Kyobo Life Insurance and Dongbu Insurance were found to be least charitable firms in the insurance industry, despite reaping high profits in the recent fiscal quarter, according to regulatory filings and media reports.Kyobo Life, which is among the top three domestic life insurers, donated or engaged in social contribution worth 3.8 billion won ($3.5 million), or 0.86 percent of its third-quarter net profit of 438 billion won last year.Dongbu, which posted a net profit of some 330 billion won in

March 3, 2013

The Fair Trade Commission, the country’s antitrust watchdog, is expected to expand its probe into outdoor apparel companies for possible price fixing and related malpractices, industry sources said.The commission is said to have investigated leading outdoor brands such as The North Face, Kolon Sport and K2. It will also look into 10 other companies including Black Yak, Millet and Lafuma.Its probe will include examining the industry’s distribution channels as well as its relationship with supplie

Industry March 3, 2013

Men have a greater chance of dying single than women, with one in five men born in 2010 estimated to be single at the end of their lives.About 79 percent of men born in 2010 are likely to succeed in marriage in their lifetime, compared with 85 percent for women. These are predictions based on current trends, according to a survey of marriage, divorce and birth data between 2000 and 2010 by Statistics Korea.More than 20 percent of men will pass away single, compared to 15 percent of women, accord

Feb. 28, 2013

Credit card transactions by Koreans traveling abroad hit a record high of nearly $10 billion in 2012.The Bank of Korea said Thursday that more than 20 million Koreans settled their bills overseas via credit card last year, up about 17 percent from 17.4 million the year before.Credit card payments overseas amounted to $9.4 billion, up about 9 percent from $8.6 billion in the same period.Although credit transactions reached an all-time high, payments per person stood at just $464 on average, down

Feb. 28, 2013

Korea maintained a current account surplus for the 12th consecutive month thanks to increased exports, despite foreign exchange volatility due to currency wars ignited by Japan’s weak yen policy.The Bank of Korea said Wednesday that the current account, the broadest measure of the country’s foreign trade, recorded a surplus of $2.25 billion in January, with exports reaching $47.1 billion.This is mostly in part due to increased outbound shipments of telecommunication products, petrochemicals and

Feb. 27, 2013

Korea’s birth rate increased for the third consecutive year in 2012, while its death rate reached a 30-year high.According to Statistics Korea, the number of newborns reached 484,300 last year, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier.This marks the highest since 2007 when Korea had 493,200 babies.Its crude birth rate increased by 0.2 to 9.6 births per 1,000 people.Also, Korea’s total fertility rate bounced back to 1.30 births per woman throughout her lifetime.The fertility rate began to dive in 2001

Feb. 26, 2013

Households spend up to 40 percent of monthly paychecks to pay interest plus principal on loans to local banks according to the Bank of Korea.Citing a survey of 2,119 Korean households, the Bank of Korea said about 8 percent responded that they use 40 percent of their salaries a month to repay their debt.More than 60 percent said that they are struggling to meet deadlines in repaying their loans, indicating that rising household debt needs to be urgently resolved.Household debt was the biggest sy

Feb. 25, 2013

Ssangyong Engineering & Construction, beset by the housing market slump and a feud between its shareholder and creditor, is scheduled to file for a corporate workout process this week.The process refers to a company requesting its creditor banks for a payment delay or partial debt relief, in exchange for amending its financial structure.The nation’s No. 13 builder has a series of promissory notes and bonds amounting to 60 billion won ($55 million) whose maturity ends this Thursday, while facing

Industry Feb. 24, 2013

With Cho Won-dong named chief economic aide to President-elect Park Geun-hye, joining Finance Minister-nominee Hyun Oh-seok in the incoming government, the economic duo, who are described as “two of a kind,” are expected to first tackle issues on rising household debt through growth policies focused on boosting welfare.Park’s full economic lineup is yet to be established, as top new posts for the Financial Services Commission, the Fair Trade Commission, the National Tax Service and the Korea Cus

Feb. 21, 2013

Japan’s NEC, an IT services and products provider, is looking to adopt an English testing system for employees used by Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group, according to Japanese and local media.NEC, a former semiconductor rival of Samsung Electronics, plans to test some 100,000 of its employees and recruits at its headquarters and subsidiaries over the next three years using the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer, developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.Samsung

Industry Feb. 19, 2013

The International Monetary Fund has lowered Korea’s economic growth forecast to 3.2 percent this year, down from its initial forecast of 3.6 percent.The revision was disclosed to financial policymakers at the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting in Moscow last week.The IMF also predicted that Korea would grow 3.9 percent in 2014.The global financial organization initially had a GDP outlook of 3.6 percent in October 2011 in its report.However, the drop came as the IMF

Feb. 19, 2013

Korea saw a record high level of capital invested in short-term financial instruments as dim outlooks on the economy made investors reluctant to invest in assets with long maturities.Short-term investments ― floating capital that can be immediately transferrable ― in financial products such as securities accounts, repurchase agreements and money market funds amounted to a record 666 trillion won ($617 billion) in December 2012, according to data from the Bank of Korea and Korea Financial Investm

Feb. 18, 2013