[THE INVESTOR] South Korea will ease regulations of loan loss reserves for local banks to improve their profitability, the top financial regulator said on Oct. 7.Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, admitted that banks here are subject to some “excessive” rules including those on loan loss reserves.“(The government) will lay the groundwork for domestic banks to raise their investment appeal and compete in the global market by eliminating factors causing an excessive burd

[THE INVESTOR] More than 97 percent of asset heirs in Korea were found to have been legally exempt from paying inheritance taxes, a lawmaker said Friday. 　According to Rep. Park Kwang-on of the Minjoo Party of Korea, quoting the National Tax Service’s data, about 1.45 million people inherited a total of 151.6 trillion won ($136 billion) from their relatives between 2011 and 2015. Of them, only 2.2 percent actually paid taxes on their inheritance while others benefited from tax exemption.  Under

[DISCLOSURE] TK Chemical (104480) announced on Oct. 7 that it has signed a construction contact worth 9 billion won (US$8.07 million) with Daegu Metropolitan City to extend a landfill in the region. The contract amount is equivalent to 1.37 percent of the company’s 2015 sales. The contract lasts until June 9, 2018. By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] Sales of imported cars in South Korea plunged on-year in September, according to industry data on Oct. 7.In September, 16,778 new imported cars were registered, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.The September reading marked a 5.3-percent increase from the previous month. However, from the same month last year, the figure marked a 17.7-percent plunge. September marked the second consecutive month of drop following a 12.5-percent

[THE INVESTOR] Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho’s third wife and their daughter hold a combined 6.8 percent stake in Lotte Holdings, prosecution sources familiar with the matter said on Oct. 6. The stake in Lotte Holdings owned by Seo Mi-kyung, 57, and her 33-year-old daughter is the largest share among the founding family members of South Korea’s largest retail conglomerate.  The latest revelation related to Shin’s secretive common-law wife came as prosecutors have been looking into Lotte’s alleged w

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean government on Oct. 6 started to examine the effectiveness of Volkswagen’s recall measures for its sport utility vehicles. The Ministry of Environment and the National Institute of Environmental Research together launched the examination that could take upwards to six weeks on devices, including the Portable Emission Measurement System, in the Tiguan model.The move came a day after the auto giant submitted the recall plan to the local government for some 27,000 Tiguans

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s top financial regulator said on Oct. 6 that managing rising household debt is the top priority to revitalize the country’s economy. Speaking to lawmakers, Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong noted that it’s the “biggest risk factor” for the economy already in distress due to a number of setbacks including sluggish export growth and domestic spending.“The government is trying to deal comprehensively and thoroughly with the issue,” he said during an an

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union have discussed in Moscow on starting negotiations for a free trade agreement, officials said on Oct. 6.The talks held on Oct. 5 came on the heels of an agreement to seek an FTA that leaders of South Korea and Russia reached during a summit in Vladivostok in September.During the talks, the two sides reviewed the outcome of a joint feasibility study that has been made since December between the private sectors of the trade blocs

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean manufacturers’ business outlook for the fourth quarter is still gloomy, according to a poll on Oct. 6. The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry said its Business Survey Index for the October-December period came to 86, slightly up from 85 tallied in the previous quarter. The result is based on a survey of 2,400 manufacturing companies nationwide. A reading of under 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. “They are still worrying about future economic directions, giv

[THE INVESTOR] LG Chem has started construction of a plant in Poland for electric vehicle batteries, the company said on Oct. 6.The EV battery plant in Wroclaw, southwestern Poland, will cost 400 billion won (US$359 million), with its construction expected to be completed by 2018, LG Chem said.The plant will churn out 100,000 battery units annually for dedicated EVs. Europe’s EV market is expected to reach 2.27 million units in 2030 from the current 110,000 units, as European automakers are rush

[THE INVESTOR] Chinese companies are rushing to the South Korean stock market to be listed, industry sources said on Oct. 6.Three Chinese firms -- farm equipment parts maker Golden Century, Organic Tea Cosmetics Holdings Co. and plastics maker GRT -- are preparing to be listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market by year-end. Three Chinese companies have already listed on the minor bourse this year. Analysts said Chinese companies are opting to be listed on the Seoul bourse due to cheaper costs and an

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has agreed to acquire US artificial intelligence software developer Viv Labs, the tech giant said on Oct. 6.The Silicon Valley company was set up by the entrepreneurs who sold the Siri digital assistant to Apple. In a statement, Samsung said the deal showcases its “commitment to virtual personal assistants and is part of the company‘s broader vision to deliver an AI-based open ecosystem across all of its devices and services.”  VIV Lab's internet homepage captu

[DISCLOSURE] Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, or KODIT, announced on Oct. 5 that it has decided to guarantee 400 billion won (US$359 million) for private investments to extend the Shinbundang railway line from Gangnam to Yongsan. By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] Chaebol owners have been reluctant to give their assets to their children due to the burden of gift taxes, according to a market tracker on Oct. 5. According to CEO Score, the “asset succession rate” for the country’s top 50 chaebols stood at 32.7 percent this year, up a mere 4.1 percentage points from 2011.The figure refers to the portion of assets held by offspring compared to the owner families’ total assets. CEO Score said the major reason for the slow pace stems from the coun

[THE INVESTOR]  South Korea will build a 1.5-megawatt laboratory for solar photovoltaic technology in Sejong City, officials said on Oct. 5.If completed, South Korea will become the fourth country to have a megawatt laboratory for photovoltaic technology after the United States, Germany and Japan, officials said.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction have signed a memorandum of understanding for this purpose. The lab will allow com

[THE INVESTOR] Police raided the headquarters of CJ Hellovision on Oct. 5 over a suspicion of fabricated tax returns worth 23 billion won (US$20.60 million).CJ Hellovision may have overstated its sales by overcharging regional offices for commodities, investigators said. Police currently suspect the firm’s headquarters was directly involved in the fabrication.“The investigation aims to verify whether CJ Hellovision exaggerated its sales through issuing false tax statements without an actual exch

[THE INVESTOR]  The South Korean government and the ruling party consider purchasing rice surplus in bulk to control falling prices.“We urged the government to purchase the surplus production in bulk within this year to separate them from the market,” said Rep. Kim Gwang-lim, the policy official of Saenuri, at the meeting with financial officials on Oct. 5.The government also said it will make efforts to reflect such a move.Rice prices in the country have been falling throughout this year on the

[THE INVESTOR] The new head of Korea Exchange on Oct. 5 vowed efforts to transform the South Korea’s bourse into a holding company with subsidiaries. “Given internal and external necessities, a shift to a holding firm is a task we have to achieve at all costs,” KRX CEO Jeong Chan-woo said, starting his three-year tenure.The KRX has sought to go public and become a holding firm as part of efforts to strengthen governance and expand partnership with overseas bourses. But a related bill failed to p

[THE INVESTOR] The prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips will increase in the fourth quarter thanks to the rising demand for laptop computers and a supply shortage in the NAND flash market, according to industry data on Oct. 5. The average contract price of DRAM for personal computers rose 7.4 percent on month in September to US$14.50, and the price for the fourth quarter “will reach its highest point in two years due to stronger-than-expected notebook demand worldwide,” DRAMeXchange said i

[THE INVESTOR] Many South Korean parents have given assets to their children riding on the country’s low effective gift tax rate, an opposition lawmaker said on Oct. 5. In a report based on data by the National Tax Service, Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea said 26,227 South Korean minors under 19 years of age received a combined 3.05 trillion won (US$2.75 billion) in donated fortunes from their parents between 2011-15.That translates to an average of 116 million wo