Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Stock prices of firms behind ‘Parasite’ hit new high
Shares of both Barunson E&A, the production company of Oscar-winning “Parasite,” and the entertainment division of stationery and restaurant conglomerate Barunson hit a new 52-week high Wednesday. Barunson E&A shares touched 3,815 won ($3.24) -- up 880 won, or 29.98 percent, from the previous session. The firm had previously peaked by the daily limit of about 30 percent for two straight trading sessions. Baruson’s stock price also spiked 29.87 percent, to hit 4,435
Feb. 12, 2020
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NH Financial to expand global assets fivefold in 5 years
NH Financial Group, a major Korean banking group, vowed Wednesday to increase its global assets by nearly five times to 6 trillion won ($5.1 billion) by 2025, as part of its new global expansion strategy. According to the financial giant, its overseas assets stood at nearly 1.4 trillion won as of the end of December. It also plans to increase its net profit to 160 billion won in the same period, which came to 28.9 billion won as of December. NH Financial said it would expand its overseas
Feb. 12, 2020
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Hanhwa’s Lifeplus brand wins iF design awards
Lifeplus, a joint brand of South Korean conglomerate Hanhwa Group’s financial businesses, bagged two awards at the world’s prestigious International Forum Design Award 2020, according to Hanhwa Life, an insurance firm and a key subsidiary, on Wednesday. The brand, launched in 2017 for the conglomerate’s financial units -- including life insurance, general insurance, stock brokerage and asset management -- won the awards in the two categories of communication design a
Feb. 12, 2020
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Busan to inject W205.6b to boost tech hub
Busan Metropolitan City said on Wednesday it plans to inject a total of 205.6 billion won ($174.4 million) this year to launch a new technology hub in South Korea’s second-largest city and back the startup ecosystem in line with the nationwide venture boom. The fund is a combination of the state-budget of 82.7 billion won, 84.3 billion won from the private sector and the rest coming from Busan. It is meant to finance early-stage startups to help them overcome the negative cash flow at it
Feb. 12, 2020
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Applications for Techstars Korea’s first batch to close March 1
Techstars Korea, a South Korean unit of Colorado-based global startup accelerator Techstars, said Wednesday applications for its first accelerating program in the nation will close on March 1. The first batch of Techstars Korea, composed of 10 startups, will take part in a 13-week accelerating program in tech hub Pangyo starting June, along with mentorship and a combined $120,000 seed funding. Techstars has joined hands with Hillstone Partners for the program. Startups adept at lifestyle tec
Feb. 12, 2020
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Woori Financial names new CEO to flagship bank
Woori Financial Group on Tuesday announced the appointment of the new head of its flagship commercial banking unit, in a move that is projected to further escalate its tension with the financial authorities here. The financial giant’s chairman and executive recommendation committee tapped Kwon Kwang-seok, head of the Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperative’s credit business, to replace current Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung. Sohn, who has been reappointed as the financia
Feb. 11, 2020
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Korea to employ Silicon Valley-inspired SAFE venture investment method
South Korea is poised to employ a Silicon Valley-style venture capital instrument starting from July, to let startups raise funds with fewer strings attached. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups promulgated on Tuesday a separate set of laws that center on venture investment schemes here, which have been recognized under two different laws: the Act on Special Measures for the Promotion of Venture Business and the Support for Small and Medium Enterprise Establishment Act. The new rule gives legal
Feb. 11, 2020
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FSC to have final say on FSS-Woori dispute
With the feud between the Financial Supervisory Service and Woori Financial Group over the latter’s leadership escalating, all eyes are on the final decision of regulator Financial Services Commission. The FSC’s advisory panel Securities and Futures Commission, in its biweekly meeting on Wednesday, will review the sanctions slapped on banking group chiefs over the misselling of derivative-linked fund products, officials said Tuesday. Late last month, the financial waatchdog decide
Feb. 11, 2020
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NPS posts highest return on investment since 2010
South Korea’s state pension fund National Pension Service said on Tuesday that it posted the highest return on investment in 10 years in 2019 largely due to the bullish stock markets here and abroad. The state-run pension fund marked an estimated rate of return of 11 percent last year, raking up a whopping 70 trillion won ($59 billion), according the NPS. The yield is the largest since 2010 when the fund operator marked 10.37 percent. In 2018, the NPS posted a negative yield of 0.
Feb. 11, 2020
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[News Focus] Battle intensifies to become ‘Korea’s Goldman Sachs’
With Hana Financial Investment jumping into the local investment banking market last week, competition has heightened among Korean securities firms to scale up their business operations. Hana’s brokerage arm is the latest and sixth in the race to become the nation’s premier investment bank. Following Hana Financial Group’s board approval, the brokerage unit decided to increase its capital by issuing new stocks worth 499.7 billion won ($420.4 million) by March 26. Its net wo
Feb. 10, 2020
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Logistics startup Mesh Korea denies sell-off rumors
South Korea’s logistics startup Mesh Korea -- operator of algorithm-powered micro delivery service Vroong -- denied rumors Monday that it is selling the stakes of its executives, amid a growing conflict between its CEO and other major stakeholders. The deal manager Samjong KPMG is reportedly looking for potential investors in Mesh Korea’s newly issued stocks and shares of existing investors. The exact stake a new investor will control remains unknown, while
Feb. 10, 2020
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MMAA chief meets US PEF Rhone, ex-Trump adviser Bolton
South Korea's institutional investor Military Mutual Aid Association said Monday its Chief Executive Kim Do-ho held a closed-door meeting with a batch of top officials at US-based private equity house Rhone Group, including former US national security adviser John Bolton, in its headquarters in Seoul. Bolton, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, attended the meeting as the senior adviser to the US private equity firm. He served the same position before joining the White House and
Feb. 10, 2020
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[News Focus] Woori, FSS lock horns over Sohn’s leadership
The conflict between Woori Financial Group and South Korea’s financial watchdog has escalated over the disputed leadership of its top executive in light of the alleged extensive financial product misselling. While the group is gearing up to prolong the term of incumbent Chairman Sohn Tae-seung at all costs, the Financial Supervisory Service is set to corner it with a new information-theft case. The FSS on Monday decided to summon its sanctions committee over allegations that Woori Bank
Feb. 10, 2020
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Korea’s capital market full of opportunities: FSC chief
Giving the thumbs-up to South Korea’s capital market which is undergoing continuous reforms, the nation’s top financial regulator said Monday that foreign investors can discover fresh opportunities here. “Expanding cooperation with startups such as fintech firms, invigorating the asset management market by converting capital flow to corporates and keeping the growth of the pension funds will benefit investors immensely,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-s
Feb. 10, 2020
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NPS raises number of big-stake firms
South Korea's state pension provider owns 5 percent or more of over 300 listed companies amid increased shareholder activism by the service, a financial information provider said Monday. The National Pension Service held stakes of 5 percent or greater in 313 companies traded on the country's major and secondary bourses as of the end of January, up 7.2 percent, or 21 firms, from the end of 2018, according to FnGuide. The state pension provider also owned 10 percent or more of 96 listed corpora
Feb. 10, 2020
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[Contribution] Will strong capital market performance continue?
The Korea Herald is publishing a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. After a stellar 2019, investors are naturally asking themselves whether the strong performance can continue in 2020. Trying to answer this is difficult as different perspectives provide different answers. Our approach to this challenge is to start with a historical, quantitative lens before trying to figure out why the current situation mi
Feb. 9, 2020
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KRX unveils detailed disclosure guidelines for biopharma firms
South Korea’s financial authorities on Sunday unveiled a new set of guidelines on public disclosure of information for listed biopharma firms, in a move to ward off market uncertainty. Clinical trial-stage pharmaceutical companies listed on the tech-heavy Kosdaq are required to disclose any significant progress in their business -- including each stage of clinical trials, from success to suspension or termination, approval or cancellation for drug production, distribution and sales, techn
Feb. 9, 2020
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[Herald Interview] As market dynamics evolve, so does Korea’s private equity scene
The fast-emerging silver economy and changes in consumer behavior have given birth to theme-driven investment strategies. And South Korea is not an exception. Those aged 65 or older take up nearly 15 percent in the country, while technologies in one of the most penetrated countries in the world are reshaping the way consumers purchase goods, order food or make payments. This potentially puts Korean assets on the radar of Adams Street Partners, an international investment house with over $40 bil
Feb. 9, 2020
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NPS hikes stake in local firms upon eased rules
South Korea’s state-run pension operator has sharply increased its stakes in major listed firms after investment rules were eased at the beginning of this month, a financial market tracker said Sunday. As of end-January, the number of listed companies in which the National Pension Service held 5 percent or more stake came to 313, up 7.2 percent from the end of 2018, according to data compiled by FN Guide. The NPS held 10 percent or more stake in 96 companies -- up 20 percent on-year. T
Feb. 9, 2020
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FSS in hot water for failing to prevent derivatives disaster
South Korea’s financial watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Service, has become the target of criticism for having failed to prevent the recent fiasco involving derivatives-linked funds. The state-run agency is also accused of trying to duck responsibility for the incident, which involved two of the largest banking groups here. The FSS on Monday decided to impose sanctions on the CEOs of major banking groups -- Woori Financial Group and Hana Financial Group -- which will have
Feb. 7, 2020