Stock-secured borrowing by the families of South Korea’s conglomerate founders amounted to almost 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion), led by managerial transfers and business restructuring, data showed Monday.  According to local market analysis company Leaders Index, as of October the nation’s 29 family-controlled conglomerates had received a combined 4.82 trillion won worth of loans backed by stocks in the groups’ affiliates, up 92 percent from 2.5 trillion in the first half

Market Oct. 18, 2021

South Korea‘s major banks are set to loosen control on extension of “jeonse” loans for homes, but their tightened grip over personal credit loans will continue under pressure from financial authorities, industry sources said Sunday. Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. NH NongHyup Bank, which in August decided to temporarily stop offering jeonse loans until Nov. 30, will resume

Market Oct. 17, 2021

The International Monetary Fund maintained its forecast for South Korea’s economic growth for this year at 4.3 percent, while revising down its projection for the global economy, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday. The IMF’s latest outlook for Asia’s fourth-largest economy remained unchanged from the earlier figure suggested in July. It is well above the growth estimates made by the government and the Bank of Korea -- 4.2 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.&

Economy Oct. 12, 2021

  Even with the government’s 20 percent rate cap on loans to ease financial burdens on low-income borrowers, major private lenders have maintained high interest rates for credit loans, a lawmaker said Friday. The balance of personal credit loans at the nation’s 20 leading private lenders, including Apro Financial, Sanwa Loan and Welcome Creditline, stood at 4.41 trillion won ($3.35 billion), as of the end of June. Among the loans, those with an interest rate exceeding 20 perc

Economy Oct. 8, 2021

The Korean Pension Association, a group of experts conducting research on the nation‘s public and private pension systems, on Thursday held a joint seminar with the Finnish Center for Pensions based in Helsinki, Finland, a research institute dedicated to developing the nation’s earnings-related pension scheme. Titled “International Symposium on the Pensions of South Korea and Finland: Demographic Challenges and Future Responses,” the event was aimed at providing expert k

Economy Oct. 7, 2021

The global craze over “Squid Game,” Netflix’s original Korean drama series, is adding momentum to the fast-growing South Korean media and entertainment market. Tving, the country’s leading streaming service provider run by entertainment and media firm CJ ENM, recently set out to lure investments from private equity funds at home and abroad, in partnership with Nomura Securities, according to industry sources Thursday.  Tving plans to sell its new shares worth 300 b

Market Oct. 7, 2021

The nation’s top financial regulator said Wednesday it is preparing to announce new measures to curb snowballing household debts.  “South Korea‘s growth pace of household debt has been much more rapid than other countries. The Financial Services Commission has been stepping-up efforts to prevent households’ high indebtedness from posing a major threat to the Korean economy,” said FSC Chairman Koh Seung-beom at a parliamentary audit session for the financial re

Economy Oct. 6, 2021

Amid the rapid digital transformation brought on by the COVID-19 era, local banks have increasingly turned their backs on brick-and-mortar branches and automated teller machines, data showed Wednesday. The number of physical bank branches stood at 6,326 as of the end of June, down 10.9 percent from the end of 2016, when the figure came in at 7,101, according to data from the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service submitted to Rep. Yoo Dong-soo of the ruling Democratic Party. Meanwhile,

Market Oct. 5, 2021

A growing number of young South Koreans under 10 years old have purchased apartments across the nation with financial support from their parents, a lawmaker said Monday, raising concerns over inheritance for real estate speculation.  The number of apartment purchases by the elementary-school kids and younger came in at 552 from September 2017 to last month, which amounted to 104.7 billion won ($88.2 million), according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport submitt

Market Oct. 4, 2021

The country’s third internet-only lender Toss Bank is slated to begin operation Tuesday, heating up the competition in the fast-growing online banking market, according to industry sources Monday. The lender, controlled by Viva Republica, the operator of fintech app Toss, will start its banking services, including offering credit loans, savings and deposits, with a primary focus on expanding mid-range interest rate loans.  Earlier in June, when the online bank received a final appro

Market Oct. 4, 2021

While South Korea’s financial authorities tightened their grip on property speculation and the resulting price hikes, foreign investors turned out to have purchased local apartments worth trillions of won, a lawmaker said Wednesday citing a lack of regulations on foreign property speculators. Apartment purchases by investors from China and the US, between 2017 and May 2020, amounted to 3.16 trillion ($2.6 billion) and 2.19 trillion won, respectively, according to Rep. Kim Joo-young of t

Market Sept. 29, 2021

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation’s leading mutual financial institution, said Tuesday it has managed to post strong profits despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of President Park Cha-hoon and Ryu Hyuk, chief executive officer of Credit & Insurance -- the KFCC’s business unit responsible for building strategies for the group’s financial management as well as operating deduction services -- the cooperative logged a net profit

Market Sept. 28, 2021

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will launch its own investment organization next year dedicated to attracting foreign investment to foster startups here, as part of its goal to turn the capital city into one of the world’s top five financial hubs by 2030, Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday. “Based on the premise that financial competitiveness is crucial to improving a city’s global attractiveness, the Seoul city government will push for measures to turn Yeouido into a speci

Economy Sept. 28, 2021

On the back of soaring housing prices, a growing number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s have rushed to buying apartments, with nearly 4 out of 10 Seoul apartments being purchased by those young buyers, data showed Thursday. According to data from the Korea Real Estate Board, people in their 30s bought a total of 12,550 homes in the capital city between January and July, which accounted for 36.9 percent of the total 34,045 properties that changed hands in the given period. Those aged 20-29

Market Sept. 23, 2021

The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday maintained its previous 4 percent growth outlook for the South Korean economy this year, on the back of robust exports and mild recovery in private consumption. The ADB kept its earlier growth scenario for Korea, which was released in July. It also left its 2022 growth outlook unchanged at 3.1 percent, according to the bank’s report titled “Asian Development Outlook Update.” However, it forecast that Korea’s inflation rate will

Economy Sept. 22, 2021