The Korean Reinsurance Co. (Korean Re), a leading domestic reinsurance firm here, announced the launch of its Shanghai office on Wednesday. The opening came after it received approval from China’s banking and insurance authorities in December. The new office is the second Chinese location for the Korean firm, which has run its business in Beijing since 1997. The new branch will be in charge of sales while the Beijing office will continue to lead the management and market research.The

The recent passage of bills on personal data and credit information of individuals by the National Assembly will likely give a boost to fintech giants and startups in South Korea, according to analysts.The three revised bills regarding the protection of private information, information and communications networks, and the use and protection of credit information will allow companies as well as government agencies to utilize personal information for various research and business purposes without

South Korea saw its employment rate hit a 22-year high last year, boosted by a stronger-than-expected job growth in December, government data showed Wednesday.Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, continues to face structural problems as the latest result was mostly attributable to the government’s policy efforts and also focused heavily on specific age groups.The country recorded 27.15 million workers employed in December -- up 516,000 from a year earlier -- marking the large

Influencer marketer Marketit said Tuesday that it has attracted 5 billion won ($4.3 million) from investors including AlpenRoute Asset Management.AlpenRoute was one of the early investors in Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind global pop sensation BTS, and Market Kurly, a startup unicorn that operates a grocery delivery platform. With the new funding, the startup has secured 7 billion won in total investments, according to officials.It plans to advance its data management systems and r

세계적 컨설팅 회사 딜로이트의 한국 멤버인 딜로이트 컨설팅 코리아가 여성 리더쉽 부족 등의 이유로 아시아 태평양 연합체 가입에서 탈락한 것으로 알려졌다.회사 내부에 정통한 소식통에 따르면, 작년 여성 리더십과 인종 다양성을 평가하는 내부 조사에서 딜로이트 컨설팅이 낙제점을 받았고, 이는 연합체 합류가 어렵게 된 이유 중 하나라고 말했다.딜로이트 아시아 태평양은 중국, 일본, 동남아시아, 호주 등의 딜로이트 사무소들이 연합해 최고 수준의 프로페셔널 서비스를 제공하기 위해 2018년에 만들어진 단일 그룹이다. 딜로이트 그룹은 당시 아태멤버들에게 3년간 약 3억 2300만 달러의 투자를 하기로 약속했다. 이 연합체 소속 멤버들은 해당 국가를 넘어선 새로운 프로젝트 수주는 물론, 지위도 높아지는 효과를 누릴 수 있을 것으로 예상된다. 올해는 인도가 합류할 것으로 점쳐지고 있지만 한국은 아직 멤버 리스트에서 빠져있다. “내부 평가 후, 본부장 급 임원께서 여성리더

Deloitte Consulting Korea has failed to join Deloitte Asia Pacific, a single business entity that combines the operations of the global consulting firm in the region, partly due to gender disparity at its Seoul office, sources told The Korea Herald.Formed in September 2018, the firm’s Asia-Pacific umbrella combines operations in China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia as a unified business unit. India is expected to join the alliance this year, while Korea is still excluded from th

Visa Korea on Monday announced plans to launch new services this year, in an effort to grow its presence in the emerging segments of big data and contactless payment solutions.To help its corporate clients strengthen their marketing strategies, Visa Korea said it would provide marketing solutions based on big data analytics technology for a more diverse range of businesses. The global payment giant currently has a team of 500 data analysts and consultants who offer insights into data-based marke

Three individual investors have filed criminal complaints against representatives of Lime Asset Management, Shinhan Investment and Woori Bank, accusing them of fraud and capital market law violations in the sale of private equity funds, the investors’ legal representatives said Friday.Local law firm Hannuri said it had filed complaints with the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office against six officials from the three companies on behalf of the three investors.Lime Asset is accused o

More than one-third of local fund operator Lime Asset Management’s now-frozen private equity fund was sold via Korean commercial banks last year, the financial watchdog said Tuesday, further igniting trust issues involving lenders already facing criticism for misselling risky financial products.　As of late July, domestic banks, including Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and KEB Hana Bank, had sold a combined 2 trillion won ($1.72 billion) of the fund on behalf of Lime Asset, according to an ongoin

France, a beauty and fashion powerhouse, has been a hard nut to crack for many Korean cosmetics companies. Although local South Korean brands have spent a huge amount on marketing since the 1980s to gain traction there, they have seen little success. Making matters worse, social media has rapidly transformed marketing trends, meaning traditional marketing through TV commercials and offline stores are not as effective as before.Korean influencer marketing startup Ppanam’s CEO Ham Dong-hyuk

Artificial intelligence-enabled products and services, including portable speakers, chatbots and robots, are already out there, serving customers in different industries and of different needs. Few of them, however, are offering truly practical benefits. AI speakers are still short of fully understanding human language while robot assistants deployed at public spaces often end up gathering dust due partly to their still clumsy speech and movement capabilities. KT, a Korean conglomerate that o

An inflow of new players is likely to intensify the heated digitalization race in South Korea’s financial industry this year, along with the industry-wide efforts to expand the scope of business and accelerate innovation. Taking a bold step in a heavily regulated country in terms of customer information protection and security, traditional banks and financial institutions late last year started what is called an open banking service.Offering new business opportunities to small-sized financ

National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo has offered to resign so that he can run in the general elections in April, according to news reports citing political sources Thursday.Kim has reportedly tendered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in, who appointed him as head of the state-run pension fund two years ago. He has a year left in his three-year term as chairman. Before assuming his current post in 2017, the former lawmaker served as a member of a National Assembly health and welfar

After its launch in Dec. 2018, Seoul City’s own mobile payment app Zero Pay is now in a very fragile situation and is struggling to make a mark in the local payment industry, data showed on Wednesday. As of Dec. 16, the transactions made through Zero Pay reached 69.6 billion won ($60 million), a mere 0.0076 percent of the entire transaction volume of some 910 trillion won paid via noncash payments. The actual transaction volume of the city’s own payment solution i

Sales of private equity funds for individual investors dropped for the fifth consecutive month in November, amid growing distrust in the aftermath of damages incurred by risky derivatives-linked funds sold by banks and asset management firms, a local self-regulatory organization said Wednesday. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, local banks sold a combined 24.1 trillion won ($20.9 billion) of private equity funds, down by 600 billion won, or 2.4 percent, in November from th

[더인베스터=송승현기자, 김영원 기자] 2017년 세계 최고의 화장품 브랜드들이 모여 있는 프랑스 파리의 라파예트 백화점에 설화수 단독 매장을 열며 프랑스 진출을 시도했던 아모레퍼시픽이 본 매장의 철수를 검토한다. 현지 뷰티 업계 관계자는 “프랑스 현지 뷰티 업계에서는 설화수 브랜드가 실적부진으로 프랑스 시장 철수를 고려하고 있다,”고 밝히며, “큰 브랜드들이 라파예트에 들어갔다가 결과를 못 보고 빠지는 경우가 많은데, 설화수도 그런 경우,”라고 말했다.2017년 설화수의 라파예트 백화점 입점은 아모레퍼시픽 서경배 회장의 프랑스 뷰티 시장 재도전의 상징으로 여겨졌다. 1998년 아모레퍼시픽은 17개 종합병원의 피부과 전문의와 공동 연구 개발을 통해 만든 저자극성 화장품 브랜드 ‘순’을 필두로 프랑스 시장을 공략했다. 1990년에는 프랑스에 현지법인을 설립하고 리리코스 브랜드를 현지 생산하며 프랑스 진출을 본격화했다. 그

World shares were mixed on Tuesday and oil prices eased back pending updates on restoring output at a Saudi Aramco oil processing plant damaged by an attack over the weekend.Chinese benchmarks led declines in Asia after the credit ratings agency Moody's downgraded Hong Kong, citing its recent political turmoil.  Germany's DAX lost 0.2% to 12,362 after the ZEW index of economic confidence dropped again in September, pointing to the likelihood of a brief recession before a pick-up at the end

North Korea's coast guard chased off Japanese fishing boats illegally operating in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) late last month, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday, rebutting Tokyo's claims that armed North Korean boats had trespassed in its own zone. "The expulsion of the Japanese ships from our zone is a just and righteous exercise of our sovereign rights," North Korea's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by the English-language report of the Korean Central News Agency

Pictures of dead or dying sea turtles, whales and birds have gone viral recently, warnings of an escalating waste problem that causes animals to choke on plastic debris. Although such heartbreaking pictures are effective in increasing awareness about environmental issues, they often fall short of motivating the general public to reduce their waste output in the long term. To build momentum for saving the earth, a South Korean recycling startup offers financial incentives for recycling as a way o

The new 5G telecom network, which is 20 times faster than 4G, is expected to change many aspects of our lives -- how we communicate, drive, work, shop and more.Although the technology is still a long way from taking off, it is already changing how fans enjoy games at the baseball stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.  The stadium is home to KT Wiz, run by KT Sports, a subsidiary of South Korean telecom firm KT. The team currently ranks sixth in the Korean Baseball Organization league.“