With the fast-growing blockchain industry, cryptocurrency payment will become mainstream after ethereum becomes cheaper and more accessible for a broader user base, according to ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. “The upgrade of ethereum (which is scheduled in September) will dramatically cut the current cost of transaction fees that are around $1 to $20, by making improvements to efficiency a...

KB Financial Group said Monday that its wine collection using its character design won the Red Dot Award for Brands and Communication Design. The character design, which the firm created to boost its image as a friendly bank open to ordinary Koreans, is aimed at raising domestic wine sales amid the pandemic when small business owners face greater economic challenges, the firm added. “We are gra...

South Korea will unveil additional measures to tame inflation, and a package of housing supply plans, this week in an effort to help stabilize people's livelihoods, the finance minister said Monday. The government plans to roll out the soon-to-be announced inflation-fighting measures ahead of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday next month, as consumer prices ran at a near 24-year high in July due t...

South Korea plans to sell state-owned unused and idle lands and buildings over the next five years in a bid to bolster public finances, the finance ministry said Monday. The government said it plans to push to sell assets worth 16 trillion won ($12.3 billion) and more in the coming years. The value of state-owned lands and buildings reached 701 trillion won as of end-2021, of which some 41 tril...

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday, tracking the decline in US major indexes late last week, on renewed worries over the increasing likelihood of another sharp rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 9.38 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,481.42 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended lower on Friday (US time),...

The International Finance Corporation said Friday that it named insider Ruth Horowitz as vice president for Asia and the Pacific, bringing in a veteran who most recently headed the group’s Asset Management Company, which invests in developing countries. Horowitz, who spent the last 13 years at the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, took office last Monday, highlighting fighting run...

Retail investors turned net sellers of South Korean stocks in recent weeks despite foreigners’ buying spree, data showed Sunday, putting the nation’s key stock index in a bear market rally. Overseas investors scooped up a net 4 trillion won ($3.08 billion) on the Kospi market from July 14 to Friday, data from the nation’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange showed, driving the benchmark index’s ...

South Korea's exports of instant noodles hit a fresh all-time high in the first half on the increasing popularity of Korean pop culture and a rise in demand for home-cooked food amid the pandemic, data showed Sunday. Exports of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, came to $383.4 million in the January-June period, according to the data from the food industry and the Korea Customs Service. T...

The South Korean economy faces increased downside risks due to high inflation and worsening external economic conditions, a state-run think tank said Sunday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a mild recovery track, but downside risks are expanding in the manufacturing industry due largely to economic slowdowns in the US and China, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a monthly economi...

About one out of eight mid-aged people in South Korea has borrowed money due to economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed Sunday. According to the survey of 3,923 people by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 12.5 percent of people in their 40s and 11.5 percent of those in their 50s said that they have taken out loans or borrowed from their acquaintan...

Seoul shares closed higher for the third consecutive day Friday on continued foreign buying. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 17.69 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 2,490.80. The figure is up 1.6 percent from a week ago. Trading volume was moderate at 400.63 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won ($5.7 billion),...

Travelers going to South Korea will be able to bring in duty-free goods worth up to $800, up from $600, as the Korean government seeks to reflect a surge in per capita income and help ramp up sluggish international tourism amid the pandemic. The Finance Ministry said Friday that the easing of customs regulations, which last took place in 2014, includes lifting a separate cap on duty-free liquor ...

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the second straight month in June, but its amount sharply contracted from a year earlier amid mounting import costs emanating from high energy and commodity prices, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account surplus stood at $5.61 billion in June, accelerating from the previous month's surplus of $3.86 billion, according to the...

Seoul shares ended on foreign buying on Wednesday. The South Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.66 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 2,473.11 points. Trading volume was moderate at 393.27 million shares worth 7.4 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 466 to 382. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose ...

SEJONG -- The tally for cases of wealth transfers to Koreans aged under 30 surged by 106 percent last year, compared to the previous year, after a gradual increase between 2017 and 2020, data from the national tax agency showed Thursday. According to the National Tax Service’s data, given to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of Koreans aged under 30 who reported capit...