The Korea Herald

Revision proposed to boost SMEs’ duty free shops

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that it proposed amendments to customs legislations allowing the expansion of duty free shops operated by small and medium enterprises.The revision also included downsizing duty free shops owned by conglomerates such as Lotte and Shinsegae, and restricting them to maintain a market share below 60 percent.SMEs, meanwhile, will be able to see the benefits from this revision that will allow an increase in the number of their shops to account for more

Aug. 26, 2013

Korea braces for ‘jeonse’ crunch

Seoul office worker Jasmine HS Kim and her husband are contemplating what to do when their apartment lease expires at the end of this year.Their owner has already notified them through a real estate agent that she is considering shifting to billing monthly rents, and would no longer accept large-sum deposits, or “jeonse.”This has prompted them to start looking for available and affordable jeonse apartments in Seoul, but Kim said there are not many choices in the market. Apartment prices are too

Aug. 25, 2013

KB Kookmin Bank boosts social sharing

Providing retail loan and deposit services may seem like KB Kookmin Bank’s only business to many domestic consumers.With a new chief executive in place to lead Korea’s leading retail bank, president and CEO Lee Kun-ho aims to change this long-standing perception to show that KB is not always about business, by further extending a helping hand to society.KB Kookmin Bank can create its own “success story” only by increasing social sharing and contribution through efforts by its employees, the bank

Aug. 25, 2013

Parties lock horns on housing fix

Political parties are locked in fierce debate to reach an agreement on an additional set of measures to boost housing transactions but also cool apartment deposit prices, or “jeonse,” following the government’s housing stimulus policy announced in April.While the ruling Saenuri Party argues for the abolishment of heavy capital gains tax for multiple home owners, the main opposition Democratic Party favors a housing bill that includes regulatory caps on jeonse and monthly rent prices.As the two p

Aug. 21, 2013

NTS targets 47 for tax collection

The National Tax Service said Tuesday that it would deal sternly with 47 people allegedly operating unreported overseas accounts that hold more than 1 billion won each.The state-run tax collector urged those offshore accountholders to voluntarily report their deposits to the authority, or otherwise face the consequences of being audited.It said it would publicly disclose the owners of offshore accounts with deposits of more than 5 billion won should they refuse to abide by the law and report the

Aug. 20, 2013

[Newsmaker] Tax becomes source of division in Korea

The government’s tax revision that was modified after drawing public backlash shows how desperate the Park Geun-hye administration is becoming to find funds for its welfare pledges.Spending 135 trillion won for equitable wealth distribution over the next four years would require a “big pot” of money that needs to be drawn from its reserve funds by maintaining a budget surplus, funds raised via government bonds, and the business community and the people by levying taxes.It simply ran out of optio

Aug. 19, 2013

[Newsmaker] Tax becomes source of division in Korea

Woori officially launches sales of nonbank units

Woori Financial Group has officially launched the sale of its subsidiary Woori Investment & Securities along with other non-banking units, financial regulators said Friday.Korea’s leading brokerage house will be offered in a “package” with three other nonbank subsidiaries ― Woori Aviva Life Insurance, Woori Asset Management and Woori FG Savings Bank.Potential buyers are required to submit their preliminary bids for the batch of nonbanking units to their lead sales manager Citigroup Global Market

Aug. 16, 2013

Self-employed face tax scrutiny

The National Tax Service is set to closely scrutinize the books of high-income and self-employed professionals such as doctors, lawyers, architects, real estate agents and private moneylenders to see whether they have been properly paying their taxes. This toughened stance comes as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance seeks to increase its tax collection from the self-employed to make up for the possible decrease in revenue following the readjustment of its tax code revision.The Ministry of Fina

Aug. 15, 2013

Korea’s creative economy aims at venture ecosystem

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles scrutinizing key aspects and sectors related to the creative economy the Park Geun-hye government is promoting as a national agenda. The series was made in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This is the first part of the series. ― Ed. When President Park Geun-hye introduced her creative economy policy during the election campaign late last year, most people were bewi

Aug. 14, 2013

Korea’s creative economy aims at venture ecosystem

Welfare policy to stay course: Hyun

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the government will not make any changes to its welfare policy following the readjustment of its tax code revision.The administration’s 135 trillion won ($120.6 billion) budget for welfare expansion will not be reduced, and it will stick to the plan it pledged for the lower and middle class, the finance minister stressed to reporters after an economic-related meeting on Wednesday.The ministry’s latest modification of the revision,

Aug. 14, 2013

Income base for tax hike raised to 55m won

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that it would raise the baseline income dividing the top and mid to low income earners from 34.5 million won to 55 million won as part of its tax code revision.This would significantly decrease the number of workers facing tax burdens from the government’s earlier proposal to about 2 million, from more than 4.3 million people, who were categorized in the top 28 percent bracket.Those with an annual salary of more than 55 million won will face tax

Aug. 13, 2013

Top economic policymakers in tight spot over tax revision

Political strife and public criticism escalated on Monday over the latest tax code revision proposal, with calls mounting for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok and senior presidential economic adviser Cho Won-dong to take “full responsibility” for the revision.Backlash has built up since last week, and President Park Geun-hye ordered her senior advisers and policymakers to redraw the administration’s tax revision from scratch so that it would benefit low- and middle-income

Aug. 12, 2013

Top economic policymakers in tight spot over tax revision

[Graphic News] Tax burden ratio

The government plans to increase Korea’s tax burden in proportion to its national output from 20.2 percent to 21 percent over the next four years. This is part of efforts to service growing welfare costs in the long-run at the expense of increasing taxes on average workers.Its recent proposal to replace income tax deductions with tax credits and raise tax rates for the top 20 percent of earners resembles the path European nations took in creating welfare states.

Aug. 11, 2013

Asiana offers $10,000 to victims

The nation’s No. 2 airliner, Asiana Airlines, on said Sunday it plans to offer $10,000 in compensation to all passengers who were aboard the Boeing 777 plane that crashed in San Francisco last month.“The compensation is a minimum payment to cover medical expenses and inconveniences,” Asiana official said. They added that passengers may still file lawsuits after accepting the compensation, including those who were not injured. The air carrier’s move came as its plane, carrying 291 passengers and

Industry Aug. 11, 2013

Korean firm picked for new Myanmar airport

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp. said Sunday that it has been picked as the preferred bidder for the development of a new international airport in Myanmar.The company, which operates the country’s largest airport, said it will hold detailed negotiations with authorities from Myanmar on the size of the new airport and other matters related to costs and operations, with the final agreement to be reached by the year’s end.Once an agreement is reached, the goal will be to open Hanth

Industry Aug. 11, 2013

Articles by Park Hyung-ki