Former national tax agency chief tapped to head scandal-ridden LH

Former National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Hyun-jun has been tapped as the new chief executive officer of the Korea Land & Housing Corp. The position has been vacant since December amid a land speculation scandal involving employees of the state-run company. While Kim has no direct experience in housing or construction, the appointment is seen as a move by the government to overhaul the state housing developer and help it regain the public’s trust. Several LH employees are curren

IndustryApril 25, 2021

Woori Financial establishes ‘ESG financing principles’

Woori Financial Group said Sunday it has established “ESG financing principles,” a framework for the incorporation of environmental, social and corporate governance factors into the group‘s business portfolios.  The ESG finance principles introduce a definition and initial purpose of ESG finance, while stipulating how to integrate ESG values when making business decisions regarding various business models, including credit loans, project financing and wealth management,

MarketApril 25, 2021

FSC to expand loans for mid-credit borrowers

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Sunday unveiled measures to supply mid-range interest rate loans worth 32 trillion won ($28.7 billion) to 2 million borrowers with weak credit ratings by the end of this year. The policymaking Financial Services Commission plans to advise both conventional and internet-only banks to extend more mid-rate loans to borrowers with low to moderate credit scores like young people and small business owners, who find it difficult to access cheap bank loa

MarketApril 25, 2021

Edtech startup Databank snaps up $2.7m series A funding

South Korean educational technology startup Databank said Sunday it has completed a $2.7 million series A funding round and plans to use the proceeds to expand its artificial intelligence-powered services and widen its client base. Joining the latest round were domestic early-stage venture capital houses Company K Partners, Intervest and KB Investment. The fundraising brought the startup’s post-series value to $11.5 million, up sevenfold from the previous round of funding, according to th

MarketApril 25, 2021

Regulator encourages banks to provide mid-rate loans to low-income people

Financial authorities on Sunday unveiled a plan to encourage banks and other financial institutions to provide mid-rate loans to low-income people and non-prime borrowers. Mid-rate loans are not clearly defined, but such loans refer to credit loans with an interest rate of some 10 percent for people with middle credit scores, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Under the plan, about 2 million people with middle credit ratings are expected to take out a total of 32 trillion

EconomyApril 25, 2021

Doosan Infracore wins excavator deal from Qatar

Doosan Infracore Co., South Korea's top construction equipment maker, said Sunday it has secured a deal to supply 102 excavators and other equipment to Qatar. The value of the deal was not revealed. With the deal with a Qatari construction company, Doosan Infracore will be able to secure the No. 1 position in the construction sector in the Middle Eastern country. Doosan Infracore's market share there stood at 23 percent last year. Doosan Infracore will be able to clinch a 10 percent share in

IndustryApril 25, 2021

Samsung scions to unveil inheritance tax payment plan this week

The scions of Samsung Group, South Korea's top conglomerate, are likely to unveil a plan this week on how to finance their massive inheritance tax, which includes the donation of late group chief Lee Kun-hee's art collections. The senior Lee, who was South Korea's richest man, left more than 22 trillion won ($19.6 billion) worth of assets, including stocks valued around 19 trillion won. Lee, who died in October last year at age 78, was survived by his wife, Hong Ra-hee, only son, Jae-yong, and

IndustryApril 25, 2021

S. Korea faces 212 import curbs in Q1 amid protectionism

South Korea faced a total of 212 import restrictions from trade partners in the first quarter amid growing protectionism, according to a report Sunday. The number of import regulations facing South Korea was up five from three months ago, according to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Import restrictions cover anti-dumping duties, countervailing tariffs and safeguard measures, including investigations into suspected practices. Foreign import restrictions ha

EconomyApril 25, 2021

SsangYong Motor in receivership ramps up cost-cutting drive

SsangYong Motor Co. is seeking to cut some 10 executive jobs as part of its restructuring efforts after being put under court receivership, an industry source said Sunday. SsangYong Motor has been in the debt-rescheduling process since April 15 as its Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has failed to attract an investor amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and worsening financial status. According to the source, SsangYong Motor has been considering cutting about 30 percent of its 33 e

IndustryApril 25, 2021

Female mobile gamers enthused over casual mobile game

At the start of the year, Devsisters Corp. was a minor mobile game publisher struggling to turn around, crossing its fingers over the launch of its latest installment of the casual endless runner series Cookie Run. Three months later, "Cookie Run: Kingdom" has dominated South Korea's mobile app store charts, surpassing 10 million downloads. The game's March sales on local app stores are estimated at over 20 billion won ($17.9 million), ranking third after behemoth hardcore games Line

IndustryApril 25, 2021

S. Korea's exports of cosmetics up 15% in 2020

South Korea's exports of cosmetics shot up 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, on the back of growing demand from the United States and Asian countries. Outbound shipments of cosmetics reached $6.12 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Cosmetic Association. South Korea's imports of cosmetics fell 10.7 percent on-year in 2020 to $1.07 billion. The country's exports of cosmetics had been maintaining two-digit annual

EconomyApril 25, 2021

KB clinches title as leading bank in Q1 with record earnings

South Korea’s KB Financial Group outperformed the three other major banking groups here in terms of first-quarter net profit, buoyed by its strong brokerage and other nonbanking businesses, data released Friday showed. KB’s net profit in the first three months gained 74.1 percent on-year to 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) -- a record-high quarterly net profit since it became the holding entity of KB-branded financial and banking firms in September 2009. The value of its total asse

MarketApril 23, 2021

S. Korean brokerages vying for MyData license

South Korean securities firms, which are infamous for their rigid company culture, are competitively setting up their own digital platforms and seeking partnerships with rising fintech startups. Conventional stockbrokers are doing this for one reason -- they hope to do business in the MyData segment. MyData is one of the government’s marquee projects to reshape the outdated financial sector in response to the “fourth industrial revolution,” centered on digitalization. The gov

MarketApril 23, 2021

SC Bank Korea extends promotion to help boost children’s savings

Standard Chartered Bank Korea will extend a special promotion aimed at helping young customers build a better savings habit for an extra month until end-May, the lender said Sunday. The promotion, which was initially planned to run from March to April, offers 10,000 won ($8.95) to those aged 18 or under who open SC Bank Korea savings accounts if they meet certain conditions. The customers would need to open a checking account, named Dream-Youth Deposit, and a savings account, called First Hou

MarketApril 23, 2021

Samsung Bioepis’ Q1 biosimilar sales in Europe hit $205m

Sales of biosimilars developed by Samsung Bioepis in Europe reached $205.1 million in the first quarter this year, the South Korean drugmaker said Friday. Sales of Samsung Bioepis’ three major autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- increased 3.9 percent on-quarter but decreased 6.3 percent on-year, the company said, citing an earnings report of its US partner Biogen released Thursday, local time. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Biogen and Samsung Group&rs

TechnologyApril 23, 2021

South Korean exporters urged to brace for rising ocean freight rates

South Korean firms that are heavily reliant on exports should come up with diverse ways to cut down on their logistics costs amid a prolonged surge in ocean freight charges, a report suggested Friday. Ocean freight rates are rising and could continue for a long time against the backdrop of unstable supply and demand for empty containers and a rise in demand due to revenge consumption, the Institute for International Trade warned in its report. To achieve a competitive price edge, exporters ca

IndustryApril 23, 2021

Oriental Brewery taps Youn Yuh-jung as brand ambassador

South Korea’s largest brewer, Oriental Brewery, has tapped veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung as the new brand ambassador for its flagship beer brand Cass, the company said Friday. In a commercial, Youn, the first Korean woman to be nominated for an Academy Award and a strong contender for best supporting actress, discusses opening herself up to form relationships with people as she promotes the beer. The company said Youn, “who is not afraid to speak her mind,” is an inspiration

ConsumerApril 23, 2021

Hanwha Corp. to issue first green bonds worth W150b

Hanwha Corp. said Friday that it will issue green bonds for the first time. According to the Hanwha Group holdings firm, it will file a securities declaration with the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday and conduct a book-building session Thursday, seeking to issue green bonds worth up to 150 billion won ($134 million) on May 7. Green bonds are specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. Hanwha Corp. last month launched an environmental, social and cor

IndustryApril 23, 2021

Crypto coins plunge amid growing bubble fears

Most cryptocurrencies have fallen significantly and a few, including Bitcoin and Dogecoin, have nose-dived more than 10 percent amid rising concerns over a potential bubble burst. Bitcoin, the world’s latest cryptocurrency, saw its price drop 12.08 percent Thursday, continuing a downward trend that started after it hit a high of 81,994,000 won ($73,243) on April 14, according to local crypto exchange Upbit. Dogecoin, which benefited from the enthusiasm of electric carmaker Tesla CEO El

MarketApril 23, 2021

S. Korea faces dilemma over cryptocurrency taxation

South Korea's financial authorities are moving to impose an income tax on cryptocurrency trading from next year, but investors in digital tokens have raised a nagging question about the proposed taxation. A growing number of cryptocurrency investors have cried foul over whether the government will collect a tax on virtual currencies while top policymakers see no intrinsic value in crypto assets amid a lack of regulations to protect cryptocurrency investors. Like many governments around the wo

MarketApril 23, 2021