President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday expressed a strong willingness to rescind the introduction of capital gains taxes on financial investment incomes, asserting the legislation would bring massive outflow of funds from the country’s capital market. “Not only is the understanding of 14 million retail investors at stake, but if the capital market collapses and fails to function properly, it will have a significant impact on the real economy,” Yoon said during a press conference m

Economy May 9, 2024

Mirae Asset Securities, Korea’s largest stock brokerage company, has yielded solid results and created a strong impetus for growth in overseas markets after two decades of global expansion. Park Hyeon-joo, chairman of the Mirae Asset Financial Group, which covers comprehensive financial services including asset management, wealth management, investment banking and life insurance, has been spearheading the group's ambition to expand businesses beyond familiar horizons. Mirae Asset Se

Companies May 8, 2024

The chairman of Korea's chip-to-battery conglomerate SK Group said the fate of semiconductor manufacturers will hinge on how smartly they can map out capital expenditure plans, as he believes the recent chip recovery would be short-lived. The earnings surprise that SK hynix, the group’s crown jewel and the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, logged in the first quarter raised hope that the industry has ended its down cycle after months of operating losses. SK Group Chairman

Industry May 6, 2024

More than 250 startup companies have joined KB Financial Group’s accelerator program over the past 10 years to scale up businesses into unicorns in the fintech industry. KB Financial Group held an event on Tuesday marking the 10th anniversary of the KB Innovation HUB Center, the first organization dedicated to fostering and supporting startups in the financial sector. Since KB Innovation HUB Center’s inception in 2015, the group launched its startup accelerator program, KB Starters

Companies April 30, 2024

South Korea’s economy expanded at the fastest clip in more than two years in the first quarter as private spending and exports picked up, the central bank said Thursday. The country's real gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent on-quarter in the January-March period, accelerating from a 0.6 percent expansion in the fourth quarter last year, according to an advance estimate from the Bank of Korea. The latest GDP figure is a significant improvement from the past eight quarters, during

Economy April 25, 2024

South Korea's investment in the US increased about 1.8 times last year compared to the pre-COVID-19 period as major conglomerates set up large-scale facilities in the eastern part of the country, a report from a business lobby group showed Wednesday. According to the report published by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the total Korean investment in the US stood at $27.7 billion last year, up 75 percent from $15.8 billion in 2019. Large conglomerates like Samsung Electronics, SK

Economy April 24, 2024

South Korea and Japan’s finance ministers voiced concerns over the recent depreciation of their currencies against the US dollar, showing their intention to step into the market to support the won and yen, according to Korea's Finance Ministry on Wednesday. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok met with his Japanese counterpart Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday for the first time since he took office on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington. &ld

Economy April 17, 2024

Finance leaders from South Korea, the United States and Japan were set to hold their first-ever trilateral meeting in Washington on Wednesday, to step up economic cooperation amid heightened geopolitical risks in the Middle East. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok departed for the US on Tuesday to attend the three-way meeting, as well as a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank presidents as part of the annual Spring Meetings between the International Monetary Fund and the World

Economy April 16, 2024

With the liberal opposition clinching a landslide victory in Wednesday's general election, expectations over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s economic policies that favor stock market investment falter. Yoon’s People Power Party faced a major defeat in the parliamentary elections, as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and its satellite party won 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. The election results sent a signal to the market that Yoon and his party’s drive to

Economy April 11, 2024

South Korean financial groups have undergone a transition in their board composition, indicating governance changes centering on gender diversity and internal control. Given that a financial holding company’s board is the ultimate decision-making body engaging in establishing management strategies and budget planning for itself and its affiliated banking and securities units, the changes give a glimpse of the future direction that the groups are pursuing. Here are the key takeaways from

Companies April 1, 2024

Korean institutional investors are pumping money into the Indian market to avail opportunities from the fastest-growing major economy’s robust domestic demand and infrastructure projects. With estimates suggesting the economy could expand by 7 to 8 percent this year and the Indian government's policies designed to revive the manufacturing industry, including the "Make In India" program, the country has emerged as an investment destination for foreign investors. As large inve

Market March 27, 2024

Housing supply measures, encompassing both the public and private sectors, revised to favor households with newborns came into effect Monday, with the intention to lower the burden of high housing costs as one of the factors pulling down the country’s fertility rate to the world's lowest level. Starting from Monday, households with a child younger than 2 years old, including those with an adopted child or expectant mother, will be eligible to apply for a specialized and prioritized ho

Economy March 25, 2024

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was elected to head the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation's largest business lobby, for a second term, vowing to make more policy proposals to bring about disruptive innovation across industries. Chey was sworn in as the 25th chair of the KCCI after earning unanimous support from regional chamber leaders at the extraordinary general meeting held in Seoul on Thursday. He will serve his new three-year term until March 2027. In his inaugural re

Industry March 21, 2024

One in 10 couples who tied the knot in South Korea last year included a partner of foreign nationality. The growing number of international marriages helped the total number of newly married couples last year to rebound for the first time in 12 years. The number of international marriages stood at 19,700 in 2023, taking up 10.2 percent of the total number of newlywed couples -- 193,700 -- tallied last year, according to Statistics Korea on Tuesday. The number of international marriages grew by 1

Economy March 19, 2024

Korean businesses are unlikely to face a massive challenge by possible shift in US trade policies resulting from the 2024 US presidential election but they should get ready for small hiccups, experts on international trade said on Monday. “From the US perspective, Korean companies are very important partners in trade and investment. … Since the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement has been revised in a way that satisfies US constituencies, there may be hiccups (in the trade relationship) a

Economy March 18, 2024