For KB Financial Group, the latest acquisition of Prudential Inc.’s local unit was not just an expensive price to expand its nonbanking sector, but also a positive signal for its management stability. While taking a step closer to regain its title of “winning banking group,” the group has also raised the possibility of prolonging the term of its incumbent chief later this year. KB Financial on Friday signed a 2.34 trillion-won ($1.86 billion) deal to purchase the local ope

Market April 12, 2020

South Korea is likely to see a visible decline in job creation despite the government’s continued efforts to shore up the economy in the face of the novel coronavirus, according to the top fiscal policymaker on Thursday. “There is a high possibility that unemployment may rise among part-time workers and small business owners,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a meeting of economy-related ministers held at Seoul Government Complex. “The vo

Economy April 9, 2020

South Korea has unveiled an additional economic relief package worth 53.7 trillion won ($44 billion) in its continued struggle to boost the domestic market and export industries amid the fallout of COVID-19. Of the newly added amount, 36 trillion won will be allocated to trade finance, expanding the insurance and guarantee caps, while 17.7 trillion won will be used to stimulate local consumption. “The global economy is sinking into a severe recession and our export-dependent economy

Economy April 8, 2020

South Korea’s central bank said Monday that it has launched a pilot program for a central bank-issued digital currency. “We do not see the immediate need to issue a digital currency in the near future, due to the considerable level of cash demands here and the relatively stable payment market operations,” the Bank of Korea said in a release. “But we should be able to make responsive moves, should environments change drastically at any time, so we shall undertake tech

Economy April 7, 2020

Increasingly pressed to play a more active role in the coronavirus-hit financial market, South Korea’s central bank is considering exceptional measures to provide liquidity, such as purchasing corporate bonds and corporate bills. The Bank of Korea is slated to hold its decision-making Monetary Policy Board meeting Thursday to review the necessity of base rate adjustments and other key monetary actions, officials said. Despite the prolonged economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic an

Economy April 5, 2020

Under the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, major economies around the world have seen a visible decrease in cash transactions and an equivalent rise in online payments, data showed Sunday. According to a report issued by the Bank of Korea, major e-commercial platforms here saw their sales climb in the January-February period this year. Asia’s fourth-largest economy reported its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus on Jan. 20 and faced a rapid rise of patients in mid-Feb

Economy April 5, 2020

Suffering the full-blown impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s core inflation hit its lowest point in 20 years, as dining prices dwindled amid social distancing and the government’s tax cut measures brought down automobile prices, government data showed Thursday. Due to the country’s consistent rationing system, the average price of KF94 face masks leveled off in the offline market, indicating some cooling in the previous supply-demand imbalance. The consumer p

Economy April 2, 2020

South Korea will further cut rental fees for businesses operating at airports and duty-free shops, as part of continued efforts to support industries amid the fallout of COVID-19. It also vowed to soon finalize detailed guidelines concerning the emergency disaster relief fund, aiming to pay out the cash to distressed households by May. “The rental fee reduction rate for small businesses and owner-operators at airports will be raised to 50 percent from 25 percent,” said Deputy P

Economy April 1, 2020

South Korea’s industrial output, consumption and investment contracted in February, as the economic fallout of the new coronavirus spread has started unleashing its impact, government data showed Tuesday. The country’s industrial output shed 3.5 percent in February from a month earlier, according to the monthly industrial indexes compiled by Statistics Korea. This marked the sharpest drop since the 3.7 percent on-month fall observed in February 2011, when the foot-and-mouth dise

Economy March 31, 2020

Kyobo Life Insurance said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board against accounting firm Deloitte Anjin for faulty appraisal of corporate value. It has alleged that that Deloitte Anjin, the local subsidiary of global accounting and consulting group Deloitte, wrongly assessed the fair market value of financial investors’ put options -- which could affect the management rights of current Kyobo Chairman Shin Chang-jae. “Deloitte Anjin

Market March 31, 2020

In an effort to tighten its grip on high-risk financial products in a volatile market, South Korea’s financial authorities will be placing a cap on peer-to-peer investments. The regulatory Financial Services Commission and watchdog Financial Supervisory Service on Monday unveiled the enforcement regulations for a forthcoming act on P2P lending, which will take effect starting Aug. 27. Under new rules, individual investors may invest up to 30 million won ($24,500) in P2P products and up

Market March 30, 2020

South Korea’s government and key state-run banks on Friday sealed a plan to provide a credit line of 1 trillion won ($826 million) to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, in an effort to prevent a possible liquidity crunch amid the novel coronavirus spread. As the key creditor, the Korea Development Bank said it will provide financial support to the struggling power equipment maker jointly with the Export-Import Bank of Korea. “Together, we shall provide some 1 trillion w

Market March 28, 2020

Amid the snowballing economic fallout of the novel coronavirus, South Korea saw its consumer sentiment aggravate in March, hitting its lowest point in more than a decade, central bank data showed Friday. The composite consumer sentiment index, or CCSI, stood at 78.4 in March, down 18.5 points on-month and marking the lowest score since March 2009, when the world was reeling under the global financial crisis, according to data from the Bank of Korea. The corresponding survey was conducted o

Economy March 27, 2020

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung on Thursday was reappointed for another three years, despite disapproval of the largest shareholder and an ongoing legal dispute. The appointment was approved at the group’s annual shareholders meeting in Seoul which was livestreamed on the its website due to the COVID-19 spread. Cho will retain his position until March 2023, with no apparent signs of dissent from the attending shareholders. “I will make the best efforts to mini

Market March 26, 2020

South Korea’s central bank said Thursday that it will inject an unlimited amount of liquidity to the financial market over the next three months, in an effort to sustain the volatile market amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. “The Bank of Korea has decided to supply an unlimited amount of liquidity to financial institutions to reduce the economic fallout of COVID-19 and remove uncertainties in the financial market,” the BOK said in a release. “Also, it will expan

Economy March 26, 2020