SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – As South Korea prepares for the launch of Wegovy, a highly anticipated weight loss medication, next month, questions are arising about its coverage under private health insurance plans. Wegovy, produced by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and famously touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as his weight management secret, is [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – As South Korea grapples with an unprecedented pace of population aging, coupled with trends towards longer life spans with chronic illnesses and an increase in single-person households, the need for individuals to prepare for their own elder care is becoming increasingly urgent. On September 12, the Korea Life Insurance Association [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday the government will temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for the upcoming Chuseok holiday to better reward their services and to prevent disruptions in emergency medical care. During a Cabinet meeting, Yoon addressed concerns over possible disruptions to the medical system during [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — In South Korea, a rush for loans at internet banks is intensifying as the country’s five largest banks continue to impose lending restrictions. Customers are flocking to online lenders, which are perceived as more accessible, in a phenomenon known as “open runs” – where borrowers attempt to secure loans as [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Household loans extended by the country’s five major banks rose by the most on record last month despite warnings from the financial regulators and a series of rate hikes, industry sources said Monday. According to the sources, KB Kookmin, Woori and three others extended a combined 9.62 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The finance ministry said Monday it will push to reduce 32.1 trillion won (US$24.01 billion) of debt incurred by 14 financially troubled public companies combined by 2026 through asset sales and organization restructuring. According to the revised financial management plan, the government set the target debt amount for Korea [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday that it agreed to launch local currency transactions for cross-border payments in late September. Under the agreement, current account transactions between the two nations in their local currencies will be facilitated, and costs for businesses and other users will be reduced, they [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean banks saw their combined net income shrink sharply from a year earlier in the first half, due largely to a drop in the profit of specialized banks, data showed Thursday. The combined net profit of domestic banks for the first six months of the year came to [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – In a surprising trend, half of the recent applicants for health insurance policies designed for individuals with pre-existing conditions are in their 60s, according to a recent analysis. This demographic, which has historically faced challenges in obtaining coverage, is emerging as a significant force in the insurance market, coinciding with [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A probe has found large-scale insurance fraud at a traditional medicine hospital involving more than 100 people, the financial regulator said Tuesday. Around 100 “fake” patients at the hospital are suspected of having made false insurance claims worth about 100 billion won (US$72.3 million), according to the Financial Supervisory [...]