Day: June 21, 2024

Transactions of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives grew slightly from a year earlier in 2023, helped by a sharp increase in currency forwards, data showed Friday.

The combined turnover of OTC derivatives, including stock options and interest rate swaps, came to 24,704 trillion won (US$17.38 trillion) last year, up 155 trillion won, or 0.6 percent, from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

By product, currency-related products — currency swaps and currency forwards — amounted to 18,379 trillion won, accounting for 74.4 percent of the total.

Transactions of currency forwards jumped 8.8 percent on-year to 17,144 trillion won as demand for hedging foreign exchange volatility increased due to the strong U.S. dollar, according to the financial regulator.

Transactions of currency swaps slipped 1.6 percent on-year to 1,197 trillion won in 2023, while those of interest rate swaps dipped 17.6 percent to 5,874 trillion won.

As of end-2023, the value of outstanding OCT der
ivatives stood at 13,291 trillion won, up 1,080 trillion won, or 8.8 percent, from a year earlier.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Today (%) Previous Session(%) Change (BP)

1-year TB 3.330 3.336 -0.6

2-year TB 3.246 3.269 -2.3

3-year TB 3.176 3.196 -2.0

10-year TB 3.255 3.269 -1.4

2-year MSB 3.237 3.257 -2.0

3-year CB (AA-) 3.637 3.648 -1.1

91-day CD 3.600 3.600 0.0

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Seoul shares closed lower Friday on profit taking after a three-session winning streak. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 23.37 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 2,784.26. The KOSPI has risen 0.9 percent this week.

Trade volume was heavy at 617.53 million shares worth 14.12 trillion won (US$10.1 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 577 to 296.

Institutions and foreigners sold a combined 365 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals’ stock purchases valued at 377 billion won.

Overnight, Nvidia and other chipmakers ended lower on profit taking.

In Seoul, tech and auto stocks led declines.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co. fell 2 percent to 80,000 won, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. declined 1.5 percent to 234,000 won, top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. shed 1.9 percent to 280,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. dropped 2.1 percent to 333,000 won.

Among gainers, national flag carrier Ko
rean Air Co. rose 0.2 percent to 21,450 won, No. 2 full-service carrier Asiana Airlines Inc. climbed 2.7 percent to 10,760 won, and leading beverage company Hitejinro Co. was up 0.7 percent to 21,050 won.

The local currency closed at 1,388.30 won against the U.S. greenback, down 3.6 won from the previous session’s close.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Medical professors serving as senior doctors at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and its affiliates decided Friday to end an indefinite walkout, saying they could not put patients at risk any more, officials said.

On Monday, senior doctors at SNUH in Seoul and its three affiliates began an indefinite walkout in protest against the government’s increase of the medical school admissions quota.

Around 530 senior doctors there, or 54.8 percent of the total, have joined the collective action, though emergency rooms and treatments for critically ill patients have remained unaffected.

Holding a vote on whether to continue the walkout through next week, 73.6 percent of 948 professors said they should halt the operations suspension and seek a “sustainable way of protest,” according to its emergency response committee.

Some 20.3 percent voted for continuing the walkout.

“We cannot turn our backs on patients anymore. The decision to end the strike does not mean that we accept the government’s immature pol
icies,” a committee official said.

“We will continue to fight against the government and will take active action again if its irresponsible decision causes greater threats to the people’s right to health,” the official added.

The operation of the hospitals is expected to return to normal Monday.

More than seven out of the SNU hospital professors called for doctors’ active participation over the course of the government’s medical reform plans, and 65.6 percent pointed to the need to adjust their working hours “to a sustainable level” to ensure the safety of both patients and medical staff.

Public outcry has mounted over the strike as patients have suffered from a monthslong medical service vacuum over junior doctors’ walkout since late February against the increase in the quota.

Some community doctors affiliated with the Korean Medical Association (KMA) held a one-day strike Tuesday, and the KMA, a main doctors’ lobby group, has threatened to launch an indefinite strike next week to press the government f
urther.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Friday and discussed ways to respond after Russia and North Korea signed a treaty expanding military and economic cooperation.

Tensions are rising after Moscow and Pyongyang signed the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty, seen as a restoration of their Cold War-era alliance, at their leaders’ summit in Pyongyang earlier this week.

The treaty states that if either of the two gets invaded or put in a state of war, the other side will provide military and other assistance “with all means” at its disposal and “without delay.”

Cho and Blinken said that the agreement to strengthen mutual military and economic cooperation through the treaty “poses a significant threat to the security of both South Korea and the United States,” and “seriously undermines peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” the ministry said in a release.

“They strongly condemne
d this agreement,” the ministry said.

In the separate phone talks with Kamikawa, the two ministers expressed “grave concerns” over deepening military and economic ties between North Korea and Russia.

Cho had the phone talks from New York, where he has been visiting this week to attend a U.N. session.

Cho called for Seoul and Washington to work closely together and take the initiative for a stern response from the international community. Cho explained to Blinken countermeasures Seoul will take, such as additional sanctions on North Korea and export controls against Russia.

Blinken said that Washington will “consider various ways to respond” to the threats posed by Moscow and Pyongyang in relation to the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

Blinken also said that the U.S. “actively supports South Korea’s fair actions” against security threats.

The two sides also agreed to make efforts to strengthen the extended deterrence and the trilateral security cooperation with Japan in order to b
etter cope with the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Kamikawa concurred with Cho and agreed to continue consultations bilaterally, and trilaterally with the U.S., to enable more effective responses to the North’s deepening ties with Russia and its evolving nuclear and missile threats.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

A district court issued an arrest warrant for two Army company commanders Friday over the death of a trainee soldier following a session of demanding disciplinary training last month.

The suspects are accused of ordering six recruits from a unit to undergo a disciplinary session in Inje County, 126 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on May 23, in violation of relevant training rules, resulting in the death of one conscript.

The soldier was taken to a civilian hospital after collapsing during the training but died two days later.

The recruit, who joined the Army on May 13, was reportedly ordered to run around the unit’s training ground and do push-ups in full combat gear, despite relevant rules banning such demanding training in full gear.

The Chuncheon District Court granted the arrest warrant request for the company commander and deputy commander after just three hours of deliberation, citing the risk of destroying evidence.

The company commander remained tight-lipped to reporters’ questions as she appeare
d before the court, and the deputy commander, who showed up shortly afterward, simply said he was “sorry.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency