Korea's current account surplus narrows to $5.28b in Jan.

South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in January due to an increased deficit in the service balance, central bank data showed Friday.The country's current account surplus reached $5.28 billion in January, compared with a surplus of $7.18 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The figure represents a surplus for 59 months in a row. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade. (Yonhap)The BOK said the service balance deficit h

March 3, 2017

Bankruptcy court opens in Seoul

A court specializing in bankruptcy opened Thursday, aiming to respond to the increasing number of bankruptcy and rehabilitation cases.The Seoul Bankruptcy Court is to replace the Seoul Central District Court’s bankruptcy division, to settle all types of both personal and corporate cases regarding bankruptcy, according to officials.Seoul Bankruptcy Court (Yonhap)Consisting of 34 judges, the new court will henceforth deal with corporate bankruptcies and individual rehabilitation cases, both of whi

March 2, 2017

Seoul, Washington to increase financial sanctions against NK

South Korea and the US agreed to enhance financial sanctions against North Korea amid concerns over Pyongyang’s latest ballistic missile test, the Finance Ministry in Seoul said Thursday.South Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held their first phone call Thursday since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. They promised the two countries would more thoroughly implement UN Security Council sanctions as well as their own sanctions against the recl

March 2, 2017

Korea to sell W4tr worth of Treasury bills in March

South Korea plans to sell 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) worth of Treasury bills this month to support its expansionary fiscal policy, the finance ministry said Thursday.The bills will have a maturity of between 28 days and 63 days to be sold each in two separate auctions throughout the month, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. (Yonhap)Treasury bills are usually sold to raise money to cover short-term financial shortfalls, and thus are generally sold with a maturity of less than a

March 2, 2017

Top life insurers bow to regulators over suicide claims

South Korea's top-three life insurers - Samsung, Hanwha and Kyobo - have decided to pay all overdue suicide claims, giving in to regulators' punitive steps, industry officials said Thursday.Samsung will pay a total of 174 billion won ($152 million) in respect of its policyholders who committed suicide on 3,337 claims. An image of Samsung, Hanwha and Kobyo life insurers in a file photo. (Yonhap)The decision was made at the board meeting earlier in the day."(We) have decided to pay the insurance m

March 2, 2017

Tera Funding loans grow to top W100b in 2 yrs

The chief of Tera Funding, a peer-to-peer property financial service provider, said Thursday that the company's accumulated loans have surpassed 100 billion won ($87.6 million) since its launch two years ago."Tera Funding surpassed the 100 billion-won mark for the first time as a P2P lending firm because the company is evaluated as being safe," CEO Yang Tae-young said. CEO of Tera Funding Yang Tae-young (Tera Funding)P2P lending refers to a new type of loan extension to individuals or businesses

March 2, 2017

NPS plans to hire new investment managers

South Korea's national pension fund operator said Thursday it is moving to employ dozens of new investment managers following a recent staff exodus.Late last year, the Investment Management Office of the National Pension Service saw some 30 staffers quit ahead of its relocation to Jeonju, 243 kilometers south of Seoul. In addition, 11 investment managers have left or offered to resign. The Investment Management Office of the National Pension Service in Jeonju, 243 kilometers south of Seoul (Yonh

March 2, 2017

Returns from investments in studio apartments down amid glut

Returns from investments in studio apartments in South Korea edged down in February from a month earlier due to oversupply, data showed Thursday.The annual returns from investments in studio apartments, better known as "officetels" in South Korea, stood at 5.09 percent in February, down from 5.11 percent in January, according to the data compiled by KB Kookmin Bank, the country's biggest retail lender. (Yonhap)The annual returns reached 6.02 percent in August 2010, but they have either moved in

March 2, 2017

Korean currency top performer against dollar this year

South Korea's won has risen more than 6 percent against the US dollar this year, the best performer among major currencies, data showed Thursday.The won was last traded at 1,133.7 per dollar on Monday, up 6.1 percent from the end of last year, according to the Korea Center for International Finance. This undated file photo shows a board for foreign exchange rates at a South Korean bank. (Yonhap)It marks the biggest gains among the world's currencies during the two-month period.The dollar has bee

March 2, 2017

Korea's stock trading accounts reach record high

The number of stock trading accounts has reached a record high, partly due to a sharp rise in retail investors, the country's stock market operator said Wednesday.The number of trading accounts came to about 23.26 million as of Friday, according to Korea Exchange.(Yonhap)The KRX noted the number has been on a steady increase since breaching the 10 million mark in 2007, but said the tally spiked by 1.73 million in 2016, following a 1.51 million on-year surge the year before.Such large increases c

March 1, 2017

M&As by Korean firms down, foreign deals rise in 2016

South Korean companies sought fewer merger and acquisitions amid increased economic uncertainty last year, but foreign firms were aggressive in acquiring local IT and entertainment firms, the nation’s antitrust watchdog said Wednesday.The Fair Trade Commission said it received reports of 646 M&A deals worth 593.6 trillion won ($521.3 billion) last year. The number of deals went down by 23 compared to the previous year but the deal value was up by 55 percent mainly due to the M&As of Korean firms

March 1, 2017

Smartphones boost use of Internet banking services

A growing number of South Koreans used Internet banking services last year due mainly to the widespread use of smartphones, a survey showed Wednesday.The ratio of South Koreans aged above 12 who used Internet banking services stood at 57.5 percent in 2016, up 5.0 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the survey.(Yonhap)The 2016 figure represents a substantial hike from 2004, when 31.6 percent of South Koreans used Internet banking service.The number of Internet banking service user

March 1, 2017

Watchdog's finance portal draws 1.3m users

South Korea's state financial watchdog said Wednesday the number of people using its financial information portal service has exceeded 1.3 million just half a year after its opening.The Financial Supervisory Service opened the Financial Information Network, http://fine.fss.or.kr, on Sept. 1, 2016. (Yonhap)It is designed to offer information on financial transactions here, especially via major search engines, such as Naver and Daum."It has the ultimate purpose of resolving the information divide

March 1, 2017

Daily credit card spending in Korea hits record high in 2016

Daily credit card spending in South Korea hit a record high in 2016, data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that credit cards are one of the most convenient payment tools.Credit card holders in South Korea spent an average of 1.68 trillion won ($1.4 billion) a day in 2016, up 10.9 percent from 1.51 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The 2016 figure is the highest since 2003 when the central bank started collecting data.Meanwhile, debit ca

March 1, 2017

Govt. recoups W2.2tr of public funds via Woori sale

The South Korean government said Tuesday it recouped 2.24 trillion won ($2 billion) of bailout funds, mostly used to help financial companies reeling from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, in the fourth quarter of last year.The retrieval of taxpayers' money came mostly from the sale of Woori Bank, a major lender here, according to the Financial Services Commission. The headquarters of Woori Bank in central Seoul. (Yonhap)The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp.  sold its 29.7-percent stake

Feb. 28, 2017

NPS’ annual return marks 4.75 percent in 2016

South Korea’s state pension fund said its annual investment return inched up by 0.18 percent to 4.75 percent in 2016 from a year earlier.According to the National Pension Service, the size of its fund swelled to 558.29 trillion won ($493.74 billion) as of the end of 2016, up 9 percent from 512.3 trillion won a year earlier. NPS in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. (Yonhap)Out of its total assets, 557.7 trillion won is being managed in the financial sector. More than half of the fund, or 50.7 percen

Feb. 28, 2017

Korean institutions buy more foreign securities

South Korean institutions' investment in overseas securities jumped 43 percent on-year in 2016, driven by the growth of bond purchases by insurers and asset management firms, central bank data showed Tuesday.The amount of stocks and bonds held by local institutional investors came to $173.7 billion as of the end of last year, up $52.2 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea . A pile of US banknotes in a file photo. (Yonhap)"It's mainly attributable to a surge in new investmen

Feb. 28, 2017

BOK chief cautious about rate change, suggests more fiscal spending

South Korea's central bank said Tuesday it will maintain an accommodative monetary policy amid concerns about the pace of the US rate hike.Speaking to lawmakers, Bank of Korea  Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said it won't rush to raise the country's benchmark rates even if the US increases its own rates again. Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol attends a parliamentary committee meeting in Seoul on Feb. 28, 2017. (Yonhap)"The principle of an interest rate policy is an accommodative operation, but it does not neces

Feb. 28, 2017

Korea Deposit Insurance to retrieve assets of shuttered savings banks in Cambodia

The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. will open a branch office in Cambodia next month to help retrieve property assets owned by shuttered South Korean savings banks, KDIC officials said Tuesday. Seven savings banks, including Jeil Savings Bank and Tomato Savings Bank, were suspended in 2011 after they grappled with bad assets due to deteriorating construction loans. This photo shows a protest in 2012 by customers of a shuttered savings bank. (Yonhap file photo)Some of the shuttered saving

Feb. 28, 2017

KB Securities seeks to sell Hyundai Asset Management

KB Securities Co., a major South Korean brokerage firm, is pushing for the sale of an asset management unit, industry sources said Monday.KB was born through a merger of Hyundai Securities Co. and KB Investment & Securities Co. early this year. KB also absorbed Hyundai Asset Management as an affiliate. (Yonhap)KB initially considered retaining the asset management company, which is known for real estate and special asset management, in tandem with KB Asset Management Co., according to the source

Feb. 27, 2017