SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday that South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in is likely to pursue continuity in economic and fiscal policies. Steffen Dyck, senior credit officer at Moody’s, said there might be a shift in focus in sme structural reform areas, such as labor markets and social security. “We expect that [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Asiana Airlines Inc. said Wednesday its net profit more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier on currency gains. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 jumped to 96 billion won (US$85 million) from 44 billion won a year earlier, the company said in [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreign residents who took out life insurance policies here topped 200,000 in 2015, with their subscriptions rising at an annual rate of 16 percent over the past five years, industry data showed Sunday. According to the data compiled by the Korea Insurance Development Institute, a total [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Transactions by South Korea’s private equity firms slipped 30.4 percent on year in 2016 amid a lack of mega buyout deals, government data showed Tuesday. Local private equity groups invested a total of 8.9 trillion won (US$7.8 billion) last year, compared with deals worth 12.8 trillion won in 2016, [...]
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) – U.S. direct investment in South Korea fell last year for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, central bank data showed Monday. The U.S. direct investment in South Korea totaled US$33.9 billion last year, down 1 percent from $34.2 billion a year ago, according to the data compiled [...]
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and China will both be hurt economically by the fallout caused by the deployment of the advanced U.S. missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula, a local think tank said Wednesday. According to the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI), Beijing’s retaliation against Seoul’s decision to station a Terminal [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 90 percent of financial firms worldwide said their businesses are at risk from rapidly expanding fintech rivals and they fear losing revenue to the financial innovators, according to a new study released on Monday, in the latest sign of the growing influence of financial technology, known as fintech. [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s exports to the United States are expected to suffer losses as much as US$17 billion over five years if the two nations renegotiate a bilateral free trade deal, according to a report on Sunday. South Korea’s businesses remain concerned after U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview last week that he will either renegotiate or scrap the free trade deal with South Korea, calling it “horrible.” If tariff [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Chief executive officers (CEOs) leading South Korea’s biggest businesses receive salaries that are on average 21.9-times higher than those of ordinary employees, a local market researcher said Sunday. According to FN Guide, CEOs at the 30 largest companies in terms of market capitalization, took home substantially more pay than the average worker in 2016, with the gap widening to more than 50 [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Global ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said Thursday it will maintain the current Baa1 rating for Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker, despite its weak first-quarter earnings. On Wednesday, the carmaker reported a 21-percent on-year drop in first-quarter net profit due to weak sales in China and emerging [...]