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  • Policy

    MSCI cites improved access to Korea-linked investment products ahead of review

    Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) said Friday that the Korean financial market has improved in terms of the availability of investment instruments ahead of next week's annual market classification review, while noting that underlying accessibility issues remain unresolved. "Derivative products linked to Korean indexes have recently been listed on international exchanges," it wrote in its 2026 global market accessibility review, upgrading its assessment from minus to plus. A plus rating means there are no major issues, though there is still room for improvement. MSCI said some restrictions remain in Korea on the use of exchange data for the creation of financial products. The Korean market received minus ratings in six of the 18 assessment categories last year. But this year, as the availability of investment instruments category was upgraded to plus, the number of minus-rated categories fell to five: the foreign exchange market liberalization level, investor registration and account setup, information flow, clearing and settlement, and transferability. "Authorities have continu

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    MSCI cites improved access to Korea-linked investment products ahead of review
  • Economy

    KOSPI slips from record high amid US-Iran uncertainty

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    KOSPI slips from record high amid US-Iran uncertainty
  • Economy

    Gov't to expand supply of imported eggs amid price hikes

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Gov't to expand supply of imported eggs amid price hikes
  • Economy

    Seoul stocks sharply up late Friday morning on chip rally

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul stocks sharply up late Friday morning on chip rally
  • Economy

    US-Iran MOU poses new opportunities, challenges for Korea: finance minister

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    US-Iran MOU poses new opportunities, challenges for Korea: finance minister
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Economy

Exports of fishery goods up over 20 percent through October: data

In this 2019 November file photo, customers look at seasoned laver products at a local discount chain store. YonhapSouth Korea's exports of fishery products grew 20.5 percent on-year in the first 10 months of this year, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of fishery products reached $2.24 billion during the January-October period, compared to $1.86 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Exports to China rose 48.1 percent to reach $540 million, and those to the United States and the European Union surged 24.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively. Sales in the ASEAN nations also increased 12.5 percent on-year, while those to Japan inched down 1.9 percent, the data showed.By product, dried laver led the overall growth, with its exports rising 13.8 percent on-year to $560 million, and sales of tuna also jumped 23.3 percent to $500 million, according to the data.The ministry pointed to growing popularity of the country's fish cake in the global market, as an increasing number of customers have sought healthy but still easy-to-coo

Nov 7, 2021
Exports of fishery goods up over 20 percent through October: data
Economy

Reporter's Notebook No need for excessive reaction to US tapering

U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell appears on a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 3. The Federal Reserve will begin dialing back the extraordinary economic aid it has provided since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted last year, a response to high inflation that now looks likely to persist longer than it did just a few months ago. AP-YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korean economy does not have to react excessively to the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest tapering announcement.This is because the Fed's gradual ending of its yearslong quantitative easing is nothing more than a normalization of monetary policy. The Fed also remained ultra-dovish in its stance over an increase in its key rate, saying that it was “not yet ready” for a benchmark rate hike.Korean capital markets have been fluctuating in recent months, well before the announcement was made by the U.S. authority. Starting from the second half of 2021, the benchmark KOSPI has been jittery and failed to continue its rally on a widening fear of earlier U.S. tapering and a possible hawkish turn by the F

Nov 5, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
[Reporter's Notebook] No need for excessive reaction to US tapering
Economy

Debates rise over NFT taxation

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkNon-fungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged not only as a unique form of ownership of diverse digital products, but also as a key to furthering companies' digitization.Major international and local companies in various sectors have revealed plans to expand their businesses to include NFT platforms. For instance, Dunamu the operator of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, officially announced a partnership with entertainment firm HYBE, Thursday, to explore NFT business opportunities. Investors responded to the news favorably and HYBE stock rose 3.46 percent in the day's trading by 2:25 p.m. Facebook also changed its company name to Meta late last month to put emphasis on its “Metaverse” platform that will include an NFT market place. The company's share price rose more than 4 percent during the past few trading sessions, despite the recent negative impact from a whistleblower. Gaming company Wemade saw its share price nearly triple in just a month, as the firm expanded into blockchain technology and NFT trading. The stock of Seoul

Nov 4, 2021By Anna J. Park
Debates rise over NFT taxation
Economy

Korean stocks bouncing back on Fed's dovish remarks

U.S. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell appears on a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 3. AP-YonhapFinance ministry to start emergency bond buybackBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korean stock market bounced back Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's dovish rhetoric relieved investors' anxiety about risky assets.The rebound came in response to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) unanimous decision to start tapering the pace of its asset purchases in November. Powell also underscored the fact that the start of tapering does not signal an imminent interest rate hike.The widely-predicted announcements from the Fed helped stabilize the Korean capital market. Powell's dovish remark is also expected to give the Bank of Korea (BOK) and financial authorities here more leeway in their policy-making.The benchmark KOSPI closed at 2,983.22 points, up 0.25 percent from a day earlier, based on investors' revived sentiment toward the local stock market. The main bourse jumped to over 3,000 points at one time on Thursday morning on the reports from the

Nov 4, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Korean stocks bouncing back on Fed's dovish remarks
Economy

Mirae Asset's two young vice chairmen in spotlight

Mirae Asset Global Investments Vice Chairman Choi Chang-hoon, left, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment Vice Chairman Kim Eung-suk Courtesy of Mirae Asset Financial Group By Lee Min-hyungMirae Asset Financial Group has promoted two CEOs of its asset management and venture investment affiliates as its new vice chairmen, as part of its competency-based leadership reshuffle, the group said Thursday.The two top executives are Choi Chang-hoon and Kim Eung-suk. Choi served as head of real estate at Mirae Asset Global Investments before being promoted to co-CEO and vice chairman of the company. Kim also became a vice chairman at Mirae Asset Venture Investment during the annual top management reshuffle.Both of the new vice chairmen are in their early 50s, which Mirae Asset explained was a move for the group to speed up a generational shift in management.Choi, 52, studied business administration at Ohio University in the United States, and received a master's degree in real estate finance at Cornell University. He started his job career at formerly Samsung Everland in 1997 and moved to Ky

Nov 4, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Mirae Asset's two young vice chairmen in spotlight
Economy

Gov't launches task force on economic security amid supply chain disruptions

gettyimagesbankSouth Korea has established a new task force at the foreign ministry to support the pan-governmental campaign to build resilient supply chains of key items and tackle pandemic-driven economic challenges, Seoul officials said Thursday.The "economic security" team was launched earlier this week to collaborate with other government agencies in helping local companies' efforts to resolve ongoing supply chain issues, which has emerged as a hot-button global issue, especially amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic. The global supply chain is bearing the brunt of chip shortages, high transportation expenses and shipping delays, which have posed challenges to electronics, auto and consumer sectors."The new task force was launched as part of pan-governmental efforts to address the global supply chain issues," a foreign ministry official said. "Economic security can be understood under the concept of protecting national economic interests abroad." The move came as global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, are confronted with the Joe Biden administration

Nov 4, 2021
Gov't launches task force on economic security amid supply chain disruptions
Economy

Fed's tapering to have limited impact on Korean market: official

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 30. Reuters-YonhapThe U.S. Federal Reserve's latest decision to start to taper its bond purchases is expected to have limited impacts on the South Korean financial markets as the move was widely anticipated, a senior government official said Thursday.First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the government plans to take measures to stabilize the market, if needed, as market volatility could increase if global inflation fears persist longer than expected.At the latest policy meeting, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday (local time) froze the key interest rate steady near zero but said it will start to taper its massive asset purchases later this month amid the economic recovery.At a news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank would be "patient" before hiking the benchmark interest rate.South Korea's stocks opened more than 1 percent higher Thursday as investors were relieved by expectations that the Fed is not l

Nov 4, 2021
Fed's tapering to have limited impact on Korean market: official
  • Fed pulls back economic aid in face of rising uncertainties
Economy

Pandemic unlikely to bring back 'Great Inflation': Meritz expert

Lee Kyung-soo, head of the Meritz Securities Research Center, speaks during the Korea CQ Forum, Tuesday. Courtesy of Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI)By Dong Sun-hwaThe lingering COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to bring back a dramatic event like the “Great Inflation” (1965-82), says Lee Kyung-soo, the head of the Meritz Securities Research Center. “We are less likely to witness the recurrence of the high inflation in this pandemic era, because inflation will stabilize as supply side pressures ease step by step,” Lee said at the Korea CQ Forum, hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), Tuesday. “But the end of the pandemic will not lead growing industries ― such as battery electric vehicle (BEVs) ― to reach their peaks... In fact, many of them are currently entering the shakeout phase, which usually starts when an industry's penetration rate nears 10 percent.” Third row, from left, are Jake Tae-sung Kim, managing director of Hana Financial Investment; Eugene Bang, founder and chairman of Millenasia; Park Youn-jung, CEO of Min

Nov 3, 2021By Dong Sun-hwa
Pandemic unlikely to bring back 'Great Inflation': Meritz expert
Economy

'Meaningful representation of women' needed in decision-making roles: BlackRock senior official

Sandra Boss, Global Head, Investment Stewardship for BlackRock.Diversity on board helps corporate performance, long-term value creation By Lee Kyung-min Greater female participation on company boards is vital not only to meet the fiduciary duty to clients but also to create long-term values at companies, a senior official at the world's largest investment management firm said Wednesday. BlackRock Investment Stewardship Global Head Sandra Boss said women should not be limited merely to being elected to corporate boards but also play decision-making roles, a critical step to strengthening diverse voices in what largely remains a male-dominated arena. “It does nothing for companies ― or our clients ― if women are elected to boards but are never put in decision-making leadership roles. We need to see the meaningful representation of women in committee chairs and chair roles on boards,” she said during a keynote speech at the 2021 International Conference of Korean Women in Finance at the Korea Exchange, Wednesday. Organized by the Korea Network of Women in Finance, this year

Nov 3, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
'Meaningful representation of women' needed in decision-making roles: BlackRock senior official
  • Women still struggling to shatter glass ceilings in Korean firms
Economy

KakaoBank plunges on day of Kakao Pay's market debut

By Lee Min-hyungThe stock price of KakaoBank plunged by more than 7 percent Wednesday when Kakao Pay, a mobile payment platform subsidiary of Kakao, made its much-anticipated debut on the benchmark KOSPI.KakaoBank shares dropped by 7.33 percent or 4,700 won ($3.98) from a day ago and closed at 59,400 won. The lender gained as much spotlight as Kakao Pay had back in August, after being listed on the main bourse for the first time among the nation's internet-only banks.But the initial public offering (IPO) effect did not last long for the mobile lender. KakaoBank's stock price surpassed the 90,000 won mark in mid-August, but its valuation has since tumbled below 60,000 won per share as of Wednesday.This situation was attributable to the lender's continuous involvement in an overvaluation controversy. KakaoBank's market capitalization reached 28.22 trillion won, exceeding that of the nation's top-tier financial holding firms, such as KB and Shinhan. The market capitalization of KB Financial Group, the largest financial holding firm here, is around 23.03 trillion won.Even if KakaoBank bo

Nov 3, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
KakaoBank plunges on day of Kakao Pay's market debut
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