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. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Hanwha Group, a South Korean defense-to-insurance conglomerate, said Thursday it plans to pay 600 billion won (US$447.8 million) for a controlling stake in the Singaporean offshore plant firm Dyna-Mac Holdings. The group’s two defense and shipbuilding affiliates, Hanwha Aerospace Co. and Hanwha Ocean Co., will make a cash tender [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – The financial regulator said Wednesday it will work to strengthen punishment for illegal money lending businesses and nullify their very contracts that are deemed antisocial. The move follows a recent spike in the number of complaints against loan sharks, which jumped from 10,350 in 2022 to 12,884 last year, [...]
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. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The financial regulator on Monday announced plans to revise related laws to require payment gateway (PG) service providers to maintain sufficient funds to settle all payments. The move follows massive payment delays by two e-commerce platforms — TMON and WeMakePrice — due to a liquidity crisis caused by their [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The government proposed raising the pension contribution rate to 13 percent from 9 percent and differentiating the pace of raising the contribution rate by age group, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said, in what would be the biggest overhaul of the ailing pension system in 21 years. Details of the [...]
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 [...]