The head of South Korea's top financial authority on Thursday lashed out at Taeyoung Engineering & Construction's self-rescue efforts, saying they fell far short of expectations and urging a new plan within the week. Financial Supervisory Service chief Lee Bok-hyun made the comments during his New Year's press conference at the FSS headquarters in Seoul earlier in the day, just a day after the ailing construction firm announced a set of self-rescue plans to overcome a liquidit

The total amount in year-end tax settlements submitted by employees of foreign nationality in South Korea reached a record high of 1.19 trillion won ($910 million) last year, the National Tax Service said Wednesday. All wage-earning workers of foreign nationality here, except for day laborers, are required to file their year-end tax settlements, as are those of Korean nationality. Foreign national taxpayers who submitted year-end tax settlements for income attributable to the year 2022 totaled 5

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation's primary mutual financial institution, also known as Saemaul Geumgo, held a capacity-building workshop ahead of opening its first branch in Fiji. Ten visitors, including government officials and villagers, from Fiji flew in for the workshop, which was held for 10 days in December at the MG Human Resources Development Institute in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Held as part of the South Korean Interior Ministry's

Hundreds of South Korean firms, including tech giant Samsung Electronics, are set to be hit by the newly implemented 15 percent global minimum tax rate. Under the new corporate tax rule that came into effect Monday, multinational enterprises with a consolidated revenue of over 750 million euros ($827 million) are subject to an effective tax rate of 15 percent on their profits in every jurisdiction where they operate. The global minimum corporate tax system was agreed upon by the Organization for

Controversy over South Korea's high inheritance tax has resurfaced as the government failed again in its tender offer to sell a 4.7-trillion-won ($3.62 billion) stake in NXC, a holding firm of the nation's largest game developer, Nexon. The open bid, hosted by the Korea Asset Management Corp., to sell the Finance Ministry's 29.3 percent stake, or 852,000 shares, in NXC ended in another failure, according to Kamco's auction site Onbid on Friday, with no offers being made. Th

Shinhan Card announced Thursday that its Kazakhstan unit, Shinhan Finance, secured about 31 billion won ($24 million) from Aster, a leading automobile dealer in the Central Asian country, for a new joint venture, becoming the first Korean card company to win investment from an overseas entity. The two companies agreed to set up a joint venture worth 62 billion won to seek synergy in Kazakhstan’s burgeoning microfinance market. Under the partnership, Aster will invest 31 billion won into Sh

The ongoing legal risks surrounding Kakao Corp. seem to be eating into subsidiaries' plans for global expansion, with a series of acquisition deals toppled recently. Kakao Mobility's stock purchase deal with German taxi-hailing service provider FreeNow has reportedly fallen through, with the two companies failing to come to a consensus on the final conditions. Kakao Mobility has been seeking to acquire about 80 percent of FreeNow, Europe's largest taxi-hailing platform, and the Ko

Posco, South Korea's biggest steelmaker, has swept a local ad awards ceremony with its creative digital campaign that was produced in celebration of its 50th anniversary of its first steel mill. Posco's "Fantasteel" campaign -- which contains the company's achievements in steelmaking technology in Korea over the past 50 years and presents its vision for the next few decades -- grabbed the top honor, the Grand Prix, at the 2023 Korea Digital Advertising Festival on Dec. 1

South Korea's financial regulator on Monday said it had imposed its largest ever fine on two Hong Kong-based investment banks for illegally practicing short selling on the domestic stock market. The Financial Services Commission said its Securities and Futures Commission decided during a meeting on Friday to fine the Hong Kong unit of French investment bank BNP Paribas and its securities affiliate operating in Korea as well as HSBC's Hong Kong arm 26.52 billion won ($20.35 million) for

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives, the nation's primary mutual financial institution, said Thursday that its acting president, Kim In, has been voted as the new chairman. This is the first time that the KFCC has voted its head through a direct election system in the institution's 60-year history. Until now, 350 representatives were selected to indirectly elect the president. Beating eight other candidates, Kim secured the top post by winning 539 votes out of the 1,

Local banks rolled out 2 trillion won ($1.53 billion) in cash funding to relieve individuals and small businesses having trouble paying back loans or debts amid the prolonged economic downturn. The measure comes in a month since the commercial banking sector and the financial authorities put their heads together to find means to reduce the burden for small companies and share the banks' profit gained from excessive interest rate. The biggest part of the new plan is the 1.6 trillion won inte

Kakao Pay, the online payment unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao, has axed plans to expand its ownership of stocks of US brokerage firm Siebert Financial amid ongoing regulatory risks at Kakao. The tech firm said in a public disclosure Wednesday it has arrived at a mutual consensus with Siebert to end their agreement to purchase a second round of stocks in the company, which had been slated to happen next year. Kakao Pay in May purchased a 19.9 percent stake in the New York-based firm through

Insurance companies are seeking to capture business opportunities in the senior care and retirement community industry with the country quickly approaching having the world's oldest population. Tucked into a quiet neighborhood in central Seoul, KB Financial's arm for senior nursing care, KB Golden Life Care, will launch a five-story housing complex at the end of this month. The retirement community -- KB Pyeongchang County -- will house 164 sets of senior residents as either singles or

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said it is too early for central banks to go easy on inflation control despite signs of recovery. “We have seen through history that at this very last moment of controlling inflation, some countries prematurely declare victory,” the IMF chief said during a press conference held in Seoul Friday. Georgieva’s remarks come on the heels of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting Wednesday, during which

South Korea is lowering the bar considerably for foreign investors to enter the local capital market with several new measures -- including the abolishment of a cumbersome registration policy -- set to come into effect Thursday. The new measures are being implemented in around a year since local financial regulators announced them in January, as part of their efforts to attract more overseas investment and meet global standards. Among the reforms is the abolition of a 30-year-old registration po

While South Korea's trade balance is likely to record a surplus next year after three years of struggle, experts warned that the country should brace for worsening global economic instability and geopolitical complications. At a seminar held by the Korea International Trade Association on Tuesday in Seoul, experts presented outlooks for next year's export environment and trade issues related to the US presidential election, along with geopolitical risks. Overall, Korea's trade is

Alipay+, the cross-border payments solutions run by China's Ant Group, saw phenomenal growth in its usage in Korea this year -- almost a 700 percent jump in the monthly numbers -- with the return of foreign tourists and the expansion of its service among the local stores. Danny Chung, the general manager of Ant Group in Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Mongolia, shared the performance and the company's plans Monday during a roundtable meeting with local journalists held in Seoul. Duri

Local banks are considering a financial support program worth 2 trillion won ($1.52 billion) for owners of small businesses by giving back a part of their loan payments, amid prolonged inflation and high interest rates. The measure was discussed Thursday during a task force meeting of local financial institutions and regulatory bodies aimed at finding means to support the public livelihood, industry sources said Sunday. The first of the collective efforts is set to be a cash-back rewards scheme

It was a rough year for K-pop, with big firms' shares taking a roller-coaster ride despite outstanding performances, hitting an annual peak in the summer and plummeting in recent months. But the bumpy ride is set to settle down for the most part, with major risk factors being resolved and individual firms pushing through with their global business ventures for long-term qualitative growth, industry watchers say. YG Entertainment finally came out of the shadows on Wednesday, when it anno

South Korea's finance minister nominee on Tuesday said strengthening economic stabilization efforts for citizens' livelihoods while continuing the government's drive for reform would be the key priorities under his leadership. Choi Sang-mok, the nominee for the country’s top economic policymaker, made the remark during his first gathering with the local press Tuesday, following his nomination by the presidential office Monday. The former senior presidential secretary for eco