Record market rallies in South Korea, mainly spurred by large-cap stocks such as Samsung Electronics on their upbeat earnings forecast, have highlighted that investors are less drawn to small cap stocks -- relatively more exposed to potential risks -- even in their attempt to unwind from overweight tech sectors here.  The main bourse index Kospi rose 3.4 percent for the past seven trading days until Wednesday, while scaling the record earlier this week, according to data by the Korea Exchan

The state-run Korea Development Bank unveiled Thursday plans to partner with Korea Venture Business Association to enhance investments in venture firms. KDB will finance venture firms recommended by the association, according to the plan. In addition, the nation’s largest state-run bank will seek ways to stimulate the emergence of local unicorns, or startups valued at over $1 billion, and ramp up investor relations programs for local startups. KDB called the partnership an acceleration of

LIG Nex1, the third-largest defense company in South Korea by market cap, has showcased its tactical assets ranging from guided missiles to radars and robots at the biannual Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition 2017, which started Tuesday.LIG Nex1 presented outdoors the low-cost 2.75-inch guided rocket Logir, or “Bigung” in Korean, for which the firm embarked on a mass production project in January, as well as anti-artillery radars, one of which LIG Nex1 completed an upgrade for in

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-largest carrier by market cap, has supplied multimedia equipment for classrooms in a Chinese primary school and provided lessons on what it is like to become a flight attendant, according to the firm Wednesday. The classroom equipment, including 10 computers, found its way on Tuesday to Wenhua Street Primary School, located in the northeastern Inner Mongolia autonomous region in China. Some 900 students are expected to benefit from the program, according to

Entertainment stocks in South Korea, long trapped under China‘s alleged ban on Korean artists performing in the country, rallied on anticipation of an easing of the Korea-China relationship after a renewed won-yuan currency swap deal last week. Shares of firms devoted to the Korean popular culture industry, ranging from K-pop music to TV series and films, have largely contributed to gains of the second-tier Kosdaq index Tuesday by 1.68 percent. Many entertainment stocks in Korea are listed

More than 1 in 10 stocks in South Korea’s markets hit an all-time high in closing price this year, while losers outnumbered gainers on both the Kospi and Kosdaq, amid unprecedented rallies mainly led by giants, according to data from market operator Korea Exchange on Monday.  Of 2,023 active common and preferred shares listed through 2016 on both the broad-based Kospi and tech-heavy Kosdaq, 237 had hit record-highs as of Wednesday.Among the 237 shares, about two-thirds, or 157, were o

This is the 43rd in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdWhile the top-tier stock market is riding on the global IT boom, the second-tier bourse is strongly dominated by the biopharma technology sector, with pharmaceutical players accounting for seven out of the top 10 shares in market cap.Among the local pharmaceutical powerhouses, a clinical-stage biotech firm SillaJen is noted for its signature oncolytic virus Pexa-Vec.Less than 11 months

The record-high closure of South Korea’s main bourse this week appeared to prove once again that foreign appetite for the market’s tech giants amid a global tech super cycle tends to precede uncertainties from geopolitical tension. Some analysts also highlighted the contrasting trend of large and small cap shares.The main bourse Kospi on Thursday extended a record streak for two days, closing at 2,474.76, up 0.68 percent from Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Kospi hit an all-time high, 2

Indebted households and the projected pace of aging in South Korea are worrisome, raising an urgent need for the country to develop households’ financial systems and access, a report showed Wednesday. Korea had the highest household debt to gross domestic product ratio among 10 Asian countries analyzed in 2016, according to the Allianz Global Wealth Report 2017 released by the German insurance giant. The debt ratio of Asia’s fourth-largest economy came to 95.8 percent, much higher th

South Korea‘s main bourse saw the largest foreign net purchase of its stocks in over four years Tuesday, while the market index approached the record-high in its closing, overshadowing escalating verbal war threats between North Korea and the United States. The Kospi closed at 2,433.81 Tuesday, the highest since July 27, when the index closed at 2,443.24. Kospi went up 1.64 percent from the previous trading day on Sept. 29, the highest rise in five months since 2.3 percent surge on May 8.

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the 2nd installment. -- Ed. 　To a peer-to-peer lending platform, a full-grown set of database plays a crucial role in providing individual lenders or investors higher return and lower risk, and borrowers with low interest rate loans, while at the same time, better assessing borrowers‘ debt serviceability. One of South Korea’s leading P2P lending platform operator Lendit appears to have ta

Common stock of firms under South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung saw a combined 111.5 trillion won ($97.3 billion) gain in asset value this year, not only spearheading a stock market rally but also awarding 6 trillion won in increased stock wealth to members of Samsung’s owner family, data showed Monday. The combined market cap of 15 Kospi-listed and one Kosdaq-listed common shares affiliated with the conglomerate rose 30.6 percent to 476 trillion won as of Sept. 28, from

Korean fintech firm Kona I has partnered with payment services provider AirPlus International to offer cards using biometric authentication technology, according to the firm Sunday. The technology will enable cardholders to use fingerprints for verification instead of personal identification numbers or signatures. The firm expects to “speed up transaction time and provide increased convenience and security” through the biometric authentication.  Cardholders will not need to char

South Korea’s main bourse index Kospi rose the fifth-fastest among the major indices of Group of 20 economies this year, data compiled by Korea Exchange showed Sunday.The Kospi soared 17.1 percent this year from 2,026.46 to 2,372.57 as of Sept. 27, following those of Argentina, Turkey, Brazil and Italy. Argentina’s Merval Index topped the list by jumping 49.4 percent over the cited period. This came in sync with the rallies in the G-20 countries. Nine of them saw their major indices

Financial authorities in South Korea are set this month to grant investment-banking licenses to local equity firms and allow short-term corporate lending, but concerns are emerging as that it might undermine the firms’ financial stability.The authorities are reportedly making final touches to their three-month screening process to grant licenses as part of the push to foster big investment banks. Investment banks in excess of 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in equity capital will be eligible

This is the 42nd in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdTwo pieces of good news gave mobile game developer Nexon GT an unexpected month of stellar performance on the stock market. The Kosdaq-listed Nexon GT’s strong performance in September mainly stemmed from its wholly-owned subsidiary Nexon Red’s new game release “AxE” on Sept. 14. In addition, on Wednesday, Nexon GT’s holding company NXC ventured into the b

The South Korean government on Thursday continued to reassure on the economy’s stability despite escalating security tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as pundits also raised caution that the new level of risk may affect the markets.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon on Thursday held a ministerial-level meeting to review and discuss the pending situation and economic policies in Seoul.“The persisting North Korea risk is touching off a bit of concerns, but Korea&r

Urban forests have played a key role in improving the quality of life for those living in metropolitan cities by tackling urban heat island effects and fine dust in South Korea, where more than 90 percent of its population reside in cities.Forests in Korea help decrease the amount of fine particles by more than 1 million tons per year, according to the Korea Forest Service. But the capital city Seoul, home to nearly one out of five people living here, is suffering from a shortage of urban forest

Signs of downward turns in consumption, the domestic economy as well as the financial market seem to be apparent, amid the saber-rattling between North Korea and the United States, which has heightened tension to the degree of a “declaration of war” on the Korean Peninsula.The main bourse index in South Korea slumped for the sixth consecutive trading day Tuesday with tech giants taking losses, while South Korea’s Composite Consumer Sentiment Index fell for two consecutive month

Jung Won-shik, former country manager of Alipay Korea, has become the new chief executive of BTC Korea, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald.“(Jung) had been scouted as CEO of BTC Korea since Sept. 4,” said the source, who declined to be named. The source also said Jung’s arrival at BTC Korea was part of the company’s “first batch of a management team made up of key