my timesThe Korea Times

Economy

PolicyCryptocurrencyOthers
  • 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
Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
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.

Read more

Economy

Will Yanolja attract investment from Carlyle?

Yanolja's logoBy Park Jae-hyukAttention is focusing on the Carlyle Group's possible investment in Yanolja, as the latter is said to be looking to attract additional foreign investment amid its ongoing efforts to proceeds with an initial public offering (IPO), according to media reports and industry sources, Thursday.Sources said the nation's top travel and lodgings service platform provider has talked with several foreign private equity firms (PEFs) because it may still launch a pre-IPO, an attempt to raise funds in advance of a firm's listing on a stock exchange.Yanolja is accelerating its efforts to go public at this moment, after hiring Mirae Asset Daewoo and Samsung Securities as underwriters last year. The company's listing is expected to take place during the second half of this year.Carlyle is mentioned as one foreign firm that's considering investing in Yanolja before the IPO. The world's leading PEF has reportedly resumed talks with the Korean startup recently, a few months after it had suspended its investment plan, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the tourism indu

Jan 7, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Will Yanolja attract investment from Carlyle?
Economy

Bull run pushes KOSPI past 3,000 mark for 1st time

An electronic signboard at Hana Bank branch in Seoul shows the KOSPI reached 3,016.23 points in the morning trading session, Wednesday. Thirteen years after surpassing 2,000-mark in July 25, 2007, the benchmark stock index tested the historic 3,000-points level. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minThe stock market took a breather, Wednesday, following a rapid uptrend over the past few weeks that culminated in the benchmark stock index KOSPI reaching a high of 3.027.16 in the morning, exceeding the symbolic 3,000 points for the first time.The continued strong bullish sentiment is underpinned and enabled by cheap borrowing costs amid record-low interest rates, coupled with tightening real estate policies that is forcing investors to seek alternatives to the property market. While the KOSPI closed at 2,968.21, Wednesday, down 22.36 points or 0.75 percent, from the previous session, the figure is considered a minor setback following the uptrend over the past two months since November when it hovered around 2,300. Korea Exchange (KRX) data showed the trading volume was 1.7 billion shares worth 29.27 tr

Jan 6, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Bull run pushes KOSPI past 3,000 mark for 1st time
Economy

Skepticism persists over eBay's successful exit from Korea

eBay headquarters in San Jose, California / EPA-YonhapGoldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley said to handle tall taskBy Park Jae-hyukLocal brokerage analysts have expressed skepticism over whether Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will be able to help eBay sell its sluggish Korean operation for the price it wants, 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion).According to media reports and industry sources, Wednesday, the U.S. e-commerce giant hired the two global investment banks late last year as dual-underwriters in the unloading of eBay Korea ― replacing Credit Suisse. The latter was unable to get the deal done successfully last year.Some sources said eBay has already begun taking the necessary procedures for due diligence, although its Korean operation has continued to deny speculation about the sale.Those mentioned as potential buyers include conventional retailers Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store, and foreign and local private equity firms (PEFs), such as MBK Partners, Affinity Equity Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Anchor Equity Partners ― all of which declined to confirm any

Jan 6, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Skepticism persists over eBay's successful exit from Korea
Economy

Bitcoin breaks above $35,000 to touch new high

Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken on March 13, 2020. ReutersBitcoin traded above $35,000 for the first time in Asia on Wednesday, rising to a high of $35,879 and extending a rally that has seen the digital currency rise more than 800% since mid-March.The world's most popular cryptocurrency crossed $20,000 for the first time ever on Dec. 16. (Reuters)

Jan 6, 2021
Bitcoin breaks above $35,000 to touch new high
Economy

Korea to provide relief funds to small business owners by Lunar New Year's holiday

GettyimagesbankSouth Korea plans to provide a huge chunk of its emergency handouts to smaller merchants hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak by the Lunar New Year's holiday in early February, the finance minister said Wednesday.The country plans to provide 9.3 trillion won (US$8.6 billion) in relief funds to small businesses stung by state-imposed shutdowns over virus cases and the self-employed reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic."The government will start to provide the emergency handouts on Monday and 90 percent of the handouts by the Lunar New Year's holiday," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said at a meeting on emergency economic responses, referring to the holiday that will run from Feb. 11-13.It marks the third round of emergency handouts in response to the pandemic, including the 14.3 trillion-won stimulus checks for all households doled out in May.Smaller merchants and self-employed people have been under growing burdens of paying rent due largely to the government's order to suspend their businesses amid the protracted virus outbreak.Shop owners will receive

Jan 6, 2021
Korea to provide relief funds to small business owners by Lunar New Year's holiday
  • Small business owners seeking group action against distancing rules
Economy

KOSPI hits 3,000-point milestone

GettyimagesbankSouth Korea's benchmark stock index topped the historic 3,000-point milestone Wednesday on hopes of an economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, with major brokerages betting for a further rise down the road. The main Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) stood at 2,994.63 points as of 9:59 a.m., up 0.14 percent from the previous session's close, after rising as high as 3,027.16 points after the opening bell.The KOSPI mounted the 3,000-point plateau, after landing in the 2,000-point range in 2007, ushering a fresh chapter in the country's 38-year-old benchmark index.Officially launched on Jan. 4, 1983, the KOSPI, the country's benchmark index, thrived in the mid-80s, skyrocketing more than 670 percent on the back of low market rates, low oil prices and weak U.S. dollar. The index surpassed the 1,000-point mark for the first time in March 31, 1989. The KOSPI saw its worst crash on June 16, 1998, when the country was battered by the unprecedented financial crisis. The index dipped to as low as 280 points at one point. At the turn of the millennium, the KOSPI re

Jan 6, 2021
KOSPI hits 3,000-point milestone
Economy

Korean economy in 2021: Recovery to be determined by virus containment combined with stimulus

The Korea Times conducted a series of email interviews with noted economists on their views for the economic outlook in 2021. They are INSEAD economics professor Antonio Fatas, Moody's Investors Service Vice President and Sovereign Risk Group Senior Credit Officer Christian de Guzman, Fitch Ratings Asia Sovereign Ratings Director Jeremy Zook, Northwestern University macroeconomist Robert Gordon and Loyola Marymount University economics professor Sohn Sung-won (names are in alphabetical order).gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Q: How fast do you think the Korean economy will recover in 2021? Why? Christian de Guzman, vice president and sovereign risk group senior credit officer with Moody's Investors ServiceGuzman: Moody's projects Korea's real GDP to rise 3.1 percent in 2021 on the back of the ongoing recovery from the pandemic, which has already been apparent in the high-frequency data in late 2020. While the forecast is above our estimation of Korea's potential growth, the relative robust rebound reflects base effects from the contraction in 2020, the first full-year negative print s

Jan 5, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Korean economy in 2021: Recovery to be determined by virus containment combined with stimulus
Economy

HDC could derail Korean Air's deal to take over Asiana

Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull / Korea Times fileNational Assembly report names Hyundai as a competition-promoting alternativeBy Lee Kyung-min HDC Hyundai Development Company, the former prospective buyer in a deal to acquire Asiana Airlines owned by Kumho Industrial, will become a new sticking point in Korean Air's planned acquisition of the air carrier, a National Assembly research report said Tuesday.The fresh claim raises issues over whether the Hyundai subsidiary's deal would have helped spur competition and should therefore be considered a viable alternative to the “mega deal” between the country's largest carrier Korean Air and its cash-strapped second-largest peer, a key point of contention for the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the country's antitrust agency, to factor in during an upcoming review. The report can become a major headache to Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull who reiterated that no risks would lay ahead during the remainder of the state lender-supervised deal. But his remark may become a major source of embarrassment i

Jan 5, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
HDC could derail Korean Air's deal to take over Asiana
Economy

Economic policymakers warn of insolvencies

BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol, left, and Finance Minister Hong Nam-kiBy Kim Yoo-chulRisk asset prices have rallied due to unprecedented central bank and government measures, with the Bank of Korea (BOK) lowering its benchmark rate to a historically low level.More precisely, market sentiment has seen a boost through swift and bold actions by the BOK and the country's top financial authorities aimed at addressing heavy market stress in the aftermath of COVID-19. But the BOK chief and Korea's top economic policymaker now warn of a possible disconnect between financial markets and signs of improvement in the real economy.Their coordinated message follows a consensus that an increasing vulnerability, from the high-level debt standpoint, could pose an actual threat to recovery. In Korea, ample liquidity and growing debt, part of which stem from the government's continuous stimulus policies, may become “unmanageable” for the country's middle class.In a New Year message to financial companies, Tuesday, BOK chief Lee Ju-yeol said the bank was expecting to see various “looming ris

Jan 5, 2021By Kim Yoo-chul
Economic policymakers warn of insolvencies
Economy

Contribution Asia's outlook for 2021 looks rosy but with important downward risks

Alicia Garcia HerreroBy Alicia Garcia HerreroAsian economies have been hit by the pandemic but differences among countries are striking. Beyond the extent of lockdowns and the size of the policy response, whether fiscal or monetary, the underlying characteristics of Asian economies also explain differences in growth trends. Countries with the largest current account deficits have suffered as risk-off episodes have complicated their necessary external funding, constraining their fiscal support. This is the case of India, Indonesia and the Philippines. In turn, Mainland China, but also Vietnam and Taiwan and, to a lesser extent, South Korea and Japan have been less impacted both because of more effective containment policies and, in many cases, larger fiscal and monetary response. In addition, many of these economies' sectoral specializations have helped increase exports during Covid-19, whether tech, electronic and medical supplies. This is clearly the case of the Mainland but also South Korea and Taiwan.Regarding policy response, the region has shown much more courage as opposed to p

Jan 5, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
[Contribution] Asia's outlook for 2021 looks rosy but with important downward risks
previous page
881882883884885
next page

Most Read in Economy