10 minutes after the 8 a.m. opening. According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country’s top financial regulator, 522.4 billion won ($344 million), about 87 percent of this year’s 600 billion won retail allocation, had already been taken up by Friday afternoon. Yet despite the buying rush, experts warn that the fund’s eventual returns remain far from guaranteed since its structure effectively locks investors’ money away for five years — a lengthy commitment in fast-moving technology sectors. They pointed to earlier policy funds that delivered underwhelming returns. The fund is part of the 150 trillion won Korea National Growth Fund program launched late last year as one of President Lee Jae Myung’s key economic i

May 22, 2026By Park Han-sol

State-backed AI fund sees sellouts amid strong interest, but returns remain uncertain

Banking & Finance

SC Bank Korea expands premium lifestyle services from golf lessons to children's education

Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea said Thursday that its latest lifestyle-focused offerings for high net worth clients included a masterclass featuring golf legend Pak Se-ri. Building on the success of the program, which is tailored for affluent customers, the lender is now looking to extend its premium program to their children’s education. On May 15, the bank invited ultrahigh net worth clients and prospective customers with more than 1 billion won ($664,000) in assets to a special session with Pak, who shared her insights on sports, leadership and performance. One of the event’s highlights was when a handful of attendees selected through an on-site drawing received personalized coaching from the golf star. Having wrapped up the masterclass, the bank will next launch its 2026 Global Future Leader Program for its clients’ children from July 31 to Aug. 2. The mentoring camp will bring together undergraduates from the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge with 40 middle and high school students whose parents hold more than 500 million won in assets and deposits at SC Bank

May 21, 2026By Park Han-sol

SC Bank Korea expands premium lifestyle services from golf lessons to children's education

Policy

Head of financial regulator vows to overhaul lending system for low-credit borrowers

As part of the government’s broader push to expand access to mainstream lending for vulnerable and lower-credit borrowers, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is set to launch a task force next month aimed at reshaping a finance system that has long favored super-prime clients, its chairman said Thursday. During a press conference, FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon said government efforts have so far focused largely on emergency relief measures for people pushed outside the institutional lending system, including state-led debt relief programs and credit forgiveness initiatives. “But now, we plan to go a step further. We want to address the underlying structures that continue to create these social and economic vulnerabilities in the first place,” he said. The task force will be divided into four working groups. Its agenda includes ways to embed inclusive finance more deeply into corporate governance — such as the appointment of chief inclusive finance officers — as well as reviewing whether rigid prudential regulations can be made more flexible to better support underserved borro

May 21, 2026By Park Han-sol

Head of financial regulator vows to overhaul lending system for low-credit borrowers

Business

Public Procurement Service deepens cooperation with IDB to support reform in Latin America

Korea’s Public Procurement Service (PPS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at deepening cooperation in public procurement across Latin America and the Caribbean, the agency said Wednesday. The MOU, signed by PPS Vice Administrator Kang Sung-min and André Soares, chief of the office of the presidency at the IDB at the PPS’ Seoul regional office, seeks to expand the sharing of Korea’s digital procurement expertise while supporting reform efforts across the region. The renewed partnership builds on the first phase of cooperation between the two sides, which began in 2023. Under the initial agreement, the PPS and the IDB supported e-procurement development and institutional capacity-building efforts in countries including Honduras, El Salvador and Panama. The two organizations also jointly hosted the International Public Procurement Workshop twice, bringing together 39 senior officials from 14 Latin American and Caribbean nations to exchange insights on global procurement trends and policies supporting small and mediu

May 20, 2026By Park Han-sol

Public Procurement Service deepens cooperation with IDB to support reform in Latin America

Economy

Financial firms face oversight pressure over rising consumer complaints

Financial authorities are stepping up efforts to strengthen consumer protection by urging financial firms to take a more proactive approach to managing customer complaints before disputes escalate, industry officials said Wednesday. As part of the broader regulatory push, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has requested major banks, brokerages, insurers and card issuers to submit detailed reports by this week on the status of their complaint and dispute cases, along with plans to reduce them. It marks the first time the financial watchdog has systematically gathered both complaint data and company-led response strategies across the industry. Under the new guidelines, firms are being asked to assess their complaint-handling workloads across departments and call centers, including the number of cases processed per employee, while also drawing up semiannual plans to reduce consumer grievances. Additionally, companies are expected to analyze whether increases in complaints are structural or temporary in nature and establish quarterly and annual reduction targets accordingly. “The goal

May 20, 2026By Park Han-sol

Financial firms face oversight pressure over rising consumer complaints

Economy

Rate jitters, controversies, weak earnings deepen slump in Korea's biotech stocks

While the benchmark KOSPI has surged to fresh highs over the past month, powered by a semiconductor-led rally, biotech shares on the secondary Kosdaq bourse largely continue to struggle to regain momentum, industry officials said Tuesday. Investor sentiment surrounding Korean biotech stocks appears to have weakened amid a combination of renewed rate jitters, sector-specific controversies and lackluster earnings. The contrast has become increasingly stark in recent trading sessions, with many of the Kosdaq’s heavyweight biotech names lagging behind the broader market rebound. Sam Chun Dang Pharm, once the bourse’s largest company by market capitalization, closed at 365,500 won ($242), Tuesday, down 2.14 percent from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. Other major stocks including ABL Bio, PharmaResearch, LigaChem Biosciences, Oscotec and HLB also traded lower. Market watchers note that one of the biggest pressures weighing on the sector is the growing expectation that global interest rates could remain elevated for longer due to persistent inflation and oil-price pr

May 19, 2026By Park Han-sol

Rate jitters, controversies, weak earnings deepen slump in Korea's biotech stocks

Banking & Finance

Citibank Korea, Korea Eximbank back KoMiCo's US chip expansion with $100 mil. financing

Citibank Korea said Tuesday that it will jointly provide a $100 million syndicated financing package with the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea to support semiconductor equipment parts maker KoMiCo’s expansion in the United States. KoMiCo is known for its precision cleaning and advanced coating technologies for semiconductor equipment components, supplying essential parts and services for increasingly sophisticated chip production. The company counts major global chipmakers among its key clients. The funding will support facility expansion and operations at KoMiCo’s U.S. subsidiaries in Austin, Phoenix and Hillsboro, Oregon — key semiconductor clusters located near manufacturing sites operated by leading chip companies. According to Citibank, the investment is expected to strengthen KoMiCo’s foothold in the U.S. while also helping bolster the position of Korean suppliers within the global semiconductor value chain. Beyond the latest financing support, the lender has also assisted KoMiCo’s overseas expansion growth in markets including Taiwan, Singapore and the Czech Republi

May 19, 2026By Park Han-sol

Park Han-sol

Read more

Korean ETFs accelerate global push with listings planned in Hong Kong, US

Korea's chip-led rally creates unexpected gains for farms, schools

Kosdaq jumps nearly 5% on state-backed fund optimism, while KOSPI takes breather

State-backed AI fund sees sellouts amid strong interest, but returns remain uncertain

SC Bank Korea expands premium lifestyle services from golf lessons to children's education

Head of financial regulator vows to overhaul lending system for low-credit borrowers

Public Procurement Service deepens cooperation with IDB to support reform in Latin America

Financial firms face oversight pressure over rising consumer complaints

Rate jitters, controversies, weak earnings deepen slump in Korea's biotech stocks

Citibank Korea, Korea Eximbank back KoMiCo's US chip expansion with $100 mil. financing

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