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  • Economy

    DWS Group bullish on Korea logistics, upbeat on stock market reforms

    DWS Group said Monday that European real estate is expected to deliver annual returns of 9 percent over the next five years, offering fresh investment opportunities for Korean investors despite their recent caution toward alternative assets. Speaking during a press meeting at the International Finance Center in Seoul, officials from the German asset manager noted that European real estate has become increasingly attractive as supply remains tight across major sectors, while demand continues to be supported by structural factors. Clemens Schaefer, global head of real estate for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa at DWS Group, said vacancy rates in Europe's residential, logistics and office sectors are significantly lower than those in the U.S. But new supply is expected to remain limited, as high development costs and relatively low expected returns have discouraged developers from launching new projects. The company forecast that European real estate will generate annual returns of 9 percent over the next five years, compared with 7.2 percent for the U.S. and 7 percent for

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    DWS Group bullish on Korea logistics, upbeat on stock market reforms
  • Economy

    Korea's $519 bil. chip megaproject sparks Kosdaq rally, fails to lift KOSPI

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Korea's $519 bil. chip megaproject sparks Kosdaq rally, fails to lift KOSPI
  • Economy

    Korean won tumbles to fresh 17-year low on foreign stock selloff

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korean won tumbles to fresh 17-year low on foreign stock selloff
  • Economy

    Seoul shares down 2% late Monday morning on tech losses, Iran uncertainty

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul shares down 2% late Monday morning on tech losses, Iran uncertainty
  • Economy

    Korea's ETF market overtakes Kosdaq for 1st time

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    Korea's ETF market overtakes Kosdaq for 1st time
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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

Calming social unrest key to solving asset market frenzy

Apartment complexes are seen behind a visitor to N Seoul Tower on Jan. 7. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungEasing looming social unrest over the ongoing asset market bubble should stand at the center of the government's financial policy drive in 2021, as public worries over the overheating market will keep pushing up most asset prices here.With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the government and financial authorities introduced toughened sets of regulations to curb household sentiment for investment.One key measure was to force banks to cut down the credit line for most households. The step was aimed at temporarily stopping personal capital from flowing into the stock and real estate markets, and thereby helping relieve the market frenzy.But this only ended up hiking prices further to a record high level. The benchmark KOSPI rewrote history by closing at a new high of 3,152.18 points on Friday. Most housing prices have already surged to such a worrying level that a growing number of young people here are giving up on marriage amid frustration over a greater sense of deprivation.Of

Jan 10, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Calming social unrest key to solving asset market frenzy
Economy

KOSPI continues bull run

A monitor located in the lobby of the Korea Exchange's (KRX) building on Yeouido, Seoul, shows the KOSPI's all-time high closing price of 3,152.18 points set Friday. / Courtesy of KRXBy Anna J. ParkKorea's benchmark KOSPI continued its bullish upward trend Friday, finishing at 3,152.18 points, setting another all-time high for the stock index, following Thursday when it also surpassed the 3,000-mark.Friday's run saw an increase of 3.97 percent from the previous session, when the closing price of the main stock index exceeded the symbolic 3,000-mark for the first time since it was launched in 1983. The index once topped 3,161.11 points during intra-day trading Friday. Foreign investors' net buying of 1.64 trillion won ($1.5 billion) led the index's spike, while individual and institutional investors net sold 558 billion won and 1.14 trillion won, respectively. Samsung Electronics, the country's largest market cap company, saw its share price rise by 7.12 percent, to finish at 88,800 won. The jump followed the electronics giant's announcement earlier in the day that it expected to repo

Jan 8, 2021By Anna J. Park
KOSPI continues bull run
Economy

Korea to increase hiring in public sector this year amid pandemic

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom speaks during a meeting at the Government Complex Seoul, Friday. / YonhapKorea plans to increase hiring in the public sector this year, the vice finance minister said Friday, as the job market has been hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak.Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom also said the government will hire more than 800,000 people in job posts that are created with fiscal spending in the first quarter. "The government will increase hiring at public institutions this year to help younger people who have been frustrated with job seeking," Kim said at an economic meeting, saying that details will be disclosed later this month.He also added the country plans to increase the number of state-backed job posts by 10 percent to 1.04 million this year to support the underprivileged hit by the pandemic.The number of employed people in South Korea declined for the ninth straight month in November 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak continued to deal a blow to the job market. It marked the longest streak of job losses since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis

Jan 8, 2021
Korea to increase hiring in public sector this year amid pandemic
Economy

Vidente denies partnership with Nexon for Bithumb takeover

A pedestrian passes by the Bithumb Korea headquarters in Seoul in this file photo. / YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukVidente, a major shareholder of Bithumb Korea, has denied news reports that the company is in talks with Nexon to jointly take over a controlling stake in the cryptocurrency exchange operator, according to a regulatory filing Friday.Local news outlets reported Thursday that Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju had joined hands with Vidente to acquire the managerial rights of Bithumb Korea from Bithumb Holdings for about 500 billion won ($457 million).The reports said Kim signed a memorandum of understanding with the seller earlier this month, so that Nexon's holding company, NXC, could buy a 65 percent stake in the exchange operator.Retail investors trusted the news because NXC acquired a 65.19 percent stake in the nation's first cryptocurrency exchange, Korbit, for 91.3 billion won in 2017 and an 80 percent stake in the European cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp, for $400 million the following year.Vidente's stock price hit its daily limit-up at 11,350 won Friday morning, but fell immedia

Jan 8, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Vidente denies partnership with Nexon for Bithumb takeover
Economy

Naver's data-driven financial business faces setback

Naver Financial CEO Choi In-hyuk speaks during a press conference at Naver Partner Square in Seoul in this July 2020 file photo. / YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukNaver's grand plan of connecting its database with financial services is facing a major obstacle as the company's financial unit, Naver Financial, is unlikely to win the appropriate business license, due to an alleged breach of the law by its major shareholder.The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Friday Mirae Asset Daewoo, the second-largest shareholder of Naver Financial, was recently referred to the prosecution for an alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.The securities firm allegedly invested about 10 billion won ($9 million) abroad last year, without giving prior notice to the foreign exchange authorities. According to the law, those who invest over 1 billion won overseas without making a declaration to the foreign exchange authorities can be fined up to 100 million won or sentenced to up to a year in prison.The FSC has to postpone the license screening of any applicant if their major shareholder is s

Jan 8, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Naver's data-driven financial business faces setback
Economy

Wealth disparity to widen throughout 2021

The ongoing asset price inflation will increase the gap between the rich and the poor here in 2021. Getty Images BankSoaring housing prices, virus uncertainty expand gap between rich and poorBy Lee Min-hyungThe wealth disparity between the rich and the poor will widen throughout 2021, as asset price inflation particularly in the property market will continue to polarize society at a much more alarming pace this year.What is of concern is that the government has only a few realistic cards to play against the deepening social imbalance at a critical juncture when the financial authorities should focus their policies on revitalizing the virus-hit economy and helping the self-employed and companies on the verge of collapse bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic shock.This is no exception for the Bank of Korea (BOK). The central bank has had no choice but to maintain its super-low benchmark interest rate to rev up the sagging economy despite lingering concerns over surging household debt. After the pandemic aftershock started engulfing the economy in March 2020, the central bank and other

Jan 8, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Wealth disparity to widen throughout 2021
Economy

Confiscated bitcoin goes to state coffer

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min A total of 191 bitcoins confiscated as proceeds from criminal activity will go into the state coffers, possibly netting the government about 7.6 billion won ($6.9 million) as the value of the digital coin has skyrocketed 15-fold from the time of the seizure about three years ago.Suwon District Prosecutors' Office currently in possession of the cryptocurrency will decide whether to sell it directly on crypto exchanges or involve the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO). KAMCO is a quasi-governmental organization that manages state-owned properties, acquires and resolves financial institutions' non-performing loans, restructures businesses and provides credit recovery.The district office's plan was enabled by the revision of a related law under which digital currencies will be recognized as a virtual asset of economic value and therefore financially tradable and electronically transferrable in the market. The revision will go into effect in March.The 191 bitcoins were among 216 seized by the district office in May 2017 during an investigation into

Jan 7, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Confiscated bitcoin goes to state coffer
Economy

Stock market to see structural change

Top-ranking officials from the nation's securities industry celebrate the historic rally of the benchmark KOSPI at a Seoul office of the Korea Exchange, Thursday. The main bourse closed at a new high of 3,031.68 points, up 63.47 from a day ago. This is the first time that the figure surpassed the 3,000-mark in terms of the closing price. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKorea's stock market is experiencing structural change on the back of aggressive and gradual capital inflow from retail investors.Few expected the benchmark KOSPI to top the historic 3,000-mark after it nosedived to around the 1,400-point level in March last year. The unprecedentedly strong rally has drawn increasing attention from foreign and institutional investors.Even if there stands a chance for the market to face a period of correction, the general view is that the KOSPI will continue to report solid performance driven by global investors' preference on riskier assets on hopes for the U.S. government's swift execution of stimulus packages following President-elect Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration.The ongoing rally of the

Jan 7, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Stock market to see structural change
  • 'Improve real economy to power up stocks'
Economy

'Improve real economy to power up stocks'

First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Yong-beom, second from right, speaks during a meeting of financial authorities at the Korea Federation of Banks, in Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The recent bullish sentiment in the soaring stock market will not be able to sustain itself unless backed by recovery of the real economy, a major risk to healthy growth that must be underpinned by greater corporate investments to make productive use of the stimulus-carried ample market liquidity, the country's senior economic policymaker said Thursday.The warning by First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Yong-beom points to the mismatch between market expectations of corporate profit and the longer-than-expected prolongation of issues concerning unemployment, industrial output and consumption ― key economic indices that show no signs of corresponding material improvement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The stock market continues a strong uptrend, Kim said, driven by expectations of recovery concerning the domestic and global economies as well as corporate earnings.“The stock market su

Jan 7, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
'Improve real economy to power up stocks'
  • Stock market to see structural change
Economy

Korea Development Bank paves way for Kakao Enterprise IPO

Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull, left, and Kakao Enterprise CEO Baek Sang-yeop / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyukKakao Enterprise has come to the fore as another Kakao subsidiary that will likely go public in the near future, after the artificial intelligence (AI)-based service provider attracted large-scale investment from Korea Development Bank (KDB), according to industry officials, Thursday.KDB said Wednesday it decided to acquire 1.36 million newly issued Kakao Enterprise shares for 100 billion won ($91 million). The state-run lender, which became the tech firm's second-largest shareholder with an 8.8 percent stake, estimated the company's valuation at 1.15 trillion won. Before the investment, Kakao Enterprise's valuation was estimated at 81.4 billion won.“Considering the necessity of aggressive financial assistance for startups with high growth potential, we will not hesitate making large-scale investments in innovative companies,” KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull said.Kakao Enterprise CEO Baek Sang-yeop said, “We will become the company that can lead

Jan 7, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Korea Development Bank paves way for Kakao Enterprise IPO
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