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  • Cryptocurrency

    Finance minister nominee backs January crypto tax rollout despite industry, opposition pushback

    The nominee to head the Ministry of Finance and Economy expressed his intention on Sunday to implement the cryptocurrency tax next January as scheduled, despite pushback from both industry players and opposition lawmakers. In written materials submitted to the National Assembly ahead of a confirmation hearing slated for Tuesday, Lee Hyoung-il, who currently serves as first vice finance minister, noted that specific tax rules would be finalized through a National Tax Service public notice by year-end, ensuring taxpayers face no confusion when filing. He also defended classifying crypto asset income as miscellaneous income under the current tax framework, calling it an “appropriate” approach to applying taxpayer-friendly measures, such as a basic deduction and a single tax rate. “Given that stock trades involving major shareholders, foreign equities and unlisted shares, along with transaction taxes, are already subject to taxation, extending tax rules to crypto assets is essential for tax fairness,” he said. The crypto tax regime treats profits from transferring or lending digital

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Finance minister nominee backs January crypto tax rollout despite industry, opposition pushback
  • Economy

    Korean construction stocks rise on nearing US investment deal

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Korean construction stocks rise on nearing US investment deal
  • Economy

    More young Koreans look to stocks, bonds as retirement nest egg

    3 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    More young Koreans look to stocks, bonds as retirement nest egg
  • Economy

    Foreign investors turn net sellers of Korean bonds in Aug.

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Foreign investors turn net sellers of Korean bonds in Aug.
  • Economy

    KOSPI falls on higher oil prices, global bond yields

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    KOSPI falls on higher oil prices, global bond yields
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Others

More people trade gold, silver on secondhand platforms as demand grows for safe-haven assets

Kim Ji-hoon, an office worker in his 30s, said he recently bought silver bars online, as he couldn’t find them anywhere else. “Prices keep rising, and everyone says precious metals are safer right now, especially in the wake of the Middle East war. When I saw someone selling one on a secondhand platform, I bought it immediately.” Similarly, Park Min-jung, an office worker in her 40s, said she sold a small gold bar through an online secondhand item platform after its price surged. “I bought it a few years ago just to have something tangible,” she said. “Now that gold prices are high, I realized I could easily sell it online. It felt like quick cash.” Not only precious metals but computer components are also drawing attention as tradable assets online. Lee Sung-ho, a university student who builds computers as a hobby, said he has recently begun tracking memory chip prices almost like a financial market. “DRAM prices have been rising, so I started checking resale platforms more often,” he said. “I bought a few RAM (random access memory) modules earlier this year when they

Mar 6, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
More people trade gold, silver on secondhand platforms as demand grows for safe-haven assets
Economy

Seoul stocks rebound sharply from 2-day losing streak on signs of easing oil prices

Seoul stocks rebounded, Thursday, after two days of sharp declines, with the benchmark KOSPI marking the second-largest daily gain of 9.63 percent and the secondary bourse Kosdaq posting a record daily increase of 14.1 percent. The rebound was sharp enough to trigger buy-side sidecar trading curbs, in contrast to Wednesday’s sell-side curbs, reflecting heightened volatility in the domestic stock market following U.S.-Israel military strikes on Iran, Feb. 28. The KOSPI rose 9.63 percent to close at 5,583.9 points, Thursday, snapping the two-day losing streak after falling 7.24 percent on Tuesday and 12.06 percent on Wednesday. Thursday's gain marked the second-largest on record, behind the all-time high of 11.95 percent set on Oct. 30, 2008. The Kosdaq gained 14.1 percent to end at 1,116.41 points, Thursday, reversing declines of 4.62 percent and 14 percent over the two previous days. The 14.1 percent increase marked the largest daily gain for the secondary bourse, topping the previous 11.47 percent recorded on Oct. 30, 2008. Both indexes sustained upward momentum throughout the session

Mar 5, 2026By Yi Whan-woo
Seoul stocks rebound sharply from 2-day losing streak on signs of easing oil prices
Economy

Asian nations should rethink gov't-led growth, share risks with private sector: BOK chief

Asian countries should reduce reliance on government-led industrial growth policies and adopt a risk-sharing approach involving private sector participation to sustain long-term growth, Korea's central bank chief said Thursday. Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang-yong made the call in his keynote speech at the Asia in 2050 Conference in Bangkok organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "In Korea and other East Asian economies, government-led industrial policy was highly effective for catching up, imitating advanced manufacturing and learning technology. But circumstances have changed," Rhee said. "Asian economies must now recalibrate their expectations of what governments can and should do," he added, stressing the need to diversify the scope of industrial policy beyond manufacturing. Rhee stressed that industrial policy should shift toward sharing risks with private financial institutions, such as through indirect support involving on-lending arrangements, while emphasizing the need for structural reforms for sustained growth. "For more industrialized Asian economies, relative

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Asian nations should rethink gov't-led growth, share risks with private sector: BOK chief
Economy

Gov't issues level-1 alert on possible energy disruption, vows stern response to unfair market practice

The government issued Thursday a precautionary alert over a possible energy supply disruption amid an ongoing geopolitical crisis in the Middle East, the industry ministry said, vowing a stern response to unfair market practices involving energy supply and prices. The government issued the Level 1, or blue, alert in the country's four-tier national resource security warning system to respond preemptively to a possible disruption in Korea's energy supply due to the Iran crisis, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. The ministry said the country will raise its readiness against a potential prolonging of the Middle East conflict. Officials said the country has yet to experience any disruptions in energy supplies and maintains sufficient short-term supply capacity, but issued the alert to preemptively respond to a potential resource crisis and minimize any potential damage to people's livelihoods and domestic companies. Korea has oil reserves sufficient to last 208 days and is capable of securing alternative supplies of most industrial materials, parts and equipment, ac

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Gov't issues level-1 alert on possible energy disruption, vows stern response to unfair market practice
Others

Hana partners with Circle, Crypto.com to support global stablecoin payments for foreign customers

Hana Financial Group has partnered with global digital asset firms Circle and Crypto.com to promote stablecoin-based payments for foreign visitors in the country, the group said Thursday. It is the latest effort by Hana to test real-world use cases for digital assets in the payment ecosystem here, part of a broader strategy to better prepare for the institutional bank-led adoption of won-denominated stablecoins. The initiative led by the group’s card subsidiary, Hana Card, will enable foreign customers visiting Korea to use stablecoin-mediated payment cards at local merchants. The program will involve U.S. dollar Coin (USDC), a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Circle. One USDC is valued at one U.S. dollar. It will also give 5 percent cashback to foreign customers who hold a Crypto.com Visa card when they pay with it at participating merchants in Korea. Cardholders who have a balance or recharge history in USDC will be eligible. Hana said the program is designed to give inbound visitors experience with digital asset payments, while helping merchants tap into new demand from crypto users

Mar 5, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Hana partners with Circle, Crypto.com to support global stablecoin payments for foreign customers
Economy

Online shopping sales rise 8.6% in January on food delivery services: data

Online shopping sales in Korea rose 8.6 percent from a year earlier in January, driven by strong demand in food-related services, data showed Thursday. The value of online shopping transactions totaled 24.1 trillion won ($16.5 billion) in January, up 1.9 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. It marked the third-largest monthly tally since 2017, when the government started compiling such statistics, the ministry said. By item, sales of food delivery services and online grocery delivery each climbed 10.9 percent and 7.7 percent year-on-year, respectively, largely due to the impact of promotions from food delivery platforms. Spending on travel and transportation services also rose 8.9 percent year-on-year, as train and flight reservations increased ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in February. In contrast, online sales of agricultural products, including meat and fisheries, fell 6 percent year-on-year. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices increased 8 percent year-on-year to 18.86 trillion won. Mobil

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Online shopping sales rise 8.6% in January on food delivery services: data
Economy

Trade minister discusses deeper trade cooperation with Mercosur countries

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met with ambassadors from South America's Mercosur countries Thursday to discuss ways to deepen economic cooperation, including trade agreement negotiations between Korea and Mercosur, Yeo's office said. Yeo met with the ambassadors of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which form a South American trade bloc called Mercosur, in Seoul to discuss possible reopening of negotiations for a trade deal between Korea and Mercosur and strengthening cooperation in supply chains, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. Mercosur is the largest economic bloc in South America, with a combined population of 290 million and gross domestic product of $2.7 trillion. The bloc also holds abundant mineral resources, including lithium and nickel, widely used in advanced industries. Korea and Mercosur have held seven rounds of trade negotiations since 2018, but the talks have stalled since the latest round held in August 2021. "Mercosur is a very important cooperation partner for Korea seeking market diversification and supply chain stabilization as the glob

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Trade minister discusses deeper trade cooperation with Mercosur countries
Economy

Buy-side sidecar activated for KOSPI, Kosdaq markets after sharp rise

Korea's main bourse operator on Tuesday issued buy-side sidecars on the stock market, temporarily halting trading of futures after a sharp rise. Program trading of the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was suspended for five minutes at 9:06 a.m., according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). The KOSPI 200 Futures index rose 82.6 points, or 10.84 percent, to 844 at that time. It marked the first buy-side sidecar since Feb. 3. A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures index increases 5 percent or more for at least one minute. The operator also issued a buy-side sidecar for the secondary Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (Kosdaq).

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Buy-side sidecar activated for KOSPI, Kosdaq markets after sharp rise
Economy

Seoul shares rebound nearly 10% after worst-ever drop; won rises

Korean stocks sharply rebounded on Thursday from the previous session's sharpest decline ever, soaring almost 10 percent, amid signs of an easing oil price surge sparked by the ongoing Iran conflict. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 490.36 points, or 9.63 percent, to close at 5,583.9, snapping the three-session losing streak. The country's main bourse operator, the Korea Exchange (KRX), issued a buy-side sidecar around opening, suspending the selling of KOSPI futures for five minutes. The Korean won was quoted at 1,468.1 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 8.1 won from the previous session's close.

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Seoul shares rebound nearly 10% after worst-ever drop; won rises
Economy

Foreign reserves rise for 1st time in 3 months in February: BOK

Korea's foreign reserves rose from a month earlier in February, marking the first increase in three months, driven by investment returns and the issuance of foreign currency-denominated Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) bonds, the central bank said Thursday. The country's foreign reserves stood at $427.62 billion as of end-February, up $1.72 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reserves had fallen in December for the first time since June and continued to decline through January. "The increase came mainly from the issuance of new ESF bonds and investment returns, despite foreign exchange swaps with the National Pension Service and a decline in the U.S. dollar-converted value of assets in other currencies," a BOK official said. Foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, rose by $2.4 billion from a month earlier to $380 billion at end-February, accounting for 88.9 percent of the country's total foreign reserves. But the value of foreign currency deposits fell by $800 million to $22.5 billion, while special drawing rights (SDRs) edged down

Mar 5, 2026By Yonhap
Foreign reserves rise for 1st time in 3 months in February: BOK
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