Urban forests have played a key role in improving the quality of life for those living in metropolitan cities by tackling urban heat island effects and fine dust in South Korea, where more than 90 percent of its population reside in cities.Forests in Korea help decrease the amount of fine particles by more than 1 million tons per year, according to the Korea Forest Service. But the capital city Seoul, home to nearly one out of five people living here, is suffering from a shortage of urban forest

Industry Sept. 27, 2017

Signs of downward turns in consumption, the domestic economy as well as the financial market seem to be apparent, amid the saber-rattling between North Korea and the United States, which has heightened tension to the degree of a “declaration of war” on the Korean Peninsula.The main bourse index in South Korea slumped for the sixth consecutive trading day Tuesday with tech giants taking losses, while South Korea’s Composite Consumer Sentiment Index fell for two consecutive month

Market Sept. 26, 2017

Jung Won-shik, former country manager of Alipay Korea, has become the new chief executive of BTC Korea, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald.“(Jung) had been scouted as CEO of BTC Korea since Sept. 4,” said the source, who declined to be named. The source also said Jung’s arrival at BTC Korea was part of the company’s “first batch of a management team made up of key

Market Sept. 26, 2017

정원식(46) 전 알리페이 한국 지사장이 한국 최대 규모 가상화폐 거래소인 빗썸의 대표로 영입되었다고 한 소식통이 전했다. 　익명을 요구한 소식통은, 정 전 지사장은 “9월 4일부터 이미 빗썸 대표에 내정되어 있다”고 말했다.　소식통은 또한 빗썸이 9월 핀테크, PG(전자결제), 보안 등 각 분야의 전문가들 뿐아니라 금융당국 출신 인력 등으로 구성된 전문경영인체제팀을 구축했다고 밝혔다.　이에 대해 빗썸 측은 “(정 전 지사장이) 내부에서 대표직 등으로 논의, 확정된 바가 없는 상황”이라고 밝혔다.　 (사진=링크드인)정 전 지사장은 서울대학교 대학원 경영학과 석사학위를 받았으며, 올해 2월까지 1년여간 알리페이 한국 지사장을 역임했다. 이전에도 후지쯔, 텔랩스 등 다국적 핀테크 관련 회사에서 임원급으로 일한 바 있다.　최근 정 전 지사장은 가상화폐 관련 행보를 보여 왔다. 정 전 대표는 14일 빗썸이 주최한 ‘2017 가상화폐포럼’에 모습을 드러내는 한편, 24일에는 코엑스 인터콘티넨

한국어판 Sept. 26, 2017

Nearly half of the entire trade volume in South Korea’s stock market this year until mid-September stemmed from day trading, indicating individual traders’ growing tendency to seek instant profit from stocks with high price volatility, data showed Monday. From January to Sept. 15, day traders bought or sold some 48 percent of shares, or 89.5 billion shares, on the first-tier and second-tier markets, according to data by the sole market operator the Korea Exchange. This comes in contr

Market Sept. 25, 2017

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the first installment. -- Ed. While cryptocurrency exchanges among those in their 40s and 50s deal with larger volumes, the older generation more often than not face inconveniences in trading their digital currencies.“Some traders often found themselves in trouble,” Kevin Cha, founder and chief executive of digital currency exchange Coinone, told The Korea Herald in an interview. The inte

Sept. 19, 2017

With South Korea aiming to quadruple its forestry employment, Japan’s policy -- which has sparked an interest among the young generation -- could be the thing to aim for. The high-level dialogue Monday between Korea and Japan held at the Korea Forest Service headquarters in Daejeon offered a nation suffering from chronic unemployment a chance to benchmark Japan’s track record of a recovery in forestry employment, the officials said.The two-hour meeting was held in light of the Korean government

Industry Sept. 18, 2017

The United States Federal Open Market Committee’s decision this week to take another step back from yearslong quantitative easing is likely to ease uncertainties for the financial markets in South Korea, according to multiple analysts. The FOMC’s highly-anticipated decision to shrink the balance sheet, backed by signs of pick-up in US consumer inflation, will “lift some uncertainties out of the market,” wrote Kim Yu-kyum, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securitie

Market Sept. 17, 2017

The Korea Exchange, South Korea’s sole securities market operator, is bracing for the 10-day closing of the market next month, the longest in more than three decades.The main bourse and the secondary bourse are scheduled to be dormant from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9 for the weekends and national Chuseok holiday. This is the third time for the market to close for 10 days since Kospi was launched by KRX in 1983.In 1983 and 1984, Kospi did not open from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3 the following year to allow t

Market Sept. 17, 2017

South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchanges largely appear unshaken despite the latest drop in bitcoin price fueled by the Chinese government’s reported plans to shut down domestic bitcoin exchanges, which experts here say would more likely stabilize, rather than stumble, the market.  The Korea Composite Bitcoin Price, based on prices of a bitcoin in major exchanges in Korea’s Bithumb, Korbit and Coinone, came to 4,351,533 won ($3,842.1) as of 4 p.m. Thursday, down 5.9 percent

Market Sept. 14, 2017

A vote by the United Nations Security Council to implement further sanctions on North Korea would have limited impact on South Korea’s stock market, analysts here said Monday, amid signs of geopolitical risks abating on the market.The stock market in Korea bounced back from Friday losses. The first-tier Kospi closed at 2,359.08, up 0.66 percent, while the secondary Kosdaq rose 0.34 percent.Shares of tech giants and financial sectors saw an upturn. Handset maker Samsung Electronics jumped 1

Market Sept. 11, 2017

South Korean banks failed to make it into the global top tier in capital volume last year, data showed Monday.According to an estimate by Korea Ratings, none of the country’s banking groups were among the top 60 in terms of core capital as of the end of 2016.Five banking groups -- KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Woori Bank and the state-run Korea Development Bank -- were part of the top 100, but none made it on the top 50 list.The estimate was based on a

Market Sept. 11, 2017

This is the 41st in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdThe blockbuster debut in July of Kakao Bank, an online-only bank launched by messaging app giant Kakao, has driven a surprising stock race among fintech companies listed on the nation’s stock market. And Minwise, a digital security service provider based in Seoul, has been one of a few beneficiaries. 　More than two years after going public on South Korea’s secondary bourse

Market Sept. 10, 2017

South Korea’s top state-run financial bodies are expecting leadership changes, with candidates -- who worked for the former Roh Moo-hyun administration -- awaiting presidential approval. The Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku recommended Lee Dong-gull, a business administration professor at Dongguk University, to head the Korea Development Bank on Thursday.During the first 18 months of the Roh administration, Lee served as a vice chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commi

Market Sept. 7, 2017

South Korean banks saw a nearly 50 percent increase on-year in net profit from offshore banking units in the first half of this year on surge in interest revenue, while the reliance on the overseas business dropped to a third over the cited period, data showed Wednesday. The net profit of all 184 offshore banking entities during the first half came to $461.2 million, up 48.7 percent from a year prior, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service. In the first half of 2016, net revenue

Market Sept. 6, 2017