Korea Economic Daily

Overseas stock investment: 93% of the current account surplus Retail investors invested more than pension funds The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the won’s weak streak last year despite a record-high current account surplus was due to overseas equity inve

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he recently met with South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, is said to have placed particular emphasis on negative sentiment within the US government over tariff negotiations. Cho disclosed details of his Jul

China pushes to sharply expand gold output Bracing for global risks… bolstering self-sufficiency The Chinese government is moving to expand gold production. The move comes as growing uncertainty in the global economy has reignited de-dollarisation de

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said on the 6th that it issued US$3 billion of dollar-denominated Foreign Exchange Stabilization Fund bonds on the 5th. The deal is the largest single issuance since 2009 (US$3 billion). On the day, Finance Ministe

[WowQuick] Investment information platform Kim Jae-seung, a research fellow at Hyundai Motor Securities, appeared on Korea Economic TV on the 6th and said, "The AI rally has not yet passed its peak and will continue," adding, "However, as the benefic

A sell-sidecar (a temporary suspension of program trading sell quotes) was triggered after the KOSPI index tumbled more than 4% in early trading on the 6th. The Korea Exchange (KRX) said the sell-sidecar was triggered in the KOSPI market at 9:06 a.m.

Commodities Focus Global silver prices plunged again. According to London Stock Exchange Group on the 5th, spot silver at one point in the morning fell about 17% from the previous session to the $73-per-troy-ounce range. It later rebounded to the $75

US bundles energy and minerals as security issues Linked to tariff policy…making talks tougher Korea lacks a visible control tower, limiting response An analysis suggests that South Korea’s trade authorities, which have so far dealt with US Commerce

Trump’s oil war (3) Pressuring South Korea with 25% tariffs—does it relate to the oil war? Tariff leverage expanding to new fronts U.S. to make it the first project of the Korea-U.S. investment fund Likely proposed an energy project to South Korea Ta

A 'war of nerves' as they speak by phone for the first time in two months Call held one day before 'New START' expires Xi holds a videoconference with Putin Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call for the first

At the start of the year: “I expect it won’t be designated as a public institution” Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said regarding the issue of “designating the FSS as a public institution” that “personally, the mos

Counterpoint’s memory price outlook Q1 seen rising 80–90% Industry also sees 90–100% gains this year EpicAI: “Extremely positive for Samsung and hynix” A forecast says memory prices are set to jump 80–90% in the first quarter. The view is that rising

After plunging last weekend, silver prices—which had rebounded over the past two days—fell 17%. Silver has returned to last weekend’s level. The spot price of silver on May 5 on the Singapore Exchange slumped 17% to as low as $76.97 per ounce (about

IPO press briefing Lower valuation, increased lock-up shares “Upbit’s impact on performance is not significant” Listing on the KOSPI scheduled for March 5 K Bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, has launched its third attempt at an initial pu

High-level talks between the United States and Iran, which had faced the risk of stalling, will go ahead as scheduled after mediation by a third country. However, with disagreements persisting over the agenda, attention is focused on where the talks

On the New York stock market on the 4th (local time), worries that data-center-driven semiconductor demand has fallen short of expectations this year dragged semiconductor shares lower. Analysts said Korea’s stock market, which has a heavy weighting

First call in two months; discussion covers Taiwan, U.S.-China ties and global issues Trump: “Talks on China buying U.S. oil and gas” Xi: “No tolerance for Taiwan separatism… U.S. must be prudent on arms sales to Taiwan” U.S. President Donald Trump a

Geopolitical risk in global trade has recently been pushing up logistics costs. That is because what used to be a variable cost—“war and marine risk insurance premiums”—has become entrenched as a structural expense. Additional marine insurance premiu

On Wall Street, weakness in tech stocks persisted, while shares of traditional industrial companies rose. Major indexes therefore ended the session mixed. In particular, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.36%, and memory chipmaker Micron Tec

ADP: Private-sector employment at companies up 22,000 in January Far short of Dow Jones estimate of 45,000 US private-sector employment was effectively flat in January. According to payroll processor ADP on the 4th (local time), private-company emplo

Global currency strategists view the recent recovery in the U.S. dollar as temporary, and expect it to weaken as the year progresses on concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence and the prospect of rate cuts. They also said the Japanese yen is

Trump’s Oil War (2) U.S. energy dominance solidifies U.S. becomes an oil-market ‘superpower’ U.S.·Venezuela Combined output 80% of OPEC Even global oil prices swayed at will The United States has emerged as a ‘superpower’ in the global oil market. It

Yeo Han-koo: “U.S. preparing to publish in the Federal Register” No gains even from meetings with Cho Hyun and Rubio Concerns are growing that the tariff hike on Korean-made products, previously flagged by U.S. President Donald Trump, will become rea

Closed-door meeting with the Digital Assets TF “If introduced, apply differentiated regulation by market share” As the government moves to cap the equity stakes of major shareholders in virtual-asset exchanges, exchange chiefs conveyed their concerns