Brokerages resume services for daytime trading of US stocks

South Korean brokerage houses on Tuesday reopened services for daytime trading of US stocks, more than a year after they suspended the service due to system glitches, industry sources said. Investors using trading systems of 18 brokerage firms here will be able to trade US stocks from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the sources. Daytime trading of US stocks in Korea had been halted since Aug. 5, 2024, following a technical glitch that caused the mass cancellation of orders from local investors by

Nov. 4, 2025

Lee to deliver budget speech Tuesday to outline next year's spending plan

President Lee Jae Myung will deliver a budget speech this week to outline the government's spending for next year, the presidential office said Monday. Lee is scheduled to make the speech on the 2026 budget bill Tuesday, during which he is expected to ask for bipartisan cooperation for its passage. The government has proposed a record high budget of 728 trillion won ($508.4 billion) for next year, up 8.1 percent from this year. Lee has signaled an expansionary fiscal policy aimed at boosting slu

Nov. 3, 2025

Finance minister vows efforts to boost domestic consumption

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol on Sunday pledged to step up efforts to promote domestic consumption as South Korea's annual nationwide shopping event is being held on the largest-ever scale, his office said. The Korea Grand Festival, the country's equivalent of Black Friday, is taking place both online and offline nationwide from Wednesday through Nov. 9, with around 37,000 companies participating, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Major department store chains, discount retailer

Nov. 2, 2025

[Contribution] Coercive fines to end tax audit standoffs

By Lee Sung-jin Vice commissioner of the National Tax Service Tax audits are often likened to a tug-of-war. The National Tax Service strives to secure as much supporting documentation as possible to ensure fair taxation based on the principle of evidence-based taxation, while taxpayers, concerned that complying might lead to unfavorable outcomes and disadvantages, often refuse to cooperate and hold out. This persistent deadlock -- caught between cooperation and avoidance -- has long been a famil

Nov. 2, 2025

Lee, Xi seal W70tr FX swap in Korea–China reset

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — South Korea and China agreed Saturday to expand cooperation across trade, finance and emerging industries, marking a reset in bilateral ties strained by geopolitical tension and supply chain realignment. During a 95-minute summit at the Gyeongju National Museum, President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of seven memorandums of understanding, including the extension of a currency swap deal. The Korean president said the tw

Nov. 1, 2025

Chicken and chips prove winning combination as tech titans join Nvidia’s GeForce festival in Seoul

“These are my chimaek buddies!” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shouted with a wide grin as he stood on stage with Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at the GeForce Gamer Festival held at Coex’s K-pop Square in Seoul on Thursday. The atmosphere at Coex quickly turned electric as the trio appeared before a packed crowd of gamers, fans and tech enthusiasts. Just hours earlier, the three business leaders had shared a casual get-together, which also i

Oct. 31, 2025

Kkanbu Chicken revels in limelight following business moguls' dinner

Kkanbu Chicken, a South Korean fried chicken joint, is suddenly the hottest table in South Korea right now, after Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics's Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor's Chung Euisun had a much-talked-about "chimaek" get-together at one of its branches in Seoul on Thursday. The three moguls’ casual meeting over chimaek — fried chicken and beer — took place around 7:30 p.m. at a Kkanbu Chicken outlet near Samseong Station in Seoul's Gangnam-gu. The dinner lasted about an hou

Oct. 31, 2025

Hyundai Mobis Q3 net rises, operating profit falls on US tariffs

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's leading auto parts maker, said Friday its third-quarter net profit grew 1 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit fell more than 14 percent due to US import tariffs. Net profit for the three months ended in September rose to 930.5 billion won ($651.4 million) from 921.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. "Favorable exchange rates and increased supply of module and core parts to global carmakers, as well as to Hyundai

Oct. 31, 2025

Industrial output expands in Sept. on robust chip production; retail sales down for 2nd month

South Korea's industrial production expanded from a month earlier in September, driven by robust semiconductor production, while retail sales lost ground for the second consecutive month, data showed Friday. Industrial production went up 1 percent last month compared with the previous month, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, inched down 0.1 percent on-month. Facility investment jumped 12.7 percent, rebounding from an on-month d

Oct. 31, 2025

APEC leaders vow to connect fragmented global economy

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Leaders from Thailand, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates called for closer regional cooperation and open trade at the APEC CEO Summit on Thursday, warning that protectionism could undermine Asia’s growth momentum. Vietnamese President Luong Cuong urged APEC business and policy leaders to embrace “an inclusive, cooperative and human-centered approach” to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He warned that artificial intelligence is already reshaping economies

Oct. 30, 2025

Korea's clear growth path inspires others: World Bank

South Korea serves as a role model for developing countries, having achieved growth by setting a clear direction for expansion, according to a senior executive at the World Bank. Anna Bjerde, managing director of operations at the multilateral institution, visited Korea to attend this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. "Over the decades, Korea has gone from an impoverished country relying on donor funds from the likes of the World Bank to

Oct. 30, 2025

SK Telecom shifts to red in Q3 due to data breach compensations

SK Telecom Co., South Korea' leading mobile carrier, said Thursday its third-quarter earnings swung to a net deficit from a year earlier due mainly to massive compensation costs following a data breach that affected its entire 25 million-user base. It posted a net loss of 166.7 billion won ($117.1 million) for the July-September period, compared with a profit of 280.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The loss was 33.3 percent higher than the average estimate,

Oct. 30, 2025

Samsung Electronics Q3 net profit up 21% on robust chip sales

Samsung Electronics on Thursday said its net profit shot up 21 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier with the chip segment posting a record performance amid the artificial intelligence industry boom. Net profit came to 12.22 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in the July-September period, up 21 percent from the 10.1 trillion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit for the three-month period surged 32.5 percent on-year to 12.16 trillion won. Reven

Oct. 30, 2025

Trump: US-Korea trade deal to be sealed very soon

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington and Seoul are “very” close to finalizing a new trade agreement, describing South Korea as a key economic and security partner and urging deeper Korean investment in US industry. “The Republic of Korea is a cherished American friend and a close ally,” Trump said in his keynote speech during his address at the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju. “Here on this peninsula, the people of South Korea have forged a m

Oct. 29, 2025

Amazon to pour $5b into new AI data centers in Korea

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Amazon Web Services will invest more than $5 billion by 2031 to build AI data centers across Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, the government said on Wednesday following President Lee Jae Myung’s meeting with AWS Chief Executive Matt Garman on the sidelines of the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju. The investment represents Amazon’s largest-ever greenfield commitment in Korea and comes just months after the US tech giant pledged $4 billion to establish an artificial

Oct. 29, 2025