Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Indonesians in South Korea can send money home faster with new service
Seoul-headquartered KB Kookmin Bank said Friday that it had launched a more efficient money-transfer service Thursday for its Indonesian customers, who can now convert South Korean won directly to Indonesian rupiah with no need to convert funds to US dollars first. The commercial bank teamed up with Bank Negara Indonesia to lower the cost of converting currencies and make it possible to send money faster, KB Kookmin Bank said. Normally, to remit funds to Indonesia, a double-conversion proc
Market Aug. 17, 2018
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Samsung Electronics pulls along H1 growth in Kospi earnings
South Korea’s listed companies experienced lackluster earnings in the second quarter despite on-year growth in the first half of the year largely driven by Samsung Electronics, data showed Thursday. The combined first-half operating profit of 641 companies trading on the Kospi, including Samsung Electronics, jumped 18.6 percent on-year, while combined net profit surged 7.6 percent. However, if the data excludes Samsung Electronics, the figures significantly slid. The combined operating pro
Market Aug. 16, 2018
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Korean white hat hackers win CTF competition in US
South Korean white hat hackers took the first place in the Defcon 26 Hacking Conference Capture the Flag Competition held in Las Vegas from Thursday through Sunday, according to Raonsecure Tuesday. White hat hackers refer to security experts who identify security flaws and defend against hacking attacks on a website, while Capture The Flag means an information security competition. (Raonsecure)This marked the second time that the team representing Korea, defkor00t, became the winner in the US co
Industry Aug. 14, 2018
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Emerging market woes send Kospi to 15-month low
South Korea’s stock markets sank Monday on emerging market instability triggered by the sliding Turkish lira coupled with negative investor sentiment toward listed Korean biotech companies. The top-tier Kospi dipped 1.5 percent to close at 2,248.45, the lowest since May 4, 2017, following a foreign sell-off of 172.5 billion won ($152.2 million). The second-tier Kosdaq shed 3.7 percent to close at 755.65. Foreign and institutional investors net sold shares worth 158.1 billion won on Kosdaq.
Market Aug. 13, 2018
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BOK calls for Korea’s 'fundamental' shift in exports to China
South Korea’s exports to China maintained on-year growth, overcoming the downtrend until 2016, while new research by the central bank hinted at the need for Korea to shift away from its focus on exporting manufactured goods to China to continue the uptrend.From Aug. 1-10, the volume of Korean exports to China jumped 28.8 percent compared to the previous year, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service on Monday. This came alongside the on-year growth streak in 2018 until July.
Market Aug. 13, 2018
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Weaker Q2 earnings weigh on market
Preliminary earnings of South Korean listed companies are vindicating analysts’ downward revisions of their Q2 projections, due to a lingering US-China trade war impact, data showed Sunday. Of 145 companies listed on the top-tier Kospi, covering nearly three-quarters of the market cap or a combined 1,099.3 trillion won ($973.3 billion), 72 reported earnings within 10 percent of the market consensus, according to data compiled by KB Securities as of Thursday. Of the remainder, the majority
Market Aug. 12, 2018
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[Eye Plus] Theme park in abandoned gold mine
Light of various colors from gold to different shades of blue fills a 7.8-kilometer man-made cave located some 12 kilometers southwest of Seoul.The dazzling beams from light-emitting diodes, coupled with an indoor temperature of around 12 degrees Celsius throughout the year, make Gwangmyeong Cave an ideal shelter from the notorious heat this summer.Opened to the public since 2011, the suburban theme park features the nation’s largest 41-meter dragon sculpture, a 194-meter wine cave with a tastin
Culture Aug. 9, 2018
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Moin resumes cross-border wire transfer with China
South Korean financial technology startup Moin resumed its cross-border money transfer service without currency conversion fees double-charged to residents in China, starting Aug. 1, according to Moin on Wednesday. This came after Moin’s remittance service with China was suspended since May 2017. Taking advantage of Moin’s prefunding scheme, those who receive money transferred from Korea will not be charged won-to-dollar and dollar-to-yuan conversion fees, unlike interbank meth
Market Aug. 8, 2018
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[Herald Interview] Balancehero urges govt. to support firms targeting India entry
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 20th installment. -- Ed.Since taking office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to level the playing field for offshore and domestic companies in financial services, declaring an end to bureaucratic “red tape.”For example, Indian financial authorities lowered regulatory hurdles in late 2016 that were set particularly for foreign business en
Market Aug. 7, 2018
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Remittance startup Sentbe steps up operation in Vietnam
South Korean remittance startup Sentbe said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietcombank Remittance. The move will allow recipients to pick up wired money in an hour on average from some 2,500 automated teller machines or some 500 branches that belong to Vietcombank, as well as some 500 nonbank cash pickup centers, with up to 95 percent lower commission fees, the startup said. This is a step up from the Korean startup’s existing partnership with Vietnam. Vitecombank
Market Aug. 7, 2018
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Kyobo Life’s insurance for education cost celebrates 60 years
South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance has launched a variable life insurance product that covers an individual’s education expenses for college in line with the company’s original philosophy, the firm said Monday.Since it was founded in 1958, Kyobo, formerly known as Daehan Kyoyuk Insurance and short for “life insurance for educational expenses,” was the first to introduce insurance products for education cost to promote literacy in the nation torn by the Korean War at
Market Aug. 6, 2018
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Duped investors vent anger, with losses, remorse of ‘treasure ship scam’
Before it backtracked, the claim of a South Korean company that it had discovered a “treasure battleship” in South Korean territorial waters was a ray of hope for digital asset investors in search of a financial bonanza.But the hope quickly diminished for investors holding what is thought to be a digital asset called Shinil Gold Coin, after a recent press conference by the Korean business entity. On July 26, officials of Seoul-based Shinil Group, declaring that it had changed its nam
Market Aug. 2, 2018
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Bank of Korea moves to allow payment with QR codes
South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday unveiled plans to create an equivalent to China’s Alipay or WeChat Pay by the first half of 2019, in a move to cut “social costs” of consumers and merchants caused by card networks here. The new infrastructure for smartphone-based mobile wallet service will allow an online payment to be settled between customers and vendors without intermediaries like a card network, where card companies, payment gateway providers and virtual account
Market July 31, 2018
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P2P lenders’ repayment on Tera Funding tops W200b
Peer-to-peer borrowers on South Korean lending platform Tera Funding had repaid 202.4 billion won ($180.6 million) in loans without becoming overdue, as of end-June, according to the startup on Monday. This marked the first time that a Korean P2P lending platform extended loans over 200 billion won and had the borrowing fully compensated, the startup said. Founded in 2014 by former banker and foreclosure freelancer Yang Tae-young, Tera Funding has been dedicated to financing projects for real es
Market July 30, 2018
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[Kosdaq Star] Asia Pacific Satellite to ride 5G momentum
This is the 59th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.Asia Pacific Satellite, a communications satellite hardware manufacturer based in Seoul, has seen swift recovery following a plunge in the past few weeks. While the stock price has suffered a heavy fluctuation, analysts have said the future market performance of the manufacturer has a reason for an upsurge, on anticipation for an upcoming introduction of fifth-generational network her
Market July 30, 2018
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