SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – As economic headwinds stir up demand for safe-haven assets, convenience stores in South Korea are seeing a surge of younger buyers snapping up affordable, bite-sized gold bars, underscoring the appeal of the precious metal as a compact investment during turbulent times. Convenience store operators say sales of card-sized gold bars [...]
SEOUL, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) – As the South Korean public continues to grapple with high interest rates and soaring consumer prices, credit card loan balances reached an all-time high last month, reflecting the mounting financial strain on ordinary citizens. According to data released on May 20 by the Credit Finance Association, the combined credit card [...]
SEOUL, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) announced Tuesday it will host an international seminar next week to seek ways to develop the country’s financial market amid government-led efforts to enhance the value of local businesses. The capital market value-up seminar will be held next Tuesday in Seoul, with some [...]
SEOUL, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Corporate direct financing in South Korea surged more than 20 percent from a month earlier in April on a sharp increase in bond issuance, data showed Tuesday. Local companies raised a combined 24.6 trillion won (US$18.1 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 20.1 percent from the [...]
SEOUL, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s consumer sentiment declined to a six-month low for May amid high inflation and market rates, a central bank poll showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index stood at 98.4 this month, down from the previous month’s 100.7, the lowest since November last year, according to the survey [...]
DAEGU, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) – As unsold apartments pile up in Daegu, conflicts are intensifying between early buyers who paid premium prices and later buyers who secured units at significant discounts. The situation has reached a boiling point, with existing homeowners blocking apartment complexes to prevent discounted buyers from moving in. Residents of Villiv [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) – The average rental income for individuals in the top 0.1% of landlords residing in Seoul neared a staggering 1.3 billion won, highlighting a stark divide in the capital compared to other regions of South Korea. The average for this elite tier in Seoul was 4.7 times higher than in Sejong, [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) – E-Mart24, a leading convenience store chain in South Korea, announced on May 19 that all 30,000 units of its highly anticipated Bitcoin Lunchboxes, launched as part of a promotion in collaboration with the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb on May 8, had sold out amid overwhelming customer demand. Priced at 5,500 won, [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – The value of South Korea’s virtual asset market expanded over 50 percent from six months earlier in the second half of last year, on rising prices of cryptocurrencies, data showed Thursday. The market capitalization of the virtual asset market had come to 43.6 trillion won (US$31.8 billion) as of end-2023, [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s terms of trade rose for the fifth consecutive month in April as export prices rose while import prices fell, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods — a gauge of overall trade terms — improved 5.2 percent last month from a year [...]