Monetary easing policies have been carried out primarily to counter the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, but brought significant changes in South Koreans’ economic lives, pushing many to jump into markets under inflationary pressure. For Koreans, living in an era of ample liquidity has been considered a window of opportunity. So much so that it could be considered foolish not to take out loans with ultralow interests to invest in real estate and stocks. An abundance of cash combined with a

Economy Aug. 14, 2021

The pace of recovery in South Korea’s job market has slowed down for the third consecutive month in July due to the kickoff of the toughest social distancing rules adopted to combat the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday. While employers added 542,000 more jobs on-year last month, extending gains for the fifth consecutive month, its growth momentum has been slowing since May, data compiled by Statistics Korea showed. The overall number of those employed amounted

Economy Aug. 11, 2021

Citibank Korea said Monday it had become the sole coordinator for a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction in dealing with syndicated bonds worth a total $2 billion to build a metro line in Panama. The US-based bank’s Korean subsidiary will become a part of a syndicate including the Korea Export-Import Bank and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. that plans to purchase trade receivables from the consortium under the guarantee of the Panamanian government. The partnership

Market Aug. 9, 2021

South Korea’s Hana Bank said Friday it has launched a special task force to foster businesses and attract younger customers in the virtual metaverse. Hana’s decision comes as local commercial banks have been hopping on the metaverse bandwagon as they believe it will become a financial landscape where millennials and Generation Z will actively engage in. The task force will review cooperation with local tech businesses, offering related services and seminars for its private bankin

Market Aug. 6, 2021

A day after new leadership for South Korea’s two top financial regulators was announced, the new chiefs on Friday expressed concerns about the nation’s growing household debt and its looming effects on the economy. Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Jeong Eun-bo, speaking at an event marking his appointment, warned of “a perfect storm of risks tied to so-called zombie firms, financial instability of the self-employed and a possible price correction due to a housing bubble.&rd

Economy Aug. 6, 2021

South Korea’s top two financial regulators are set to go through leadership changes simultaneously, with longstanding bureaucrats being assigned to lead them Thursday. In an apparent attempt to win back public trust on dealing with economic woes before his term ends in May 2022, President Moon Jae-in tapped Koh Seung-beom, one of the Bank of Korea’s seven-member monetary policy board and a former Finance Ministry official, to lead the Financial Services Commission. Current FSC Ch

Economy Aug. 5, 2021

South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank, which issues real-name accounts for two major cryptocurrency exchanges here – Bithumb and Coinone – asked them to halt deposit and withdrawal services until they adopt stronger money laundering regulations, reports said Wednesday. The commercial lender has reportedly requested the two exchanges to quicken its pace in adopting the “travel rule,” a global standard that requires virtual asset service providers to share the identities of

Market Aug. 4, 2021

South Korea’s consumer prices gained a higher-than-expected 2.6 percent on-year in July, data showed Tuesday, with the government citing shortage of livestock and agriculture goods due to worsening climate condition as a key catalyst. The consumer prices grew at more than 2 percent for the fourth consecutive month in July, continuing to exceed the Bank of Korea’s 2 percent inflation target and hitting a record high since beginning of the year, according to Statistics Korea. The pri

Economy Aug. 3, 2021

Businesses and experts in export-reliant South Korea on Monday expressed concerns over the European Union and the United States’ moves to levy a carbon emissions tax on imported goods. Jitters came as the EU last month put forward plans for the world’s first carbon border tax, which would be levied on imports of goods from economies with laxer climate rules from 2026. US lawmakers then began floating plans of including the tariff as part of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bil

Economy Aug. 2, 2021

South Korea‘s traditional banks are planning to expand online and mobile mortgage services this month in an apparent bid to gain an upper hand in the market against the fast-growing KakaoBank, which announced its plan to launch 100 percent online home loan services. Internet banks like KakaoBank and K Bank have gained popularity with contactless credit loan services but the mortgage market has so far occupied by traditional lenders, which still prefer to receive property-related document

Market Aug. 1, 2021

South Korea plans invest over 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in semiconductors, biohealth and next-generation vehicles next year and provide them the latest tax benefits ahead of other industries, the nation’s fiscal policy chief said Thursday. The size of next year’s fiscal support for the industries dubbed the “Big 3” will be larger than this year’s corresponding figure of some 4.2 trillion won.  Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki po

Economy July 29, 2021

South Korea’s fiscal policy chief said Wednesday that the nation’s heated housing market may see a sharper-than-expected drop in prices in the near-future, with the possibility of an interest rate hike by the end of the year growing. “With the early subscriptions for houses scheduled in the second-half of the year, experts’ remarks indicating a price peak, a looming interest rate hike and liquidity control, there is a possibility of a partial housing price correction,&r

Economy July 28, 2021

South Korean conglomerate SK Group’s Southeast Asian investment arm has joined a consortium for AirAsia’s digital bank business in Malaysia, reports said Tuesday. SK South East Asia Investment has participated as a financial investor in a consortium led by the Malaysian budget airline’s financial technology unit BigPay vying for a digital banking license in the Southeast Asian country, according to Malaysian news reports. Due to SK’s nondisclosure agreement with BigPa

Market July 27, 2021

Major banking groups here have been posting record earnings for the first half of the year amid ongoing COVID-19 woes, buoyed by lucrative earnings from their brokerages, insurers and card issuers, data released as of Monday showed. So far, four out of five major banking groups here – KB, Woori, Hana and NH – have announced robust net profits for the first six months of the year, eclipsing their stellar performances shown in the same period last year. KB’s net profit for th

Market July 26, 2021

Deferred loan and interest payments owed by businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea added up to an alarming 108 trillion won ($97 billion) this month, data showed Sunday. Since the launch of the deferral program in February last year, the combined amount of loans yet to be repaid totaled 99.7 trillion won as of Friday, data provided by the five major commercial banks here showed. Additionally, overdue payments set to be paid in installments amounted to 8.4 trillion won and overdu

Market July 25, 2021