SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday that the recent disclosure of local banks’ lending-deposit interest rate differences will enhance transparency in their operation and provide customers with better choices in selecting products. Starting Sunday, the Korea Federation of Banks started to allow visitors on its website to know and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Insurance agencies and planners have voiced strong opposition to big tech companies’ entry into the insurance sales business, criticizing it as an infringement of their commercial rights. The Insurance Agency Association and the Labor Union Solidarity for Insurance Planners held a joint press conference in front of the presidential [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s nationwide consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 24 years in the second quarter of the year on soaring energy and food costs, data showed Monday. The national consumer price index came to 107.54 in the April-June period, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — McDonald’s Korea said Friday it will raise prices of its main products for the second time in about six months in a move seen as intended to transfer soaring raw material and logistical costs over to customers. The Korean unit of the global fast food giant McDonald’s said it [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean companies have seen their cost burdens rise sharply in 2022 from a year earlier on surging raw material prices and wage increases, data showed Friday. Their rising cost burdens are widely feared to undercut their profitability down the road amid flagging demand stemming from worries over [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean banks saw their net profit decline 9.9 percent on-year in the first half as their non-interest income shrank, data showed Thursday. Their combined net income came to 9.9 trillion won (US$7.5 billion) in the January-June period, compared with a profit of 11 trillion won tallied a year [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Household income rose at the fastest pace on record in the second quarter due largely to pandemic-related cash handouts, but households’ propensity to consume hit a record low amid high inflation, data showed Thursday. The average household earned 4.83 million won (US$ 3,700) per month in the January-June period, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — A string of tax havens appeared in the list of countries that invested significantly in South Korea in the first half of this year, raising concerns about a possible influx of “dirty money,” government data showed Tuesday. The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country amounted to [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – After many years of failure in attracting market attention, independent equity research firms are finally starting to appeal to investors by releasing a diverse range of market and stock reports. In the midst of the rise of retail investors, which brought about many changes in the research industry, independent stock [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean online lender K-Bank said Tuesday it posted the strongest performance for any first half on increased interest revenue. K-Bank’s first-half net income stood at 45.7 billion won (US$34.9 million), far beyond the 22.5 billion won annual net profit of last year and marking the highest first-half earnings [...]