The looming US import curbs including tariffs and quotas on South Korean goods are expected to take a toll on Korea’s economic indicators, a report showed Thursday.In the wake of regulatory measures starting this year on steel, washing machines and solar cells, Seoul is likely to see some $2.5 billion cut in exports and 16,000 potential job losses here and abroad.  According to a report released by the National Assembly Budget Office, a Korean steel import quota to the US -- equivalen

Market July 5, 2018

South Korea’s foreign currency reserves hit an all-time high for four consecutive months as of June this year, central bank data showed Wednesday. Rising reserves, coupled with the moderate level of foreign currency debt and expense in foreign trade, translate into Korea’s robust external stability, according to the government.The accumulated volume of foreign currency reserves including gold came to $400.3 billion in Korea, up $1.3 billion, or 0.3 percent, compared to the previous m

Market July 4, 2018

South Korea’s financial market on Tuesday rebounded from Monday’s dip that had brought the top-tier Kospi and second-tier Kosdaq to the lowest in 2018.But analysts noted the market will remain exposed to external uncertainties including persisting trade war threats between China and the US, rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve in sight and widening currency volatility.  Stock markets in Korea found bottoms in Tuesday closing. The Kospi edged up 0.1 percent to close at 2,272.76

Market July 3, 2018

The Financial Services Commission on Sunday presented a comprehensive risk management road map for business groups owning financial units, raising the baseline for capital adequacy. Starting Monday, the financial regulator is to activate a special supervision system seeking to detect the financial risk exposure level of subject groups and to prevent risk transfer among affiliates, it said in a release.During the six-month trial period, seven business groups -- Samsung, Hanwha, Kyobo, Mirae Asset

Market July 1, 2018

South Korea‘s financial technology startup True Short unveiled Thursday a service that tracks information related to institutional short sellers’ activities.The service, run on paid subscriptions on True Short online platform, aims to enable retail investors to gain access to information exclusive to institutional investors and take pre-emptive actions against a possible fall in stock price due to institutional short-selling practice.The service offers a listed share‘s outstand

Market June 28, 2018

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Wednesday it will inspect three banks alleged to have overcharged borrowers for more loans by incorrectly calculating the interest. On Tuesday, KEB Hana Bank, Citibank Korea and Kyongnam Bank were revealed to have taken a combined 2.7 billion won ($2.4 million) in revenue from information input errors such as omitting the borrowers’ income or collateral in lending rate calculations. The Financial Supervisory Service said they will be first lookin

Market June 27, 2018

Daewoo Engineering & Construction is seeking to ramp up bids for nuclear reactor construction overseas to lay the groundwork for stable growth amid a change in leadership earlier in June.Plans include bidding in tenders from Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, the company said Wednesday.These will come along with Daewoo E&C’s efforts to clinch orders from Libya’s reconstruction and development projects.  Internal view of Jordan Research and Trainin

Industry June 27, 2018

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon stressed Tuesday the need for a soft landing of a policy to shrink the workweek to 52 hours from 68 hours, amid overflowing reports of confusion at workplaces on how to manage the shorter hours.The 52-hour workweek is to go into effect starting Sunday, but the government and the ruling Democratic Party agreed to introduce a six-month grace period for the new scheme last week. “The government will set up a grace period until the end of this y

Economy June 26, 2018

CPE Cell, South Korea‘s company devoted to clean development mechanism, has developed a blockchain-powered platform to generate and trade carbon emission credits. For now, only parts of its full-fledged version have been released.(CPE Cell)The company introduced technology to trade carbon credit on a distributed ledger platform called Master Node Platform in order to pursue transparency and accuracy in measuring the volume of greenhouse gas reduction. CPE Cell’s own six-phase technology to achie

Industry June 25, 2018

Woori Bank has acquired Cambodia’s microfinance institution VisionFund Cambodia, becoming a South Korean financial company with the largest offshore retail branch network. Through the acquisition, the Cambodian entity with $196 million total asset as of end-2017 earned the new name of WB Finance, according to Woori Bank Sunday.  The institution with 106 branches across the nation will play the role in microfinance deposit-taking, according to a Woori Bank spokesperson. As a resul

Market June 24, 2018

This is the 57th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed. Genie Music Corporation, South Korea‘s second-largest music streaming and downloading platform operator by monthly active users, is gaining investor attention on anticipation that it will shake up the local industry through a forthcoming acquisition deal. On Friday, Genie Music’s market cap in market‘s close came to 337.5 billion won ($303.4 million), the 153rd-larg

Market June 24, 2018

Like other East Asian countries, South Korea has long practiced geomancy, or “pungsu jiri” in the local language. While doubt may prevail toward the pseudoscience, some Korean entrepreneurs and politicians have taken to consultants to make the most of a Korean equivalent to China’s feng shui to decide where to live, where to start a business or where to bury the dead. To them, finding an auspicious site has been deemed an essential bid to evade the narrowest chances of bad luck and pursue prospe

Culture June 22, 2018

Three former Samsung Securities employees were arrested on Thursday for selling unauthorized shares mistakenly given to them as dividends in April.The Seoul Nambu District Court approved the arrest warrants sought for three of the four former employees by the prosecution, citing risk of flight and/or evidence tempering. The court said one of the four did not require to be placed under arrest as the person did not appear to have actively participated in the wrongdoing.The former employees face ch

Market June 21, 2018

Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in trade volume, said Wednesday it would suspend transactions in user accounts after some 35 billion won ($31.6 million) worth of assets were stolen.The financial loss stemmed from “abnormal outside access” that occurred from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, its spokesperson said.  “(Bithumb) will suspend all money deposits or withdrawals, until we secure the stability of the service,” read the

Market June 20, 2018

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 17th installment. -- Ed.Foreign workers in South Korea from Southeast Asia or South Asia have faced various hurdles when remitting their income here to a home country.There are language barriers in financial services offered by banks, hefty commission charges and differences in banking service environments, to name a few.Using schemes such as collateral cash pooling, cros

Market June 19, 2018