Korean business groups were not fully happy with the government's proposal to mostly retain the existing 52-hour workweek system on Monday, calling for further reforms. The Ministry of Employment and Labor proposed to maintain the current workweek system while applying complementary measures for some industries that require greater flexibility in working hours. The Korea Enterprises Federation, in particular, strongly criticized the proposal. “The proposal is not as comprehensive as t

Industry Nov. 14, 2023

Bithumb, one of South Korea's four major cryptocurrency exchanges, is preparing to become the first cryptocurrency exchange to go public in Korea, in a move to expand its share in the market currently dominated by its larger peer, Upbit. "We selected Samsung Securities as our manager for initial public offering at the end of (October). We aim to go public during the second half of 2025," a Bithumb official said on Monday. The company is primarily considering a listing on Korea&#

Industry Nov. 13, 2023

South Korea's top five commercial banks will provide the first tranche of a syndicated loan worth 3.5 trillion won ($2.65 billion) to the Polish government to finance a follow-up weapons purchase deal with Korean arms companies, industry sources said Friday. This decision came after South Korea's Defense Ministry asked the top five commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup -- to provide the lending during a meeting held on Nov. 6, as state-run banks hit their lo

Industry Nov. 12, 2023

Starting from 2024, multinational companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which have overseas factories or subsidiaries, are expected to face increased tax obligations. The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced Thursday that a new law to implement the global minimum corporate tax -- which will require multinational enterprises to adhere to a minimum effective tax rate of 15 percent -- will begin as early as January 2024. Until Dec. 7, the administrative authorities will gather p

Industry Nov. 9, 2023

Kakao Bank, an internet-only bank, announced Wednesday that it achieved a record-high net profit of 279.3 billion won ($214.12 million) during the first three quarters of the year, thanks to increased lending to borrowers attracted by its low interest rates. This represents a 37.9 percent increase from 202.5 billion won it recorded during the same period a year ago. "We pursued sustainable growth through balanced deposits and loans in the third quarter, along with stable risk management,&rd

Industry Nov. 8, 2023

Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman and CEO Shin Chang-jae has been awarded the 2023 Insurance Hall of Fame Laureate award from the International Insurance Society, one of the insurance industry’s top honors. The awarding ceremony was held during the gala event of the Global Insurance Forum in Singapore on Monday. “Shin embodied the spirit of the Insurance Hall of Fame through innovative activities, insightful leadership and people-centered management,” said Josh Landau, CEO of the

Industry Nov. 7, 2023

Following the implementation of the short selling ban on Monday, the secondary Kosdaq market has been on a roller-coaster run, with five-minute suspensions of trading kicking in two days in a row to tame market volatility. Sidecar curbs were triggered on the tech-heavy Kosdaq once again Tuesday, just a day after they were imposed for the first time in three years. The trading curb was applied after the Kosdaq 150 futures plummeted 6.46 percent from the previous day, as the Kosdaq 150 index had

Industry Nov. 7, 2023

In the basement of its Seoul headquarters, South Korean lender Woori Bank has been running a small office that temporarily replaces its branch in North Korea since it pulled out of the North in 2016. In an office a little over 30 square meters in size, a lone manager handles occasional visits from businesspeople who own factories at the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex, a symbol of inter-Korean business engagement in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. While inter-Korean relations r

Industry Nov. 7, 2023

Korean stocks surged Monday on the expectation that investors will start to cover their short positions after the country’s financial authorities banned short selling. The main Kospi bourse climbed 5.66 percent, or 134.03 points, from the previous trading day to close at 2,502.37. The secondary Kosdaq jumped 7.34 percent, or 57.4 points, to close at 839.45. Earlier in the day, the buying pressure prompted sidecar curbs on the Kosdaq for the first time in more than three years. The five-m

Industry Nov. 6, 2023

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves fell for the third consecutive month in October, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on Friday. At the end of October, foreign exchange reserves stood at $412.87 billion, down $1.24 billion from the previous month's $414.12 billion. South Korea's foreign exchange reserves remained in ninth place among major countries in October, also for the third consecutive month. In June, South Korea surpassed Hong Kong to regain the eighth

Industry Nov. 3, 2023

Jeong Marn-ki, vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, said South Korea should learn from Ireland's policy for foreign businesses during a networking event jointly organized with Enterprise Ireland on Wednesday at Trade Tower in Seoul. Enterprise Ireland is the government organization responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. “Thanks to the creation of a business-friendly environment and active attraction of foreign investm

Industry Nov. 2, 2023

Korea Chamber of Commerce Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also doubles as SK Group chairman, called for Korean companies to explore new markets beyond the US and China during a seminar jointly hosted by the Bank of Korea and the KCCI. "The conflict between the US and China, upon which our country heavily relied, is significantly disrupting our exports," Chey said in his opening remarks. "It is imperative for us to now turn our attention to smaller markets that we previously ov

Industry Nov. 1, 2023

The Financial Services Commission announced on Tuesday that it will ease regulations on credit lending limits for overseas subsidiaries of financial holding companies starting from Jan. 1, 2024. The regulation revision comes after the FSC pledged in July to help local financial companies beef up their presence in overseas markets. Under the current regulation, the credit lending limit for each subsidiary must not exceed 10 percent of the parent company's equity, and the total credit lendi

Industry Oct. 31, 2023

The recent trend of an increase in the proportion of working women in their 30s was primarily due to a reduction in the number of women with children, according to a report released Monday by the Korea Development Institute, a South Korean state-run think tank. Kim Ji-yeon, a researcher at the KDI, noted that although the drop in the number of women in their 30s that have children may seem like a positive factor in the short term because it boosts the number of women working in their 30s, it wil

Industry Oct. 30, 2023

To grab a bit of Apple or leave it on the shelf? That's the question that has been lingering among card companies here since Apple Pay was launched in Korea in March with initial local partner Hyundai Card. Hesitation over adopting Apple Pay entered a new phase after a parliamentary audit held on Oct. 11 raised concerns about Hyundai Card, which introduced the service at the cost of paying high commission fees to Apple. During the parliamentary audit, Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the ruling P

Industry Oct. 29, 2023