Hana Life Insurance CEO Lee Seung-lyul, 59, was named the final candidate to be considered as the new head of Hana Bank, in Hana Financial Group’s latest leadership reshuffle, which took place earlier than usual. Hana Financial Group said Wednesday it completed CEO nominations for its affiliates Hana Bank, Hana Securities and Hana Card through a recommendation committee meeting held the day before. It was the first CEO reshuffle to be made after the group's chairman Ham Young-joo to

Companies with higher involvement of foreigners and small investors are more likely to release more detailed corporate governance reports, demonstrating more transparency, the Korea Exchange said Tuesday. The Korea Exchange, the nation's sole bourse operator, released an analysis on the corporate governance reports of companies listed on the local stock market. As companies with assets between 1 trillion and 2 trillion won ($767 million to $1.53 billion) were required to release corporate

The Financial Services Commission denied a report that it is considering enforcement power to control the listing of cryptocurrencies through mandating approval from the country's top financial regulator. A local news report claimed Monday that financial authorities, including the FSC and Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, are reviewing to hold the authority to approve crypto firms to float their coins. "The report claiming financial authorities are looking into whether to approve the

More than 70,000 people under the age of 30 are obliged to pay a gift tax for receiving assets in 2021, marking a two-fold increase from the year before, data showed Monday. According to Rep. Jin Sun-mee from the Democratic Party of Korea, 70,115 people under 30 are obliged to pay a gift tax for receiving land, properties or securities in 2021. Jin is a member of the Strategy & Finance Committee at the National Assembly and the data was provided by the National Tax Service. Jin argued the fi

After being pulled off from the country’s major crypto exchange platforms, Wemix decided to repurchase some $10 million worth of its digital assets and remove them from circulation to increase the value of the token. Wemix was pulled off from Korea’s top crypto exchanges under the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) on Thursday, following a Seoul court’s dismissal of an injunction against the delisting of the cryptocurrency. DAXA owns the nation’s top five crypto excha

Foreign investors remained net buyers of local securities, recording a net inflow of $2.74 billion (3.56 trillion won) in local securities in November, data from the central bank showed Friday. According to the Bank of Korea’s report on the international finance and foreign exchange market, foreigners purchased a net $2.1 billion worth of shares and $630 million worth of bonds in Korea in November, continuing the buying rush from the month before. The figure adds up to a total of $8.05 bil

The South Korean government pledged to make pan-governmental efforts to lift some of the regulations on businesses as part of its drive to draw more foreign-invested companies, the Trade Ministry said Thursday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, foreign investments play a major role in the Korean economy. Korea received $21.52 billion worth of foreign direct investment commitments from January to September this year, up 18.2 percent from the same period of the year before

Shinhan Bank President Jin Ok-dong, 61, has been appointed as the final candidate for the new chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, South Korea's No. 2 bank by total assets, Thursday. The group said that nonexecutive directors of the group unanimously voted for Jin at a candidate recommendation meeting held at the firm's headquarters in central Seoul. Other candidates were Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung and Shinhan Card CEO Lim Young-jin. Though it was rumored that cur

Banknotes with higher face value have a longer life span, with highest denomination here of 50,000 won ($38) presumed to be used for more than 15 years, a central bank report showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea announced the results of a study on the average life span of Korean banknotes, making a presumption based on a sample survey of the notes in circulation in 2022. The results showed 10,000-won and 50,000-won bills have much longer lifetimes than bills of a smaller face value. The lifetime

More than 300 business leaders from Korea and Vietnam gathered to attend the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, held in line with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s state visit to Korea, pledging to expand economic ties for bilateral growth. The Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was held at Lotte Hotel Seoul on Tuesday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. The Vietnamese president and Korean Finance Minister Choo

Nearly half of the nation's top 500 companies by sales have yet to come up with investment plans for next year, amid recession fears on more rate hikes and a strong US dollar, a survey showed Monday. The Federation of Korean Industries business lobby conducted the survey from Nov. 17-25. According to the survey, 10 percent of responding companies said they have no investment plans next year, while another 38 percent said they have yet to come up with concrete plans. Fifty-two percent said t

Wealthy Koreans with seed money of 820 million won ($630,000) by the age of 42 was determined as the minimum condition of "being wealthy" here, a report showed Sunday. The 2022 Korean Wealth Report compiled by a think tank under KB Financial Group was based on a study conducted in June and July, including a face-to-face survey with 400 respondents with more than 1 billion won in financial assets. It defined “wealthy” as having financial assets over 1 billion won. There were

Childhood is no longer filled with dreams. Instead it is beset by competition, pressure and anxiety, as more children are exposed to an overheated education environment from an early age. But some students and their families are taking a step away from the heat, traveling south for a sabbatical at a countryside school. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, in charge of the primary and secondary education of the capital city, has been encouraging students to try out a school life in the cou

The South Korean won rose to a four-month high on Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve hinted at a possible slowdown of its aggressive rate hikes. The Korean currency strengthened to 1,299.7 won against the greenback as of closing time, back below 1,300 won for the first time in four months. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday at an economic forum. The Fed has hiked interest r

Foreign investors purchased a net of more than 6 trillion won ($4.5 billion) worth of shares on South Korea's stock market in October and November as they picked up chips and other related tech shares, the Korea Exchange's data showed Wednesday. According to the securities exchange operator, foreign investors purchased net 6.78 trillion-won worth of shares on the benchmark Kospi from Oct. 1 to Nov. 29, while they sold 30 billion won on Kosdaq. The Kospi purchase was heavily focused on

The Korea International Trade Association is hosting a two-day trade fair from Tuesday to help local companies form international partnerships with global buyers. The 2022 Korea Grand Sourcing Fair, a hybrid event held both online and offline, is taking place at the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul with 211 buyers from 36 nations and around 750 Korean companies participating. Held after the COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions were eased, this year’s lineup

President Yoon Suk-yeol will announce the road map for a "space economy" on Monday which includes a plan to launch a space agency by next year, the presidential office said Sunday. "President Yoon will announce the road map for a future space economy tomorrow, including six state agendas for Korea to become a powerful nation of space economy," Lee Jae-myung, a deputy presidential office spokesperson, said at a briefing held at the presidential office in Yongsan. Lee also said

Over the years, the average energy intake of Koreans has been on a decrease. While the consumption of carbohydrates has dropped, protein consumption has increased with changes in dietary habits. According to the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the average energy intake by Koreans per day was 2,129 kcal for men and 1,576 kcal for women in 2021. The numbers have been on a consecutive decline since 2015. Koreans ar

A significant number of foreign students who come to Korea to study stay in the country after their visa expires, a report showed. The Education Ministry deemed the COVID-19 pandemic as the main reason why. According to a monthly report released by the Korea Immigration Service, the number of foreign students staying in Korea with a D-2 student visa, which guarantees a three-year stay, was 137,779 as of October. This is 19,881 students more than the year before. Those staying in Korea with a D-4

From Thursday, the government will expand its ban on single-use merchandise with a yearlong grace period, adding plastic bags, straws, stir sticks and more to its list of restricted items. Single-use plastic bags will be banned from retail stores including convenience stores and bakeries. The ban, previously applicable to large stores with a floor space of 3,000 square meters or more and supermarkets with a 165 square meters of floor space or more, will be expanded to more retail stores. Though