SEJONG, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government will reduce the debt ratio of public corporations to around 150 percent by 2020 as part of its efforts to improve the balance sheets of state-funded agencies, the finance ministry said Thursday. Under a long-term financial management plan, 39 public firms, including the Korea Gas [...]
SEOUL, July 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Household loans extended by local banks continued to rise at a fast rate in June, apparently on record low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding household loans extended by local lenders came to 667.5 trillion won (US$582.67 billion) as of the end of last month, up 6.6 [...]
SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Prosecutors on Wednesday said some hundreds of people, including scores of brokers and lawyers, have been indicted on charges of providing unlawful legal service to people applying for personal bailout programs. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it arrested 225 suspects — including 181 brokers and 41 lawyers [...]
SEJONG, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will join the so-called Paris Club as the 21st member country this week, the finance ministry here said Thursday, a step that acknowledges the country’s transition into a creditor country. The membership will be endorsed at the Club’s meeting to celebrate its 60th anniversary on Friday in Paris, [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean households are taking out loans at a faster clip than the increase in their income or ability to pay back, suggesting that household debt may cause serious problems down the road, the central bank said Thursday. In a report to the National Assembly, the Bank of Korea [...]
SEOUL, June 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The latest overseas investment bank (IB) analysis noted that Korea’s surging debt – household and corporate – is degrading its potential for economic growth. And with its aging society and poor foreign conditions, the gap between Korean and global economic growth rates will likely expand. One of the IBs, [...]
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The accumulated debt for Korea’s top 9 shipbuilding companies – companies with more than 1 trillion won in revenue – has exceeded 100 trillion won. According to chaebul.com Sunday, the top 9 companies’ debt exceeded 102.6 trillion won in 2015. The figure tallies up all debt from the 9 [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Overseas operations of South Korea’s cash-strapped shipyards struggled with massive debts last year amid a protracted slump in the global shipbuilding industry, industry data showed Sunday. The combined debts of 34 overseas subsidiaries of the three major shipyards — Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. [...]
SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) – More than one hundred days have passed since the Korean government established new guidelines for credit checks, leading to more rigorous income evaluations for loan applicants. The policy is part of efforts to ease the national economic debt burden, which now stands at over 1.2 quadrillion won in household [...]
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The debt held by South Korea’s leading conglomerates increased 2.5 percent in 2015 from a year earlier, with five of them logging debt ratios exceeding 200 percent, corporate data showed Wednesday. According to the data by market researcher CEO Score, 252 affiliates of the country’s top 30 business groups [...]