Finance

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index crossed the historic 5,000 level for the first time on January 22, driven by strong gains in semiconductor stocks and improved global sentiment. As of 9:14 a.m. local time, the KOSPI stood at 5,002.02, up 92.09 points or 1.88% from the previous session. The index opened higher at 4,987.06 and continued to extend gains, briefly reaching an intraday high of 5,016.73. This milestone comes just three months after the KOSPI first surpassed the 4

South Korea’s largest listed companies sharply increased share cancellations last year, with total treasury stock retirements reaching nearly 21 trillion won (about $16 billion), according to a report released Tuesday by corporate data tracker CEO Score. The study analyzed 479 companies among the top 500 by market capitalization, excluding newly listed firms. It found that 80 companies retired a combined 20.9955 trillion won worth of treasury shares in 2025. Samsung Electroni

A simple habit—wrapping cash in newspaper and storing it away—ended up destroying millions of won and contributed to a nationwide loss totaling trillions. According to the Bank of Korea, damaged and unusable banknotes worth ₩2.84 trillion were destroyed in 2025 after being deemed unfit for circulation. One case involved a resident in North Chungcheong Province who had kept ₩18.92 million in cash wrapped in newspaper inside a storage space. When the money was later retrieved,