S. Korea's economic growth nearly halves in past 2 decades
EconomyFeb 20, 2020
South Korea's economic growth rate has nearly halved in the past two decades due to low productivity and regulations, a local think tank said Thursday. South Korea's economy grew an average of 5 percent between 2001 and 2005 before falling to 2.7 percent during the 2016-2019 period, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. South Korea ranked fifth among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 36 mostly rich and advanced nations, in terms
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Prosecutors raid Lime, Shinhan Investment in misselling probeMoneyFeb 19, 2020FSS says nearly half of troubled funds sold through commercial banks -
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S. Korea's IPOs up 22% in 2019EconomyFeb 19, 2020The value of South Korea's initial public offerings rose 22.8 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday. IPO proceeds came to 3.21 trillion won ($2.69 billion) last year, compared with 2.61 trillion won in 2018, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Still, the number of companies that made market debuts last year fell to 73 from 77 in 2018, the data showed. Main IPOs included Hanwha Systems Co., the defense industry unit of Hanwha Group, and SNK Corp., -
Watchdog to probe investment firms, banks, brokerages over Lime scandalMarketsFeb 18, 2020Looking into a major hedge fund misselling fiasco involving Lime Asset Management, South Korea’s financial watchdog is likely to narrow its focus on three major vendors -- Shinhan Investment, Woori Bank and KEB Hana Bank -- officials said Tuesday. Shinhan Investment is facing additional allegations that it sold the disputed financial products with full awareness of their flaws. The Financial Supervisory Service is slated to kick off its first on-site investigation of the country&rsquo -
![[News Focus] Korea’s household debt surges 100% in a decade](http://res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=643&simg=/content/image/2020/02/17/20200217000754_0.jpg)
[News Focus] Korea’s household debt surges 100% in a decadeEconomyFeb 18, 2020Key rate still set at all-time low of 1.25% since Oct. 2019 -
Weak earnings, coronavirus fears weigh on Korean firms’ creditMarketsFeb 18, 2020Korean companies are facing imminent threats of credit downgrades, as they face a double whammy of weak 2019 earnings and novel coronavirus fears weighing on the global economy. Some of the firms have already experienced credit rating downgrades by agencies in the past week. Seoul-based NICE Investors Service last week downgraded credit ratings of panel maker LG Display and retailer E-mart by one notch each, as their business prospects are clouded and they are shouldering increased debt. LG -
On brighter chip prospects, market cap of Samsung up 10%MarketsFeb 18, 2020Only three groups with tech-related businesses see gains in market value; retailers suffer -
Jeonbuk Bank’s Cambodian subsidiary posts record-high net profit in 2019MoneyFeb 18, 2020Jeonbuk Bank’s Cambodian subsidiary logged record-high annual net profit last year, marking it as one of the most successful Korean banks operating in the Southeast Asian country, the bank’s holding group JB Financial said Tuesday. Phnom Penh Commercial Bank’s net profit for fiscal 2019 jumped 40.5 percent on-year to 20.7 billion won ($17.4 million), according to JB Financial. PPC Bank was the only commercial lender in Cambodia to post an annual net profit of over 20 billio -
KB Card launches debit card featuring PengsooMoneyFeb 17, 2020Credit card issuer KB Card said Monday that it has rolled out a debit card featuring Pengsoo, a popular penguin character. The newly launched card comes in two designs — one with Pengsoo saying “Peng-ca,” and the other with the character trying out different fashion items. Peng-ca comes from the giant penguin’s signature line, “Peng-ha,” meaning “Pengsoo says hi.” As part of its marketing efforts, KB Card will give out stickers of the character -
Bithumb agrees partnership with Chinese peer BitMaxMoneyFeb 17, 2020South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese crypto exchange firm BitMax to roll out new crypto services and to tap into global markets together. They also agreed to jointly develop blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies and infrastructure. Founded in 2018 by CEO George Chao, Bitmax has attracted a number of Wall Street financial engineers who used to work for global financial firms, such as Barclays and Deutsche -
NHN‘s Payco available on Apple platformsMoneyFeb 17, 2020Internet services provider NHN said Monday that its easy-to-use mobile payment service Payco was now available on US tech giant Apple’s platforms, including Apple Store, Apple Music and iCloud. Under the partnership, users can simply link their Payco accounts with their Apple ones via the Apple ID settings, the company said. Once their payment data is registered on one of their Apple devices, Payco subscribers can make online purchases across different iOS-powered gadgets, including t
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