SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday it has found some technical “restrictions” standing in the way of the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as it has completed a mock test on the feasibility of the new form of money. The BOK launched the two-phase mock [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean online lender K-Bank said Monday its net profit hit a record high in the third quarter on higher operational efficiency and stayed in the black for five straight quarters. Net profit stood at 25.6 billion won (US$18.2 million) in the July-September period, up 52.4 percent from a [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Even during the week when American big tech firms reported disappointing third-quarter results and suffered a sharp decline in stock prices, South Korean investors net bought a substantial amount of their stocks, data showed Sunday. Meta Platforms Inc., the operator of Facebook, ranked first in terms of net buying [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate by assets, is set to issue its first commercial papers (CPs), indicating that even large companies are having difficulty raising funds through the issuance of corporate bonds. SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, plans to issue three-year and five-year maturity CPs [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Concerns are growing that year-end consumption activities could drastically cool down if consumer sentiment is dampened due to the impact of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s consumer sentiment index (CSI) has remained below 100 for five straight [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Alarm bells are ringing for South Korea’s credit card industry, which has many vulnerable debtors, including those with low income and low credit scores, as the repayment capability of debtors is showing signs of deteriorating due to the recent hike in the benchmark interest rate. The nation’s seven major [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean online lender Kakao Bank said Wednesday its third-quarter net profit hit a record high this year on growth in interest revenue. Consolidated net profit stood at 78.7 billion won (US$55.4 million) in the July-September period, up 51.39 percent from a profit of 52 billion won a year [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean credit card company has released a new card targeting consumers who actually want to pay on an installment plan at places like restaurants but hesitate to do so in fear of losing face in front of their acquaintances. LOCA NANUGI Card, released by Lotte Card Co., [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s five large financial groups decided Tuesday to inject a large amount of liquidity into the financial market to help ease its recent volatility. The decision to pump 95 trillion won (US$66.5 billion) into the market by year-end came after the country’s top financial regulator met with the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to release its stockpile of vegetables and salt to cope with the lingering inflation for the annual kimchi-making period ahead of winter, the government said Friday. Under the plan, South Korea will release 5,000 tons of garlic, 1.4 tons of peppers and 3.6 tons of onions [...]