The Asia Culture Center, located in the old center of Gwangju, has developed a reputation as having a strength in experimental arts, but it aims to become a more familiar face to the local population and everyday visitors after a reorganization, the acting chairman of the center said Wednesday. Having opened six years ago this month, the multicultural complex has attracted 11.26 million visitors during its short lifespan despite spending two years of its short lifespan dealing with the COVID-1

Culture Nov. 27, 2021

In 2011, when a sprawling 29,492-square-meter, eight-story building opened its doors near Itaewon, Seoul’s vibrant nightlife district, not many could have imagined what was in store for Korea’s musical scene. Fast forward to a decade later, the building, Blue Square, has welcomed more than 10 million visitors coming to see 7,743 performances of 1,031 musicals, according to Interpark Group, which operates a major ticketing platform. Interpark built and runs the cultural complex, whi

Performance Nov. 27, 2021

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev is to present two unique performances Wednesday in Seoul, returning to the city for the first time in two years. “We were told only two or three weeks ago that we could visit South Korea and I’m thrilled that this performance can happen in the midst of the pandemic situation,” Gergiev, one of the world’s most celebrated conductors, told reporters in a press conference Tuesday. The 68-year-old energetic conductor will present two diff

Performance Nov. 23, 2021

Park Kwan-ho, the chairman of game developer Wemade, joined South Korea’s game billionaires last week as the company’s valuation soared following the growing popularity of its new game, which is based on the blockchain technology. Park, 49, saw his stock value reaching 3.3 trillion won ($2.77 billion) as of Thursday, which makes him the 10th richest man among individuals owning stocks in domestic listed companies, according to local market data provider FnGuide. Park, the largest

Market Nov. 21, 2021

An absence of funds that consist of cryptocurrencies has put individual investors in danger, blockchain industry-focused investment firm Hashed founder and CEO Simon Kim said Wednesday. “I believe this current situation of not being able to establish a cryptocurrency fund despite its popularity and high transaction volume is abnormal and contributes to market distortion,” Kim said. Kim added that the cryptocurrency market, whose transaction volume sometimes exceeds that of the

Market Nov. 18, 2021

Fractional share trading of overseas stocks is expected to be in full swing by the end of the year, according to the Korea Securities Depository on Monday. The KSD said it has completed a system that supports fractional share trading for 20 brokerages after it was designated by the Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial regulator, as an innovative financial service in a sandbox program last week. In a fractional transaction, when an investor orders to buy less than one

Market Nov. 15, 2021

Kakao Pay said Wednesday that it logged a net loss in the third quarter due to increased expenses and investments. The company’s third-quarter revenue rose 73 percent on-year to 331.2 billion won ($280 million) on the growth of transaction volume and financial business. With an operating loss of 1.01 billion won, however, its net loss came to 1.8 billion won in the July-September period, data from the company showed. Kakao Pay, the financial technology arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp.

Market Nov. 10, 2021

Korbit, a local cryptocurrency exchange, said Monday that it adopted a “play to earn” scheme as part of efforts to upgrade its nascent metaverse platform. Play to Earn, commonly known as P2E, is a system in which players can gain rewards for playing games within the platform. Korbit’s attempt to incorporate P2E is a move meant to attract not only cryptocurrency traders, but also to reflect growing interest in the metaverse. “In Korbit Town, people without any exposur

Market Nov. 8, 2021

Nonfungible tokens, otherwise known as NFTs, are more disruptive than cryptocurrencies because of its potential to be applied to a plethora of sectors, blockchain experts said last week. “At the moment, the cryptocurrency market, which is a fungible market, outscales the NFT market, but the cryptocurrency market still falls within the realm of conventional finance. On the other hand, NFTs present an unlimited potential to expand beyond existing conceptions of financial assets,” Kim

Market Nov. 7, 2021

Rather than discussing the question of whether non-fungible tokens are a fad, traditional financial institutions are instead asking how they can be incorporated within their business models, according to speakers from major financial firms who gathered at a three-day conference on NFTs. The tokens are digital counterparts of real-world assets, largely visual art and music. More importantly, each NFT is unique, with ownership being traced and protected through blockchain technology. Given that

Market Nov. 6, 2021

Human desire for constant, convenient and unique interactions in digital spaces defines where the future of finance, as well as KakaoBank, is headed, the CEO of South Korea’s largest online lender said Wednesday. “People say the ‘uncontact’ phenomenon has triggered digitalization of industries under the pandemic, but they still love to contact, they just want to do it in a digital space. And we are going to see how such human desire will reshape the future of industrie

Market Nov. 4, 2021

Kakao Pay, the fintech arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp., became Korea’s 14th-largest stock by market capitalization upon its market debut on the country’s stock market Wednesday, after its opening price doubled from its IPO price. The mobile payment service provider, which offered shares at 90,000 won ($76) for its IPO, began trading at 180,000 won on the main Kospi board and rose to 230,000 won before closing at 193,000 won. If the company remains within the top 50 on the Kosp

Market Nov. 3, 2021

KakaoBank, the country’s largest internet-only lender by user base, on Tuesday said its net profit in the first three quarters rose 96.6 percent from a year prior, despite growing regulatory moves on household debts that slowed the lender’s growth in the third quarter. In its first quarterly report that reflects its post-IPO performance, the banking arm of mobile giant Kakao Corp., said it recorded 52 billion won ($44.3 million) in net profit in the third quarter of this year, a 28

Market Nov. 2, 2021

It’s not just cryptocurrencies -- South Korea has been witnessing rapid growth of other forms of digital assets such as nonfungible tokens and decentralized finance. Korean movie star Ha Jung-woo is one of the latest artists riding on the growing interest in the market as he sold his first digital artwork for 55.46 million won ($47,060) in August. Hybe, the management company behind K-pop sensation BTS, and Dunamu, the blockchain company that operates Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency

Economy Nov. 1, 2021

Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz on Thursday urged regulators around the world to shut down cryptocurrencies, saying it undermines the basis of financial systems as well as its pursuit of transparency. Speaking at a forum hosted by the Seoul city government, the economic professor at Columbia University also suggested market transparency and well-designed regulations as prerequisites for the city to become a global financial hub. “(Cryptocurrencies) are becoming significan

Economy Oct. 28, 2021