Addressing the latest drop in investment by foreigners here, South Korea’s government reassured the market on Monday, saying it would enhance monitoring and put a contingency plan into action in the event of further volatility.“The recent outflow of foreign investments is mostly attributable to the expansion of external uncertainties and the adjustment of the Morgan Stanley Capital International index,” said Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of finance.The Ministry of Economy

Economy Dec. 9, 2019

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and de facto leader of Samsung Group, faces another hearing on Friday over bribery allegations that led to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye in 2017.This is his third appearance at the court since the Supreme Court ordered the reconsideration of the case, pointing out that some key allegations had been left out in the original trial. The hearing is set to start at 2:05 p.m. at the Seoul High Court. All eyes are fixed on whether the be

Industry Dec. 6, 2019

The financial watchdog on Thursday directed local banks to compensate up to 80 percent of the losses suffered by customers due to their controversial sale of derivative-linked funds earlier this year. The Financial Supervisory Service held its dispute settlement committee meeting to review six representative cases of investor damages due to miselling -- three from Woori Bank and three from KEB Hana Bank.“In the past cases of misselling (of financial products), the compensation rate was usu

Market Dec. 5, 2019

South Korea’s current account surplus continued to grow in October from the previous month to reach a 12-month high as the service account deficit narrowed and primary income account surplus expanded, data showed Thursday.The surplus, however, was mostly attributed to the decline in raw material imports which reflected dampened domestic demand, while the actual growth pace of the economy remained sluggish. At $7.83 billion, the current account surplus was up slightly from $7.76 billion in

Economy Dec. 5, 2019

Roh So-young, founder of Art Center Nabi and wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, has filed a divorce countersuit against her husband, claiming a huge stake in the nation’s third-largest conglomerate.She submitted her case to the Seoul Family Court on Wednesday afternoon, giving her first official consent to the divorce, local news outlets reported. She has sought the division of property, claiming 42.3 percent of Chey’s stake in the group’s holding unit SK Holdings.Chey, cu

Industry Dec. 4, 2019

Social disturbances and financial costs during restructuring are the inevitable price one has to pay in order to reform the economy and prevent further damages, according to the chief of South Korea’s largest state-run bank.“During my past 2 1/2 years in office, I have felt the high level of distrust in our society,” said Lee Dong-gull, chairman of the Korea Development Bank, in a press conference.“Many blame us for persecuting workers along the way but our unchanging goa

Market Dec. 4, 2019

The Finance Ministry announced Wednesday plans to establish a 12 trillion won ($10 billion) fund to help support competent startups scale up as unicorns, allocating 300 billion won exclusively for fintech firms.Unicorns refer to startups valued at over $1 billion. “(The government) will actively adopt policies to scale up and advance the fintech ecosystem both quantitatively and qualitatively, so that South Korean startups can emerge as global unicorns,” Deputy Prime Minister and Fin

Economy Dec. 4, 2019

Skepticism is growing about the prospects of South Korea meeting its minimum target growth rate of 2 percent this year, as fiscal spending by the state budget headquarters is proceeding much more slowly than expected. According to data released by Rep. Park Myung-jae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, who sits on the parliamentary Strategy and Finance Committee, the Ministry of Economy and Finance had spent 12.83 trillion won ($10.8 billion) as of the end of October -- 59.9 percent of i

Economy Dec. 3, 2019

South Korea’s financial market watchdog on Monday expressed concerns over financial firms’ tendency of seeking short-term gains, referring to the recent disputes on the mis-selling of high-risk derivatives.“The conventional business practices, which led to the derivative-linked fund controversies, inflict heavy losses on both investors and financial firms,” said Yoon Suk-heun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service.The FSS chief was speaking during a luncheon at Co

Market Dec. 2, 2019

While the government is likely to further lower its economic growth forecast for this year, the latest statistics are not bright, with exports extending the downtrend for 12 consecutive months and consumption hitting a six-year low, data showed Sunday.South Korea’s exports amounted to $44.1 billion in November, shedding 14.3 percent from a year earlier, extending the downtrend, Imports fell 13 percent during the same period to $40.7 billion, shrinking for the seventh consecutive month, acc

Economy Dec. 1, 2019

CONSUMER FINANCE / BANKWOORI BANKFor Woori Bank, one of the top business goals this year was to reinforce trust in the market by protecting consumers’ rights and improving user convenience.The bank’s latest move was to revise its employee evaluation scheme to prioritize sustainable customer profit over short-term performance.Earlier this month Woori Financial Group Chairman and Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung announced a business innovation road map for next year, which includes a plan

Market Nov. 28, 2019

The Industrial Bank of Korea has clinched a partnership with Myanmar’s SME policy headquarters as part of its blueprint to expand business in the Southeast Asian region, officials said Tuesday.The South Korean state-run bank and the Myanmar MSME Development Working Committee signed a memorandum of understanding at Lotte Hotel Busan on Monday.Under the latest agreement, the two organizations vowed to cooperate to nurture small and medium-sized enterprises in both countries and develop joint

Market Nov. 26, 2019

As South Korea’s central bank is slated to announce its revised economic growth outlook later this week, skepticism is mounting given the downbeat economic reality.While most economists from the private sector and government-related institutions agree that growth will be slow this year -- mostly due to uncertainties from the US-China trade tensions -- they differ on the pace of recovery next year. State-run institutions are relatively optimistic, citing the rebounding momemtun of

Economy Nov. 25, 2019

Woori Bank has cleared out its remaining stake in Woori Financial Holdings, removing the overhang for potential stock value, Woori Financial Group officials said Friday.The bank has disposed of its last remaining 1.8 percent stake in the group’s holding unit Woori Financial Holdings in an over the counter block transition.The corresponding stake was the second batch of the 5.8 percent stake which the bank was holding as part of the all-inclusive exchange of shares to restructure Woori Card

Market Nov. 22, 2019

KB Kookmin Card, the credit card operator of KB Financial Group, will take over a major credit finance company in Indonesia, in a move to expand its presence in Southeast Asia. The company’s board has signed off a deal to purchase an 80 percent stake in Indonesia’s PT. Finansia Multi Finance for 94.9 billion won ($80.6 million), aiming to close the transaction by the first quarter of 2020, officials said Thursday.“The prime reason of the investment is to expand (the group&

Market Nov. 21, 2019