Kim Jung-ju, CEO of gaming firm Nexon’s holding company NXC, is Korea’s richest businessman, with assets valued at $14.1 billion, according to a report from a US think tank. Kim was ranked 144th on a list of the world’s billionaires that showed Jeff Bezos, CEO of e-commerce behemoth Amazon, topping the list with assets totaling $178 billion. The CEO of luxury products behemoth LVMH Moet Hennessy, Bernard Arnault, and his family, were second on the list, with $162.6 billion.

South Korean stock brokerage firms were among highest-paying companies across all industries last year with an average annual salary of more than 120 million won ($106,288), data showed on Thursday. According to data compiled by recruitment firm Job Korea, employees at Korea’s top 100 listed companies were paid an average annual pay of 83.2 million won. Claiming the top spot of the list for the highest-paying workplaces here, stock trading firm Samsung Securities, paid 131 million won

South Korean investors are willing to acquire more real estate assets this year than last year, as the market shows signs of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic with the expansion of vaccination programs, according to a report released by global commercial real estate services firm CBRE on Tuesday. A survey of 492 investors in the Asia-Pacific region, including 40 from Korea, showed that 53 percent of Korean investors said they would purchase more real estate this year than in 2020. The figu

South Korean credit card company Samsung Card said Tuesday that it had issued foreign currency asset-backed securities linked to environment, social and governance projects. The new securities with an average of five-year maturity total $300 million in value. French banking firm BNP Paribas is one of the main investors. Capital raised through the latest securities issuance will be utilized to beef up ESG-based business operations, the card issuer said. The card business arm of Samsung Group h

South Korean insurer Kyobo Life Insurance said Monday that the company would be led by three CEOs by adding a new chief to lead digital transformation. Pyun Jung-beom, the newly appointed co-CEO, is a sales and strategy development expert who climbed the corporate ladder in Kyobo since 1988. The new chief will be in charge of leading projects to accelerate digitalization at the company and to enhance the company’s capability for marketing and sales, officials said. Co-CEO and Chairman

Appreciating art at galleries and exhibitions is a pure joy for Jeong Hye-young, a 35-year-old office worker in Seoul, not just because it takes her mind off her stress-filled work life but also because she sees how the works increase in value. “I don’t think art is only for the rich. After starting to buy paintings, I feel like I know more about the artists and truly enjoy the artworks,” said Jeong, who collects paintings by contemporary artists including Oh Chi-gyun, best

Real estate development schemes have taken center stage in the ongoing Seoul mayoral race, with candidates churning out a series of plans to woo voters angry about the central government’s strict regulations that have failed to curb soaring housing prices in the capital. Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party said last week that he would lift restructuring and redevelopment regulations within a week if he is elected as Seoul mayor. He also pledged to supply 360,000 housing u

In a bid to uphold shareholders’ rights, South Korea’s state pension fund is seeking a greater say in companies in which it holds considerable stake, drawing market attention toward decisions it would rarely have made before. The National Pension Service said Wednesday that it had decided to vote against the appointments of some board members at the nation’s largest airline, Korean Air, at the airline’s shareholders meeting scheduled for Friday. They include Cho Won-t

Environmental, social and corporate governance issues are gaining momentum in the local insurance sector as insurers increasingly follow the global ESG trend. In one of the latest moves, Samsung Fire and Maritime Insurance, the insurance arm of the nation’s largest conglomerate, set up a committee charged with making business decisions regarding ESG matters on Monday. The new committee will enable the insurance firm to swiftly respond to demand for ESG, the company said. “The c

The South Korean office of Bank of America named Shin Jin-wook, the former head of its corporate finance and banking unit, as its new country manager, the company said Friday. Shin has built his career at BofA for the past 15 years, establishing a wide client base including many corporations and financial institutions. BofA Securities, the company’s investment banking unit, named Cho Chan-hee to lead its operations. Cho is the youngest chief of any global investment bank operating in Ko

The money supply in the market has reached a record high, with companies increasingly issuing corporate bonds amid lower interest rates, data released by the Bank of Korea showed Friday. The nation’s M2 money supply increased by 41.9 trillion won ($37 billion), or 1.3 percent, to an all-time high of 3,233.4 trillion won in January, according to the BOK. The 41.9 trillion won increase also marked the largest monthly growth since the central bank began compiling related data in 2001.

Global credit rating agencies S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s have forecast stable growth for South Korean internet giant Naver, respectively assigning the firm ratings of A- and A3. S&P said its rating reflected the Korean internet firm’s strong position in the search engine and e-commerce segments in Korea, adding that even tech behemoth Google had only recently made headway in the Korean market with video platform YouTube due to the Korean firm’s formidable leadersh

Suwon in Gyeonggi Province has the highest number of male retail traders in their 40s, outpacing Gangnam, a posh residential district in Seoul, data showed Thursday. The city having the largest number of male traders perhaps has something to do with South Korean tech giant Samsung, which is headquartered in the city, observers say. According to the state-run Korea Securities Depository, a total of 34,463 male day traders in their 40s lived in Suwon as of the end of 2020, while southern Seoul&rs

For a 36-year-old Seoulite surnamed Kang, who owns her own home in the capital, following the trends in apartment transaction prices is far from a happy experience. Over the past year, the value of Kang’s apartment rose by more than twice her annual salary. She has no plans to cash out the property anytime soon. But she may have to pay more taxes than she did last year because her house is worth over 900 million won ($796,073), according to the government’s appraisal. “Som

Global insurance firm American International Group said Monday that it has appointed Ramzi Toubassy, the former chief of the company’s Malaysian branch, as the head of the Korean office. Toubassy, who succeeds outgoing CEO Douglas Min, will report to Steven Barnett, CEO of AIG’s Asia-Pacific General Insurance. He will start working at the Seoul office from April 1. He has more than 24 years of experience in the industry, working at the company’s global offices in the US, Le

Continuing its formidable rally, Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, surpassed the 70 million won ($61,593) mark for the first time on Sunday. The value of a single bitcoin reached an all-time high of 71.45 million won on the day, according to local cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. The crypto coin has also reached a record high on other crypto trading platforms here and abroad. It topped 71.2 million won on Bithumb and 71.02 million on Coinone while surpassing $60,000 on US crypt

Credit card firm Lotte Card said on Thursday that it has launched LOCA MONEY, a group of financial services covering short-term and long-term loans and “over-the-limit,” credit card services. The company said the brand focused on financial services is the first of its kind in the credit card industry. All of the newly launched services are branded under the LOCA MONEY name, including the LOCA MONEY-short term loan, and LOCA MONEY-long-term loan. With LOCA-prime, the card issuer w

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, surpassed the 65 million won ($57,200) level once again Thursday, continuing a rally that started earlier this week. The digital coin, which has been on an upward trend since March 7, hit 65.15 million won Thursday morning, according to crypto exchange operator Upbit. It is the cryptocurrency’s second-highest level, after the historic high of 65.98 million won recorded Feb. 20. On Bithumb, a local crypto trading platform, one bi

Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange operator, said Tuesday that it has put restrictions on crypto trading accounts held by users staying in regions that have not adopted anti-money laundering measures. A total of 21 nations are currently on the watchlist for failing to implement anti-money laundering measures issued by the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that sets international standards to prevent global money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Iran

South Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, said Monday that it had successfully raised 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion) by issuing new shares. Of the funds raised through the latest capital increase, some 1.5 trillion won will be used to acquire domestic rival Asiana Airlines, according to the carrier. In the funding round, which ran from March 4 to 5, the right to buy the newly issued shares was given only to the firm’s existing shareholders and members of the employee stock owne