Seoul News

Seoul shares opened slightly higher but dipped soon after the market open on Tuesday, as investors continued to take a breather in the wake of a four-week rally while awaiting clearer signals on the outlook of the global economy. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 0.02 percent at 1,940.14 points as of More >

South Korean businesses are sprucing up to receive Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holidays, hoping the free-spending visitors bring a welcome boon to their otherwise slow business. Shops, hotels and restaurants in downtown Seoul put up new signs and banners inscribed with New Year greetings in Chinese, rearranged displays and hired Chinese speaking More >

Seoul shares are set for a technical rebound on Tuesday but gains will be limited, with investors placing little hope in a concrete debt solution being reached at European Union meetings this week. “Shares fell closer yesterday to the resistance level seen near 1,800. With neither favourable nor unfavourable new developments of note in Europe, More >

A senior U.S. official urged energy-starved South Korea to cut imports of Iranian petrochemicals and reduce crude oil imports from the Gulf state, as Washington applies more pressure on Tehran. Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its claim to have shot down a U.S. spy drone in its airspace on Sunday and last week’s storming of the British More >

Seoul shares may open modestly higher on Monday after falls last week, and are likely to test support around 1,800 points amid persistent concerns about the euro zone debt crisis and possible recession.

Seoul shares are likely to open higher on Monday after the Italian Senate’s approval of economic reforms gave investors some relief from worries about the euro zone’s debt crisis and lifted Wall Street shares.

Seoul shares may open cautiously on Monday with investors pausing after sharp gains in recent sessions, but better-than-expected South Korean economic data could lend stocks some support. “Shares will probably take a breather today following their latest gains. Some resistance is expected near the market’s 120-day moving average (of 1,967.50 points),” said Kim Young-june, a More >

Ahn Cheol-soo, the 49-year-old IT mogul, has finally plunged into the mayoral campaign to support unified liberal candidate Park Won-soon ahead of Wednesday’s vote. Ahn visited the headquarters of the liberal camp’s joint election committee Monday in Anguk-dong, Seoul, to declare his official support for Park.

The issue of Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II has been wholly settled, a senior Tokyo official said Monday, restating his government’s rejection of Seoul’s proposal for new talks on the matter. It is an unchanged position of Japan that the issue has been settled under a 1965 bilateral pact, Shinsuke More >

Seoul shares may open higher on Tuesday after firm gains on Wall Street and as sentiment swung toward hope that European officials would find a way to cut Greece’s debt and shore up European banks. Eurozone officials are working to magnify the firepower of the region’s rescue fund, a senior European Central Bank policymaker said More >