SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — New foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to South Korea has surpassed US$20 billion this year, thanks to rising interest in the nation’s materials, parts and equipment industries, government data showed Monday. South Korea received $20.3 billion worth of FDI commitments as of Dec. 2, according to the data released [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Eco-boomers, children of the Baby Boom generation, are rising as new consumers in the housing market. Eco-boomers refers to offspring of 7.2 million baby boomers (born between 1955 and 1963) at the age of 22 to 40 (born between 1979 and 1997). They are also known as the Generation [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial watchdog said Thursday that two local banks should provide compensation for up to 80 percent of their customers’ losses from a recent misselling of derivatives linked to overseas interest rates. The arbitration committee of the Financial Supervisory Service recommended the compensation rate of 40-80 percent to [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to set up a fund of 300 billion won (US$252 million) to help fintech startups become unicorns with a valuation of more than US$1 billion, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. Hong made the remarks at a meeting with economy-related ministers in Seoul to discuss how [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean energy and telecom conglomerate SK Group plans to join hands with Chinese private equity firm Hillhouse Capital Group to create a mutual fund worth 1 trillion won (US$843 million) for investment in the Chinese food industry. SK China, SK’s Chinese unit, held a board meeting recently and passed [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s social responsibility investment (SRI) market is growing rapidly due to interest in investments that place importance on the environment, social responsibility, and governance (ESG). Asset management firms have steadily introduced related funds this year as SRI has grown in importance and the market is expected to expand [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 2.2 million South Koreans have subscribed to a pilot open banking service in less than one month after its launch, data showed Thursday. Users of the new service, which was launched Oct. 30, numbered 2.27 million as of Tuesday after exceeding the 1 million mark in just [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banks are going beyond past practices to collaborate with other industries. KB Kookmin Bank’s Liiv Mobile is gaining the attention of the financial services market by combining finance and communications technology. Current legislation states that banks cannot engage in business activities outside of their traditional domain. However, [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banknotes have different lifetimes depending on their face value, with larger bills outliving the smallest bills by up to three times due mostly to the frequency of their use, a central bank report showed Tuesday. According to the report from the Bank of Korea (BOK), the country’s [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Branding, among others, may be one of the key selling points for a product, and that’s why South Korean builders are in sync in launching luxury apartment brands, or renewing their brand identities for high-end consumers amid deepening polarization in the local housing market. Lotte Engineering & Construction Co. [...]