Articles by Kim Yon-se
Kim Yon-se
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Suspended card firms lose 3 million customers
Financial regulators will lift an operating ban on the three credit card firms that leaked the private information of a total of more than 100 million customers in January, on May 17.The three card issuers ― KB Kookmin, NongHyup and Lotte ― have been under the supervisory sanction of a partial business suspension for three months.While the firms will be allowed to resume full operations in a week, the three-month-long suspension has dealt a blow in terms of earnings and credibility, according to
May 11, 2014
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Financial consumer protection body delayed
The Park Geun-hye administration’s state agenda for setting up an independent board for financial consumer protection has faced a deadlock as the National Assembly chose not to pass the relevant bill during its plenary session in April, opting for further deliberation with government officials.The state-led plan, aimed at bolstering consumers’ rights in the financial market, is designed to split the consumer protection department from the Financial Supervisory Service.Policymakers had expected t
May 2, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Citibank Korea union may strike
The labor-management dispute at Citibank Korea appears to be deepening.The union has now voted for a strike to protest the bank’s restructuring plans that would inevitably include layoffs. The walkout would mark the first in three years for local banks, since the union of Standard Chartered Bank Korea went on strike in 2011. It seems to be an indication that the situation has reached breaking point.The last strike at Citibank Korea was in 2004 when the U.S.-based citibank took over KorAm bank.Ci
May 1, 2014
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Share of middle-income households decreases
The nation’s income gap appears to have widened, touching off concerns over a further thinning of the middle-income bracket, according to data from Statistics Korea on Thursday.The state-run Statistics Korea recently announced a research report on national income distribution calculated using the Wolfson Index, which is a barometer for income level of middle-income earners.The index climbed from 0.254 in 2011 to 0.256 in 2012. The Wolfson Index is a common measure of inequality in which a number
May 1, 2014
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Workers at Korean state firms paid W67m
The Finance Ministry said Wednesday that the average annual salary for the staff at 304 state-controlled firms came to 67 million won ($63,800) in 2013, up 1.7 percent or 1.13 million won from the previous year.Heads of the public firms were paid 163 million won on average, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, it added.“The salary level stays above the average at firms such as the Korea Exchange, the Korea Securities Depository and the Korea Development Bank,” an official said. “Considering the u
April 30, 2014
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Seoul to cut red tape for start-up stimulus
Policymakers on Wednesday vowed to simplify the regulatory procedures for venture start-ups to set up business as part of the administration’s three-year plan for market renovation.During a meeting of economy-related ministers, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok pointed out that the business start-up segment stood at 34th, even as Korea ranked seventh in the World Bank Group’s 2013 overall Ease of Doing Business report.“Those seeking to set up their own businesses will benef
April 30, 2014
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Shinhan Financial overhauls to maximize profitability
Shinhan Financial Group is actively expanding its overseas business to diversify its profit-taking sources and benchmarking high-end skills in advanced markets under its vision to become the No. 1 first-tier financial services firm in Korea.Its renovation in a variety of segments over the past few years has been linked to marked profitability.In its regulatory filing on Tuesday, Shinhan Financial reported a net profit of 558.4 billion won ($531 million) during the first quarter, up 16.1 percent
April 29, 2014
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Credit card use falls 4% after ferry disaster
The recent ferry sinking that claimed the lives of at least 188 people is damaging the consumer sentiment, as many Koreans remain shocked by the tragedy.A variety of data showed that a huge of number of people have canceled social and personal gatherings and trips after April 16, when the ferry capsized.According to a major credit card company, its customers’ average daily credit card use dropped by 4.4 percent, or 8.7 billion won ($8.2 million), from April 16-22, compared to the same period a m
April 27, 2014
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Korea fifth-largest supplier of high-tech goods to U.S.
South Korea was the fifth-largest supplier of high-tech goods to the United States in 2013, up two notches from the year before, a report by an international trade organization said Sunday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, locally manufactured goods made the top 10 list in seven of the 10 high-tech fields.The fields examined were broken down by the harmonized system code used to track products traded between countries and covered information technology, electronic parts, fl
April 27, 2014
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SMEs downbeat on their business conditions for May
Most South Korean small and mid-sized companies predict their business conditions will remain weak in May due to faltering consumer sentiment, a poll showed Sunday.The poll of 1,373 such firms taken by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business found that the small business health index for May reached 96.3, down 0.3 point from the previous month.A reading below 100 indicates that more respondents had negative outlooks than positive expectations about their business conditions.The surveye
Industry April 27, 2014
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‘Chonghaejin Marine dodged taxes for 5 years’
Financial investigators revealed Thursday that Chonghaejin Marine Co. had not paid anything in corporate taxes in the past five years, due to exemptions given to the operator of the Sewol ferry because of previous losses.While a company operating in the red is entitled to some tax exemptions, the Financial Supervisory Service is looking into its financial statements to examine the possibility that the company had manipulated its books to evade taxes. The National Tax Service is also reviewing th
April 24, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Mogul’s home, offices raided in ferry probe
Prosecutors raided Wednesday the home of the family that owns Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the sunken ferry Sewol, as well as the firm’s offices and those of its affiliates, as part of a widening probe into the cause of the disaster.Investigators from the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office visited the company’s headquarters in the western port city as well as some 20 offices of its affiliates and a religious group in Seoul believed to be connected to the owner family. Regulators als
April 23, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Travel ban slapped on ferry firm owner
Investigative agencies have begun looking into alleged financial irregularities of the de facto owner of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the sunken ferry Sewol.According to the Financial Supervisory Service and the National Tax Service, their main line of investigation is whether Yoo Byung-eon, a former chief of the now-defunct Semo Marine, and his two sons engaged in illicit foreign currency trading or tax evasion while investing in overseas properties. Yoo Byung-eon, a de facto owner
April 22, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Ferry’s lifespan was extended by 7 years with remodeling: FSS
Financial Supervisory Service data showed Monday that Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the capsized Sewol, had garnered shipping authorities’ approval in extending the lifespan of the ferry by seven years.The ferry Sewol operator also was found to have borrowed 10 billion won ($9.5 million) from the state-run Korea Development Bank to repair the outdated ship, which had operated for 18 years from 1994-2012 in Japan, according to audit data held by the Financial Supervisory Service.Through rep
April 21, 2014
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[Weekender] Mix and match for fun eating
Comedian Jeong Hyeong-don recently appeared on the popular TV show “Infinite Challenge,” where he demonstrated how to make “opageti.” The dish was a mixture of ojingeo Jjambbong and Jjapageti ― two types of instant noodles made by Korean food company Nongshim.After the episode was aired, weekly sales of ojingeo Jjambbong and Jjapageti surged 157 percent and 20 percent, respectively, according to Nongshim.The underlying reason for the success of opageti, however, is more than just the show’s popu
Industry April 18, 2014
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