Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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S. Korea not to attend Sado mine memorial: foreign ministry
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Toxins at 622 times legal limit found in kids' clothes from Chinese platforms
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Think tank chiefs call for additional rate hike
The heads of Korea’s major think tanks Monday emphasized the importance of the nation’s continued efforts to “normalize” macroeconomic policies, citing a sufficient amount of liquidity unleashed in the domestic market.In their meeting with Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan in central Seoul, they also shared the view that Korea’s economy is faced with growing external risks from slowing recovery in adv
June 20, 2011
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Hyundai Securities hit by network glitch
Cyber network problems have occurred again in the nation’s brokerage sector, following similar cases in NH Investment & Securities, Leading Investment & Securities, and Dong Yang securities earlier this year.Customers of Hyundai Securities suffered troubles in their online investment in stocks for about an hour early Monday due to a glitch in the brokerage firm’s network system.The investors could
June 20, 2011
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[Herald Inteview] Korean banks’ short-term external debt rising: Fitch
Credit rating agency Fitch noted the rising short-term external debt held by Korean banks in recent months, but said its portion relative to overall external debt was still sustainable.“The South Korean government has been trying to reduce the industry’s short-term external debt but the level is back on the rise,” Andrew Colquhoun, Fitch’s head of Asia Pacific sovereign ratings, said in an intervi
June 20, 2011
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Rising mortgage rates could dampen spending
Mortgage rates hit a 30-month high fueled by Bank of Korea’s rates hike this month, raising concerns for damaging effects to the economy.On June 10, the central bank raised the benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25 percent in an effort to counter the rising inflationary pressure. Against market expectations, the central bank had kept the rates frozen for two consecutive months in April
June 19, 2011
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No bid for banking unit of Korea Post: KDB
KDB Financial Group Inc. denied a news report that the state-owned company plans to acquire banking businesses of Korea Post.KDB officials said Saturday that the company has not reviewed such plan. The report came after the government went against a move by KDB to take over the public-funded Woori Financial Group. KDB has sought to become a “mega” bank in Korea to expand its business overseas.(shi
June 19, 2011
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Seoul bourse to face volatility this week
The Korean stock market is expected to face volatility this week as eurozone countries are still mired in a deadlock over solutions to the worsening Greek debt crisis, analysts said.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, shed 0.72 percent, or 14.74 points, to close at 2,031.93 on Friday. Losses in tech and large cap shares led the market declines.Last week, the local share market suffered a sev
June 19, 2011
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Local banks’ exposure to Greece tops $500m
Local bank’s exposure to debt-burdened Greece tops $500 billion but it poses limited impact on the local financial market even in the case of a default, financial authorities said Sunday. The Financial Supervisory Service said the bonds issued by Greek shipping companies were not so large here as of the end of March. The agency did not disclose a bank-by-bank breakdown of the figure but emphasized
June 19, 2011
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[Herald Interview] IMF: Rate hikes should help tame stock volatilities
IMF, Finance Ministry split on focus of capital control measuresKorea should raise its policy rate faster to discourage volatile capital inflows into stocks and boost the effectiveness of capital barriers currently in place, Subir Lall, Internaional Monetary Fund's Mission Chief for Korea said.The head of the IMF delegation here assessed Korea’s capital flow management “effective,” but said more c
June 19, 2011
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IMF urges BOK to tame inflation
Delegation calls for speedy hikes in key rate and currency appreciationA delegation from the International Monetary Fund on Friday advised Korea to take tighter monetary policy and pull up its currency value to tame mounting inflationary pressure.Speaking at a news conference after winding up its two-week inspection of the Korean economic situation, the delegation said it is necessary for Korea to
June 17, 2011
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Lawmakers agree on BOK inspection right
The National Assembly is poised to settle the long-standing dispute over whether to provide the nation’s central bank with independent authority to inspect financial companies.Ruling and opposition lawmakers have reportedly reached a consensus to pass the proposed revision of the law on the Bank of Korea as early as this month, according to the political sector.The revised bill has been pending at
June 17, 2011
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Seoul to expand ‘differentiated rate system’ for public services
Korea will expand the “differentiated rate system” for public services as part of its ongoing efforts to tame inflation, a senior Finance Ministry official said Friday.The differentiated rate system will be applied to such services as electricity and highway toll fees by offering diverse rates based on time, amount of usage and other factors, Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong said at a weekly an
June 17, 2011
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Lone Star retrial delayed
The Seoul High Court delayed the trial in the case of alleged stock manipulation of the Korean unit of Lone Star Funds, the biggest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank, to July 21.While the court held the trial on Thursday, it accepted the proposal for a delay from lawyers for Paul Yoo, former CEO of the now-defunct Lone Star Korea.In March, the Supreme Court hinted that former Lone Star Korea CEO
June 16, 2011
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Seoul pushes for access to Swiss bank accounts
Tax agency finds 1.8 trillion won of foreign funds invested in local stocksThe National Tax Service is pushing for a discussion with Swiss tax authorities to widen the scope of information sharing needed to crack down on alleged tax dodging by overseas Koreans with bank accounts there.The agency was confirmed to have found more than 1.8 trillion won ($1.64 billion) of foreign funds invested in loc
June 16, 2011
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Woori bid to buy U.S. lender fails
Woori Finance Holdings Co.’s deal to buy a Los Angeles-based bank has fallen through due to regulatory hurdles, sources said Thursday, casting a shadow on its ambition to strengthen its footing in the United States.In May last year, Woori Finance, Korea’s No. 2 banking group, agreed to buy a controlling stake in Hanmi Bank, the flagship of Hanmi Financial Corp., for $240 million in a bid to expand
June 16, 2011
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Household loans mark biggest increase in four months
Household loans extended by Korean financial firms grew by the largest amount in four months in April on a sustained increase in home-backed lending, the central bank said Thursday.Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled an outstanding 606.9 trillion won ($558.2 billion) as of the end of April, up 4.6 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of
June 16, 2011
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BC Card to take overseas fee issue with Visa to FTC
BC Card Co. is upping the ante in the dispute over an overseas fee system imposed by Visa.According to industry sources, BC Card has decided to file a report with the Fair Trade Commission about Visa over the U.S.-based company’s policy of charging fees on transactions taking place outside of Korea.Visa charges a fee equal to 1 percent of the transaction amount for every time a Visa card is used i
June 16, 2011
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Sale of Woori Financial faces bumpy road again
The financial authorities have been in trouble again in realizing the project to recoup taxpayers’ money by selling the state-controlled Woori Financial Group.Though the Financial Services Commission had said it would accept letters of intent from potential bidders for Woori Financial by June 29, sales terms seem to be unattractive to local investors.Research analysts issue the possibility that th
June 16, 2011
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Hana Financial may be banned from M&A
FSC’s move comes as group’s brokerage and banking units sanctionedThe financial authorities have begun to review laws as to whether Hana Financial Group is an eligible investor to buy a company such as Korea Exchange Bank.Their move comes as the financial group’s brokerage and banking units were sanctioned last month and 2009, respectively, sources said Wednesday.If a financial company receives a
June 15, 2011
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Illegal cross-border cash flow detected
Report says tax agency found evidence of illicit ‘round trips’ of funds to SwitzerlandThe National Tax Service has detected an illegal flow of funds in the form of roundtrip investment from private bank accounts in Switzerland, local news reports said Wednesday.Tax authorities in Switzerland are said to have returned 5 percent of the dividend tax or 5.8 billion won ($5.3 million) on the foreign fu
June 15, 2011
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Capital to flow into emerging markets: Rubin
Emerging markets will experience continued capital inflow into the region regardless of the expiration of the second round of quantitative easing in the U.S., Robert Rubin, former secretary of the U.S. treasury said in Seoul on Wednesday.“There is a tremendously strong orientation now toward emerging market countries in the investment world. And that has nothing to do with the end of QE2,” Rubin s
June 15, 2011