The Vietnamese football team’s latest victory in the regional finals under South Korean coach Park Hang-seo has helped South Korean companies.A leading beneficiary was Shinhan Bank, which appointed Park as honorary ambassador earlier this year, seeking to expand its overseas business in the Southeast Asian state.The Vietnamese team defeated Malaysia in the ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup finals on Saturday, scoring its first victory in a decade. Even before the match, Shinhan Bank Vie

The South Korean government on Monday set the country’s growth rate for next year at 2.6-2.7 percent, lowering its earlier forecast amid a slowing global economy. It also indicated that it may slow down the pace of legal minimum wage hikes and the reduction of working hours in light of backlash from business circles and sluggish employment indexes.“It is important that new economic policies such as the minimum wage hike and workhour cut are implemented under a public consensus based

South Korea’s dominant portal web operator Naver and Seoul’s Dongdaemun Special Tourist Zone have been included on the European Union’s “watch list” for acts of piracy and counterfeiting, according to a recent report.The European Commission, with the support of the EU Intellectual Property Office and Europol, published its first-ever watch list last week, naming 52 non-EU websites and marketplaces in more than 20 countries it alleges engage in, facilitate or benefit from piracy. (Credit : Seoul'

The South Korean government will ease the criteria for intellectual property-backed lending and drastically increase the related state budget, seeking to promote small-sized tech companies’ access to loans, officials said Tuesday.According to the mid-term plan, small and medium-sized enterprises that own valid patents may save up to 60 billion won ($53 million) in interest cost over the next five years, thanks to low-interest IP-backed loans. Loan accessibility will also be improved as the range

Those who intentionally infringe patents and trade secrets of others will be subject to punitive damages starting June next year, South Korea’s intellectual property office said Sunday.The National Assembly on Friday approved bills to revise the Patent Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Prevention Act, which included reinforced penalties for violations, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office.The median value of damages in patent infringement lawsuits here st

South Korea recorded a current account surplus in October for the 80th straight month on the back of solid goods exports, central bank data showed Thursday.The country’s current account surplus stood at $9.19 billion as of end-October, up sharply from $5.72 billion a year earlier, keeping in the black since March 2012, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea.However, the figure decreased slightly from the previous month when it reached a 12-month high at $10.83 billion.

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s largest institutional investor, saw the total value of its stock holdings drop drastically this year despite a slight increase in the number of investment targets, data showed Wednesday.The overall downturn was attributable to the stock market trend which has recently been reeling under uncertainties such as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, as well as the prolonged slow growth of the domestic economy. According to local corpora

Rival parties on Tuesday locked horns over the efficacy of the Moon Jae-in administration’s “income-led growth” paradigm at the parliamentary confirmation hearing of deputy prime minister and finance minister nominee Hong Nam-ki.The hearing, however, was largely overshadowed by the ongoing brawl over the delayed passage of the 470.5 trillion won ($424 billion) state budget bill for next year.“Though there have been disputes over the income-led growth initiative, I believe

The Ministry of Economy and Finance was off to a rocky start Monday, as it faced mounting pressure with the delayed passage of next year’s state budget while its new minister nominee is set to have his confirmation hearing Tuesday.A concern for the ministry is that Minister nominee Hong Nam-ki could take office without a fixed budget plan, which could weaken the momentum of the government’s economic policies.The budget bill remained pending on Monday afternoon, with opposition partie

Contrary to widespread belief, accounting is subjective and involves judgments that are sensitive to the context. And excessive interference by financial regulators could lead to unintended side effects, as can be seen in the case involving Samsung BioLogics’ accounting irregularities, according to accounting experts.Furthermore, to keep a balance between regulatory monitoring and market autonomy, it is crucial that corporate audit committees play an expansive role in the regulator-management-au

South Korea’s central bank raised the nation’s benchmark interest rate Friday to 1.75 percent, amid growing household debt and further rate hike signals from the United States.The Bank of Korea held its last Monetary Policy Board meeting for this year, in which it decided to raise the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent, officials said.The rate had been frozen at 1.5 percent since November last year, when the BOK made its first hike in more than six years from a reco

The excessive focus on gross domestic product has often misguided economic policies and has to some extent contributed to major global challenges including the 2008 global financial crisis, according to key speakers participating in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s sixth World Forum held here Tuesday.In the case of South Korea, policymakers need to address agenda related to subjective well-being, such as long working hours, they said. The OECD and Statistics Kore

Despite pessimistic projections for global growth and consequent market anxiety, South Korea’s economy is expected to put up a reasonably good fight in the coming years, according to the chief official of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The primary concern for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, is whether it can expand beyond the conventional frame of economic measurements and use its capacities and potential to fundamentally improve people’s live

Global leaders, scholars and policymakers from all sectors of society are to gather in Incheon’s Songdo area this week to discuss well-being and inclusive growth, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Statistics Korea.The sixth OECD World Forum, titled “The Future of Well-being” and held jointly by the OECD and South Korea’s statistics office, will take place at Songdo Convensia in the western metropolitan city of Incheon from Tuesday

Korea’s judiciary system, especially its patent trial system, has long been noted for its advanced electronic procedure, relatively low litigation expenses and highly qualified human resources.But to further promote its global status and to appeal its forte to multinational businesses, one additional factor was required -- a multilingual pleading process for foreign litigants, according to the Patent Court of Korea.The Patent Court on Friday held an English pleading for foreign litigants, markin

Woori Bank, South Korea’s third-largest commercial lender in terms of operating profit, said Wednesday that it will allocate 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) to supporting midsized enterprises by 2022.The bank unveiled its road map during a business summit at Seoul’s Plaza Hotel, an event hosted jointly with the Association of High Potential Enterprises of Korea.Announcing a mid-term plan named “Great Vision 2022,” Woori Bank pledged to create a financial package worth about

As the global economy faces an inevitable slowdown next year, major economies should lay emphasis on structural reforms to respond to the decline in labor productivity and growth potential, according to a top-level official of the Bank for International Settlements.“I agree with the International Monetary Fund’s revised forecast in September, when it cut down the global economic growth for next year to 3.7 percent from the former 3.9 percent,” Agustin Carstens, general manager

The pace of global economic growth will slow down further next year amid persistent downside risks, according to South Korea’s state-run think tank on Tuesday.The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, an organization affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office, set the world economic growth rate at 3.5 percent for next year, as compared with 3.7 percent expected this year.“The global economy, which has been on a recovery trend under the US lead, has surpassed its h

On the Bar is a regular column written by attorneys at Yoon & Yang LLC on various laws and regulations that affect running a business in Korea. The content provided here is general legal information. -- Ed.The Act on External Audit of Stock Companies has undergone numerous amendments since its enactment in 1981.The latest amendment, which took effect on Nov. 1 this year, contains the most sweeping reform measures affecting all stakeholders in the accounting industry -- companies, auditors and re

The stock trading suspension of Samsung BioLogics starting Thursday seemed to wrap up a chapter in the yearslong brawl over alleged accounting fraud, apparently with the defeat of the biotech company.Market observers, however, remained divided on the impact that the case may have on the domestic stock market and the biopharmaceutical industry. Some optimistically suggested that the sanction may act as a turning point for the Samsung Group affiliate to end the prolonged uncertainty factor.The dow