Korea posts biggest drop in dollar reserves since 2008 as won plunges

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves shrank by nearly $20 billion in September, the biggest monthly decline in 14 years, as authorities double down on efforts to prop up the quickly depreciating won that is now at a 13-year low against the US dollar. According to Bank of Korea data on Thursday, the reserves stood at $416.77 billion at the end of September, down $19.66 billion from $436.43 billion in August. That is the largest monthly dip since October 2008, when reserves fell by $27.4

Veteran co-ed group Koyote sends hopeful message to fans with ‘Hero,’ ‘Soulmate’

Koyote, a legendary co-ed Korean vocal group that boasts a career extending across 24 years, is back on the music scene with the new album “Let’s Koyote.” The band, consisting of Kim Jong-min, Shin Ji and Bbaek Ga, held its ever-first media showcase since debuting in 1998 in Seoul on Wednesday to unveil two new songs -- “Hero” and “Soulmate” -- and look back on a long-lasting career. The two-track album is the follow-up to upbeat summery song “Go,&

Why SK chief calls K-food the next big thing

Tycoon who leads S. Korea's 2nd-largest conglomerate embarks on unexpected mission to industrialize hansik. Experts say he might want to be more than just a businessman

Proud to be Korean? More people say no

Nearly 1 in 5 Koreans say they are not proud of their nationality, and 1 in 3 say they are not willing to fight for the country, according to the World Values Survey, a global research project conducted by social scientists on Wednesday. To a question asking if they feel proud of their nationality, 18.6 percent of Korean respondents said “no,” showed the cross-national, five-year study conducted between 2017 and 2022. In the previous WVS, carried out between 2010 and 2014, 9 percent

SC Bank, Toss mull compensation for won-dollar rate error

Standard Chartered Bank Korea and Toss Securities are discussing ways to compensate customers who suffered losses due to a faulty won-dollar exchange rate posted on their mobile trading apps, officials said Thursday. The won-dollar exchange rate on Toss Securities’ mobile trading system was frozen at 1,298 won per US dollar from 1:50 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, when the actual rate hovered around 1,440 won. SC Bank Korea, the London-based financial giant’s Korean unit, which p

Korea's top 100 property owners have 20,000 homes: data

Combined assets held by 100 individuals worth W2.52tr, or 206 homes each

Lotte’s overseas spending exceeds W7tr this year

South Korean retail-to-chemical giant Lotte Group said Thursday its overseas investment has exceeded 7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) this year. So far, the largest overseas project is Lotte Chemical’s Line Project, a $3.9 billion megasized petrochemicals production complex in Banten, Indonesia. It aims to produce 1 million metric tons of ethylene, 520,000 tons of propylene, 250,000 tons of polypropylene and other petrochemical products by 2025. The chemicals unit also plans to build its firs

Chip wafer maker SK Siltron to invest W2.3tr by 2026

South Korean semiconductor chip wafer supplier SK Siltron announced Thursday that it plans to invest a combined 2.3 trillion won ($1.6 billion) over the course of five years until 2026. The capital will be used to increase the production capacity for its wafer plants in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. SK Siltron will also create 1,000 new jobs for its wafer plants. As part of the plan, SK Siltron's board on Thursday approved a 855 billion won spending plan to expand the production capacity f