The number of people who have turned to private lenders or loan sharks in the secondary financial sector has jumped 18 percent over the past six months, reflecting worsening borrowing conditions for the poor amid industry-wide credit crunch. More than 2.27 million people took loans out from private lenders as of April, up about 300,000 from October, the Financial Services Commission said. Given th

Contrary to the market’s initial projection of a rate hike to tame inflation, the Bank of Korea kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second month at 3 percent Friday.The BOK’s decision followed a decline in consumer and producer prices in April, helped by fresh spring food crops and recent gains in the Korean won. BOK Governor Kim Choong-soo (Yonhap News)Still, it came as unexpected to

The National Pension Service on Friday said that it will select eight local asset managers to set up 900 billion won ($830 million) fund investing only in Asia. The NPS, the world’s fourth largest pension fund, said that it will start taking bids on May 26 to run the Pan-Asia Fund which will invest in stocks, bonds and commodities of China, India and other Asian countries.“We’re expanding our inve

There were more hostess bars at the height of the financial crisis than five years previously, showing, the entertainment business resilience even while most other sectors suffered, a government report said Thursday.The data collected by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said 609 hostess bars, or room salons, opened between 2004 and 2009.There were 30,466 hostess bars as o

The number of employed people over 50 has exceeded 8 million for the first time, reflecting an older workforce brought on by Korea’s fast-aging society. Statistics Korea said Thursday that the number stood at 8.02 million as of the end of April, up 313,000 from the previous month. The figure is the highest ever recorded for the age group and is more than double the level in 1991, 4.03 million.The

Famed architect Moshe Safdie on Thursday said his team aimed to incorporate elements unique to Korean culture in his design bid for a second terminal at Incheon International Airport. Addressing reporters in Seoul, the star designer of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Resort detailed his ambitions to take on what would be his third airport project. “In the old days, people coming to Seoul felt their f

Real interest has stayed below inflation for the past year, devaluing returns on bond investments and deposits at banks, a government report said Wednesday.The interest rate on 1-year savings products at most commercial banks is just over 4 percent, leaving no room for profit given on-year inflation in the 4 percent range on top of a 15.4 percent tax on interest income. “Real returns on deposits w

The number of unemployed fresh college graduates increased by 0.2 percent in April from a year earlier despite a drop in the overall jobless rate, Statistics Korea said Wednesday. Some 63.6 percent of college graduates in their twenties were part of the workforce, posting a 0.3 percent drop from a month earlier, indicating a persistent structural mismatch between the reality of the job market and

Data shows practice leads to collusion between lenders and watchdogOne in three savings banks suspended in the last decade had hired former officials from the financial watchdog or the central bank as auditors, a report said.Analysts said the data demonstrates long-held collusive ties that public agencies have had with the lenders they supervise.The findings by the Korea Federation of Savings Bank

The 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman is a big Mini. Big, of course, is relative in this case, but this new four-door’s size rankles purists, who point to the name of the brand itself. You can’t have a super-size Mini.Yes, BMW says, you can.The Mini family, owned by BMW, now includes the various Cooper models, the larger Clubman and the all-new Countryman, which has been described as Mini’s SUV. The b

With Hyundai and Kia releasing gasoline-hybrid electric vehicles, you might want to consider something bigger than a compact model. Mid-sized cars can be just as fuel efficient.No compact cars were included in the list of top 10 most fuel efficient models for the first time after Hyundai Motor Group’s Sonata, K5, and Volkswagen’s Jetta BlueMotion joined the race this month ― your bigger and more p

The administration and the National Assembly have begun in earnest to reform the nation’s top financial watchdog, to cut its long-held collusive ties with financial companies it supervises.Assessing that the Financial Supervisory Service, hit by a series of corruption scandals involving its former and incumbent staff, cannot complete a self-purification drive, the Prime Minister’s Office is pushin

Korea, China, Japan agree to double regional emergency liquidity fundFinance ministers of South Korea, Japan and China on Wednesday vowed to strengthen the crisis prevention function of the current regional financial safety net of the Chiang Mai Initiative, their joint statement said.Gathered for an annual Asian Development Bank conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, the three finance chiefs also agreed to

New scheme suggested as alternative to controversial ‘profit-sharing’ planThe government will encourage big businesses to share the benefits of cost reduction and technology development with their smaller subcontractors, as an alternative scheme after conglomerates blasted its controversial profit-sharing plan.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said that sharing benefits would be a more viable opti

Consumer prices rise 4.2 percent on-year in AprilInflation in April slowed to 4.2 percent on-year, down from a 29-month high of 4.7 percent a month earlier on Seoul’s price controls and lower fresh food prices, a government report said Monday. The figure still exceeded the Bank of Korea’s inflation target of 2 to 4 percent for the fourth consecutive month but was slower than the 4.3 to 4.6 percent

Investors will also get tax benefitsThe government said Sunday it would extend tax benefits to real estate investors in the Seoul metropolitan area and widen financial support for local builders as a way of shoring up the sluggish housing market.In their joint statement, the Land Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Financial Supervisory Commission said the government will urge banks to roll ove

The nation’s largest banking network at Nonghyup has been normalized since Saturday after weeks of paralysis, which prosecutors suspect was caused by a cyber attack from North Korea.South Korea’s prosecution reportedly said they found evidence of break-ins by Internet Protocol addresses similar to that of the hacker hired by North Korea for the 2009 cyber attack of the presidential office Cheong W

The nation’s top financial watchdog said Wednesday that it will retrieve deposits withdrawn improperly at Busan Savings Bank right before the agency suspended its businesses.The Financial Supervisory Service took the action a day after President Lee Myung-bak ordered a thorough probe into allegations that relatives and friends of employees at some savings banks withdrew deposits on the eve their o

A clinical test using embryonic stem cells was approved for the first time in Korea on Wednesday. 　The National Bioethics Committee said it had approved CHA Bio & Diostech’s request to conduct a clinical test using embryonic stem cell in treating macular degeneration which can lead to sight loss. 　The test in particular will be conducted to prove the stem cells’ effect on Stargardt’s Macular Dystr