International flights to and from South Korea increased significantly from a year earlier in the first half on a growing number of South Koreans going overseas, the government said Friday.In the first six months of the year, the total number of international flights coming to and from the country totaled 167,237, up 9.64 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.“International traffic surged greatly from the same period last year, ref

July 12, 2013

The total amount invested by South Korean funds in overseas assets rose 7.4 percent in the first half of 2013 from six months earlier as investors’ appetite for safer assets grew, data showed Friday.Local funds’ investment in offshore assets reached 39.7 trillion won ($35.3 billion) as of end-June, compared to 37 trillion won tallied at end-December 2012, the data by the Korea Financial Investment Association showed.The association said the increase came as investors sought after safer assets su

July 12, 2013

Hyundai Motor Co.’s subcompact Accent became the second best-selling car in Russia in the first half of this year, data showed Friday.Hyundai sold 57,009 units of the Accent, called the Solaris in the Russian market, between January and June, according to data posted on the website of the Association of European Businesses based in Moscow.Still, the sales of the Accent in the first six months represent a 2 percent drop from a year ago.The Accent is followed by the Pride subcompact built by Hyund

Industry July 12, 2013

The financial regulator said Friday it has taken disciplinary measures against 10 local savings banks for slack management in lending and network security.The Financial Supervisory Service slapped 16 employees at 10 savings banks, including executives, with either cautionary warnings or warnings for lax handling in loan business and securing network safety, according to FSS officials.The names include some of those recently debuted in the market with a new name after they were taken over by majo

July 12, 2013

The government will accept “preliminary” bids from potential investors for Kwangju Bank and Kyongnam Bank after it puts up a notice on the sale of the two provincial units of Woori Financial Group next Monday.Among the preliminary bidders, state agencies will single out several competitive investors ― the so-called “short list” ― for the taxpayers’ money-injected Woori Financial.The state-led project, however, is likely to face several stumbling blocks. There is a high possibility that the “logi

July 12, 2013

Financial regulators revealed that NongHyup Bank had engaged in irregular investment practices and breached banking regulations, which led to heavy losses.NongHyup Bank suffered losses of 55.1 billion won ($47.9 million) from reckless investment between 2007 and 2011, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday.A dealer at the bank brought about losses totaling 21.8 billion won after he traded unauthorized financial derivatives 182 times over seven months in 2011.A division of the

July 11, 2013

Under President Park Geun-hye’s commitment to improving the livelihood of ordinary citizens, the state financial regulator will launch a task force to crack down on irregular practices haunting financial consumers.The task force, dubbed the Financial Consumer Protection Planning Team, is scheduled make its debut in the coming weeks, the Financial Services Commission said Wednesday.“Over the next 12 months, the planning team will carry out special duties involving looking into the overall irregul

July 10, 2013

The Financial Services Commission is facing a backlash from civic groups as its project to revamp the nation’s regulatory system appears to be focused on expanding its own authority rather than on strengthening consumer protection.In its recent report to the presidential office, the state regulator said it was considering spinning off the consumer protection board from the Financial Supervisory Service, an executive arm of the FSC.Though the spinoff plan nominally features policymakers’ willingn

July 9, 2013

KB Financial Group ranked 68th on the list of the world’s 100 largest banks by core capital, the highest spot among local lenders, the Bank of Korea said Sunday.Citing the July edition of the London-based Banker magazine, the central bank BOK said a total of six Korean banks made the world’s top 100 list as of the end of 2012. The five other financial groups were KDB, Woori, Shinhan, Hana (plus Korea Exchange Bank) and NongHyup.KB Financial saw its core capital come to $19.2 billion at the end o

July 7, 2013

The National Tax Service said Thursday that it would implement taxation on the cross-affiliate deals in the business sector this month.The tax agency plans to impose gift taxes on some 10,000 individuals including owners of businesses ― which offered exclusive benefits to affiliates or subsidiaries ― and the owners’ friendly powers.Among tax authorities’ targets are owners of major conglomerates such as Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, GS and LG.Some of them have been under close monitoring from the

July 4, 2013

The Korean unit of Deutsche Bank AG may be placed under prosecutors’ investigation for business irregularities, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.An FSS official said the regulator, in consultation with the Financial Services Commission, referred the financial firm Thursday to the prosecution for breaching the laws on financial investment, issuing an “institutional warning” against the Seoul branch and reprimanding its branch manager and eight other employees.The Deutsche Bank Seoul

July 4, 2013

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok on Wednesday played down some economists’ worries that the nation’s household sector is facing a crisis due to its collective heavy debt.Top financial regulatory officials ― Shin Je-yoon and Choi Soo-hyun ― and central bank governor Kim Choong-soo shared Minister Hyun’s view during the National Assembly’s hearing on the outstanding loans to the household sector in Seoul.The policymakers reiterated that the growth pace in the financial firms

July 3, 2013