Hana Life Insurance CEO Lee Seung-lyul, 59, was named the final candidate to be considered as the new head of Hana Bank, in Hana Financial Group’s latest leadership reshuffle, which took place earlier than usual. Hana Financial Group said Wednesday it completed CEO nominations for its affiliates Hana Bank, Hana Securities and Hana Card through a recommendation committee meeting held the day before. It was the first CEO reshuffle to be made after the group's chairman Ham Young-joo to

Market Dec. 14, 2022

Companies with higher involvement of foreigners and small investors are more likely to release more detailed corporate governance reports, demonstrating more transparency, the Korea Exchange said Tuesday. The Korea Exchange, the nation's sole bourse operator, released an analysis on the corporate governance reports of companies listed on the local stock market. As companies with assets between 1 trillion and 2 trillion won ($767 million to $1.53 billion) were required to release corporate

Market Dec. 13, 2022

The Financial Services Commission denied a report that it is considering enforcement power to control the listing of cryptocurrencies through mandating approval from the country's top financial regulator. A local news report claimed Monday that financial authorities, including the FSC and Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, are reviewing to hold the authority to approve crypto firms to float their coins. "The report claiming financial authorities are looking into whether to approve the

Market Dec. 13, 2022

More than 70,000 people under the age of 30 are obliged to pay a gift tax for receiving assets in 2021, marking a two-fold increase from the year before, data showed Monday. According to Rep. Jin Sun-mee from the Democratic Party of Korea, 70,115 people under 30 are obliged to pay a gift tax for receiving land, properties or securities in 2021. Jin is a member of the Strategy & Finance Committee at the National Assembly and the data was provided by the National Tax Service. Jin argued the fi

Market Dec. 12, 2022

After being pulled off from the country’s major crypto exchange platforms, Wemix decided to repurchase some $10 million worth of its digital assets and remove them from circulation to increase the value of the token. Wemix was pulled off from Korea’s top crypto exchanges under the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) on Thursday, following a Seoul court’s dismissal of an injunction against the delisting of the cryptocurrency. DAXA owns the nation’s top five crypto excha

Market Dec. 9, 2022

Foreign investors remained net buyers of local securities, recording a net inflow of $2.74 billion (3.56 trillion won) in local securities in November, data from the central bank showed Friday. According to the Bank of Korea’s report on the international finance and foreign exchange market, foreigners purchased a net $2.1 billion worth of shares and $630 million worth of bonds in Korea in November, continuing the buying rush from the month before. The figure adds up to a total of $8.05 bil

Economy Dec. 9, 2022

The South Korean government pledged to make pan-governmental efforts to lift some of the regulations on businesses as part of its drive to draw more foreign-invested companies, the Trade Ministry said Thursday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, foreign investments play a major role in the Korean economy. Korea received $21.52 billion worth of foreign direct investment commitments from January to September this year, up 18.2 percent from the same period of the year before

Industry Dec. 8, 2022

Shinhan Bank President Jin Ok-dong, 61, has been appointed as the final candidate for the new chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, South Korea's No. 2 bank by total assets, Thursday. The group said that nonexecutive directors of the group unanimously voted for Jin at a candidate recommendation meeting held at the firm's headquarters in central Seoul. Other candidates were Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung and Shinhan Card CEO Lim Young-jin. Though it was rumored that cur

Market Dec. 8, 2022

Banknotes with higher face value have a longer life span, with highest denomination here of 50,000 won ($38) presumed to be used for more than 15 years, a central bank report showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea announced the results of a study on the average life span of Korean banknotes, making a presumption based on a sample survey of the notes in circulation in 2022. The results showed 10,000-won and 50,000-won bills have much longer lifetimes than bills of a smaller face value. The lifetime

Market Dec. 7, 2022

More than 300 business leaders from Korea and Vietnam gathered to attend the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, held in line with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s state visit to Korea, pledging to expand economic ties for bilateral growth. The Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was held at Lotte Hotel Seoul on Tuesday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. The Vietnamese president and Korean Finance Minister Choo

Industry Dec. 6, 2022

Nearly half of the nation's top 500 companies by sales have yet to come up with investment plans for next year, amid recession fears on more rate hikes and a strong US dollar, a survey showed Monday. The Federation of Korean Industries business lobby conducted the survey from Nov. 17-25. According to the survey, 10 percent of responding companies said they have no investment plans next year, while another 38 percent said they have yet to come up with concrete plans. Fifty-two percent said t

Industry Dec. 5, 2022

Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday. The 2022 Korean Wealth Report compiled by a think tank under KB Financial Group was based on a study conducted in June and July, including a face-to-face survey with 400 respondents with more than 1 billion won in financial assets. It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won. There were

Market Dec. 4, 2022

Childhood is no longer filled with dreams. Instead it is beset by competition, pressure and anxiety, as more children are exposed to an overheated education environment from an early age. But some students and their families are taking a step away from the heat, traveling south for a sabbatical at a countryside school. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, in charge of the primary and secondary education of the capital city, has been encouraging students to try out a school life in the cou

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2022

The South Korean won rose to a four-month high on Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve hinted at a possible slowdown of its aggressive rate hikes. The Korean currency strengthened to 1,299.7 won against the greenback as of closing time, back below 1,300 won for the first time in four months. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday at an economic forum. The Fed has hiked interest r

Market Dec. 1, 2022

Foreign investors purchased a net of more than 6 trillion won ($4.5 billion) worth of shares on South Korea's stock market in October and November as they picked up chips and other related tech shares, the Korea Exchange's data showed Wednesday. According to the securities exchange operator, foreign investors purchased net 6.78 trillion-won worth of shares on the benchmark Kospi from Oct. 1 to Nov. 29, while they sold 30 billion won on Kosdaq. The Kospi purchase was heavily focused on

Economy Nov. 30, 2022