Articles by Jung Min-kyung
Jung Min-kyung
mkjung@heraldcorp.com-
Land Minister vows to ease price ceiling on privately built apartments
New South Korean Land Minister Won Hee-ryong pledged Monday to announce measures to ease the cap on presale prices of privately built apartments, a scheme adopted by the previous Moon Jae-in administration widely criticized for failing to curb the housing prices here. “The scheme has been introducing side-effects to the market as it forcefully puts a cap on the presale prices when it doesn’t consider parts of maintenance cost or the rising raw materials cost,” Won said at a p
Market May 23, 2022
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Taiwan’s Fubon Financial becomes third-largest shareholder in Hyundai Card
Taiwanese banking giant Fubon Financial on Friday raised its stake in South Korea’s Hyundai Card to nearly 20 percent, expanding its clout over management of the card issuer. Fubon Financial is now the card issuer’s third-largest shareholder with 19.98 percent after Hyundai Motor with 36.96 percent and Hyundai Commercial with 28.56 percent. Kia Corp. is the fourth-largest stakeholder with 11.48 percent. The latest announcement puts a final stamp on the exit of a consortium led by
Market May 20, 2022
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Korea has nearly 100,000 investors holding crypto worth over W100m
Some 100,000 retail investors in South Korea each held over 100 million won ($78,000) in deposits at cryptocurrency exchanges here as of end-2021, government data showed Thursday, fueling concerns as the recent crash of Korean-made terraUSD and luna cryptocurrencies has decimated the value of digital assets. As of end-December last year, a total of 5.58 million investors were registered with local crypto exchanges, including those provide won-denominated and coin trading, according Financial S
Market May 19, 2022
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BOK chief says ‘big-step’ rate hike still on the table
South Korea has yet to arrive at a stage where the option of a “big step” or half a percentage point rate hike can be completely ruled out, with the possibility of higher inflationary pressure looming over the economy, the nation’s central bank chief said Monday. Following his breakfast meeting with Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told reporters the uncertainties surrounding Korea’s inflation is keeping the central bank from taking the
Economy May 16, 2022
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[Herald Interview] ‘BTS’ military service will have limited impact on KPOP ETF’
When Psy’s supercharged “Gangnam Style” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012, nobody expected it to spark K-pop’s long-running, global popularity. Exactly a decade later, an Oklahoma-based exchange-traded fund issuer has decided to bring the idea of investing in K-pop-related businesses to the US. “The K-pop movement is still growing here in the US, and we think it is well known enough now that US investors will find this intriguing,” J. Garrett
Market May 16, 2022
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Another employee theft puts Woori’s reputation at stake
An employee at Woori Bank embezzled 490 million won ($380,000) earlier this year, reports said Thursday, dampening the lender’s struggle to rebuild its reputation after a separate 60 billion won employee theft was uncovered last month. The employee, whose identity was withheld, stole the money by withdrawing from automatic teller machines from mid-January to early February. Woori recently found out about the theft through internal auditing. The bank detected irregular activities in relat
Market May 12, 2022
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Stolen W61b paid back by government to Iran’s Dayyani
South Korea’s financial authorities recently returned over 61.4 billion won ($48.84 million) owed to Iran’s Dayyani Group, the amount that was stolen in an embezzlement scheme here between late 2012 and 2018, sources said Tuesday. The policymaking Financial Services Commission has returned most of the total 73 billion won owed to Dayyani’s consumer electronics arm, Entekhab, as compensation over the Iranian business’ failed takeover of Daewoo Electronics back in 2010.
Market May 10, 2022
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Calls grow for revival of Korea-US currency swap deal
Ahead of the scheduled South Korea-US summit next week, some lawmakers and experts have been calling for a revival of the bilateral currency swap as a countermeasure to the growing signs of a weakening won, reports said Monday. South Korean market was rattled on Friday when its local currency hit its lowest point in over two years, trading at 1,272.7 won against the US greenback at around 3:30 p.m. It eclipsed the previous low of 1,285.7 won against the US dollar reached in March 19, 2020 when
Economy May 9, 2022
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Shinhan chief, UK minister discuss climate efforts in financial sector
Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byeong met with the UK Environment Minister Zac Goldsmith and British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks to discuss the role of the finance sector in combating climate change and biodiversity loss, the firm said Sunday. In the meeting held Friday, Goldsmith was briefed on Shinhan’s Zero-Carbon Drive, which includes the banking group’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 46 percent in 2030 and 88 percent in 2040 in line with the landmark 2016 P
Market May 8, 2022
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US Fed’s rate hikes pose dilemma for S. Korea
The US Federal Reserve’s biggest rate hike in 22 years poses a dilemma for South Korea’s central bank in adjusting the pace of its monetary tightening and for local businesses seeking to go public, experts said Friday. The Fed’s decision to raise its base rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday (Eastern Standard Time) that set its target federal funds rate to a range between 0.75 percent and 1 percent has presented new hurdles for the Bank of Korea, which is wary of the g
Economy May 6, 2022
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S. Korea mulling expanding support to Ukraine: trade chief
South Korea is considering boosting assistance to Ukraine, Seoul's top trade official said Wednesday, as Western countries provided weapons and other support to help Ukraine defend against the Russian invasion. South Korea has provided $40 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, 65 non-lethal military items and various support for Ukraine refugees. "We are considering continuing to expand assistance to Ukraine," Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said during a virtual meeting with tra
Foreign Affairs May 4, 2022
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Fractional investment in K-pop, art trending among young S. Koreans
Low borrowing cost during the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millennials and Generation Z in South Korea to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies. It was then that fractional investment platforms began to catch the eyes of the young investors, luring them with trendy items and the idea they could profit off of their pocket money. Musicow, the nation’s first music copyright trading platform that has amassed more than 1 million users as of February has become a major fractional investment pl
Market May 4, 2022
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Authorities, Woori Bank missed W61b swindle despite 11 audits
South Korea’s financial authorities failed to notice a mammoth embezzlement scheme at a top bank here, in which an employee withdrew a combined 61.4 billion won ($48.84 million) from 2012 to 2018, despite carrying out 11 audits during the period, sources said Monday. Police arrested the employee surnamed Jeon, who is in his 40s, last Wednesday mere hours after Woori Bank had reported the theft. Jeon -- who had worked at Woori Bank for almost a decade -- turned himself in. The employee
Market May 2, 2022
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S. Korea’s economy sees lackluster growth in Q1
South Korea’s economy expanded by a lackluster 0.7 percent in the first three months of this year, compared with the previous quarter, weighed down by the spread of the omicron variant and the risks stemming from the Ukraine crisis, central bank data showed Tuesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s growth momentum nearly halved compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, when it saw a 1.2 percent expansion, preliminary data from the Bank of Korea showed. In terms of on-year growt
Economy April 26, 2022
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[Herald Interview] ‘Startup ecosystem in Korea entering next level’
What distinguishes Antler from most startup accelerators is that it is interested in funding startups at a very early, pre-seed stage. It works as a matchmaker for teams, helps them receive funds, then pushes them out into society as a full-fledged business -– all in six months. And it intends to do exactly so in South Korea, where startups’ humble beginnings remain reliant on the generosity of families and friends. “Once an innovator decides to launch his or her own busine
Market April 25, 2022
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