Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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[Hello India] Hyundai Motor vows to boost 'clean mobility' in India
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Seoul to promote luxurious side of the city
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Doctor gets suspended term for administering propofol to Yoo Ah-in
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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IMF maintains 3% growth forecast for S. Korea
The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that it will maintain its earlier 3-percent growth forecast for South Korea this year.The IMF adjusted up the country's gross domestic product growth in January, with the revision in line with Seoul's growth outlook for 2018. The government here said it expects Asia's fourth-largest economy to advance 3 percent in 2018.The IMF also said the country's economy could grow by 2.9 percent in 2019, the same expansion as forecast earlier.South Korea's econom
April 17, 2018
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Financial reform loses momentum on FSS leadership void
Recent political rows surrounding the chiefs of the Financial Supervisory Service are expected to put the brakes on the Moon Jae-in administration’s ambitious financial reform drive, while leaving the financial regulator struggling in a leadership void. Speculations, meanwhile, quickly spread Tuesday after the resignation of former lawmaker and civic activist Kim Ki-sik, on who would be the next candidate, and whether Cheong Wa Dae would still take a chance with a non-bureaucrat. Kim offer
April 17, 2018
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Feud-ridden FSS chief offers to resign
The Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Ki-sik on Monday offered to resign, shortly after the election watchdog concluded that his past behavior as a lawmaker violated laws."I have offered my resignation (to the presidential office)," the FSS quoted Kim as saying.The National Election Commission, after an hours-long meeting, said that Kim's donation of 50 million won ($46,577) to a group of former and incumbent lawmakers of his home Democratic Party breached the Publi
April 16, 2018
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FTC increases punitive actions against anti-trust violations
The Fair Trade Commission took more punitive actions against anti-trust law violators in 2017 over the previous year, its data showed Monday.The data, submitted to ruling party legislator Park Yong-jin, indicated that the commission received 3,037 petitions last year and took administrative action on 2,877 of them. The corporate watchdog has six different levels of punitive measures, ranging between warning at the lowest level and punitive penalty fees and referral to the prosecution at the two
April 16, 2018
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Foreigners turn to net buyers of S. Korean stocks in March
Foreign investors turned to net buyers of South Korean stocks last month, data showed Monday.Offshore investors bought a net 123 billion won ($114.95 million) worth of local stocks in March, compared with net selling of 3.96 trillion won a month earlier, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service. They were net sellers in the main KOSPI market by offloading around 200 billion won, but their purchase of shares on the secondary KOSDAQ market offset the sell-off on the main bourse, the
April 16, 2018
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[Photo News] Ways to show regret
Samsung Securities CEO Koo Sung-hoon (front row, second from left), along with the company’s executive members and senior employees, write a letter of apology during an emergency workshop held Saturday in Seoul. The country’s top brokerage company came under fire recently for a dividend error in which non-existent shares worth 110 trillion won ($103 billion) were issued and some of the employees sold them off, causing the company’s shares to drop by double digits during th
April 15, 2018
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[Kosdaq Star] Fine dust woes boost Winix momentum
This is the 54th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed. Living with fine dust has become a new norm for South Koreans, with pedestrians wearing masks and outdoor sports events often being canceled due to poor air quality. Fine dust checking apps bring yet more scientific ways to accurately measure the levels, not to mention air purifiers becoming a requisite for indoors.But with the government struggling to deal with the dust problem and
April 15, 2018
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US does not designate S. Korea as currency manipulator
The United States declined to designate South Korea as a currency manipulator Friday but kept it on its list of countries to monitor.In a semiannual report to Congress, the Treasury Department said the currency practices of South Korea and five other countries required close attention but no trading partner met the criteria for a currency manipulator."The Treasury Department is working vigorously to ensure that trade is free, fair and reciprocal so American workers and companies can compete
April 14, 2018
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FSS chief urges asset management firms to secure retail investor trust
The Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Ki-sik on Friday stressed the need to secure retail investors’ trust in investment funds held by public, in a meeting with chief executives of asset management companies in South Korea, according to the watchdog. In a closed-door meeting with CEOs of 15 asset management companies that took place in headquarters of the Korea Financial Investment Association, Kim also called on the CEOs to boost the returns of their pension funds and strengthen inte
April 13, 2018
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Prices of crypto tokens fluctuate upon ICOs on Bithumb
The prices of cryptocurrency tokens severely fluctuated immediately after being listed on South Korea‘s cryptocurrency exchanges including Bithumb, Thursday.The price of encrypted tokens Mithril and Aelf surged 11,100 percent and 90 percent, respectively, within 30 minutes after Bithumb announced the listing of the tokens at 6 p.m. Thursday. The gains also immediately evaporated. Upon the initial coin offering at 6 p.m. Thursday, Mithrill traded at 250 won (23 cents) per token on Bithumb.
April 13, 2018
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Seoul to discuss currency market intervention report with IMF next week
South Korea will discuss currency market-related issues, such as how to reveal records of its market interventions, with the International Monetary Fund next week, the country's chief economic policymaker said Friday.Seoul's finance ministry said earlier that South Korea is considering disclosing details of its interventions in the foreign exchange market in a move to boost transparency and clear itself of suspicion of influencing exchange rates.South Korea's financial authorities have persisten
April 13, 2018
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FSS investigates nonbanking firms’ hiring irregularities
The Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday launched inspections targeting nonbanking financial companies in South Korea, following its probe on the banking industry. The targets of the probe include 25 life insurance companies, 31 damage insurance firms and eight card companies, as well as savings banks and securities firms.The FSS will reportedly look into evidence of gender discrimination in the employment process and personal ties between applicants and high-ranking officials of companies.
April 12, 2018
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Securities firms fined for failing to identify Samsung chairman assets
South Korea‘s four securities firms have been slapped with a combined 3.4 billion won ($3.2 million) in fines for their failure to identify and verify assets owned by bedridden Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee under false-name accounts, watchdogs said Thursday.The amount of the fine equals 55 percent of face value of Lee’s financial assets under the accounts not owned by the chairman, which came to 6.2 billion won as of August 1993. The four companies -- Mirae Asset Daewoo, S
April 12, 2018
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[Herald Interview] Banksalad relieves financial information overload
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 13th installment. - Ed.Despite having easy access to thousands of financial products in South Korea, as one of the world’s most wired countries, consumers often find most of them irrelevant and largely fail to figure out which offers the biggest financial advantage. In a bid to simplify the myriad of choices, former owner of a street food vender Kim Tae-hoon co-foun
April 12, 2018
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Energi Mine enters Korea, seeks local partnership
Energi Mine, a UK-based energy efficiency rewards blockchain platform, has entered the South Korean market in efforts to gather examples of how its blockchain business can be applied to the real world economy, the company said in a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday.By incentivizing people with its digital token dubbed Energi Token when they contribute to reducing energy, such as by taking public transportation or purchasing energy efficient home appliances, the company said it aims to decen
April 11, 2018
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[Newsmaker] Key pension funds pull plug on Samsung Securities
The National Pension Service ceased trading with Samsung Securities in the wake of the latest dividend error that revealed a blind spot in the brokerage system, officials said Tuesday.“Due to the serious problem in Samsung Securities’ stock trading stability, we stopped all direct stock trading on Monday,” said an official of the pension service.“Restrictions in other sectors such as trust management will be decided later in consideration of the financial authorities&rsqu
April 10, 2018
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Payoneer launches Korea office, targeting SMEs selling globally via online marketplaces
Payoneer, a New York-based payments processing company, officially launched a new South Korea office Tuesday, targeting small and midsized businesses here that sell their products globally via online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba. “Launching Payoneer’s office in Korea shouldn’t come as a surprise. Korea is a fast-growing economy and the seventh biggest e-commerce market in the world,” said Payoneer’s General Manager for Direct Business Eyal Moldovan during a
April 10, 2018
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Watchdog chides Samsung Securities for internal control void, begins inspection
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service on Monday began an investigation into Samsung Securities over it lacking internal controls to detect or correct a computational input error that caused slipshod dividend payments over 40,000 times larger than intended.The watchdog denounced the firm for its “severe” systemic flaw that enabled erroneously created virtual stocks to be traded like real assets.At a press conference Monday to unveil its plans to look into the fourth-larges
April 9, 2018
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President appoints BOK chief to second term
President Moon Jae-in appointed the incumbent head of the central bank to a second term Monday, stressing the importance of stability in monetary policy.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol was appointed to his second four-year term in a ceremony held at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.Lee's appointment came about a month after the president decided to retain the top central banker for a second term.The 65-year-old is the first person in more than four decades to have been appointed to a second
April 9, 2018
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Labor union to demand Korean banks close during lunch
A labor union of South Korean bank employees is demanding bank branches here close during lunchtime in forthcoming collective bargaining talks. The Korean Financial Industry Union was reported as saying Monday the proposal was designed to guarantee bank clerks get an hourlong lunch break. The KFIU is an umbrella group representing labor unions of over 30 financial institutions, including local commercial banks, provincial banks and co-ops.Korean banks, with few exceptions, are open to cust
April 9, 2018