The Korea Herald

[Graphic News] Korea’s household debt continues to rise

South Korea’s household debt is increasing on account of the government’s latest push to boost the housing market and due to a rate cut, according to industry watchers. The total mortgage loans issued by the nation’s seven major banks rose to 301 trillion won ($296 billion) last month, marking a 4 trillion won increase from 297 trillion won in July, according to data from the banking sector. This was more than a twofold increase, compared to an average monthly increase of 1.6 trillion won since

Industry Sept. 1, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea’s household debt continues to rise

Former Shindongbang Group chairman dies of caner

Shin Myung-soo. (Yonhap)Former Shindongbang Group chairman Shin Myung-soo, 73, died last Saturday from colorectal cancer. Shin was a well-known entrepreneur who contributed to the growth of South Korea’s food processing industry. He started his career at Shindongbang Corp. in 1967 and served as a chief executive of the company until 1999. Hit by the Asian currency crisis, the company faced financial difficulties and units of the company were merged into Sajo Haepyo in 1999 and CJ Group in 2002.B

Industry Aug. 31, 2014

Former Shindongbang Group chairman dies of caner

[Herald Interview] ‘Security concerns should not delay mobile messenger payment’

The Korean government is advised to push for the growth of the mobile payment market, not to hold back on security concerns. “Too many concerns over security online may hamper the mobile massenger payment market in an infant stage of growth,” Kim Yeong-rin, president of the Financial Security Agency, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.His remark came amid growing security concerns over the financial services to be offered by the nation’s most-used mobile messenger, Kakao Talk.Kim Yeong-

Industry Aug. 31, 2014

[Herald Interview] ‘Security concerns should not delay mobile messenger payment’

KDB helps finance high-tech start-ups

The state-run Korea Development Bank is actively promoting technology financing in a bid to keep up with the government’s latest efforts to boost high-tech start-ups that have trouble securing funds. Technology financing involves loans secured on a borrower’s technology. Despite South Korea’s reputation as an IT powerhouse, start-ups still find it difficult to raise capital. To provide better support, the Financial Services Commission, the local financial watchdog, announced a plan in April to s

Industry Aug. 28, 2014

Korea’s duty-free allowance raised to $600

The duty-free allowance for travelers entering South Korea will be raised to $600 from the current $400 on Sept. 5, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Wednesday. This is the first time that the ceiling has been raised since 1988. The government also plans to reduce taxes on travelers who voluntarily report items they are bringing in. They are expected to have a 30 percent tax deduction of up to 150,000 won ($147). However, those who report untruthfully will have to pay additional tax. The

Industry Aug. 27, 2014

[Herald Interview] Korea’s agricultural community revival movement goes global

South Korea’s iconic community development movement ― Saemaul Undong ― is to be expanded to developing countries in a joint effort with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, according to a top banker on Tuesday. “The global spread of the Saemaul Movement in partnership with the IFAD is very meaningful for South Korea, the only nation to have transformed into an aid donor from a recipient,” Seop Shim, senior executive director of Korea Eximbank, told The Korea Herald at the bank’s

Industry Aug. 26, 2014

[Herald Interview] Korea’s agricultural community revival movement goes global

Pro football governing body approves conglomerate Eland's proposal

The nation's governing body of professional football on Friday approved a proposal by a local business conglomerate to found a new club for next season.In its board meeting, the K League gave the green light to Eland to launch a new team to be based in Seoul. Eland, which operates about 250 affiliates in retail, apparels and food service, had first declared its intention to get into professional football in April.Eland will use the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul as its home base, a

Soccer Aug. 22, 2014

KEPCO to lay Korea-Japan undersea power grid

South Korea’s state-run utility giant Korea Electric Power Corp. is pushing ahead with an undersea power grid project between South Korea and Japan in an effort to export electricity to the neighboring country, according to a local media report on Friday. The project aims to connect South Korea’s second-largest metropolis of Busan via Tsushima (Daemado Island), a Japanese island situated between Korea and Japan, to Japan’s Kyushu Island, with a 200-kilometer undersea cable. A KEPCO official said

Industry Aug. 22, 2014

Defense ministry finds hacking attempts against its reporters

Unidentified hackers, suspected to be based in China, have been caught trying to steal data from media reporters covering South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, ministry officials said Friday."We've confirmed that a handful of reporters covering the ministry have received an e-mail which carries the malicious code this week," a ministry official said, explaining that once the email is opened, it automatically imbeds the virus code into the computer."The code embedded into the computer is me

Defense Aug. 22, 2014

Korea’s card spending at W50tr in July

South Korea’s card spending stood at around 50 trillion won ($48 billion) last month, up by 2.4 trillion won ― or 5.1 percent ― from the same period last year, according to the Credit Finance Association of Korea on Thursday. Though the spending rose, the on-year growth rate was still below the 7.2 percent recorded in July last year. The association said this was due to the nation’s prolonged economic downturn. “In recent months, consumers’ disposable income dropped because of rising apartment r

Aug. 21, 2014

Chinese tourists on track to spend W30tr in 2020

Chinese tourists are expected to spend over 30 trillion won ($29 billion) in the domestic market in 2020, according to industry data. According to a report published by Hana Daetoo Securities, the number of Chinese tourists in South Korea will reach 15 million by 2020 based on an annual average growth rate of 20 percent. They are predicted to spend around 30 trillion won in that year to record a five-fold increase from last year’s 6 trillion won. The 30-trillion-won figure corresponds to around

Industry Aug. 20, 2014

Chinese tourists on track to spend W30tr in 2020

Lotte vice chief to meet Myanmar’s deputy minister

The Myanmarese economic deputy minister is expected to meet with Lotte Group’s vice chairman Lee In-won in early September when he visits here. The two are expected to discuss business opportunities centering on calls from Myanmar to Lotte to invest more in Myanmar’s food and hotel businesses, according to industry sources. Lee Jae-hyuk, chief executive of Lotte Chilsung Beverage, a unit of Lotte Group, will also reportedly accompany the Lotte vice chairman to the meeting. “We believe Myanmar’s

Industry Aug. 19, 2014

Lotte vice chief to meet Myanmar’s deputy minister

[Herald Interview] Central Asia, Korea bolster forest partnership

South Korea aims to bolster its forest partnership with Central Asia by sharing its forest expertise and boosting cooperation in restoring the region’s damaged forest ecosystem, the national forestry chief said.“Central Asia is becoming an important region to South Korea as a growing number of Korean companies have been making inroads into the countries, which have abundant natural resources and high growth potential,” said Shin Won-sop, minister of the Korea Forest Service, in an interview with

Industry Aug. 18, 2014

[Herald Interview] Central Asia, Korea bolster forest partnership

Korea to expand corporate pension plan

The government is expected to unveil an improved corporate pension plan at the end of this year with an extension of corporate pension plans and deregulation on the of their operations.Under the proposed revision of the corporate pension system, Korean companies with over 300 employees will be obliged to run a retirement pension plan for their employees by 2016, and this will be expanded to all companies by 2024.State-run think tank Korea Development Institute proposed the improvements at the po

Industry Aug. 17, 2014

Ex-LIG chief may head insurance association

A former CEO of LIG Insurance is expected to become the new head of the General Insurance Association of Korea, according to industry sources Thursday. The sources said that one of the two candidates selected by the nomination committee ― Kim Woo-Jin, former vice chairman of LIG Insurance ― stepped down, leaving only Jang Nam-sik, former chief executive of LIG Insurance in the race.Jang holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from Seoul National University. He has worked for LIG Insurance fo

Industry Aug. 14, 2014

Ex-LIG chief may head insurance association

Articles by Shin Ji-hye