SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans in their forties and fifties were hit hardest by the tougher job market last year stemming from protracted corporate restructuring and an economic downturn, government data showed Sunday. The country’s employment rate — the portion of hired people to the working-age population — reached 60.7 percent in [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The total amount of debt sold in South Korea rose last year on the back of a surge in corporate bonds and bank debentures, data showed Friday. The combined bonds issued in 2018 totaled 630.3 trillion won (US$564.53 billion), up 2.8 percent from the previous year, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — About 60 percent of South Koreans say that advertisements for financial products are exaggerated, a survey showed Wednesday, underscoring customers’ mistrust towards the sector as a whole. The survey, conducted by Gallup Korea and commissioned by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), showed that 60.7 percent of the 2,194 respondents [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a bill that eases ownership rules for Internet-only banks as the government plans to grant approval to more web-only banks this year, the financial regulator said. The bill allows information technology firms, such as Internet portal Naver or gaming firm Nexon, to hold more [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Insurance Development Institute announced on January 7 that it has started developing a new assessment tool called ‘Automobile Repair Cost On-line Service-α’ (AOS-α). The system’s artificial intelligence (AI) will estimate vehicle repair costs by analyzing pictures of car wrecks caused by traffic accidents. The institute is planning [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Workers at KB Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s leading lender, launched a nationwide strike Tuesday for the first time in 19 years over wage system reforms and bonuses, its labor union said. The one-day walkout started at 9 a.m., as last-minute overnight negotiations between the labor and the management did [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Monday that it will impose a 10 percent tax on profits from trading all stock index-related derivatives in the latest move to revise the country’s tax code. The revision — set to take effect in April — covers the KOSDAQ 150 Futures, KOSDAQ 150 Options and [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s initial public offering (IPO) market is widely expected to gather ground sharply in 2019 as several large companies are seeking to sell shares for the first time, industry sources said Monday. The market is projected to reach up to 10 trillion won (US$8.9 billion) this year, compared [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Credit-card commission fees for small merchants will be lowered starting next month as the government seeks to ease financial burdens on self-employed business owners, according to officials at credit-card firms Monday. Starting in February, credit-card processing fees for small merchants with an annual revenue of between 500 million won [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul citizens’ debt load has increased by 90 trillion won (US$79.9 billion) over a seven-year period starting in 2010, a municipal think tank said Friday, calling attention to the liabilities of marginal households. The Seoul Institute, affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in a report that six out [...]