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  • Economy

    MSCI keeps Korea off developed market watchlist, but global analysts stay bullish

    MSCI's decision to keep Korea off its watchlist for potential inclusion in the Developed Market Index has pushed back expectations for index-driven inflows, but analysts say the setback does little to weaken investors' constructive view of the country's stock market, which remains underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI)-related momentum. Wee Khoon Chong, APAC macro strategist at BNY, noted that the Korean stock market is in a favorable position thanks to AI-related growth momentum, even without inclusion in the Developed Market Index. "Inclusion in the MSCI Developed Market Index would be welcomed, bringing additional passive inflows, but a status quo MSCI decision would not change investors' constructive investment thesis on South Korea," he added. Korea was not added to MSCI's Developed Market Index watchlist in its 2026 market classification review, announced Wednesday. MSCI noted that underlying issues raised by global investors "have not been fully resolved." Korea was first included in the Emerging Markets Index in 1992 and was placed on MSCI's watchlist for potential inclusion

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    MSCI keeps Korea off developed market watchlist, but global analysts stay bullish
  • Economy

    KOSPI rebounds from sharp sell-off on Samsung buyback hopes

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    KOSPI rebounds from sharp sell-off on Samsung buyback hopes
  • Economy

    Retail sales rise 9% in May amid improving consumer sentiment

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Retail sales rise 9% in May amid improving consumer sentiment
  • Economy

    Seoul to continue push for MSCI developed market status bid after remaining in emerging category

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul to continue push for MSCI developed market status bid after remaining in emerging category
  • Economy

    Korean won slumps against US dollar on expectations of Fed rate hike

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korean won slumps against US dollar on expectations of Fed rate hike
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Economy

Household lottery spending gains 7.2% in 2020

gettyimagesbankSouth Korean households' spending on lottery tickets rose more than 7 percent in 2020 despite a record fall in their overall consumption, government data showed Tuesday.Local households spent a monthly average of 590 won (US$0.52) on lottery tickets last year, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS).The tally covers both lottery-buying households in Asia's fourth-largest economy and those that don't purchase tickets.The increase came as local households' consumption expenditures shrank at the fastest pace in 2020 due to the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.South Korean households' consumption expenditures decreased 2.3 percent last year from 2019, the largest drop since data tracking began in 2006.Sales of lottery tickets are usually brisk during an economic downturn. Stung by the COVID-19 pandemic, the local economy contracted 1 percent in 2020 from a year earlier.Sales of Lotto, the most popular offline lottery ticket in the country, surged 9.3 percent on-year to a new high of some 4.7 tri

Apr 13, 2021
Household lottery spending gains 7.2% in 2020
Economy

Financial big data-focused COOCON to go public later this month

COOCON CEO Kim Jong-hyun speaks during a press conference held at Conrad Seoul on Yeouido, Monday. / Courtesy of COOCONBy Anna J. ParkCOOCON, the country's top financial big data provider, is set to make its IPO debut on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ later this month, aiming to grow into a major global player of the big data platform business. Founded back in 2006, the business data platform company has solidly positioned itself at the heart of the country's big tech companies and financial giants over the past 15 years, as it collects and provides big data to major clients. Currently, COOCON has over 1,600 companies as its clients, which includes most financial giants and big tech firms of the country, such as KB Kookmin Bank, Naver Financial, Kakao Pay, Toss and Banksalad. The company has established data networking partnership info with 22 major banks in Korea, including Shinhan, Woori, KB Kookmin, Hana, NH Nonghyup, Kakao Bank, K bank, Standard Chartered and Citibank. It has also established partnerships with most brokerage firms, such as NH Investment, Samsung Securities, Shinhan Financ

Apr 12, 2021By Anna J. Park
Financial big data-focused COOCON to go public later this month
Economy

LocknLock union may thwart Affinity's exit plan

Seen is a LocknLock outlet inside Lotte Mall Suji branch in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Courtesy of LocknLockBy Park Jae-hyukThe LocknLock union formed earlier this month has emerged as a major stumbling block to Affinity Equity Partners' planned ambitious divestments from the nation's leading food container maker, which will likely take place sometime next year.Affinity took over a 63.56 percent stake in LocknLock for 629.3 billion won ($560 million) in August 2017 from company founder Kim Jun-il and his family. Considering that private equity firms (PEFs) generally pursue exits from their portfolio companies five years after their acquisitions, Affinity has been expected to sell its controlling stake in LocknLock in 2022.The union also claimed rumors were spreading inside the company that the foreign PEF will seek divestment next year, although a LocknLock spokeswoman said nothing has been decided yet.“We want to prevent layoffs before the PEF's planned exit next year,” union leader Son Se-ho said in a statement last Thursday.According to the union, the management decide

Apr 12, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
LocknLock union may thwart Affinity's exit plan
Economy

Concerns growing over deepening social divide amid pandemic

By Yi Whan-wooThe COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to the economy and businesses, causing a stark divide among individuals, companies and industries ― the rich and poor, large and small companies, and IT and non-IT industries. The coronavirus crisis has hit the poor and smaller players harder than the rest of society, making the so-called “corona divide” more and more pronounced with the prolonging pandemic despite vaccination rollouts and government quarantine measures. What is of more concern, according to experts, is that such a divide will persist even when the unprecedented pandemic ends and the nation's economy recovers.They say wealth inequality in the post-pandemic world is already taking shape as a long-lasting trend ― best explained through the “K-shaped” recovery, with the letter representing the diverging fortunes of the haves and have-nots.Those who lag behind will be in a worse situation, although the country's economy, after contracting 1 percent in 2020, will climb to the 3 percent growth range this year as forecast by the Bank of Korea, the

Apr 12, 2021By Yi Whan-woo
Concerns growing over deepening social divide amid pandemic
Economy

Exports grow 24.8% in first 10 days of April

gettyimagesbankSouth Korea's exports rose 24.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of April as shipments of chips and autos remained robust amid an economic recovery from the pandemic, customs data showed Monday.The country's outbound shipments stood at US$15 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $12 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.Imports increased 14.8 percent on-year to $16.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.7 billion during the cited period, the data showed.By sector, outbound shipments of memory chips, a key export item, rose 24.8 percent on-year and those of autos gained 29.8 percent.Semiconductors accounted for about 20 percent of exports by South Korea, home to Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip maker, and its smaller rival SK hynix Inc. Autos made up some 7 percent of total exports.Exports of telecommunication products jumped 52.5 percent on-year and those of petroleum products climbed 35.2 percent as oil prices have picked up amid an economic recovery.By country, shipments to China ― So

Apr 12, 2021
Exports grow 24.8% in first 10 days of April
Economy

Why 'Kimchi premium' is of no concern to local investors

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkAhead of the much-anticipated public listing of U.S.-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase last week, one of the frequently talked-about issues in Korea's crypto trading circle has been the so-called “kimchi premium” ― the price gap between cryptocurrencies on Korean and foreign exchanges.During the past week, the kimchi premium soared up to 23 percent, meaning that the price of a bitcoin on Korean exchanges was 23 percent higher than that on foreign ones. The price gap is easily checked in real time at various crypto-related sites in Korea; as of 3:25 p.m. Sunday (KST), the kimchi premium stood at 17 percent for the bitcoin price at Korea's largest coin exchange Upbit compared to the overseas-operated Binance.This has led some local investors to take arbitrage profits, as they purchase cryptocurrency on foreign exchanges where they're sold at a lower price and then resell on domestic exchanges for higher prices. Due to active arbitrage trading in the past week, the kimchi premium fell below 10 percent, but later rose again up to the

Apr 11, 2021By Anna J. Park
Why 'Kimchi premium' is of no concern to local investors
Economy

NPS increases maximum portion of domestic stocks

National Pension Service (NPS) headquarters located in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province / Courtesy of NPSPublic pension fund allowed to hold local stocks up to 19.8 percent of its assetBy Anna J. Park After the National Pension Service (NPS), the country's largest institutional investor in charge of the public retirement funds, decided to increase the maximum proportion of local stocks in its asset portfolio, its net-selling spree is expected to slow down for the time being.During last Friday's operation committee members' meeting, the NPS decided to increase the maximum portion of local stocks in its portfolio from the current 18.8 percent to 19.8 percent. While the NPS has maintained an asset allocation goal for domestic shares at 16.8 percent, the increase in the upper limit from the current two percentage points to three percentage points, allows it to hold up to 19.8 percent in Korean stocks.“The pension fund committee acknowledged the need to change the upper limit, considering that the upper limit band was set at a narrower level than other asset categories, and that the do

Apr 11, 2021By Anna J. Park
NPS increases maximum portion of domestic stocks
Economy

Venture capital firms to see heydays continue

gettyimagesbankVenture capital firms reap record-high profits with successful IPO exits By Anna J. ParkMost venture capital firms in Korea achieved record-high earnings as well as impressive year-on-year growth last year thanks to bullish stock markets and an IPO boom. The stellar performance was seen in both major players like Korea Investment Partners ― a venture capital subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings ― and much smaller ones as well.Fueling the growth of venture capital firms in Korea was the meteoric rise of many startups to unicorn status in recent years. Startup companies used to have only a limited role in the Korean economy, helping pioneer new technologies or create jobs to augment big conglomerates known as “chaebol.” But they have now become the leaders of new growth industries.Korea Investment Partners, the country's largest venture capital firm with operating assets of over 3.3 trillion won ($2.94 billion) and more than three decades of experience, saw its annual revenue surge 79 percent year-on-year to 88.6 billion won last year. Operating and net pr

Apr 11, 2021By Anna J. Park
Venture capital firms to see heydays continue
Economy

'Self-made' individuals gain prominence among stock rich

GettyimagesbankBy Yi Whan-wooUp to one in four stock rich individuals are retail investors, according to two separate financial institutions, suggesting the “self-made” are expanding their presence among heirs of conglomerates and others who gain their fortunes through inheritance. FnGuide, a financial market researcher, said Sunday the number of retail investors with shares worth more than 10 billion won ($8.9 million) stood at nearly 700 last year, up from 500 in 2019.They were a part of the 2,100 wealthiest stockholders up from 1,700 a year earlier.The 2020 figure makes retail investors one third of the total number of wealthy stockholders.The majority of the listed individuals are the largest shareholders of listed companies, many of them new generations of leaders from family-controlled conglomerates, as well as their immediate family members and others who “maintain special relations with the company.”The number of self-made billionaires rose by 40 percent during the 2019-20 period, surpassing the rate of increase ― 23 percent ― among those who were bene

Apr 11, 2021By Yi Whan-woo
'Self-made' individuals gain prominence among stock rich
Economy

NPS to raise ceiling for portion of 'strategic' investment in domestic stocks

National Pension Service (NPS) Investment Management office in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province / Courtesy of NPSSouth Korea's top institutional investor National Pension Service (NPS) said Friday it will raise the ceiling for the portion of its "strategic" investment in local stocks, a move to help ease the fund's selling spree to meet its stockholding target.Under the latest decision, the ceiling for the share of the NPS' strategic investment in local stocks will be raised to 19.8 percent of the entire portfolio from the current 18.8 percent.The change permits a deviation of plus or minus 3 percentage points from the 2021 stockholding target of 16.8 percent, increasing the allowable deviation from 2 percentage points.The decision does not affect the pension fund's 2021 target of total local shareholding but will help it reduce the amount of stocks that it should offload to meet the target.As of end-2020, South Korean shares accounted for 21.2 percent of the total portfolio, hovering above the 16.8 percent target. The figure came to 21 percent at end-January.It marked the first time si

Apr 9, 2021
NPS to raise ceiling for portion of 'strategic' investment in domestic stocks
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