The Korea Herald

Kim Yon-se

안녕하세요 Kim Yon-se 기자입니다.

Articles by Kim Yon-se

[Newsmaker] Ex-leader’s confidant ends long reign

Mar 28, 2013

Kang Man-soo, who tendered his resignation as chairman of the state-owned KDB Financial Group on Thursday, was a close confidant of former President Lee Myung-bak. According to lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party, the economic policies of the Lee administration were based on the economic studies of Kang and his followers. He conducted a variety of controversal policies, including a currency...
Depositors to sue KDIC

Mar 28, 2013

State-controlled Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. is facing a lawsuit from consumers who suffered losses on locked deposits in the wake of the 2011-12 savings bank debacle, industry sources said Thursday. Many customers were unable to withdraw their deposits when financial authorities suspended the operation of 26 mutual savings banks from January 2011 to February 2013. The disgruntled depositors ...
Savings bank depositors to sue KDIC

Mar 28, 2013

The state-controlled Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. is facing a lawsuit from a group of consumers who suffered losses on locked deposits in the wake of the 2011-12 savings bank woes, industry sources said Thursday. A great number of consumers were unable to withdraw their deposits as financial authorities suspended operations of 26 mutual savings banks from January 2011 to February 2013. The dis...
FSS vows to curb stock manipulation

Mar 27, 2013

The nation’s top financial regulator said on Wednesday that it would expand its regulatory manpower to crack down on stock manipulation practices. “We will bolster the sector in charge of investigating unfair (stock) trading practices,” Financial Supervisory Service Governor Choi Soo-hyun said in a news briefing. As an action to raise the probe’s efficacy, Choi, who took office on March 18, str...
GS Caltex to mass-produce alternative fuel this year

IndustryMar 27, 2013

GS Caltex is aiming to commercialize biobutanol as a renewable fuel for cars that could be used as a substitute for gasoline later this year, market insiders in the oil refinery industry said Wednesday. The company has reportedly set the launch for the fourth quarter of 2013. It is operating a factory which has the capacity to produce biobutanol from sugar or wood under a joint research project ...
BOK, finance chiefs at odds over interest rates

Mar 26, 2013

Signs of a feud between the Bank of Korea and the Finance Ministry are emerging as their chiefs are taking different stances over monetary policy. Hyun Oh-seok, the first deputy prime minister and finance minister, stressed the need to lower the benchmark interest rate in a bid boost the sagging economy. In contrast, BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo immediately reiterated that side effects from low inte...
Standard Chartered offers chance to visit EPL fields

Mar 26, 2013

Standard Chartered Bank Korea is providing Korean amateur soccer players with the opportunity to visit an English Premier League field. The bank said Tuesday that a provincial team for “futsal,” a mini football game played between two teams of five players, has won the chance to visit England’s Anfield stadium, home of Liverpool FC. The team from Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, will also vie for t...
Nonghyup faces ongoing ATM glitch

Mar 25, 2013

Nonghyup Bank has yet to fully normalize the operation of its automated teller machines as of Monday, after its network system was paralyzed by cyber attacks on March 20. According to its spokespeople, about 450 ATMs at Nonghyup Bank’s branches nationwide were still malfunctioning as of 2 p.m., March 25. In the restoration process, Nonghyup Financial Group lags behind Shinhan Financial Group, w...
KB Financial OKs outside directors

Mar 22, 2013

KB Financial Group management has averted a revolt among foreign shareholders over its business policies. The voting result at the annual shareholder meeting of KB Financial, which was held Friday, showed that its management successfully dispelled misunderstandings of foreign shareholders, who hold a 65 percent stake in the group. KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae (right) shakes hands wi...
FSC chief Shin vows to overhaul financial groups

Mar 22, 2013

Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon pledged to revamp the governance structure of major financial groups during his inaugural speech on Friday. Though the system which puts financial firms under management of their parent financial holding companies was introduced 12 years ago, it has yielded a variety of problems, said the new chief financial regulator. Shin stressed that finan...
KRX aims to become world’s No. 7 exchange-traded fund operator by 2020

Mar 21, 2013

The Korea Exchange is closely competing with bourses in major countries in the “exchange-traded fund” market. According to the nation’s main bourse operator, also called the KRX, Seoul ranked 10th in the world’s ETF market last year as the net asset value of the funds hovered around 14 trillion won ($12.8 billion). An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, refers to an investment fund traded on stock ex...
FSS urges ‘caution’ in financial sector

Mar 20, 2013

Regulators issued a “caution” to the financial industry over possible cyberattacks in the wake of a network glitch in two financial groups on Wednesday. For several hours from around 2 p.m. on the day, two bank units of Shinhan Financial Group and three subsidiaries of Nonghyup Financial Group suffered serious problems in its online transaction systems. The Financial Supervisory Service immedia...
KB Financial chief strives to settle conflict

Mar 20, 2013

KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae has seemingly been successful in resolving the recent conflict between management and outside directors. Euh was tackling a false allegation ― raised by a KB Financial senior executive ― that some outside directors dispatched by financial authorities sought to block KB Financial from taking over ING Life Korea. Foreign investors were informed of the alle...
Heungkuk Life sanctioned for irregular practice

Mar 19, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday issued an “institutional caution” against Heungkuk Life Insurance for glossing over irregular practices at a sales branch. “While the Heungkuk branch attracted policyholders via unauthorized practices, the headquarters did not take any disciplinary action despite internal detection,” an FSS official said. Ultimately, the headquarters suffered losses ...
[Newsmaker] FSS chief will let consumers request probes

Mar 18, 2013

Consumers will likely be entitled to call for the Financial Supervisory Service to conduct probes into financial firms such as commercial banks and insurance firms. Choi Soo-hyun, who took office as governor of the FSS on Monday, pledged to introduce consumer-initiated investigations in the financial market. The new chief regulator’s policy reflects his strong commitment to bolstering the prote...