South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party said Thursday it will speed up drafting a legislative motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye, aiming to have it pass parliament early next month. Floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho also said it will put the issue of forming a national unity government led by an opposition-picked prime minister on the back-burner for the time being."We are planning to hold a vote on the impeachment as early as Dec. 2, or no later than Dec. 9," he said. Three opposition

Politics Nov. 24, 2016

Free agent slugger Choi Hyoung-woo became the first baseball player to get paid 10 billion won(US$8.48 million) in South Korea. The Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Thursday they signed Choi to a four-year deal worth 10 billion won -- 6 billion won in total salary and a 4 billion won signing bonus. This is the largest free agent contract signed in the KBO. Choi surpasses Park Sok-min who inked to a four-year deal worth 8.6 billion won with a 1 billion won option in 2015. 

Baseball Nov. 24, 2016

The credit outlook for Korean financial and non-financial corporations are stable for 2017 on the back of support by steady economic growth and low commodity prices, Moody’s announced on Tuesday. At a media briefing session prior to the 14th annual conference on Korean firm’s credit outlook in Seoul, Michael Taylor, managing director and chief credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service based in Hong Kong, highlighted Korea’s strong fiscal position that will help to smooth the ongoing economic r

Nov. 22, 2016

Market watchers have their eye on Amotech, a leading firm in the integrated part materials field, as its long-term growth prospects look bright with the backing of outstanding capabilities to develop new materials. Founded in 1994, the company’s technical expertise has been strengthened in light of the development of the country’s telecommunication products, information technology-based home appliances and energy-related products. It owns a total of 549 domestic and overseas patents, as of Janua

Nov. 21, 2016

The South Korean financial sector is gearing up for turbulence in the global market in light of the high possibility of a US interest rate hike and the impact of the US presidential election.Lee Ju-yeol, governor of the Bank of Korea, said Friday that the central bank would take timely measures to ease growing market anxiety if the uncertainties spread across the sectors, posing a threat to the financial system.  “It is still hard to judge how significant the impact of the surprising US election

Nov. 18, 2016

The burden of mortgages on households is rapidly increasing as interest rates continue to rise amid growing uncertainties in the global financial market after the US presidential election win by Donald Trump. According to the banking industry Thursday, interest rates of both fixed and floating mortgages at major commercial banks have risen by more than 0.1 percentage point compared to late October. KEB Hana Bank’s fixed rate for five-year mortgages rose from between 3.20 and 4.4 percent to betwe

Nov. 17, 2016

Insurance holders are less likely to default on their financial borrowings, showed the nation’s first big data analysis by a government institution on Tuesday. According to the results of an analysis of credit information of around 760 million consumers by Korea Credit Information Services, there is some correlation between insurance subscription and repayment of loans.Among 18 million borrowers (aged over 20) who took loans from the period between June 2015 and June 2016, those who were holding

Nov. 15, 2016

AXA Group, a Paris-based multinational insurance group, will expand its presence into the general insurance market in South Korea next year, the group’s Seoul subsidiary confirmed on Tuesday. According to AXA Direct Korea, the group will invest 25 billion won ($21.4 million) in the Seoul-based subsidiary in a bid to increase the general insurance business of the company, moving beyond the originally-focused direct car insurance market. CEO Francois Lecomte, who visited the group headquarters las

Nov. 15, 2016

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the alarming state of the country’s economy and the challenges to be addressed. This is the fifth installment. -- Ed.South Korea’s software capacity such as artificial intelligence and smart cars has much to be desired due to the lack of personnel, investment and partnership among industries, experts said. 　According to data from Hyundai Research Institute, Korea’s AI technology is still at the 75 percent level compared to the nations holdin

Technology Nov. 13, 2016