Economy - The Korea Times

Silver joins gold as go-to investment as prices surge

Silver is rapidly emerging alongside gold as a favored safe-haven asset as intensifying geopolitical tensions and a weakening U.S. dollar drive precious metal prices, market watchers said Tuesday. The rally reflects growing global demand for safe-haven assets, prompted by heightened military and diplomatic frictions in Europe and the Arctic region. The latest include tensions surrounding Greenland, Venezuela and Iran. According to financial market data, silver banking accounts sold by Shinhan Bank posted a combined balance of 346.3 billion won ($260 million), Friday. This is a sharp increase from 75.3 billion won as of end-August last year. The number of Shinhan's silver banking accounts surpassed 30,000 for the first time this month, standing at 30,891 as of Friday. Account numbers had remained at around 16,000 for several years since 2022, but they began picking up through the first half of last year before accelerating sharply in the second half. The investment frenzy has been fueled by a historic rally in silver prices. On Saturday (local time), international silver prices surpassed $1

Jan 28, 2026By Lee Kyung-min

Silver joins gold as go-to investment as prices surge

Fake financial consultancies rampant as KOSPI, Kosdaq rally

Choi ji-sung, an office worker in his 40s, said he heard about some of his colleagues almost losing their savings overnight. “They are not reckless people,” he said. “They genuinely believed they were receiving professional guidance. After hearing what happened to them, I immediately withdrew from several online investment groups.” Choi said two of his acquaintances had been drawn into what they thought were private consulting chatrooms run by major brokerages. They said the operators provided daily market commentary and trading tips while claiming to manage assets for high net worth retail investors or large institutional investors. “At first, they said, they thought, ‘What was the harm in investing 300,000 won ($207)?’ Then they saw the returns coming close to 100 percent of the initial investment. Then they thought, ‘If the seed money is bigger, so would be the returns.’ That’s how they got lured in,” Choi explained. His colleages put together 1 million won, but the responses from the “consultants” were not as quick as before, and said to wait. Feeling somethin

Jan 27, 2026By Lee Kyung-min

Fake financial consultancies rampant as KOSPI, Kosdaq rally

Brokerage houses lower borrowing rates to woo investors amid stock boom

Kim, a retail investor, says he is considering whether to switch to a different brokerage house offering a lower interest rate than his current brokerage, where he took out loans to invest in the bullish domestic stock market. “Companies used to offer relatively similar rates, but increasingly they compete to offer better rates that are very tempting for small investors who use borrowed money to buy stocks and want to minimize interest costs,” Kim said, declining to provide further details. Kim’s case highlights the growing competition among securities firms seeking to attract investors relying on brokerage loans to capitalize on gains during the accelerated rally of Korean stocks. According to industry officials, Tuesday, brokerage houses charged interest rates of around 5 percent on margin loans, with borrowing periods varying by stock from 30 to 90 days. Margin loans are secured, flexible loans from brokerages that allow investors to borrow money using existing stocks, bonds or cash as collateral. Rates have been falling as the benchmark KOSPI reached an unprecedented 5,000 point

Jan 27, 2026By Yi Whan-woo

Brokerage houses lower borrowing rates to woo investors amid stock boom

Gold banking investment surges amid record-breaking prices

Gold investments through banks are surging as the precious metal sees prices hitting record highs, market watchers said Monday. The rapid rise in gold demand comes amid growing investor appetite for safe-haven assets as geopolitical uncertainty continues and the U.S. dollar weakens. According to financial market data, gold banking accounts at KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Woori had a combined balance of over 2.1 trillion won ($1.4 billion) as of Thursday. This is up 11.4 percent from the end of last month, when it stood at over 1.9 trillion won. The combined balance surpassed 2 trillion won just 10 months after it first crossed the trillion-won mark in March last year. International gold prices have recently exceeded $5,000 per ounce for the first time amid intensifying investor expectation that gold could be a hedge against future financial shocks. There is also a rise in gold bars sold at banks. From Jan. 1 to 22, the country’s top five banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup — sold a combined 71.67 billion won’s worth of gold bars, about double the 35 billion won in gold

Jan 26, 2026By Lee Kyung-min

Gold banking investment surges amid record-breaking prices

Leadership vacuum feared to undermine budget ministry's policy drive

The Lee Jae Myung administration’s ability to spearhead fiscal reform is facing a major setback, hamstrung by a leadership vacuum at the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, which is feared to lead to an overall delay in economic policy drives, market watchers said Monday. They say it could take at least one to two months for a new candidate to clear the National Assembly confirmation process, subsequently pushing back the government’s plan to frontload 75 percent of the state budget of over 727 trillion won ($505 billion) in the first half of this year. Central to the issue is former scandal-fraught minister nominee Lee Hye-hoon. President Lee withdrew the nomination late Sunday as allegations mounted, including workplace abuse, real estate speculation, preferential housing subscriptions and family-related advantages in education, university admissions and employment. Had the nomination been railroaded, the Lee administration would have been under constant pressure, since the compromised leadership and widespread backlash would have undermined functions of coordinatin

Jan 26, 2026By Lee Kyung-min

Leadership vacuum feared to undermine budget ministry's policy drive

No. of overseas capital gains taxpayers surges amid US equity boom

The number of Korea’s retail investors paying capital gains tax on overseas stock investments more than doubled last year, driven by a strong U.S. equity rally, as policymakers remain concerned about capital outflows and currency volatility, market watchers said Friday. The surge reflects the shift in retail investor behavior since the COVID-19 pandemic. The domestic capital market lagged far behind its global peers, pushing many toward U.S. "Magnificent Seven" stocks: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla. According to data submitted by the National Tax Service to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party, 523,709 investors filed overseas stock capital gains tax returns for income earned in 2024. This is a 152.7 percent jump from 207,231 a year earlier and the highest level on record. Under the law, investors with overseas stock holdings must report their net annual profits to the tax agency in May of the following year. They pay a 22 percent capital gains tax on amounts exceeding 2.5 million won ($1,700). The sharp increase in overseas stock ho

Jan 23, 2026By Lee Kyung-min

No. of overseas capital gains taxpayers surges amid US equity boom

KDB raises $3 bil. via global debt sale

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Thursday it has raised $3 billion by selling debts to global investors. KDB sold three-year debt worth $1.25 billion at a fixed rate of 3.75 percent, and debt of $1.25 billion with a five-year maturity at a fixed rate of 4 percent and bonds worth $0.5 billion at a floating rate of 50 basis points above the secured overnight financing rate.

Jan 22, 2026By Yonhap

Key 2026 consumer trends include AI-assisted shopping: Shinhan Card

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted spending makes up one of the six key consumer trends for 2026, highlighting consumers’ desire to make rational decisions in the face of overwhelming information, Shinhan Card said Wednesday. The other five trends identified by the country’s leading credit card issuer are price optimization, slow-paced experiential consumption, fandom-driven subculture, data-driven health management and group-based bulk buying. “We summarize these trends under the term 'Wise up,'” the company said, noting that although the phrase is not standard English, it reflects how consumers are becoming smarter and more aware in their spending. “The term represents a new era where consumers leverage technology and data to make smarter choices,” it added. The six keywords were picked based on an analysis conducted by Shinhan Card’s big data research center covering the period from January to October 2025. The company explained that AI assistants are becoming increasingly important, as AI is used to support daily life across work, shopping and other activities. It note

Jan 22, 2026By Yi Whan-woo

Key 2026 consumer trends include AI-assisted shopping: Shinhan Card

Retail investors' US stock holdings hit record highs despite weak won

Korean retail investors are continuing to pour money into U.S. equities, pushing holdings to record levels even as the won remains weak against the dollar, data from the Korea Securities Depository showed Tuesday. As of last Friday, domestic investors held $171.8 billion worth of U.S. stocks, equivalent to about 253 trillion won, up from $163.6 billion at the end of 2025. Holdings of U.S. equities stood at about $44.2 billion at the end of 2022 and climbed sharply to $112.1 billion by the end of 2024 and further to $163.6 billion by the end of 2025. Tesla tops the list of U.S. stocks held by domestic investors, with holdings valued at $27.5 billion, followed by Nvidia at $17.8 billion, Alphabet at $7.2 billion, Palantir at $6.3 billion and Apple at $4.2 billion. As the surge in overseas stock investments by retail investors has been cited as one of the major factors contributing to the elevated exchange rate, financial authorities are rolling out a range of measures to promote domestic investment and help stabilize the foreign exchange market. On Dec. 24, the Ministry of Economy and Finan

Jan 21, 2026By Jun Ji-hye

Retail investors' US stock holdings hit record highs despite weak won

High exchange rates reshape holiday travel choices

Kim, who resides in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, had planned a trip to the United States during the Lunar New Year holiday next month but changed his destination to Sokcho, Gangwon Province. The 34-year-old, who works at an IT startup, said he revised his plans after the total cost of the trip turned out to be much higher than expected due to the won's weakness against the U.S. dollar and rising local prices. The won-dollar exchange rate has climbed into the mid-1,470 won range during intraday trading this month. “If I went to the United States, daily expenses would be a burden because of the high exchange rate,” Kim said. “Domestic travel involves shorter travel times and more predictable costs, which makes it less stressful. The plan is to stay at a good resort and relax.” Bae, who lives in Incheon and works for a large corporation, is in a similar situation. She chose Sapporo, Japan, as her family’s holiday destination. The 42-year-old had originally considered a long-distance overseas trip to warmer regions such as Australia or New Zealand for the sake of her two young daughter

Jan 20, 2026By Jun Ji-hye

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