The amount of venture capital investments made in the South Korean market last year reached a record high of 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to state-owned Korea Development Bank on Thursday. The startup industry has seen an increasing inflow of capital in recent years. The amount of venture investment pumped into the startup market came in at 3.4 trillion won in 2018 and 4.2 trillion won in 2019. The startup segment is expected to gain further momentum thanks to the government&rsq

Market April 15, 2021

Driven by corporate demand for alternative offices amid the pandemic, WeWork Korea’s revenue last year jumped 20 percent, the highest of all branches of the US co-working space firm worldwide, its new chief said. Without providing exact numbers, Patricia Chun, WeWork Korea’s general manager, said the Korean office is the only WeWork branch in the world to see 20 percent revenue growth during the peak of the pandemic last year, while the New York and London locations hemorrhaged mo

Market April 14, 2021

Credit card issuer Samsung Card said Tuesday that it has delivered a presentation on how it is using artificial intelligence in marketing and customer analysis at an online tech conference held by chipmaker Nvidia. The online Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, which began in 2009, is an event where developers, researchers, and officials from private companies around the world share trends and information on AI, machine learning and supercomputing technologies. In its online presentation avai

Market April 13, 2021

Despite the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of South Koreans who hold stocks worth 10 billion won ($8.92 million) or more increased last year, data showed Sunday. Data compiled by the state-run Korea Securities Depository showed that the number of these “superrich” Koreans came in at 2,800 -- up 600, or 27 percent on-year, as of the end of December. Their combined stocks reached 241.5 trillion won in value, up 59.9 trillion won or 33 percent. Of all 2,800 people w

Market April 11, 2021

Expectations for Seoul’s grand-scale redevelopment grew Thursday after the opposition candidate won the Seoul mayoral race, partly on a pledge to lift regulations affecting high-rise apartments along the Han River and in other parts of the city. Oh Se-hoon’s election pledges, however, are expected to face headwinds as they contradict central government policies that favor community-based urban restoration projects and strictly limit large-scale redevelopment. Among the projects tha

Market April 8, 2021

The prices of apartments in Seoul measuring 60 square meters or less continued an upward trend last month, according to data on Wednesday. A report on monthly housing price trends released by commercial bank KB Kookmin Bank showed that the average selling price of a small apartment in Seoul stood at 768 million won ($687,793), up 22.7 percent on-year. For newlyweds and small families, 60 square meters is a popular size. Nowon-gu, Dobong-gu, Gangbuk-gu and Geumcheon-gu were among the distric

Market April 7, 2021

K bank, one of South Korea’s largest online banks, saw a significant hike in savings in recent months in line with its operations linked to cryptocurrency trading. Deposits at the nation’s first online bank exceeded 10 trillion won ($8.96 billion) earlier this month, compared with just 1.85 trillion won in June last year, officials said. The bank held 8.72 trillion won in deposits as of the end of March. The figure was almost double that of Jeju Bank, whose deposits came to 5.4

Market April 7, 2021

The Korea Corporate Governance Service, a nonprofit organization that offers environmental, social and governance evaluations for companies, said Tuesday that it had downgraded the ESG ratings of nine companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and LG Display. Samsung was given an overall rating of B+, down from the previous score of A. The company scored a B in the governance category after Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong received a 30-month jail sentence in January for bribery a

Market April 6, 2021

South Korean credit card issuer Hyundai Card has launched new credit cards which offer what the company says "ultimate rewards," for customers. The new credit cards under the Hyundai Card Z brand is the latest edition of the company’s credit card series named with alphabet letters. The new cards named after the last letter of the English alphabet comes with a range of cream-of-the-crop benefits, such as discounts at online streaming services, like Netflix, and retail ma

Market April 5, 2021

South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the fastest clip in 14 months in March, since the coronavirus pandemic dealt a serious blow to the nation’s economy early last year, according to a report Friday. The price for spring onion, in particular, grew by more than 300 percent over the course of a year, marking the steepest growth in 26 years and 11 months. The surging price of scallion is thought to be one of the main reasons behind the soaring prices of agricultural products. The

Market April 2, 2021

Kim Jung-ju, CEO of gaming firm Nexon’s holding company NXC, is Korea’s richest businessman, with assets valued at $14.1 billion, according to a report from a US think tank. Kim was ranked 144th on a list of the world’s billionaires that showed Jeff Bezos, CEO of e-commerce behemoth Amazon, topping the list with assets totaling $178 billion. The CEO of luxury products behemoth LVMH Moet Hennessy, Bernard Arnault, and his family, were second on the list, with $162.6 billion.

Market April 2, 2021

South Korean stock brokerage firms were among highest-paying companies across all industries last year with an average annual salary of more than 120 million won ($106,288), data showed on Thursday. According to data compiled by recruitment firm Job Korea, employees at Korea’s top 100 listed companies were paid an average annual pay of 83.2 million won. Claiming the top spot of the list for the highest-paying workplaces here, stock trading firm Samsung Securities, paid 131 million won

Market April 1, 2021

South Korean investors are willing to acquire more real estate assets this year than last year, as the market shows signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic with the expansion of vaccination programs, according to a report released by global commercial real estate services firm CBRE on Tuesday. A survey of 492 investors in the Asia-Pacific region, including 40 from Korea, showed that 53 percent of Korean investors said they would purchase more real estate this year than in 2020. The figu

Market March 30, 2021

South Korean credit card company Samsung Card said Tuesday that it had issued foreign currency asset-backed securities linked to environment, social and governance projects. The new securities with an average of five-year maturity total $300 million in value. French banking firm BNP Paribas is one of the main investors. Capital raised through the latest securities issuance will be utilized to beef up ESG-based business operations, the card issuer said. The card business arm of Samsung Group h

Market March 30, 2021

South Korean insurer Kyobo Life Insurance said Monday that the company would be led by three CEOs by adding a new chief to lead digital transformation. Pyun Jung-beom, the newly appointed co-CEO, is a sales and strategy development expert who climbed the corporate ladder in Kyobo since 1988. The new chief will be in charge of leading projects to accelerate digitalization at the company and to enhance the company’s capability for marketing and sales, officials said. Co-CEO and Chairman

Market March 29, 2021