The government rolled out Wednesday a set of long-term plans to help South Korean financial companies expand their overseas footholds, as part of a broader move to boost growth in the financial industry.The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator, will allow local banks to acquire a financial holding company based overseas so that the lender can expand investment in a foreign country.Under the envisioned plan, the FSC will lower the required stake threshold for

Nov. 27, 2013

South Korea's economic activity inched up in October and November, compared with the third quarter on improving exports and marginal increases in consumption and facility investment, the central bank said Wednesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a modest recovery track since the fourth quarter of last year and the recovery momentum is seen as being further strengthened, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in the report dubbed the BOK Golden Book.The BOK released the Korean version of the U.S

Nov. 27, 2013

Business sentiment among local manufacturers declined to the lowest in three months in December amid lingering economic uncertainty, the central bank said Wednesday.The index that gauges manufacturers' outlook on business conditions reached 78 for December, down from a 17-month high of 83 recorded for November, according to a monthly survey from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' expectations for the coming month.The December data marked the lowest level since 77 tallied

Nov. 27, 2013

The government said Tuesday that airline companies involved in aviation accidents would face reinforced penalties including a flight suspension of up to 30 days.The board of flight safety, affiliated with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced a set of comprehensive flight safety measures, which officials said will be included in the government’s incoming flight safety bill.The measures are a follow-up to the government’s efforts to enhance aviation safety after the Asiana

Nov. 26, 2013

The delayed passage of South Korea's budget for next year by a protracted parliamentary stalemate is raising concerns that the government might have to prepare a provisional budget for the first time in history, which could eventually severely hurt its spending capacity intended to help boost the economy, experts and government sources said Tuesday.In September, the government drew up a 357.7 trillion won ($337.6 billion) budget proposal for 2014, which is larger than the 342 trillion won budget

Nov. 26, 2013

South Korean consumer sentiment rose to the highest level in 33 months in November as the local economy has been showing signs of improvement, the central bank said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) came in at 107 for November, up from 106 tallied in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index is a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending.The November data marked the highest level since the index hit 109 in February 2011

Nov. 26, 2013

The delinquency ratio of loans extended by South Korean insurers fell slightly in September from a month earlier due mainly to a decrease in overdue debts from both corporate and household lending, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The average bad debt ratio of local life and non-life insurers came to 0.69 percent at the end of September, down 0.06 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the figure declined

Nov. 26, 2013

The financial regulator has demanded KB Financial Group Inc. put off any bonuses for former and incumbent executives, citing the ongoing probe into suspected corruption at its flagship unit Kookmin Bank, regulatory officials said Tuesday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has apparently decided that KB Financial's bonus payouts to its executives would be inappropriate given the current circumstances in which Kookmin Bank has been scrutinized by the financial authorities on corruption alleg

Nov. 26, 2013

The state-run Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, in cooperation with research agencies abroad, successfully decoded the complete genetic base sequence of minke whales for the first time ever, government officials said on Monday.The joint research team’s thesis, titled “Minke Whale Genome and Aquatic Adaptation in Cetaceans,” was published in the online edition of Nature Genetics, a scientific journal for genetics research.“This research is the first worldwide to reveal the physiolo

Nov. 25, 2013

South Korea and Canada resumed their talks to conclude a free trade agreement in Seoul on Monday, ending their five-year deadlock in negotiations. Choi Kyung-lim, deputy minister for trade, represented the Korean side while Ian Burney, assistant deputy minister for trade policy and negotiations, led the Canadian delegation. It is the 14th round of FTA talks between the two countries since they launched negotiations in July 2005. The two sides have held 13 rounds of talks, but failed to make prog

Nov. 25, 2013

A prolonged economic slump is forcing a slew of business groups here to sell their affiliates to tide over cash shortages and shore up their financial status, industry sources said Monday.High-profile deals currently under way include the sales of Dongbu HiTek Co. and Dongbu Metal Co. Dongbu Group said it plans to sell its stakes in the two firms by 2015, and also have its other affiliates sell assets to secure a combined 3 trillion won (US$2.82 billion).LIG Group, a mid-sized business group, is

Nov. 25, 2013

The economic policies for 2014 will focus on elevating GDP growth and creating more jobs, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told heads of private think tanks on Monday. “We seek to have every economic bracket explicitly benefit from vitalizing the economy,” Hyun said during a breakfast meeting with the research institute officials. The keywords for the economic framework in 2014 are economic recovery, job creation, stable livelihood and economic fundamentals, he added. The

Nov. 25, 2013

  Inter-Korean trade has gradually been returning to normal levels following the reopening of a joint industrial park in North Korea's border city of Gaesong in September, government data showed Sunday.   According to data from the Ministry of Unification and the Korea Customs Service, two-way trade between South and North Korea amounted to $152.15 million last month. The amount is equivalent to 80.9 percent of total bilateral trade in the same month last year.   "Exports have grown with the ent

Nov. 24, 2013