U.S. rate hike top threat to Korean economy

Concerns are growing over the negative effects that the U.S.’ coming interest rate hike could have on the South Korean economy, while some local analysts have downplayed the possibility that the dollar would hold a stronger position against major currencies and investors would actively withdraw from Asia.Some economists cited the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s tight monetary policy later this year and economic slowdowns in the U.S. and China as factors that could undermine the Korean econo

May 31, 2015

Banks open alternative portable branches

In the wake of the decline of visitors and the net interest margin, as well as the high building rents, some commercial banks have embarked on projects to reduce the number of their brick-and-mortar branches nationwide. They decided ― as a substitute ― to place a focus on portable branches as a means to approach customers in residential districts at a much lower cost.Hana Bank last week launched its third portable branch, incorporating a portable banking system inside an RV.“This new banking bra

May 31, 2015

National debt tops W1,200tr

The Finance Ministry said Friday that the country’s total national debt surpassed 1,200 trillion won ($1.1 trillion) last year, reigniting controversy over the country’s debt management. In the ministry’s fiscal report of 2014 submitted to the National Assembly, the country’s gross national debt last year stood at 1,212.7 trillion won, up 94.8 trillion won from a year ago. The report came about six weeks after the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea ordered a revision of the initial report, w

May 29, 2015

Mirae Asset sees stable gains in Global Discovery Fund

Mirae Asset’s Global Discovery Fund has seen inflows of more than $800 million since the beginning of the year, the Korean asset management firm said Thursday. As of May 26, Mirae Asset Global Investments achieved a stable gains rate in Mirae Asset Global Discovery Fund, one of its Societe d’Investissement a Capital Variable Funds, or simply SICAV, based in Luxembourg.The company attributed its performance to the 20 percent range gains rate among its Asia funds, one of the 14 SICAV funds that it

May 28, 2015

Kumho Asiana Group to buy back bus operator for W415 bln

Kumho Asiana Group, the parent company of South Korea's No. 2 air carrier, said Tuesday it will buy Kumho Buslines Co., its former intercity bus transportation arm, for 415 billion won (US$375.1 million), as it takes a step closer to restoring itself to the conglomerate it was before its liquidity crisis.   Kumho Terminal, a subsidiary of Kumho Asiana Group, will take over a 100 percent stake in Kumho Buslines from a private equity firm led by IBK Securities Co. and KStone Co., which currently o

May 26, 2015

Risk fears raised as individuals borrow to fund stock buys

Brokerage firms’ collective loans to investors, which are stock investment-oriented credit, reached the highest level this month on the KOSDAQ market amid the bullish secondary bourse and record-low bank interest rates.In a report released by Korea Financial Investment Association on Tuesday, the credit-based investments reached the risky amount of 3.97 trillion won ($3.64 billion) as of May 20. This accounts for about 3.5 percent of the entire capitalization of freely traded stocks on the tech-

May 26, 2015

Pantech on verge of bankruptcy

Failing to find viable buyers, the debt-ridden South Korean smartphone-maker Pantech has decided to end court receivership. The local smartphone-maker, which once ranked third in the market by sales, came under court protection in August last year and has tried to find legitimate buyers since then.Three rounds of bids held over the past months came to no avail.“Despite our 10-month long efforts, we could not find an appropriate bidder with a right evaluation of Pantech,” the company said in a st

May 26, 2015

CJ O Shopping expands into Mexico

CJ O Shopping, the TV home shopping unit of CJ Group, announced Tuesday it has joined hands with a Mexican multimedia company to launch a new home shopping channel in the Central American country.The home shopping firm and Mexico-based Televisa will together invest a total of $23 million to newly establish Televisa CJ Grand ― which will oversee the running of the CJ Grand Shopping channel in Mexico.The channel will become Mexico’s first 24-hour TV home shopping channel, aimed at capturing the at

May 26, 2015

Government criticized for lack of transparency on ISDS suit

While the South Korean government is facing its second international arbitration under the investor-state dispute settlement system, civic groups are demanding that the details should be made public as they could cost several billion dollars of taxpayers’ money.The groups claimed that the government not only kept the first Lone Star arbitration process under wraps, but also hid from the public a lawsuit filed by an Abu Dhabi state-owned company. The claimed amounts for both cases are $5 trillion

May 25, 2015

Seoul to make cross-border money transfers easier

South Korea plans to push for financial deregulation to make it easier for people to transfer money across borders without going through banks, the government said Sunday.The move aims to allow securities firms, insurers and most importantly FinTech companies to handle transfers that can help lower fees and benefit ordinary consumers, the finance ministry said. The expansion of money transfer services, which are currently restricted to banks, is also expected to help scale back the often complic

May 24, 2015