Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned Wednesday that the housing market was overvalued, and that a scheduled tightening of loan regulations and a possible interest rate hike could see home prices fall. During a government meeting on the real estate market, Hong urged market participants to refrain from buying homes based on expectations of future price increases. “An inflow of liquidity into the housing market could slow down as the country is set to implement measures to slow the growt

Economy June 30, 2021

Aiming for the complete recovery of the South Korean economy, the government will deploy a series of policies inducing domestic consumption and supporting pandemic-hit businesses and exporters in the second half, the Finance Ministry said Monday. “The direction of economic policy for the second half of 2021 was established with a focus on two goals -- complete economic recovery and a major structural transformation into a leading economy,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while

Economy June 28, 2021

South Korea’s central bank said Monday that the country’s financial vulnerabilities had increased to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, calling for efforts to prevent a deepening of the financial imbalance caused by the heated real estate and digital asset markets. The nation’s financial vulnerability index climbed to 58.9 in the first three months of 2021, surpassing 41.9, the figure it reported in the fourth quarter of 2019, before COVID-19 hit the country

Economy June 22, 2021

The Seoul stock market traded bearishly Thursday after the US Federal Reserve projected rate hikes in 2023, ending a brief winning streak this week on economic and corporate improvements. But upon watching the market drop in response to the Fed’s hawkish stance, South Korean policymakers expressed confidence about dealing with any resulting volatility in the financial market. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said Asia’s fourth-largest economy may be affected to some extent

Economy June 17, 2021

South Korea’s household debt is inviting concerns about the country’s economic resilience as its accumulated debt has grown more, relative to income, than that of any other economy. Asia’s fourth-largest economy continues to see a rapid rise in household debt, largely due to increased borrowing to make ends meet in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and to fund real estate purchases and stock investments amid record-low interest rates. As of the end of March, outstandin

Economy June 14, 2021

The recovery of South Korea’s job market picked up steam as more than 600,000 positions were added back to the economy in May, surpassing that mark for the second consecutive month, government data showed Wednesday. Statistics Korea found that the number of employed people reached 27.6 million last month, 619,000 more than a year earlier, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy continued its recovery from the virus-caused downturn. The base effect from severe job losses last year lifted

Economy June 9, 2021

Two thousand employees at South Korea’s troubled state housing developer will be out of jobs as a result of a reform triggered by a massive land speculation scandal, the government said Monday. The Korea Land and Housing Corp. will streamline its organizational structure, cutting 20 percent of the company’s workforce, to focus on its key functions -- housing welfare and home supply. Other noncore administrative functions will be abolished or transferred to other bodies such as the

Economy June 7, 2021

Apartment prices in Seoul have risen to the levels where they were before the global financial crisis of 2008, which prompted a severe market correction, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday. “I have a serious concern about one-sided anticipation that the housing market will become unstable again in the second half of this year because of new regulations that will come into effect from June,” the minister said during a policy meeting. Along with the government’s hous

Economy June 3, 2021

The South Korean economy is forecast to grow 3.8 percent this year on the back of strong export growth and expansionary macroeconomic policy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday, ramping up its previous projection of 3.3 percent. “Strong overseas demand for IT products, which account for about a fifth of total exports and automobiles is lifting exports. A gradual easing of distancing measures and government relief packages have helped vulnerable household

Economy May 31, 2021

The government will spend some 1 trillion won ($894.8 million) on building a mega database to collect medical information of 1 million people in a bid to foster the biohealth industry as a new growth engine, officials said Wednesday. “In response to the rapidly changing biotechnology industry environment, we will provide all-round support, such as R&D intensive investment in core technologies, including new drugs and innovative medical devices; commercialization support; expansion of

Economy May 26, 2021

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that the government will roll out changes to housing policies which may include real estate taxation reforms as early as next month. While maintaining the key framework and the stance of the real estate policy announced on Feb. 4, which focuses on easing building regulations and supporting redevelopment projects in urban areas to shore up the number of new houses, “some changes will be presented within the next month after collecting public opi

Economy May 20, 2021

NH NongHyup Bank, one of South Korea‘s five major banks, said Tuesday it has launched biometric boarding service via mobile applications for the first time as a financial institution here. Customers who registered their palm vein patterns at the bank’s branches will be able to travel aboard a domestic flight through contactless biometric boarding process at Gimpo International Airport, Jeju International Airport and Gimhae Airport, the bank said. Up until now, registration of bio

Market May 18, 2021

The South Korean government will support the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies and set up a climate response fund next year to achieve the goal of going carbon neutral by 2050. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday that preparation for the scenario to achieve net zero emissions is “in full swing,” while stressing the importance of a preemptive policy response related to climate cooperation. South Korea plans to bolster its original target of reduci

Economy May 17, 2021

This is a part of a series of interviews and analyses of South Korea’s top bankers, policymakers and investors leading the financial industry here. This is the sixth installment. -- Ed. Shinhan Financial Group is in talks with a handful of e-commerce companies over a potential acquisition or strategic investment to create an online commerce space where consumers can shop for financial services like any other retail products. “The limitation of mobile finance apps is that they can

Market May 12, 2021

Cross-industry partnerships in the financial sector are in full swing as banks seek to transform personal data into a new revenue source, ditching their reliance on interest rates. Commercial lenders and credit card companies have been rushing to forge alliances with mobile carriers and retailers to compile large volumes of customer data from business partners in order to provide personalized products and to fuel data-driven marketing activities. The heating competition is ignited by the gove

Market May 11, 2021