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    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom

    SK hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to claim the top position on KOSPI by market capitalization on Monday, ending Samsung's reign of 25 years and seven months as the benchmark index's most valuable listed company. KOSPI, meanwhile, edged higher to close above the 9,100 mark, setting a new record high on a closing basis. According to the Korea Exchange, SK hynix recorded a market capitalization of about 2,080.38 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), surpassing Samsung Electronics’ 2,066.66 trillion won by about 13.72 trillion won on a closing price basis. Samsung Electronics first claimed KOSPI's top spot by market capitalization on July 29, 1999, and had maintained its dominance uninterrupted since Nov. 21, 2000. The change at the top comes amid a rally in the semiconductor sector fueled by surging demand tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. While both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have benefited from the trend, SK hynix has delivered markedly stronger stock performance, ending Samsung's long-standing reign as the market's most valuable company. Samsung's shares have risen nearly

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom
  • Economy

    InterviewHow Korea can turn its chip boom into lasting strength

    3 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    How Korea can turn its chip boom into lasting strength
  • Policy

    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief
  • Economy

    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle

    3 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle
  • Economy

    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July
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Economy

KakaoBank threatening KB's leading status in market cap

KakaoBank's Pangyo office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of KakaoBankBy Park Jae-hyukKakaoBank is poised to surpass KB and Shinhan financial groups in terms of market capitalization after its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) slated for Aug. 6.The internet-only bank's IPO price was set at the upper end of 39,000 won ($33) per share following Thursday's demand forecasting session that attracted a record-high 2,580 trillion won worth of bids from institutional investors.As a result, the Kakao subsidiary has been able to go public with an 18.5 trillion won market cap, which is much higher than Hana Financial Group's 13.2 trillion won and Woori Financial Group's 8 trillion won.Although the online bank's market cap is lower than KB's 21.7 trillion won and Shinhan's 19.8 trillion won at this moment, securities analysts said it does not seem to be difficult for KakaoBank to enjoy a rapid stock price hike after its IPO, which will enable the company to become a bellwether in the nation's banking industry.KB Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of KB Financial G

Jul 23, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
KakaoBank threatening KB's leading status in market cap
Economy

SoftBank-backed Yanolja expected to go on corporate shopping spree overseas

Yanolja's promotional image / Courtesy of YanoljaBy Anna J. ParkKorea's largest travel application, Yanolja, is now expected to focus on expanding its overseas business through aggressive acquisitions after securing a whopping two trillion won ($1.7 billion) investment from SoftBank recently.Market watchers view that most of the money raised from SoftBank will be spent in acquiring global online travel agencies in order to realize the Japanese conglomerate's vision of transforming the travel and leisure application into a comprehensive entertainment platform covering travel, mobility, restaurants and other contents through geographical expansion. Given the current recession in the global travel industry, more opportunities exist for Yanolja now to acquire promising tourism businesses around the world.Even before the investment from SoftBank, Yanolja has been aggressively expanding its business scope beyond borders. Back in 2018, Yanolja began investing in ZEN Rooms, one of the leading mid-sized hotel franchises in Southeast Asia. And now, the travel company is the hotel chain's large

Jul 23, 2021By Anna J. Park
SoftBank-backed Yanolja expected to go on corporate shopping spree overseas
Economy

KKR, Anchor ditch plan to list TMON this year

TMON headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of TMON By Park Jae-hyukKKR and Anchor Equity Partners, both of which have served as TMON's two largest shareholders since 2015, have scrapped their plan to list the e-commerce company by the end of this year, notifying the decision to Mirae Asset Securities, which has been handling the deal as its underwriter since last year, according to industry officials.TMON attributed the decision to the recent replacements of its top executives, without ruling out the possibility of its listing on the local stock market sometime in the future.The decision did not come as a surprise to most market insiders, who have continued to raise questions about the two foreign private equity firms' (PEFs) intention to list their cash-strapped portfolio company.Doubts have grown further after a series of resignations of TMON's top executives in recent months. In June, TMON co-CEO Jon In-chon resigned as its director just a month after he was picked as

Jul 23, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
KKR, Anchor ditch plan to list TMON this year
Economy

Korea to launch pilot operation of mobile driver's license

gettyimagesbank South Korea plans to begin a pilot operation of a mobile driver's license in January next year in a bid to help people verify their identities more conveniently, a senior government official said Friday.First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said if introduced, mobile driver's licenses will be easily used at offline and online settings.To ease concerns about a possible infringement on privacy, the government plans to use blockchain technology to strengthen the protection of personal information.The government earlier said it would introduce mobile identification cards by 2025 in a bid to help people easily verify their identities and receive public services in a non-face-to-face manner.Meanwhile, Lee said the country plans to push for new corporate investment projects worth 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in the third quarter in a bid to help underpin the economic recovery.The government has set the goal of supporting investment projects worth 110 tr

Jul 23, 2021
Korea to launch pilot operation of mobile driver's license
Economy

How will delta variant affect future course of US dollar?

FRB normalization, delta variant concerns caused dollar to appreciate since JuneBy Stephen LeeStephen Lee is the chief economist at Meritz Securities, Seoul. Courtesy of Stephen LeeThe DXY (U.S. dollar index) ― measuring the value of the U.S. dollar against six major currencies ― stands at 92.89 as of July 21, its highest since April. The dollar depreciated in the 2nd quarter, on expectations that a global recovery would take place alongside a faster vaccination push. But the dollar has been rising again since June, this time on expectations that monetary policy will diverge between the Federal Reserve (FRB) and the European Central Bank (ECB), and concerns that a resurgence of COVID-19 will hurt the economic recovery.Market participants have started to believe that the Fed is ahead of the ECB in terms of monetary policy normalization, as they believe that the dollar will be scarce in the future. In the June Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, members started to pencil in mid-2023 as the appropriate time for policy firming. This move contrasts with their previous view in Ma

Jul 23, 2021
Economy

Non-financial borrowing by gov't, households surged last year

'Asset value increased faster than debt due to stock, real estate market boom' By Lee Kyung-minNon-financial borrowing by the government and households surged last year, and asset prices grew faster than debt, according to government data on Thursday. This was due to the booming stock and real estate markets, amid low borrowing costs enabled by pandemic-induced emergency expansionary policies.Data jointly released by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea on Korea's national balance sheet as of 2020 showed net assets held by households and non-profit organizations stood at 10,420 trillion won ($9 trillion) accounting for 58.8 percent of the total, followed by 4,630 trillion won held by the central and provincial governments (26.2 percent), 2,240 trillion won held by non-financial corporations (12.7 percent) and 417.9 trillion won held by financial corporations (2.4 percent).Among households and non-profit organizations, almost two-thirds, or 62.2 percent, of assets were held in the form of residential construction buildings and land (42.8 percent) and real estate for non-residential

Jul 22, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Non-financial borrowing by gov't, households surged last year
Economy

Korea, Lone Star brace for imminent ruling on 9-year-long dispute

A sign indicating the location of Lone Star Fund's former Korean office at the Star Tower in Seoul is seen in this March 2006 file photo. Korea Times file Fears remain over possible outflow of taxpayers' moneyBy Park Jae-hyukBoth the Korean government and Lone Star Funds have taken quite unusual steps this month, prompting speculation that the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) will make its final ruling this year on their nine-year-long legal tussle, which revolves mainly around the Financial Services Commission's (FSC) delayed approval of the Texas-based private equity firm's (PEF) sale of its stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to Hana Financial Group in 2011.While the government convened a meeting recently of officials from the justice, finance and foreign ministries as well as the National Tax Service and the FSC, to explore possible countermeasures for every scenario, the U.S. firm reportedly laid off a majority of its staff in i

Jul 22, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Korea, Lone Star brace for imminent ruling on 9-year-long dispute
Economy

Regulator steps up warnings on overseas cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Koreans

A representation of virtual currency bitcoin is seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken Jan. 8. Reuters-YonhapForeign cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Korean people will face blocked access to their websites and criminal probes unless they register with South Korea's anti-money laundering body, the nation's top financial regulator said Thursday. By Sept. 24, all cryptocurrency exchanges using Korean currency must register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU) under the nation's new regulation that aims to prevent money laundering.The KFIU sent a notice to 27 foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that have business operations targeting Korean people about this requirement under the new regulation, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said. The new regulation also requires cryptocurrency exchanges to have a certificate on information security from South Korea. So far, no foreign exchanges have obtained such a certificate, FSC officials said. Unless foreign exchanges register with the KFIU, they shall cease business operations targeting Koreans starting Sep

Jul 22, 2021
Regulator steps up warnings on overseas cryptocurrency exchanges targeting Koreans
Economy

ANALYSIS Currency volatility to continue amid virus uncertainty

Dealers work at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul, as electric trading board shows the benchmark KOSPI having ended at 3,215.91 points, down 0.52 percent from the previous session, Wednesday. YonhapWon hits a new year-to-date low of 1,154 won By Lee Kyung-min Korea's currency is expected to weaken for the time being, due mostly to reduced investor appetite for risk brought on by the rapid spread of the coronavirus Delta variant, a reason for tumbling bond yields amid sudden high demand for safe assets, according to market analysts and economists, Wednesday.Putting further downward pressure on the local currency against the U.S. dollar is investors seeking to limit losses incurred by unstable exchange rates and cut risk asset exposure, as indicated by foreign traders net selling nearly 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion) of shares on the local stock market in July.The rapid depreciation of the currency will slow once vaccination efforts pick up and the fourth wave of virus spread comes under control. Yet uncertainty will never entirely clear away over how far the virus can exacerbate

Jul 21, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
[ANALYSIS] Currency volatility to continue amid virus uncertainty
Economy

IMM PE-GS Retail take over Pet Friends

Pet Friends' promotional image / Courtesy of Pet FriendsPet product e-commerce logs exponential growth rate over the past few yearsBy Anna J. ParkIMM Private Equity (IMM PE) and GS Retail jointly acquired Pet Friends, the top local online pet product retailer, aiming to boost its value. According to the investment banking industry, IMM PE, GS Retail and Pet Friends signed a share purchase agreement (SPA), finalizing the acquisition of a 95 percent stake in the online pet product retail platform. IMM PE bought 65 percent of the shares, while GS Retail acquired 30 percent, investing around 150 billion won ($130 million) for the deal. Around 103 billion won of that will be paid for the takeover of the firm's old shares, while 50 billion won will be put into issuing new stocks, as they plan to complete the payment for the deal by next month. With the SPA agreement, IMM PE will be positioned to control part of the equities held previously by Pet Friends CEO Kim Chang-won, as well as part of shares held by some venture capital firms. GS Retail's previous stake before the SPA was 15.6 perce

Jul 21, 2021By Anna J. Park
IMM PE-GS Retail take over Pet Friends
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