South Korea’s major banks are expected to extend due dates on interest payments and loan installments worth more than 39 trillion won ($32.8 billion won) combined, in line with the government’s efforts to reduce the financial burden affecting coronavirus-battered citizens and businesses. According to data compiled by the country’s five key lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup -- the combined amount of deferred interest and installments from early Febru

Market Aug. 18, 2020

Korean banks’ personal credit loans extended to individuals have continued to soar in August, as the government tightened mortgage loan regulations to stabilize the overheated housing market, data showed Monday. Outstanding balance of personal credit loans at five major lenders here -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Bank -- came to nearly 121 trillion won ($102 billion won) as of Thursday, up 1.28 trillion won from the previous month. Following the largest-

Market Aug. 17, 2020

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su snagged the No. 2 spot on the list of South Korea’s wealthiest businesspeople, with his stock assets rising by some 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion), industry data showed Monday. This puts him ahead of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and second only to Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Kim, who currently holds a 14.51 percent stake in Kakao, saw the value of his stock assets surpass 9 trillion won as of Friday, up 136.16 percent from 3.84 trillio

Market Aug. 17, 2020

The combined net profit of South Korean banks for the first half of this year dipped 17.5 percent on-year due to increased loan-loss provisions amid the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday.  According to the financial watchdog, the combined net profit of local banks for the January-June period preliminarily came to 6.9 trillion won ($ 5.82 billion), down 1.5 trillion won from the same period last year. The decline in net income came a

Market Aug. 13, 2020

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi on Tuesday crossed the 2,400-point mark in nearly 26 months, on retail and foreign investors’ buying spree. The bourse got off to a strong start at 2,396.11 -- up 9.73 points, or 0.41 percent -- from the previous session’s close and sharply gained 22.50 points, or 0.94 percent to reach 2,408.88 in early morning trading, extending its winning streak for the sixth consecutive session. It was the first time the index has moved above the 2,400-po

Market Aug. 11, 2020

South Korea is forecast to climb up three notches to ninth in global gross domestic product rankings this year, despite its negative growth of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, data showed Monday.  Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to see 1.8 percent decline in its nominal GDP to reach $1.54 trillion this year on the condition that the country circumvents a second wave of the coronavirus, according to data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD

Economy Aug. 10, 2020

  After months of reeling under the coronavirus pandemic, the South Korean economy is showing signs of recovery upon the slower pace of decline in economic activity at home as well as in outbound shipments, a state-run think tank said Sunday. “South Korea’s economic slump has been alleviated as the spread of the new virus slowed down, fueling economic activity across industries,” the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly report on economic trends. It was the f

Economy Aug. 9, 2020

South Korea’s public debt is expected to surge until next year due to aggressive government spending to revive the sluggish local economy, according to the International Monetary Fund on Friday.  The IMF said the country’s general government debt-to-gross domestic product ratio -- an indicator of economic health and sustainability of government borrowing -- will surpass 46 percent this year, up 5.5 percentage points from 40.7 percent estimated last year. The pace of the ri

Economy Aug. 7, 2020

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Thursday it will hold a sanctions committee later this month concerning Hanwha Group’s insurance unit’s financial support for the conglomerate’s duty-free business, posing a threat to the company‘s digital transition drive.  According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Hanwha Life Insurance paid for the interior decoration of Hanwha TimeWorld’s duty-free shop at the 63 Building in Yeouido in Seoul in 2016. 

Market Aug. 6, 2020

The local real estate market appears not to be very excited about the government‘s conditional approval of turning old apartments into 50-story buildings, due to its condition of donating more than a half of leftover units for public use, experts said Wednesday. Responding to the housing supply shortage, the government has decided to build more than 130,000 residential units in the capital city and adjacent areas over the next eight years. One of the key measures is a public reconstruct

Market Aug. 5, 2020

A Seoul citizen has to save their entire income without spending a dime for more than 12 years in order to buy a house in the city due to the country’s soaring apartment prices, data showed Monday.  The capital city’s house price to income ratio, or PIR -- a widely used measurement of house affordability in a given region -- reached 12.13 in 2019, said Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, quoting data from the National Assembly Research Service. The

Market Aug. 3, 2020

South Korea’s economy declined 3.3 percent on-year during the second quarter, but it ranks second in terms of gross domestic product growth rate among major economies, data showed Sunday.  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the nation’s second-quarter GDP growth rate was the second-highest among 14 major economies. China clinched the first place as its economy grew 11.5 percent during the same period.  The OECD -- a forum of 37 mostly

Economy Aug. 2, 2020

In an effort to lower consumer risks caused by the overheated equity-linked securities market, South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday it will impose tighter regulations on leverage ratio of brokerages, which would lead to a decline in overall issuance here. ELS refers to hybrid debt instruments structured to track the performance of underlying equities, including the Kospi 200 Index. Total ELS issuances here surpassed 100 trillion won ($83.7 billion) as of this year, attracting

Market July 30, 2020

South Korea’s top financial authorities on Wednesday pledged to investigate all private equity fund operators over the next three years, apologizing for causing public concerns over the snowballing hedge fund fiasco.  “The recent fiasco is due to some irresponsible fund operators and lax oversight of the financial market,” said Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun at a parliamentary briefing.  “In August, the FSS will embark on a large-scale pro

Market July 29, 2020

Nearly 67 percent of South Koreans between the ages of 55 and 79 want to keep working, a survey showed Tuesday. Their preferred retirement age is 73 on average.  According to a survey conducted by Statistics Korea, some 9.62 million respondents, or 67 percent of the 14.27 million citizens surveyed, said they want to keep working, up 2.5 percentage point from the previous year. They hoped to earn a monthly wage between 1.5 million won ($1,270) and 2 million won. Nearly 60 percent of the

Economy July 28, 2020