Woori Bank, one of the five largest lenders in South Korea, is under investigation over suspicious money transfers totaling 800 billion won ($623 million) as one of the bank employees is standing a separate trial on charges that he stole 61 billion won in the largest bank theft local lenders have seen. A Woori branch in Seoul had sent the money overseas in the last year in what the bank and authorities suspect to be fraudulent remittances that could involve money laundering, given the transacti

Standard Chartered Bank Korea is offering a special interest rate of up to 1.9 percent per annum, before tax, to new customers opening a checking account by the end of this month. Account holders are eligible for the special rate up to 60 days from opening the account, as long as they keep the balance between 100 million won ($77,200) and 2 billion won. The rate is adjusted each day depending on the balance at the end of day. Once new deposits reach 200 billion won, the special offer will ex

The South Korean won weakened to more than 1,300 per US dollar for the first time in 13 years in onshore spot trading Thursday, breaching the key psychological threshold as recession worries boosted the dollar’s safe-haven appeal. The won lost 0.35 percent from the previous session to 1,301.8 per dollar, the lowest close since July 14, 2009, when the won dropped to 1,303 during onshore trading hours. The 1,300 mark, last seen in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, is con

Debt owed by South Korean households and companies in the first quarter of this year reached a combined 3,468.4 trillion won ($2.6 trillion), or 219.4 percent of South Korea’s gross domestic product, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday, warning a rate hike could worsen repayment burdens and hurt people’s purchasing power. The central bank, set to raise borrowing costs in July amid red-hot inflation, said in a report on financial stability that household and company debts fell by 0.1 pe

The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that South Korea could see the annual increase in consumer prices this year top the 4.7 percent marked in 2008, the highest level in the last 20 years, as a global surge in materials and food costs adds pressure on Asia’s fourth-largest economy. “Given the surging oil prices and changes in the global economy, inflation for this year will surpass the estimate made in May,” the central bank said in a biannual report on consumer prices, revising up

South Korea’s top financial watchdog said Monday that banks should step up efforts to protect self-employed and small business owners who are affected most by surging interest rates, at a meeting held with 17 local bank CEOs ahead of a rate decision by the Bank of Korea in July. “Rising interest rates and prices could push them into defaults and we have to be ready for that,” said Gov. Lee Bok-hyun, who was named to lead the Financial Supervisory Service two weeks ago. Th

Fears over rapid inflation and sluggish growth are gripping South Korea, with indicators pointing to a gloomy outlook and authorities conceding that Asia’s fourth-largest economy is facing a “full-blown crisis.” The Finance Ministry on Thursday revised up its inflation forecast for this year to 4.7 percent from 2.2 percent, with the estimate surpassing 4 percent for the first time in 11 years. Import prices jumped 36.3 percent in May from the same period a year ago on soaring

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi fell 45.59 points, or 1.83 percent, from a day earlier to 2447.38 Wednesday, marking a seventh straight negative session as investors dramatically raise their bets on a US Fed hike of 75 basis points on Wednesday there, steeper than the 50 basis points it had indicated. The main board slid to an intraday low of 2436.04, a new 52-week low, as foreign investors carried on a sell-off for a ninth session straight, outweighing purchases by institutional and retai

Simmering fears over a sharper-than-expected US Federal Reserve rate hike amid red-hot US inflation dragged down South Korea’s benchmark Kospi below the 2,500 mark for the first time in 19 months on Tuesday.  The main board closed at 2,492.97, after reaching an intraday low of 2,457.39. The Fed will raise interest rates on Wednesday there, with investors dramatically raising their bets on a hike of 75 basis points, steeper than the 50 basis points the Fed had indicated

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed at 2,504.51 Monday, its lowest level since Nov. 13, 2020 when it fell to 2,493.87, as investors priced in a big US rate hike amid a record annual increase in US consumer prices in May. A month earlier, US consumer prices surged 8.6 percent on-year, the largest gain since 1981 on record-high gasoline prices and soaring food costs, fueling bets on a sharper rate hike than the half percentage point raise the US Fed had indicated. The Fed’s two-

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong on Friday backed a “timely” rate hike to avoid fallout from a belated decision, ahead of a policy board meeting in July, in an address to mark the 72nd anniversary of the bank’s founding. The central bank has already lifted interest rates three times this year, doing so at every policy meeting except for the one in February -- a decision experts say demonstrates the central bank’s determination to alleviate the increasing burden on

McDonald’s, the world’s largest burger chain by revenue, is seeking a buyer to take over the Korean business it wholly owns, six years after its first attempt, which fell apart after a local dairy company backed out. “We’re looking for a strategic partner who could help our business here grow. We’re looking at several options with outside advisers,” a McDonald’s Korea official said Friday, declining to elaborate on details. Mirae Asset Securities will

South Korea’s economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter this year from three months earlier, lower than the 0.7 percent growth forecast in April, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday, citing weak investment and consumption as factors behind the revision. Growth in the gross domestic product for January-March, which slowed from 1.3 percent on-quarter in the previous cycle, expanded 3 percent on-year, also a drop from the 3.1 percent growth the central bank projected in April. “Data

Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Credit Finance Association and a former bureaucrat experienced in crisis management at the Financial Services Commission, was tapped to lead the top financial policymaker under the Yoon Suk-yeol government. Kim helped South Korea ride out the 2008 financial crisis as the inaugural chief of policy at the FSC, which was set up in January that year as part of a government reshuffle carried out by then-President Lee Myung-bak, who took office a month later. In 2011, K

South Korea’s household debt topped 104 percent of gross domestic product, marking the highest level among 36 major economies, the Institute of International Finance’s data showed. Korea’s household debt fell to 104.3 percent of GDP in the first quarter of this year from 105 percent in the same period a year earlier, still outrunning rivals by a large margin, according to the report the Washington-based private financial industry association released May 18. Household debt l

Central banks should think about what they should do besides keeping prices stable as emerging economies including South Korea struggle to avert anemic growth once persistent inflation caused by the pandemic cools off, Bank of Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said Thursday at a conference. “To escape a low growth, low inflation trap, should emerging market economies, or Korea for that matter, follow the same advice professor Paul Krugman gave to central bankers in advanced economies, to ‘credib

The South Korean government should help companies build a hydrogen economy because using the renewable energy ensures growth as businesses race to reduce their carbon footprint, Woo Tae-hee, vice chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Tuesday at a forum on green hydrogen. “I believe it is time for us to turn the climate crisis into an opportunity to secure the hydrogen market and improve our economy with strong commitment and collective wisdom,” Woo said at the

Self-employed workers will likely bear the brunt of the Bank of Korea’s rate hike on Thursday, the fifth raise since August last year from the central bank’s record low of 0.5 percent amid persistent inflation, a credit ratings agency said Friday in a report. The self-employed in 2020 spent 46 percent of their annual income amid falling earnings to settle debt while households used 34 percent on average to do the same, according to Korea Investors Service. 

South Korean men shop at a convenience store more often than women, with men in their 20s visiting most often among all age groups of both men and women, at nine times a month on average, according to data released by Samsung Card on Thursday. In the first quarter this year, men using the firm’s card visited a convenience store 6.3 times a month on average, while women shopped there 3.9 times a month on average. How many users were surveyed were not known but as of September last year,

The Yoon Suk-yeol government is considering extending mortgage loan maturity terms for newlyweds and young Koreans aged 19-39 as part of efforts to follow through on a pledge to help young people acquire their homes, amid runaway housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area. Under the new plan, young people would be able to repay their loan over 50 years, instead of 40 years, the longest repayment period currently offered to newlyweds and Koreans in that age group. “The 50-year loan sc