SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial authorities on Tuesday announced a plan to launch a full-scale pilot project this year on blockchain-powered financial services. South Korea, known for its ICT prowess, has accelerated its drive for capitalizing on the new platform. Blockchain is a key technology for the digital currency bitcoin enabling [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s national tax revenue increased sharply in the first 11 months of last year despite the protracted economic slowdown, government data showed Tuesday. The government collected a total of 230.5 trillion won (US$192 billion) in taxes through November in 2016, up 24.5 trillion won from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Prices are soaring despite a prolonged economic downturn, and the term “stagflation” is now being bandied about to describe the potential future of the South Korean economy. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index last month was up 1.3 percent from the year prior. The index, which remained [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s asset managing giant Mirae Asset Financial Group said Monday that it will invest about 1 trillion won (US$827 million) into building a luxury resort complex on the country’s southwest coast by 2029. In August 2016, a consortium led by the financial group was selected as a preferred [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Doosan Bobcat Inc., a construction equipment unit of Doosan Group, is forecast to earn solid earnings this year on the back of the incoming U.S. government’s massive infrastructure spending, analysts said Monday. Doosan Bobcat made a strong market debut on the local stock market in mid-November by raising some [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s anti-corruption law, which took effect on September 28 of last year, did not have as great an impact on the local stock market as initially expected, according to financial watchdogs. Instead, the stock market was more sensitive to China’s retaliatory measures against Korea’s decision to deploy a THAAD [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – The Financial Supervisory Commission announced Thursday that it will introduce a new biometric payment method that will use the veins on the palm of the hand for identification. According to officials, consumers will be able to make payments by simply having their palm scanned at offline outlets without the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – A rise in home prices tended to lower the birthrate, a trend that existed regardless of whether the economy was good or bad, a report from a local institute said Wednesday. The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education followed the changes in home prices and their correlation to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The growth of mortgage loans in South Korea markedly slowed last month amid indications of interest rate hikes and a downturn in the real estate market, data showed Wednesday. Outstanding home-backed loans extended by six major banks here – KB Koomin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana, NH and the Industrial [...]
HOENGSEONG, South Korea, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, has been using hundreds of meters of temporary fencing built around construction sites to promote anti-smoking campaigns. The posters attached to the fencing range from slogans like “quitting smoking, the beginning of love for family,” to more fact-driven information like “quitting smoking can [...]