Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku on Wednesday highlighted local banks’ overdependence on gains from household loans as a hurdle to wage-led growth and said he would lower the maximum interest rate to 24 percent from next year.In his first press conference as the head of the nation’s top financial regulator a week after he took office, Choi pledged to address banks’ overreliance on mortgage loans, saying they have distanced themselves from their original role

Market July 26, 2017

SK Holdings announced it would buy 11.77 percent of Chinese logistics firm e-Shang Redwood Group’s newly issued stock, worth some 372 billion won ($333.3 million), in a disclosure Tuesday. The holding company of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate in market capitalization aims to tap into the “explosive growth in e-commerce market” in China through the purchase, the firm said in a release. (SK)SK Holdings’ decision in the board meeting Tuesday came in tandem with the purchase of pharmaceut

Industry July 25, 2017

South Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index inched up 0.1 point to 111.2 this month from June, indicating a phase of adjustment in anticipation for President Moon Jae-in’s new policies, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.The CCSI has moved upward six straight months and been in optimistic terrain for four consecutive months, inching closer to the 111.4 recorded in January 2011. However, the increase in July was close to “insignificant,” Park Sang-woo, an official at the

Economy July 25, 2017

SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate in market capitalization on the main bourse, managed to widen its lead over Hyundai Motor Group, which it overtook on April 7, data showed Monday.As of Friday’s closing, firms listed on the top-tier market under SK Group had 120 trillion won ($107.5 billion) in market cap, accounting for 6.62 percent of the market, according to data from the sole market operator Korea Exchange. Hyundai Motor Group, which the second most valuable com

Market July 24, 2017

Kyobo Lifeplanet Life Insurance, a South Korean internet-only insurer, is eyeing expansion in the bancassurance market, picking Woori Bank as the third local commercial bank to sell its products Monday.  Woori Bank, the fourth-largest commercial bank in Korea, plans to sell two products -- savings insurance and pension-linked products.The products can be purchased at the bank‘s financial product category on its website, and “Woori Robo-Alpha,” an artificial intelligence-ru

Market July 24, 2017

The Westerners lined up on Sunday before giant statues of North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il and, on command from their guide, bowed deeply.It is a ritual that the Trump administration intends to stop US tourists performing, with Washington due to impose a ban this week on its citizens holidaying in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as the North is officially known.The move comes amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile am

North Korea July 23, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced mounting pressure Sunday over new security measures at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site after a weekend of violence left eight people dead, with fears more unrest could follow.Israeli officials signalled they may be open to changing the measures at the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after the installation of metal detectors at entrances following an attack that killed two policemen stoked Palestinian anger.The me

World News July 23, 2017

Ahead of its launch Thursday, Kakao Bank unveiled Sunday its plans to offer commission fees on offshore wire transfers that were just a tenth of the amount charged at offline banks.As the second branchless bank in South Korea following K bank that started operation in April, Kakao Bank said its fees charged from electronic wire services will be better streamlined than conventional commercial banks. A bank user who transfers money worth up to $5,000 through the smartphone app will be charged

Market July 23, 2017

The unprecedented rally in South Korea’s stock market might ease off this week, according to analysts who cited vulnerabilities such as the US Federal Reserve Board’s possible hawkish signs and volatility in the markets and currency exchange rate.Multiple analysts forecast the main bourse index would hover at around the current 2,450 mark, with the lowest at 2,410 and the highest at 2,470.A slight hawkish tone from the July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee held from Tuesd

Market July 23, 2017

Market July 20, 2017

In his inauguration speech Wednesday, new Financial Service Committee Chairman Choi Jong-ku addressed skyrocketing household debt, indicating he may push to adopt the debt-service ratio in household loans to toughen the lending process.“(The FSC) will advance the credit rating systems in financial firms by laying out ones based on the debt-service ratio,” Choi said in a speech at FSC headquarters in central Seoul.He described the nation’s household debt as “the biggest la

Market July 20, 2017

Monetary easing in South Korea has lasted for over a year, with the country’s central bank keeping a record low rate of 1.25 percent for 13 months as of July. Amid uncertainties surrounding the rate, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, the local unit of the London-based banking group, has been holding an event rewarding customers with benefits from checking account interest rates, the bank said Thursday. The move was partly to provide new customers who open checking accounts dubbed My Plus Acco

Market July 20, 2017

Analysts in South Korea maintained optimistic toward SK Innovation, the nation’s top refiner, despite a downturn in its second-quarter earnings forecast due to low global crude prices. The fall in the second quarter will be “transient,” analysts say, while SK Innovation stocks will bounce back in the second half of this year, due to the seasonal upward push of crude prices and the refining margin from August to winter on the back of soaring demand.“Seasonal factors of the refining margin will sh

Industry July 19, 2017

Citibank Korea has been named the best foreign commercial bank in Korea in this year’s Country Awards for FinanceAsia, a Hong Kong-based financial magazine, the bank said Wednesday.The New York-based banking group’s unit in Korea bagged the award eight times over the last 10 years. FinanceAsia cited the bank’s “level of soundness” in capital adequacy, “robust growth” in the wealth management business and in card business, as well as “excellence in

Market July 19, 2017

Panelists in a public hearing held Tuesday to build a legal ground for cryptocurrency in South Korea called for regulators to take swift action to strengthen consumer protection from its transactions.The panel also encouraged the state-led protection to guarantee the stability of the cryptocurrency‘s value and soundness of the related business. Rep. Park Yong-jin, lawmaker of ruling Democratic Party of Korea, presided over the public hearing, about two weeks after he unveiled a plan to pro

Market July 18, 2017