South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in April from a month earlier due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the US greenback, central bank data showed Thursday.As of the end of April, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $376.57 billion, up $1.27 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International M

South Korea's five carmakers said Tuesday their combined sales fell 11 percent last month from a year earlier on weak overseas vehicle demand. The five automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a total of 656,735 vehicles in April, down from 740,228 units a year earlier, according to data released by the companies. (Yonhap)Their overseas sales plunged 13 percent to 524,060 units last month from the previous year'

South Korean football prospect Lee Kang-in, who plays for Spanish side Valencia CF Juvenil B, said Tuesday he wants to become a player who can lead the national team in the future.Lee is one of 26 players selected for the under-18 national football team's training in May. This is the first time the 16-year-old midfielder has been picked to represent his country. He is also the youngest player on the squad called up by head coach Chung Jung-yong.(Yonhap)"I'm really happy because I'm here to play

South Korean stocks closed higher on robust gains of blue chip shares, including market behemoth Samsung Electronics, analysts said Tuesday, posting the second-highest closing figure. The Korean won gained against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 14.23 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 2,219.67. Trade volume was low at 290 million shares worth 4.72 trillion won ($4.17 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 429 to 363.The latest figure marks the second-h

Kia Motors Corp. said Tuesday its vehicle sales fell 13 percent last month from a year earlier on lower overseas demand. The country's second-biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 209,832 vehicles in April, down from 241,617 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. (Yonhap)Domestic sales fell 10 percent year-over-year to 43,515 units from 48,505 units. Overseas sales were down 14 percent to 166,317 from 193,112 during the same period, it said. In particular, sales of vehicles p

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday its April sales fell 12 percent last month from a year earlier due to lower demand from emerging markets.The country's biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 364,225 vehicles in April, down from 412,588 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. (Yonhap)Domestic sales rose 1.5 percent year-over-year to 60,361 vehicles in April, up from 59,465 units. Overseas sales plunged 14 percent to 303,864 from 353,123, it said. As the low-growth trend is expecte

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker by sales, on Tuesday posted a 4.2 percent on-year drop in first-quarter net profit due to foreign exchange losses and lower demand from China.Net profit for the three months that ended on March 31 fell to 761.9 billion won ($674 million) from 795.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.The won's strength against the dollar in the first quarter weighed on the earnings result, the company said.  (Yonhap)The won strengt

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., said Tuesday its April sales rose 2.1 percent last month from a year earlier on robust sales of a new model.Renault Samsung sold a total of 22,444 vehicles in April, up from 21,981 units a year earlier, helped by strong sales of its QM3 compact sport-utility vehicle, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales increased 1.9 percent year-over-year to 8,702 units from 8,536 units. Exports were up 2.2 percent t

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Tuesday its April sales fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier due to weak domestic sales. GM Korea sold a total of 49,163 vehicles in April, down from 50,580 units tallied a year earlier, the company said in a statement. (Yonhap)Exports rose 2.2 percent to 37,412 from 36,602. But domestic sales plunged 16 percent to 11,751 units from 13,978 during the same period, it said.The sales results were affected by a 71 percent on-year drop i

SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday its April sales plunged 18 percent last month from a year earlier due to slowing overseas demand. The South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. sold a total of 11,071 vehicles in April, down from 13,462 units a year earlier, SsangYong Motor said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Domestic sales fell 8.6 percent to 8,346 units last month from 9,133 units a year earlier. Exports plunged 37 percent to 2,725 autos from 4,329 during the same period, the stat

E-Mart Inc., South Korea's largest discount outlet chain by revenue, is closing down its business in China two decades after it first entered the country, the company said Tuesday, as widening losses and worsening business conditions stemming from a diplomatic standoff have left the company with little leeway for a turnaround.E-Mart currently has six stores in Asia's biggest economy, following moves to downsize operations from 2011 onward. It plans to wrap up its business by selling the remainin

Foreign investors have snapped up South Korean bonds with their holdings exceeding 100 trillion won ($88.6 billion) again, industry data showed Tuesday. Offshore investors were net buyers of South Korean bonds worth 692.1 billion won last week, raising their holdings to 100.1 trillion won as of last Friday, according to the data and NH Investment & Securities.Foreign investors have been buying South Korean bonds, with the won showing strength against the US dollar. Kang Seung-won, a research

South Korea's medium-sized companies are not expecting the country's exports to improve this year compared to 2016 due to unfriendly business environments, a local business lobby said Tuesday. In a survey conducted by the Association of High Potential Enterprises of Korea, nearly 80 percent of 166 companies which have assets of less than 10 trillion won ($8.8 billion) and annually post 40 billion won-150 billion won in sales said exports will remain unchanged or deteriorate in 2017 compared to t

Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to emerge as the top chipmaker in the world by beating US rival Intel Corp. in the second quarter of this year, a report showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker IC Insights, Samsung is expected to post sales of $14.9 billion in the April-June period, up 7.5 percent from the previous quarter. The estimate is higher than the $14.4 billion expected for Intel.(Yonhap)In the first quarter, Intel posted sales of $14.2 billion, hovering abov

South Korea will simplify customs clearance process to help local exporters do business more easily in a way to give further momentum to the country's exports which seems to have entered an upside cycle, the customs agency said Tuesday.The Korea Customs Service said those who sell goods to foreign customers through an online platform will face easier and faster customs regulations, as only 27 items will be subject to mandatory declaration, down from the current 57 items. The businesses will also

South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning on the back of the robust gains of major blue-chip shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 21.66 point, or 0.98 percent, to 2,227.10 as of 11:20 a.m.Market behemoth Samsung Electronics shot up 1.03 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix also advanced 2.41 percent. LG Electronics and LG Display gained 2.03 percent and 2.04 percent, respectively.Carmakers are also winners, with Hyundai Motor rising 4.51 percent and its auto

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has incorporated its mobile transaction system on its Gear S3 smartwatch.Samsung said the Gear S3 smartphone will connect to Samsung Pay installed on smartphones, allowing users to make payments using the wearable instead of taking out their mobile devices. (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant had originally planned to introduce the service on the Gear S3 smartwatch in September 2016, but the plan was delayed due to the slow pace of talks with local credit

Kia Motors Corp. on Tuesday launched the latest version of the Soul electric vehicle with an extended range, a move aimed at adding more fuel-efficient models to its lineup.The 2018 Soul EV can travel an average of 180 kilometers on a single charge using its 30-kilowatt-per-hour battery, higher than the previous version's 148 km range, the company said in a statement.  Kia's 2018 Soul EV (Kia Motors)The all-electric Soul boxcar can run 152 km per charge on the highway and 202 km in downtown driv

The combined net profit of South Korean banks for the first quarter of this year surged to a six-year high, thanks to a rise in interest income and a decline in loan-loss provisions, government data showed Tuesday. Banks in South Korea posted a combined net profit of 4.3 trillion won ($3.7 billion) for the January-March quarter, up 49 percent on-year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.It marked the biggest profit since the first quarter of 2011, when profit stood at 4.5

South Korea's consumer prices continued their rise in April, going up nearly 2 percent amid high-flying oil prices, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index gained 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing down from the previous month's 2.2 percent rise, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Consumer prices have been hovering around 2 percent since the first month of 2016 due to a sharp gain in oil prices, following a 1.3 percent on-year gain in D