South Korean private equity house Korea Corporate Governance Improvement’s Managing Partner Lim Hyun-chol said the performance of activist funds should not be judged by the time frame of their investments. “The significance lies not in the length of the investment period but rather in the actual changes brought about in the company after the activist fund's calls,” Lim said during a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “We see that it is unfair to accuse us of &

Industry June 21, 2023

A restaurant worker carries naengmyeon, or cold noodles, as she delivers it to customers in Myeong-dong, Seoul, on Monday. According to a survey conducted by Korean Price Information, a research institution, on the prices of naengmyeon in 10 representative restaurants across 10 different areas of Seoul, the average price of naengmyeon has increased by 7 percent compared to last year and by 29.5 percent compared to 2018. (Yonhap)

Industry June 19, 2023

Korea's top financial regulator announced that regulatory revisions made to support the overseas expansion of Korean financial companies will be unveiled in July, during a conference organized by Financial Services Commission on Monday at the Korea Federation of Banks building in Seoul. The Financial Services Commission has announced that the regulatory changes will be made based on extensive discussions held during a series of conferences and seminars with insiders from the local financial

Industry June 19, 2023

KakaoBank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, is seeking to obtain a virtual bank license in Thailand by partnering with a leading financial group in the country, making its first move after announcing its plan for business expansion into Southeast Asian economies. The Korean digital lender announced on Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with SCBX, Thailand's financial technology group, to obtain a license to run a digital banking platform from the central b

Industry June 18, 2023

NongHyup Bank announced Thursday that the nation’s top three banks -- Industrial Bank of Korea, Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank -- have joined its consortium for security token offerings formed in April. Aside from the lenders, other financial tech firms, including real estate fractional investment company Funble, fintech firm Aton’s subsidiary Trackchain and Artipio, a fractional art investment subsidiary of culture platform operator Yes24, also joined the consortium to increase the tot

Industry June 15, 2023

Philippe Van Hoof, the head of ING Korea, has been appointed as the new chairperson of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea, according to the European business lobby group on Thursday. Van Hoof will lead the business lobby group until early 2025, taking over from Dirk Lukat, CEO of Schenker Korea, who concluded his third term ahead of schedule as he is preparing for his career outside Korea, according to ECCK. Since August 2021, Van Hoof has held the position of country manager at ING Bank

Industry June 15, 2023

Total employment in South Korea reached 28.83 million in May, up 351,000 from a year earlier, data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday. It was the second consecutive month that the nation’s on-year job growth increased, though the growth rate slowed slightly. Since the beginning of this year, the on-year monthly employment rate has been fluctuating in the range of about 300,000 to 400,000 individuals. In February, there were 312,000 more on-year employed individuals, and the figure peak

Industry June 14, 2023

More than a year has passed since Samsung's financial affiliates launched the comprehensive service app Monimo together, but unfortunately, it has fallen short of market expectations. Under the brand Samsung Financial Networks, Monimo offers services from four Samsung financial affiliates: Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Securities and Samsung Card. With these affiliates' apps having a total user base of over 25 million — estimated without ove

Industry June 13, 2023

KB Financial Group, the leading financial services provider in South Korea, said Sunday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese insurance giant Sompo Holdings with an aim to facilitate collaboration in developing customized nursing care services. The signing ceremony was held at Sampo’s headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday, with KB Financial Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo and Sampo Holdings Chairman Sakurada Knego in attendance. Sompo Holdings is Japan's largest insurance grou

Industry June 11, 2023

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho on Thursday predicted South Korea’s trade balance is highly likely to turn surplus as early as in the fourth quarter, citing a rebound in chip prices and China’s reopening. "In April, the trade balance was not favorable due to overseas dividend issues, but I believe that after May, it will improve," Choo said at a press conference hosted by the Kwanhun Club, an association of Korean journalists, in Seoul. "Considering this trend of decrea

Industry June 8, 2023

Upon entering the interview room, Riccardo Puliti, the regional vice president for Asia and the Pacific at the International Finance Corporation, underscored that this is his third visit to Korea within the past eight months. “I was here in November, I was here in February, and I will be back here in September. It is evident that Korea is evolving into a prominent center for sustainable cross border investment,” he said during an interview with The Korea Herald on May 25 at the IFC K

Industry June 7, 2023

China, which has been South Korea's dominant export destination for almost two decades, is currently facing a challenge to its longstanding position. According to a report by the Korea International Trade Association, Korea's reliance on exports to China has steadily declined from 26.8 percent in 2018 to 22.8 percent last year. In the first quarter of this year, it dropped even further to 19.5 percent. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy report on Tuesday also showed that the decline in e

Industry June 6, 2023

After more than 30 years, the requirement for foreigners to register in advance with the Financial Services Commission before investing in listed stocks and bonds in Korea has been abolished. The Financial Services Commission made the announcement Monday, revealing that it has successfully made changes to the Capital Market Act, with the amendment officially approved during a Cabinet meeting. After a proclamation on June 13, the new law will come into effect from Dec. 14. The revision is part of

Industry June 5, 2023

Shin Ho-cheol, the vice president of Kakao Pay also known as Simon Shin, has been appointed as a board member of the US brokerage firm Siebert Financial. This appointment follows the online payment unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp.'s recent announcement of its intention to acquire a majority stake of up to 51 percent in Siebert with a total investment of approximately $77.38 million. Siebert, listed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, offers a range of brokerage and financial advisory servi

Industry June 2, 2023

Shinhan Bank encountered a currency exchange system error around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. As a result, currency-related services, including overseas remittances, were temporarily suspended for approximately 2 1/2 hours until the system was restored at around noon. "We made sure that for clients who requested overseas remittances during the service outage, we apply the exchange rate at the time of their request to minimize any potential customer losses from exchange rate fluctuations," a

Industry June 2, 2023