SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Over the last three years, an increasing number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s are borrowing money to pay for more than half of cost of their housing. Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon of the ruling Democratic Party compiled and analyzed more than 1.2 million funding plans submitted between [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The use of non-face-to-face bank loans that can be applied for simply through several clicks online is on a steady rise. The outstanding balance of non-face-to-face loans at the nation’s 18 commercial banks as of the end of June 2021 totaled 111.8 trillion won (US$94.4 billion), an almost threefold [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Banks will be encouraged to keep the loans they extended to small business owners and merchants until the date of maturity without withdrawing them all at once, even when such businesses are shut down, South Korea’s financial regulator said Monday. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that such a [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s state-run lenders and SK hynix Inc. signed an agreement to provide US$3 billion in loans to support mergers and acquisitions by the world’s second-biggest memory chipmaker, officials said Tuesday. The Korea Development Bank (KDB), Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) and NH Nonghyup joined the financing deal, which [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to nearly triple its lower-interest loans for the digital and green energy projects sought after by emerging countries by 2025, the finance ministry said Monday. The country will increase the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) in the digital and green energy fields to US$1.4 billion in [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul city government said Wednesday it is offering 800 billion won (US$721 million) in low-interest loans to small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Acting Seoul Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup unveiled the plan during a press briefing, saying small business owners can apply for up to 30 million [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Loans to accommodation and food services sectors have jumped due to a recent resurgence of the novel coronavirus, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding loans to lodging and eating businesses totaled 71.1 trillion won (US$64.2 billion) as of September, up 21.5 percent from a year ago, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s internet banks, including Kakao Bank, are being blamed for failing to meet their original purpose of establishment despite the South Korean financial regulator’s strong desire and support in anticipation of innovation. During the parliamentary audit of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) held last month, Kakao Bank faced [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul city government is offering zero-interest loans to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the program launched Monday, a total of 300 billion won (US$255 million) will be offered at a 0.03-0.53 percent interest rate to businesses that were forced to close or restrict services under [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — In the fourth quarter of last year, loans extended to businesses in the service sector, mostly taken out by self-employed people, rose to the largest amount ever. This seems to be the result of small wholesale and retail companies turning to loans amid sluggish domestic demand. Outstanding loans to [...]