Amid the steady growth of property ownership by foreign nationals in South Korea, Chinese acquisition of real estate ranked first for the ninth consecutive year, industry data showed Tuesday. According to data from real estate app company Zigbang, foreign-owned real estate accounted for 0.69 percent of the total property purchases across the nation, as of August, continuing an upward trend from 2010, when it posted 0.2 percent. Among the foreign buyers, Chinese purchased the largest volume of

Market Aug. 17, 2021

The South Korean government will increase supplies of key fruits and vegetables from its stockpiles to stabilize market prices ahead of the Chuseok holiday set for Sept. 20-22, First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said Friday. “Prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products, which advanced 9.6 percent in July, continued a downward trend for a fifth consecutive month, but the figure still remained at a high level on the back of bird flu outbreaks coupled with an increase in

Economy Aug. 13, 2021

NH NongHyup Bank said Thursday it has launched a branch office in London to make inroads into the UK’s banking industry, as part of the lender’s overseas business strategies aimed at expanding its global presence.  “It is meaningful that (NH NongHyup Bank) has entered the UK market, Europe‘s major global finance center and the birthplace of financial cooperatives, in 2021, which marks its 60th anniversary. We will speed up efforts to become a global cooperative b

Market Aug. 12, 2021

  South Korea’s top financial regulator on Wednesday encouraged local financial institutions to refrain from penalizing individual borrowers who have missed mortgage payments due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but caught up later. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo advised the heads of financial institutions -- including the Korea Federation of Banks, the Korea Credit Information Services and the Korea Federation of Savings Banks -- not to s

Economy Aug. 11, 2021

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo on Tuesday called on the heads of five major banking groups here to ramp up efforts to curb snowballing household debt.  “A steep increase in household debt was inevitable for the real economy to minimize the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the growth pace of household debt has been too rapid, raising calls for tighter household debt control measures,” Eun said during a meeting held with chairmen from KB Fin

Market Aug. 10, 2021

The government‘s plan to bring loan products under one platform by October to help consumers easily compare the options available is facing headwinds from traditional banks and their tech rivals in the wake of their already intensifying competition to gain the upper hand in digital financing. The “mobile-based loan exchange platform” pushed by the policymaking Financial Services Commission since January is a mobile application, whereby debtors can browse the number of availab

Market Aug. 9, 2021

South Korea’s food price inflation in the second quarter ranked the third highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed Sunday.  The prices for groceries and nonalcoholic beverages surged by 7.3 percent on-year in the April-June quarter, the fastest gain since 2011, when food prices rose 7.8 percent in the same period, according to data compiled by the OECD and Statistics Korea. Far above the OECD average of 1.6 percent, this on-ye

Market Aug. 8, 2021

　 　 Facing tougher social distancing measures over a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, South Korea’s small-enterprise owners are struggling to make ends meet, resorting to laying off employees or borrowing money from banks, data showed Thursday.  The country had 5.58 million self-employed people registered as of June, accounting for 20.2 percent of the total 27.6 million employed workers in the same month, the smallest proportion in nearly 39 years, according to data compiled by the Ko

Economy Aug. 5, 2021

Seoul-based consulting firm KPMG Samjong on Wednesday urged local financial firms to accelerate their sustainable corporate management through business strategies focused on environmental, social and governance factors, or ESG.  “To enhance corporate values, local financial institutions should integrate ESG values into their business processes, ranging from strategy making to risk management,” KPMG Samjong said in its report.  “For instance, while improving gover

Market Aug. 4, 2021

Taking impact from the panic buying trend in the local real estate market as well as explosive interest in a series of mega initial public offerings, South Korea’s household debt surged at a rapid pace in July.  Household debt gained more than 6 trillion won ($5.2 billion), despite government measures to tighten bank lending, industry data showed Tuesday.  The outstanding balance of household debt -- the total of financial loans plus credit card-based payment services extend

Market Aug. 3, 2021

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings on Monday raised NH NongHyup Bank’s long-term credit rating from A- to A, in recognition of its leading position in the local banking industry, while keeping the firm’s outlook at stable.  “As of last year, about 12 percent and 14 percent of the total credit loan applications and savings programs operated by local commercial banks were made through NH NongHyup Bank, respectively. The latest upgrade reflects the bank’s possibi

Market Aug. 2, 2021

Nationwide apartment transactions plunged in June ahead of the launch on Wednesday of a subscription program for newly built homes, which put the brakes on a buying spree in the local real estate market, data showed Friday.  According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a total of 88,922 apartment units changed hands across the nation last month, down 35.8 percent from 138,578 a year earlier.  In the Greater Seoul area, the transaction volume fell 44.

Market July 30, 2021

Global credit appraiser Fitch Ratings has raised Woori Bank’s long-term credit rating from A- to A in consideration of its sound business performance, the bank said Friday.  The rating agency had maintained the lender’s long-term credit rating at A- for 16 years since 2005. The latest upgrade reflects the company’s efforts to improve risk management skills, asset soundness, profitability and capital adequacy, which has led to a significant increase in earnings, it expl

Market July 30, 2021

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that a decision by the US Federal Reserve that left its benchmark rate unchanged had little impact on global financial markets. The central bank still added caution, saying that “financial market volatility could intensify as uncertainty remains over when major economies recover from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic as well as virus variants. “The BOK will closely monitor internal and external risk factors and review countermeasures against them.&rdq

Economy July 29, 2021

Global ratings firm Moody’s has raised its rating outlook for JB Financial Group’s commercial banking units -- Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank -- from stable to positive, while keeping the provincial lenders’ ratings at A1, the banking group said Thursday.  “The outlook upgrade came as Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank have improved business performance by building various growth strategies centered on improving profits, while maintaining financial soundness,” JB

Market July 29, 2021