Fitch affirms Korea’s credit strength despite risks

Global ratings agency Fitch on Friday reaffirmed South Korea’s long-term sovereign credit rating at “AA-” with a stable outlook, citing the country’s strong external finances and resilient export sector. The agency cited the country’s robust external finances, dynamic export sector and stable macroeconomic performance as key strengths, while flagging geopolitical risks related to North Korea, an aging population and vulnerability to external shocks as downsides. Korea has retained the "AA-" rati

Jan. 30, 2026

US Treasury keeps Korea on FX watchlist amid won volatility

South Korea remained on the US Treasury Department’s currency monitoring watchlist updated Thursday, signaling caution as Asia’s fourth-largest economy seeks to hold the won’s value against the greenback. The US Treasury issued the Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States report, maintaining Korea on its monitoring list for extra foreign-exchange scrutiny. Korea was first added to the watchlist in April 2016. It was dropped from the list in Novem

Jan. 30, 2026

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo vows talks with US to resolve tariff issues

South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Thursday he will make utmost efforts to find reasonable solutions to pending trade issues following President Donald Trump's recent threat to raise tariffs on South Korea, as he plans talks with US officials. "I plan to engage in multifaceted discussions to understand the situation within the US government and Congress and find reasonable solutions," Yeo told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, before departing for Washington. H

Jan. 29, 2026

Finance ministry adds 11 institutions to oversight list, without FSS

The finance ministry said Thursday it has newly listed 11 state-run organizations on a surveillance list, leaving the country's financial watchdog off the list amid controversy over alleged lax supervision. A total of 11 state-run organizations met the criteria for public institution status this year, bringing the total number to 342, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry reviews about 500 organizations each year for designation as public institutions, a status that plac

Jan. 29, 2026

Korea to add 60,000 homes in Greater Seoul area

South Korea on Thursday unveiled a plan to add about 60,000 new homes in Seoul and the broader capital area, seeking to cool an overheated housing market by expanding supply in prime locations. Under the roadmap, the government will supply 60,000 housing units targeted at young people and newlyweds across Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, covering a total area of 4.87 million square meters. The scale is equivalent to roughly twice the number of homes in Pangyo, a major Gyeonggi satellite cit

Jan. 29, 2026

NPS chief draws line between investing, politics

National Pension Service CEO Kim Sung-joo said Thursday the fund’s investment decisions are made “independently, without political interference,” as he sought to deflect criticism that the world’s third-largest pension fund has been used as a policy tool. “Sharp currency swings are among the biggest risks to the fund,” Kim said at a press conference in Seoul, his first meeting with local reporters since taking office in December. “As a long-term investor, the NPS cannot avoid factoring in exchan

Jan. 29, 2026

S. Korean industry minister to visit US for talks on Trump's tariff threat

South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan plans to visit Washington, D.C., to meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss bilateral trade issues following President Donald Trump's tariff hike threat aimed at Seoul, officials said Thursday. Kim, who had visited Canada as part of an official government delegation, was scheduled to arrive in the US capital late Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources. The visit comes as Trump announced earlier this week tha

Jan. 29, 2026

Seoul officials say financial markets remain 'largely stable' despite uncertainties

South Korea's top financial authorities said Thursday that domestic financial markets remain "largely stable" after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep its policy rate frozen, while pledging to closely monitor economic uncertainties at home and abroad. "Domestic financial markets are largely stable," Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said during a meeting on financial conditions, noting that the stock market has posted stronger gains than those of major economies and that government bond yields

Jan. 29, 2026

Uncertainty surrounding US monetary policy likely to persist: BOK

Uncertainty over the path of the United States' monetary policy is expected to persist, though markets have remained broadly stable following the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision, a senior official of the South Korean central bank said Thursday. On Wednesday, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the 3.5-3.75 percent range following three successive cuts since September, a decision that will continue to put the gap between the key rates of South Korea and the Unite

Jan. 29, 2026

Samsung Electronics posts record operating profit in Q4 amid AI boom

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday said it has posted record operating profit and sales in the fourth quarter of 2025 on strong sales of premium semiconductor products, including high bandwidth memory, amid the global artificial intelligence boom. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 20.07 trillion won ($13.9 billion) in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 6.49 trillion won a year ago. Revenue rose 23.8 percent on-year to 93.83 trillion won. Net profit came to 19.6

Jan. 29, 2026

FSC chief signals fast track for single-stock leveraged ETFs

South Korea will expand its exchange-traded funds lineup to include single-stock leveraged products as regulators seek to draw back investor funds that have flowed overseas, Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won said Wednesday. Lee outlined the plan at a press briefing in Seoul as part of a broader reform push aimed at boosting the competitiveness of domestic capital markets while tightening oversight of cryptocurrency and financial corporate governance. “Investor demand is going un

Jan. 28, 2026

NPS to raise domestic equity allocation to 14.9% in 2026

South Korea's state pension fund said Monday it will increase its allocation to domestic equities this year from 14.4 percent to 14.9 percent, citing shifts in market conditions at home and overseas. The decision was made at a meeting of the National Pension Service fund management committee, which was convened to review the fund's overall investment strategy, including its exposure to local stocks, and to discuss measures to cope with volatility in the foreign exchange market. NPS officials sai

Jan. 26, 2026

Hyundai, Kia's 2025 operating profit likely to drop despite record sales due to US tariffs

South Korea's leading automakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., are expected to post record revenues in 2025 on robust sales in the United States, though their combined operating profit is forecast to decline due to the impact of US tariffs, data showed Monday. Hyundai Motor's annual sales and operating profit are projected to reach 187.9 trillion won ($129.1 billion) and 12.5 trillion won, respectively, for 2025, up 7.2 percent and down 12.3 percent from a year earlier, according to an analy

Jan. 26, 2026

Korea–Malaysia trade jumps 14% in 2025 on chip demand

Trade between South Korea and Malaysia surged in 2025, driven by strong demand for semiconductors and electrical and electronic products, according to Malaysian government data released Friday. The Malaysian Embassy in Seoul said bilateral trade reached $27.42 billion last year, up 14.2 percent from 2024, outpacing Malaysia’s overall trade growth rate of 13.5 percent. The figures were cited from the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation, or Matrade. Korea’s exports to Malaysia climbed

Jan. 25, 2026

Foreign ownership of S. Korean stocks reaches highest in nearly 6 yrs

Foreign ownership of South Korean stocks as a share of total market capitalization reached its highest level in five years and nine months in January, driven by net purchases in the shipbuilding, defense and nuclear power industries, the main bourse operator said Sunday. Foreigners' stock holdings rose to 37.18 percent of total market capitalization on Jan. 7, the highest level since April 9, 2020, when the rate was at 37.34 percent, according to data from the Korea Exchange. The increase largel

Jan. 25, 2026