Responding to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s middle-income households turned out to have reduced private spending more sharply than those in the upper and bottom income brackets, state-run think tank Korea Development Institute said Monday.  The nation’s middle class, which generally refers to households belonged to the third highest income quintile that earn 40 percent to 60 percent of the median income, saw its consumption expenditures shrink 6

Market May 17, 2021

Because of rising food prices, Lee Jung-min, a 30-year-old Seoul resident, has recently turned to home gardening to substitute buying vegetables from supermarkets. One of her main crops is green onions. By slicing off the roots of leftover green onions and putting them into a pot filled with soil and compost, Lee has successfully regrown a number of green onions enough for her to eat for a month. “I was shocked by the price of green onions, which surged to nearly 6,000 won ($5.31) ear

Market May 16, 2021

Transforming South Korean economy into a fairer and more transparent one was what President Moon Jae-in had in mind when entering office in 2017.  To soothe the public enraged over high-profile corruption involving the former president, his political archrival Park Geun-hye, Moon and his campaigners unveiled a series of economic policies pursuing the income-led and innovation-based growth, painting the rosy picture on mitigating the nation’s widening wealth disparity.  Now wi

Economy May 13, 2021

A nonfungible token of the historic match between between South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol and Google’s artificial intelligence Go player AlphaGo has been auctioned off as a digital content on OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for NFTs, officials said Monday.  A nonfungible token is a digital recreation of media contents such as videos and photos that is traded via the blockchain. Upon the purchase through the internet auction site, investors can declare ownership of

Market May 11, 2021

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said Monday it had launched a new digital platform within its mobile banking application to provide wealth management information, targeting the under-40s.  Branded as Wealth Care Lounge, the app-based information channel introduces recent investment trends, money management tips, advice from experts on financial planning and information regarding upcoming finance webinars.  The bank also set up its own KakaoTalk Channel as well as webpage on Naver Pos

Market May 10, 2021

The partial reactivation of short selling in South Korea, which kicked off last week, weakened investor sentiment among day traders, but the overall impact on the market was limited, according to industry sources on Monday.  The key stock index maintained its upward trend. Short selling is a trading tactic where investors immediately sell borrowed stocks on a bet that share prices will fall, allowing them to profit by later repurchasing the stocks and returning them to the lender. 

Market May 10, 2021

Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup, has started to look for buyers for the lender’s consumer banking operations, industry sources said Sunday. The Korean subsidiary recently conveyed its willingness to receive letters of investment intent to a number of potential buyers interested in the lender’s retail banking unit, through its merger and acquisition division as well as Citigroup Global Markets Korea Securities -- the US banking giant’s local subsidiary in cha

Market May 9, 2021

Behind the bustling Chungmuro Station in Jung-gu, central Seoul, a quiet alley within Pil-dong, a small neighborhood on the northwestern edge of Mount Namsan, is catching the eyes of people seeking Instagrammable spots. Walls and building facades painted with cartoon characters and illustrations as well as uniquely themed sculptures are nestled along the alleyway, turning the place into an art festival. Named Pil-dong culture and arts street, or Yesultong, the area has been filled with ar

Economy May 8, 2021

   Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup, has pledged to continue its role in supporting the country’s financial system, regardless of its parent company’s plan to withdraw retail banking operations in the nation, the lender said Thursday. Last month, the US banking giant announced that it would exit its consumer banking units in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan and Thailand, as part of its

Market May 6, 2021

Faster than anyone could have imagined, South Korea’s IT platforms, which have had no banking experience at all, have quickly become a dominant force in the nation’s retail banking scene.  The COVID-19 pandemic has been defining moment for digital transformation, according to industry watchers, with the rising number of consumers preferring non-face-to-face banking services.  According to the Bank of Korea, the volume of money transfers and loan applications carried out

Market May 4, 2021

A growing number of South Koreans in their 40s have increased savings to prepare for life after retirement, a report said Monday.  The survey published by Hana Bank’s in-house research center showed that nearly 42 percent of 1,000 people born between 1972 and 1981 answered that they feel the urge to save money for their later lives, among other things. The list of their priorities on spending included home purchases and children’s private education with 36 percent and 16 perc

Market May 3, 2021

Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun, known as a hard-line reformist of the financial industry, is set to retire next week without resolving a massive misselling scandal involving Korean hedge funds Lime Asset Management and Optimus Asset Management. Blamed for the watchdog’s lax oversight over the now-defunct hedge fund operators, it is unlikely that Yoon will continue to serve after his term ends on May 7, industry sources said. The alleged fraud cases caused investor los

Economy April 30, 2021

Children of the late Samsung chairman are set to receive massive loans from local lenders to pay more than 12 trillion won ($10.8 billion) in inheritance taxes, the largest-ever amount in the country’s history, according to industry sources on Thursday.  Two domestic commercial banks, which were not identified, will issue credit loans of hundreds of billions of won to the family of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, later in the day, they said.  The decisions were m

Market April 29, 2021

South Korea resumes the short selling of stocks Monday, ending a 14-month ban imposed to protect investors from a sudden market fall triggered by the pandemic.  Despite the government’s cautious moves -- leaving some restrictions in place even after the temporary ban expires -- retail investors are still wary over a possible drop in stock prices, according to industry sources Wednesday. The regulator’s decision to permit short selling within limits starting May 3 came after

Market April 28, 2021

Talk in political circles favors the legal acceptance of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, despite the government’s skepticism over digital assets.  Rep. Kim Byung-wook of the ruling Democratic Party is working on a proposed legal framework that would embrace the trading of digital assets and regulate cryptocurrency markets. It has gained momentum largely due to the ample liquidity driven by the government’s monetary easing stance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to indu

Market April 27, 2021