KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo shared the banking group’s plans in combating climate change at an invitation-only meeting of senior officials across global sectors and governments held Wednesday at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the firm said Thursday. At the 9th High-Level Meeting of Caring for Climate, held online and offline simultaneously, Yoon was invited on behalf of the global finance sector to speak on the topic of achieving a j

Market Nov. 11, 2021

South Korea’s central bank chief said Thursday that the economy is likely to see faster-than-expected inflation for the time being, due to the global supply bottleneck and the spike in oil prices. In an opening speech at an economic meeting with investment bankers and experts, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol pointed to the nation’s spiking consumer prices, which gained 3.2 percent on-year -- the sharpest rise since January 2012, when the corresponding figure stood at 3.3 percent.

Economy Nov. 11, 2021

The pace of household debt growth in South Korea slowed down in October, while the yields on both short-term 3-year and benchmark 10-year Treasury notes saw gains in the same period, data showed Wednesday. The outstanding household loans extended by banks here gained 5.2 trillion won ($4.3 billion) on-month to 1,057.9 trillion won, Bank of Korea data showed. The gain was less sharper compared with a 6.4 trillion won on-month gain observed in September, an on-year increase of 10.6 trillion won

Economy Nov. 10, 2021

With carbon neutrality pledges and awareness in sustainability reshaping markets and industries around the globe, South Korean bank giants are in a fierce race to win global recognition on their respective drives designed to adopt environmental, social and governance values. KB Financial Group, the nation’s No.1 banking group by assets, said last month that it was officially endorsed by the Science Based Targets Initiative, stressing that it has become the first financial institution in A

Market Nov. 9, 2021

In a bid to ease its urea shortage, South Korea said Monday it plans to import 200 metric tons of the main component of diesel exhaust fluid from Vietnam next week, and fly in an additional supply from Australia. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government has decided on how much powdered urea it plans to import from the Southeast Asian nation, while adding 7,000 liters to the initial 20,000 liters of solution it seeks to fly in from Australia. On top of all that, it is cu

Economy Nov. 8, 2021

South Korea’s banking sector is expected to no longer guarantee job security the way it once did. This year, the industry is seeing a mass exodus of its workforce, with lenders offering lucrative early retirement packages to accelerate digitalization of banking services and trim down their physical operations for the transition, data showed Sunday. The Korea Herald looked at individual employment data from six banks released this year. Along with Citibank Korea shutting down its consume

Market Nov. 7, 2021

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung vowed to contribute to South Korea’s swift transition into a carbon neutral society with the financial giant‘s net-zero goals at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the firm said Thursday. The chief of Korea’s second-largest banking group by total assets on late Wednesday introduced Shinhan Financial’s own plans to achieve carbon neutrality in finance dubbed the “zero carbon drive

Market Nov. 4, 2021

While South Koreans’ real estate transactions remain frozen due to a lack of supply and government loan restrictions, transactions of local land and properties by foreigners who face relatively relaxed rules in the first nine months of this year hit an all-time high, data showed Wednesday. With foreigners’ purchases of high-value apartments continuing to make headlines in the news, coupled with the government requesting stricter loan restrictions against locals -- in a bid to curb

Economy Nov. 3, 2021

South Korea’s JB Financial Group said Tuesday it has joined a UN-convened alliance of global banks, committed to aligning their portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. The holding group of regional Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank said its latest move to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance was to uphold its environmental, sustainable and governance goals. The alliance represents more than a third of global banking assets, with a total of 87 members from 36 countries, including investme

Market Nov. 2, 2021

Blockchain and information technology consulting firm Baobab Partners will launch a nonfungible token marketplace on Thursday, the firm said Tuesday. The platform, named Baobab NFT, can be accessed through the firm’s blockchain portal and website at bao-bab.co.kr. Through the marketplace, Ethereum- and Klaytn-based NFTs can be issued, sold and purchased with crypto and NFT wallets MetaMask and Kaikas. Klaytn is Korea’s No. 1 mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp.’s global bloc

Market Nov. 2, 2021

Highlighting the latest government data reflecting a recovery in industrial output and retail sales in September, the nation’s top economic policymaker on Friday expressed anticipation of a rebound in private spending for the remaining months of the year. “Despite the obstacles cast by the fourth wave of the COVID-19 virus, the nation’s industrial output in September rose over 1 percent and the overall economy activity has shown improvement compared with August,” Deputy

Economy Oct. 29, 2021

South Korea’s economy has expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the July-September period due to lackluster private consumption despite recovery in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday. The economy grew 0.3 percent in the third quarter, compared with a 0.8 percent growth in the second quarter and the corresponding figure of 1.7 percent in the first quarter, preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea showed. The third quarter reading falls short of the BOK’s Se

Economy Oct. 26, 2021

South Korea ranked No. 4 among 38 global economies in terms of the percentage of its population living on less than half the median disposable income, data showed Monday, reflecting significant wealth disparities in the country. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Asia’s fourth-largest economy posted a relative poverty rate of 16.7 percent in 2018-2019, the fourth-highest rate among its 38 member nations. In general, most OECD members are high-income ec

Economy Oct. 25, 2021

South Korea has been alarmed by rising inflation due to surging fuel prices and is likely to cut taxes on oil and liquefied natural gas by 15 percent and 2 percent, respectively, to ease some upward pressure, sources said Sunday. The government has been reviewing various measures to alleviate inflationary pressure after the nation’s central bank said that producer prices in September saw the largest on-year gain in a decade. The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflat

Economy Oct. 24, 2021

South Korea’s KB Financial Group said Thursday its net profit in the January-September period came to 3.7 trillion won ($3.14 billion), eclipsing last year’s annual net profit. KB’s net profit in the first nine months of the year jumped 31.1 percent on-year and surpassed last year’s annual net profit of 3.4 trillion won, hitting a record high for the cited period. Onlookers said that the banking group is likely to see a record high for fiscal 2021 as well, likely surpas

Market Oct. 21, 2021