The Park Geun-hye government launched Friday a state fund aimed at rescheduling heavy borrowers’ debt programs to help them out of debt.Prime Minister Chung Hong-won and financial leaders including Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon and Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun attended the launch held at the state-run debt monitoring agency Korea Asset Management Co. in Seoul.The establishment of the “National Happiness Fund” was one of Park’s core election pledges made

March 29, 2013

Shinhan Bank said Thursday that its “matrix operation,” or business coordination between banks and brokerages, has yielded considerable gains since it introduced the system last year. As a fresh business concept, the matrix was adopted by the country’s major banks with an affiliate brokerage firm, such as Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank, as early as the beginning of 2012. Shinhan Bank is historically the first bank in Korea, originally established under the name Hanseong Bank in 1897. The

Business March 28, 2013

Consumers’ expectations for economic recovery in March marked the highest in 10 months, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday. The BOK’s data showed that the consumer sentiment index hit a record-high 104 in March, a two-point increase from a month ago. A CSI over 100 means that consumers have a positive view of the country’s economic status. Additionally, the consumer sentiment for expenditure reached as high as 109, implying that consumers find themselves capable of spending more money in the fu

March 27, 2013

Among countless corporate social sharing programs, KB Kookmin Card’s social contributions specifically aim to bolster the nation as a whole. Embracing the core needs of all age groups and ethnicities is the essential part of the ambitious sharing project. KB Kookmin Card has been one of the “big 4” credit finance card companies, wielding power in the credit card and check card sectors in particular, since its launch in 2011.Applied to the sharing project is the company’s extensive experience dat

Business March 26, 2013

Government agencies and public institutions have been more exposed to cyber attacks than any organization in the private sector, a study showed.The private Financial Security Agency said Thursday that the number of daily responses to cyber attacks from government and public organizations in 2011 was an average 20.5 times.The financial sector, which was a target of Wednesday’s hacking attack, also responded 11.8 times on a daily basis to Advanced Persistent Threats. APT is a type of targeted cybe

March 21, 2013

The number of Chinese travelers to Korea exceeded Japanese travelers for the first time in February, the Korea Tourism Organization said Wednesday.KTO data revealed that about 219,400 Chinese tourists flew to Korea in February, a steep 61 percent increase compared to 132,900 in February, 2012. This indicates that three out of every 10 foreign tourists to Korea are Chinese, the KTO said. The data showed that the number of Japanese tourists who entered the country by flight between January and Feb

March 20, 2013

BNP Paribas Cardif Life Insurance came out on top in the environmental preservation sector at the state-sponsored 2013 Adding Happiness Social Contribution Award Ceremony, the company said on Tuesday. The corporate social sharing award is presented in recognition of BNP’s unique social sharing project, “Happy Forest for Sharing,” as well as other “different but professional” social sharing projects in partnership with NGOs and experts, the Korean subsidiary of European insurance firm BNP Paribas

March 19, 2013

Dogged by job in security and retirement plans, Koreans in their 50s and 60s are less satisfied with their financial situation than younger people, a study showed Monday.The private Hyundai Research Institute said its economic happiness index for 2012 showed that all age groups tended to self-evaluate their economic happiness as very low in general ― an average 40.4 points out of a maximum 100.The index takes into account six factors: income level, economic distribution, expenditure level, job s

March 18, 2013

Koreans have become more cautious in opening their wallets due to concerns over a prolonged economic slowdown, government data showed Monday. According to Statistics Korea and Shinyoung Securities, the average monthly household spending increased 1.38 percent to 2.4 million won ($2,200) in the fourth quarter of last year from a year ago. Following a mere 0.96 percent increase in the third quarter, it was the first time that year-on-year growth stuck below 2 percent for two consecutive quarters s

March 11, 2013