South Korean business leaders met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Versailles, France, on Monday to explore opportunities for deepening bilateral economic cooperation, the Federation of Korean Industries said. The meeting was held during the “Choose France Summit,” President Macron’s flagship initiative to attract foreign investment, at the Chateau de Versailles near Paris. Now in its eighth year, the summit brought together more than 100 global business leaders at Macron’s invitation to

Signaling a new chapter in digital finance, the Bank of Korea last month launched "Project Han River," a pilot program for its central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Running from April through June, the trial invites 100,000 individuals to test tokenized deposits, with roughly 60,000 participating as of Monday, according to the BOK. The Korea Herald also took part to see how the system works in practice. The first step involved opening a digital wallet through one of seven participating banks,

When Shin Hye-sung left the state-run Korea Development Bank in 2012 to start a crowdfunding platform, he wasn’t chasing unicorns. He was looking out for overlooked potential: early-stage entrepreneurs with good ideas but few backers. That vision became Wadiz, now South Korea’s largest crowdfunding platform, with 6.8 million users and more than 83,000 campaigns raising a combined 1.3 trillion won ($928 million). After more than a decade helping domestic startups raise capital from fans and early

Hana Financial Group, South Korea’s banking giant, has launched its 2025 internship initiative to support the creation of socially meaningful employment. The company kicked off the "2025 Hana Power On Innovative Company Internship" at its headquarters in Seoul on Friday, with around 100 attendees, including Group CEO and Chair Ham Young-joo, the interns and CEOs from participating companies. The program links socially vulnerable job seekers with innovative companies, providing valuable internshi

Standard Chartered Bank Korea reported a 174 percent jump in first-quarter net profit, largely driven by a favorable base effect from a nonrecurring loss booked a year earlier. The bank said Thursday that net profit for the January-March period reached 111.9 billion won ($80 million), up 174.3 percent from a year earlier. The sharp increase was attributed to the absence of a 130 billion won provision booked in the first quarter of 2024 for equity-linked securities tied to Hong Kong stocks, which

Celltrion Group Chair and founder Seo Jung-jin downplayed concerns over potential fallout from recent US policy and tariff changes, saying the South Korean drugmaker remains on track to meet its annual revenue target of 5 trillion won ($3.58 billion) this year. “Concerns about the impact of recent US policy and tariff changes have been excessively amplified,” Seo said during an online briefing Thursday. “We see no effect on our business this year, and even next year, it could be an opportunity r

Woori Financial Group is considering selling several core real estate assets, including the landmark Woori Financial Digital Tower in central Seoul, as it looks to raise capital for subsidiary acquisitions and improve its financial footing. The banking group is reviewing a potential sale of the 22-story building, located on a 2,247-square-meter plot across from its headquarters in Hoehyeon-dong, Jung-gu — one of Seoul’s busiest commercial zones north of the Han River — according to industry sour

South Korea’s exports plunged nearly 24 percent in the first 10 days of May, signaling that the US Trump administration's tariffs are beginning to take a toll on the trade-dependent economy. Outbound shipments totaled $12.8 billion during the May 1-10 period, down 23.8 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service released Monday. Factoring in fewer workdays — five days during the period this year compared to 6.5 days in 2024 — average daily exports fe

Lotte Insurance, backed by private equity firm JKL Partners, is under intensified regulatory scrutiny after South Korea’s financial watchdog blocked its attempt to redeem 90 billion won ($64.2 million) in subordinated bonds ahead of maturity. Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Bok-hyun on Thursday issued a sharp rebuke, saying he was “gravely concerned” about the company’s push to exercise the call option despite falling short of financial stability requirements. “The company’s K-ICS ris

Fitch Ratings upgraded Hanwha Life Insurance's rating to A+ from A, with a stable outlook, citing the South Korean insurer’s strong financial footing and solid profitability, “The upgrade reflects Hanwha Life’s strong capital position, underpinned by a substantial contractual service margin and strategic issuance of additional capital securities,” Fitch said Thursday, adding the firm's financial leverage remained sound despite multiple capital issuances. Fitch highlighted Hanwha Life’s steady ea

The state-owned Korea Development Bank is moving forward with its plan to open a branch in Hanoi after receiving confirmation of its application from Vietnam’s central bank — six years after first filing the request. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission announced Thursday that the State Bank of Vietnam issued a confirmation letter for KDB’s branch application the previous day, marking the official start of the review process. “The confirmation letter for the Hanoi branch is the result of

Woori Bank is exploring a partnership with Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-water, to support Ukraine’s water infrastructure reconstruction efforts. Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan met Wednesday with the head of K-water’s Ukraine recovery task force at the lender’s Warsaw branch in Poland, the bank said in a statement Thursday. The two sides discussed forming a strategic partnership to jointly pursue water infrastructure projects in Ukraine and across Central and Eastern Europe. The K-water task fo

NH Financial Group said Thursday its global operations posted a record 100 billion won ($71.6 million) in annual net profit for last year, as the South Korean financial giant vowed to step up overseas expansion despite rising global uncertainty. Vice President Jo Jeong-rae, who leads the group’s future growth division, convened a global strategy meeting Wednesday to review quarterly performance and outline business targets for the year. Executives discussed strategies to navigate heightened mark

Kakao Bank, South Korea’s largest internet-only lender, posted record earnings in the first quarter, fueled by a diversified portfolio and strong growth in non-interest income. The company aims to build on that momentum with the rollout of artificial intelligence services later this month. Operating profit and net income came in at 183 billion won ($134 million) and 137.4 billion won, respectively, in the January–March quarter — both up 23 percent from a year earlier and marking record highs for

South Korea faces heightened economic uncertainty after Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok’s abrupt resignation late Thursday, disrupting key policy initiatives that include imminent US tariff negotiations. Choi resigned Thursday night shortly after the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea filed his impeachment motion, with acting President Han Duck-soo — who had himself already announced his own resignation earlier in the day to be effective at midnight — accepting the resignation soon after.