SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial regulator on Wednesday approved a digital insurance business by Kakao Corp. in a move that could heat up competition in the fledging digital insurance market. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) made the decision, saying the operator of the country’s leading mobile messenger KakaoTalk has satisfied all [...]
SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreigners sold a net of some US$4 billion worth of South Korean stocks in March amid worries over the protracted war in Ukraine and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive move to tighten its monetary policy, central bank data showed Wednesday. Foreigners’ net stock selling came to $3.93 billion last [...]
SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banks’ overseas operations saw their earnings jump nearly 62 percent in 2021 from a year earlier on higher interest income, data showed Wednesday. The combined net profit of local lenders’ 204 overseas subsidiaries and branches stood at US$1.17 billion in 2021, up 62.1 percent from a year [...]
SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Shares of certain companies related to the extended operation of nuclear power plants are surging as the incoming government plans to reuse nuclear power plants that are currently scheduled to be retired. Wednesday’s stock price for Hanshin Machinery Co., a company that produces air compressors for nuclear power plants, [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Lee Jae-yong, the chief of Samsung Group, South Korea’s top conglomerate, remained the country’s richest stockholder in the first quarter of the year despite a fall in the value of his shareholdings, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Stock holdings of Lee, vice chairman of global tech titan Samsung Electronics [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — K-Bank, a South Korean internet-only bank, said Wednesday that it garnered more than 7.5 million customers in five years of its launch thanks to a steep increase in mid- and low-credit loans and the rising popularity of mobile banking. K-Bank has enjoyed brisk business growth in the recent years, [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean online banks’ household loans grew nearly 8 percent in the first three months of this year amid decreased lending by offline rivals, industry sources said Tuesday. Outstanding household lending by the three online banks — Kakao Bank, K-Bank and Toss Bank — came to 36.14 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Banks in South Korea continued to reduce the number of their offline branches in 2021 as part of efforts to reduce costs amid the expanded use of mobile banking, data showed Wednesday. The number of brick-and-mortar branches run by local banks came to 6,904 as of end-2021, down 311 [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Asset management firms in South Korea saw their 2021 combined net earnings jump 67.1 percent from a year earlier thanks to a rise in commission revenue, data showed Wednesday. The combined net income of 348 firms came to 2.16 trillion won (US$2.01 billion) last year compared with 1.3 trillion [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Development Bank (KDB), a state-run lender, said Tuesday its customers will be allowed to use ATMs and other offline branch offices of Hana Bank as part of efforts to enhance customer convenience. Under a deal for cooperation, all KDB customers will be able to use 3,576 ATMs [...]