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  • Others

    KOSPI edges higher after volatile session as tech stocks drive gains

    KOSPI ended slightly higher on Tuesday after opening on a positive note, supported by a strong overnight rally in U.S. technology shares, but overall trading was marked by fluctuations. The index began the session up 22.05 points, or 0.26 percent, at 8,416.70, and briefly built on early momentum. However, it soon drifted into a narrow range as fluctuations persisted throughout the day before closing at 8,476.48, up 81.83 points, or 0.97 percent, from the previous session. Persistent foreign selling acted as a drag on broader upside momentum. In the United States, equities finished higher as a rebound in mega-cap tech stocks helped reverse recent weakness tied to valuation concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.59 percent, breaking above the 52,000 mark for the first time. The S&P 500 rose 1.18 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.07 percent. Semiconductor names led the advance, with Nvidia, Micron Technology and Broadcom fueling a 3.83 percent gain in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Those positive moves provided some support for Korean chipmakers, though gain

    2 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    KOSPI edges higher after volatile session as tech stocks drive gains
  • Policy

    Market braces for pension fund's stock rebalancing

    2 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Market braces for pension fund's stock rebalancing
  • Policy

    Korea secures 2.07 mil. ton dedicated EU steel quota under new TRQ

    2 MIN READBy Lee Gyu-lee
    Korea secures 2.07 mil. ton dedicated EU steel quota under new TRQ
  • Economy

    Korean authorities sell net $13.6 bil. in Q1 to stabilize FX market

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korean authorities sell net $13.6 bil. in Q1 to stabilize FX market
  • Cryptocurrency

    Global crypto exchanges repackage Korean chip stocks as perpetual futures

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    Global crypto exchanges repackage Korean chip stocks as perpetual futures
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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

In-house experts crowding out foreign consultancies

Oliver Wyman takes steps to close Seoul officeBy Park Jae-hyukForeign consultancies in Korea, which once flourished as the most-favored workplaces among young jobseekers, are under serious pressure from domestic companies that are aggressively strengthening their in-house experts to cut costs.The latest example is Oliver Wyman, a U.S.-based Marsh & McLennan Companies' (MMC) consulting subsidiary specializing in banking and financial services.According to local media reports and industry insiders, Wednesday, the second-tier consultancy decided to cease operations here in response to deteriorating revenue over the past few years. This came four years after the departure of multinational IT consultancy Accenture.Oliver Wyman's global headquarters has already pulled down the introduction to its Seoul office from its official website. An employee of another MMC local subsidiary told The Korea Times: “Oliver Wyman workers have not come into the office since late October.”Those affected will be transferred to other offices in the Asia-Pacific region or move to rival consulta

Nov 11, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
In-house experts crowding out foreign consultancies
Economy

'Korea should look into CPTPP, capture opportunities in US reshoring'

gettyimagesbankBy Kim Bo-eunThe election of Democrat Joe Biden as U.S. president is drawing the attention of governments around the world to economic policies to be implemented under his administration, given that a shift will likely occur from the Trump government. This is expected in trade policies as Biden has shown his support for a multilateral framework rather than bilateral deals. The next president is also expected to push for re-shoring to boost the U.S. economy. Experts advise Korea to observe and prepare for policy shifts under the new U.S. administration that will be launched in January.Shift to multilateral framework, joining forces with alliesBiden's pledges are in contrast to existing policies under the current administration in a number of sectors, partly based on efforts to undo Trump's policies. In trade, Biden is not expected to deviate from U.S. policies pressuring China and may continue the tendency toward protectionism in the interests of the local economy. Yet, what may differ from Trump is a focus back to multilateralism.The Trump administration has disregarde

Nov 11, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
'Korea should look into CPTPP, capture opportunities in US reshoring'
Economy

October job loss largest in 6 months amid pandemic

A screen shows precautions against the coronavirus at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. APSouth Korea reported the sharpest on-year fall in jobs in six months in October, extending its job losses to an eighth month amid the protracted pandemic, data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people reached 27.09 million last month, 421,000 fewer than a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.Job losses increased from an on-year fall of 392,000 in September.The tally marked the sharpest on-year decline since April, when the country shed 476,000 jobs due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.It also marked the steepest decline in jobs since the country reported job losses for an eight consecutive month in August 2009 during the global financial crisis.South Korea has reported job losses every month since March, when the nation lost about 195,000 jobs, the first on-year job loss since 2009, due to the fallout of the pandemic.The country's jobless rate rose 0.7 percentage point on-year to a three-month high of 3.7 percent, the data showed

Nov 11, 2020
October job loss largest in 6 months amid pandemic
Economy

Korea, US discuss infrastructure safety

Officials from the land ministry and their U.S. counterparts participate in an online seminar, Nov. 5. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and TransportBy Lee Kyung-min Road experts and relevant government officials from Korea and the U.S. held an online seminar, Nov. 5, on improving road infrastructure safety in the face of climate change-induced hazards including landslides, the land ministry said Tuesday.They shared knowledge about Korea's efforts toward digitization of social overhead capital (SOC), a key part of the Korean New Deal. Under the deal, the government plans to spend 160 trillion won ($143 billion) on digital and green initiatives over the next five years, creating 1.9 million jobs in the process and identifying new sources of sustainable growth. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the seminar was attended by officials from the ministry, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Colorado Department of Transportation.Among topics discussed were ways to better respond to hazards resulting from climate change especially landslide

Nov 10, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Korea, US discuss infrastructure safety
Economy

Hopes for COVID-19 vaccine boost stock markets

Aviation, travel and duty free stocks rise amid jolted expectations for vaccine development.By Anna J. Park Upon news that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has shown a rate of effectiveness of over 90 percent in phase 3 trials, hopes that the pandemic situation could improve propelled the local stock markets on Tuesday.Just as the news stoked the U.S.' Dow Jones Index by 2.95 percent on Monday's market closing, demand for travel and aviation in particular pushed related stock prices up high. The possibility of the vaccine's success made investors on the Korean stock markets take long positions on pandemic-crushed sectors like aviation, tourism and retail shopping. Stocks that have enjoyed gains from the pandemic, such as IT, biopharmaceuticals and work-from-home-related stocks, suffered falls Tuesday. Korea's benchmark KOSPI ended at 2,452.83 points on Tuesday's closing, up by 0.23 percent from the previous session. Retail investors returned to a net buying position, with net purchasing at 187 billion won ($169 million) after the past few days of net sellin

Nov 10, 2020By Anna J. Park
Hopes for COVID-19 vaccine boost stock markets
  • China-bound passengers must submit 2 negative COVID-19 test results
  • New virus cases in triple digits for 3rd day
  • South Korean travel-related stocks rally on Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine results
  • Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90 percent effective
Economy

Top EU envoy to Korea stays mum on WTO chief race

European Union Ambassador to Korea Maria Castillo Fernandez, center, poses with members of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) during a press conference at the ECCK headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of ECCKEuropean firms in Seoul assume ambiguous stanceBy Park Jae-hyukTop European diplomatic and business leaders here have maintained an ambiguous attitude toward the European Union (EU) backing the Nigerian candidate over the Korean one for leadership of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The ambiguity is an apparent attempt to dismiss concerns about a possible deterioration in economic ties between Korea and Europe over the issue.During Tuesday's online press conference to celebrate the publication of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) White Paper for this year, EU Ambassador to Korea Maria Castillo Fernandez told reporters it was “better not to comment or speculate” about the WTO director-general election, adding, “The EU has supported both of them.”ECCK President Christoph Heider also said in a speech: “I also liked

Nov 10, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Top EU envoy to Korea stays mum on WTO chief race
Economy

South Korean travel-related stocks rally on Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine results

At Hana Bank's dealing room in Seoul's Jung District on Tuesday, a news of Pfizer making a possibly highly effective vaccine for COVID-19 after a successful trial is shown at one of the monitors. YonhapSouth Korean travel-related stocks rallied Tuesday morning on growing hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic could be subdued after global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. reported promising results for its coronavirus vaccine.Pfizer announced Monday (U.S. time) that its vaccine candidate developed with BioNTech SE was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, signaling progress in the global fight against the pandemic.Local airline stocks, which have taken a beating this year from the pandemic, were buoyed by the report, with shares in the country's largest carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., soaring 12.61 percent as of 10:30 a.m. The carrier's stock price spiked as high as 23.62 percent early morning.Shares in Asiana Airlines Inc., the country's second-largest carrier, rose 3.6 percent, while top low-cost carrier, Jeju Air Co., jumped 11.85 percent.Shares in travel agen

Nov 10, 2020
South Korean travel-related stocks rally on Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine results
  • New virus cases in triple digits for 3rd day
  • Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90 percent effective
  • Hopes for COVID-19 vaccine boost stock markets
Economy

NEWS ANALYSIS 'Korea's low carbon initiative still unclear, lacks specifics'

This picture taken on October 26 shows a 2,500 cubic-meter tank containing liquid hydrogen at Kobe Port Island plant in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, where a special shipping terminal has been built in order to import liquid hydrogen from Australia. AFP-YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min Korea's vision to go carbon-neutral by 2050 is drawing criticism as the plan lacks specific details and is just a grand announcement, experts said Monday.For Korea, known for its heavy reliance on fossil fuel energy, joining the global wave of green energy is a step in the right direction.Yet unless backed by a specific goal to reduce carbon emissions and scale down investment in and financing of coal-powered projects overseas, the much-touted move will become a hollow pledge, they said.Increasing research and development in related sectors will facilitate the development of new technologies to utilize renewable energy at a cheaper cost and benefit a greater number of people as well as key industries, enabling them to reduce production costs.This will in turn bolster the competitive edge of local export firms, whose s

Nov 9, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
[NEWS ANALYSIS] 'Korea's low carbon initiative still unclear, lacks specifics'
Economy

Samsung, LG, Hyundai on alert over stronger currency

A screen shows the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Korean won in a dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul, Nov. 5. AP-YonhapBy Kim Yoo-chulThe relief rally over Joe Biden's victory in the U.S. presidential election is expected to continue, benefiting battery, clean energy and eco-friendly stocks as investors act on higher expectations for multi-trillion-dollar spending in the next few years.There are thoughts that the “green wave” of investment will provide a possible rally in large-cap and big technology stocks such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai tech affiliates. But the flipside is that a stronger Korean won against the dollar may hurt the price competitiveness of leading Korean exporters that are competing with Japanese and Chinese rivals in Europe and the United States, according to economists and currency dealers.The basic rationale behind this view is that President-elect Biden is a big supporter of spending and stimulus policies, which may weaken the dollar.Local currency dealers said the won was trading below the 1,120 level against the U.S. dollar and h

Nov 9, 2020By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung, LG, Hyundai on alert over stronger currency
Economy

Is pro-Trump Blackstone CEO's ESG commitment contradictory?

Participants listen to Blackstone Group Chairman Stephen Schwarzman's pre-recorded speech during the Institute for Global Economics-KB Financial Group International Conference at Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul, Monday. / YonhapFormer UN secretary-general lauds Biden's plan for climate changeBy Park Jae-hyukBlackstone Group Chairman Stephen Schwarzman's “righteous” speech on his company's commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles may have moved the hearts of many participants in the Institute for Global Economics-KB Financial Group International Conference in Seoul, Monday.But at the same time, his remarks may have been considered “self-contradictory” by those who are aware that he donated a very large amount of money for the victory of U.S. President Donald Trump, who withdrew the world's largest economy from the Paris Agreement.In the conference titled “ESG Global Summit: The Road to Resilient Economy and Sustainable Finance,” the world's largest private equity firm's chief executive introduced his company's pledge to inves

Nov 9, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Is pro-Trump Blackstone CEO's ESG commitment contradictory?
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