Korea Investment Partners, South Korea’s largest venture capital firm, said Wednesday that together with AJU IB Investment, it had invested 2 billion won ($1.8 million) in ZOYI Corporation.ZOYI is a Korean tech start-up that offers a service called “Walk Insights” enabling it to analyze customer data in real time for offline retail stores via sensors, and smartphone Wi-Fi and Bluetooth telecommunications technologies.The company analyzes data such as the number of customer visits and revisits to

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that the national tax revenue fell about 11 trillion won ($10 billion) short of the government’s target last year due to decreased corporate tax and value-added tax earnings.Although Korea’s tax revenue increased 3.6 trillion won to 205.5 trillion won last year, it was still 10.9 trillion won less than its target of some 216 trillion won, noted the Finance Ministry, which closed its books on gross earnings and spending for fiscal 2014.T

The tax burden on average Korean households increased twice as fast as their income did in the first three quarters of last year, Statistics Korea said Monday.The statistics bureau said two-person households each earned an average of 4.3 million won a month between January and September 2014, up 3.6 percent from the same period a year ago.Meanwhile, those households each paid monthly taxes of about 154,276 won, up 5.9 percent from a year ago.Taxes included regular direct taxes such as income and

The Financial Services Commission, the nation’s top regulator, appears to be losing face lately as its position on key financial issues are being repeatedly contradicted by legal authorities.It was especially blamed for breaking neutrality and interfering in the KB Financial Group’s internal leadership feud last year as also Hana Financial Group’s ongoing management-labor dispute over its merger with Korea Exchange Bank.FSC chairman Shin Je-yoon was grilled by opposition lawmakers during the par

South Korean stocks are expected to continue range-bound trading this week following last week’s flat market, as lack of momentum will persist with jitters over the Greek debt issue in the eurozone, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed up 0.32 percent Friday at 1,955.52 from a week ago. The main index started off the week higher on the back of a foreign inflow on anticipation that the eurozone would salvage Greece from a potential default by injecting liquidity.

Owning a house or an apartment used to be a symbol of not only wealth, but also pride and security for an average salaried worker. A couple of decades ago, to buy and live in a dream house of four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a veranda, an ordinary income earner was able to come up with the money in five to seven years.South Korea’s unique real estate financing system called jeonse made this possible especially in the double-digit interest rate era until the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.Jeonse lea

Korea needs to use the financial resources of the private sector and new, innovative tools to sustain the real estate market for long-term stability, according to Jin Chang-ha, a Hanyang University professor who specializes in real estate finance and investment.The market is facing a paradigm shift, with “jeonse” leases ― lump sum deposits in lieu of rent ― quickly being replaced by rental agreements. In this situation, financial tools such as real estate investment trusts or funds via public-pr

In terms of uniquely Korean housing culture, one can’t leave out the humblest abode: the “gosiwon,” a low-cost, sparsely furnished, month-to-month rental room that does not require a deposit.The hallway of a typical gosiwon (jointroom.com)A typical gosiwon room, with basic furniture squeezed into about 4 square meters (gosiwonhome.com)A gosiwon, a residential room as tiny as 3.5 square meters, is furnished with a desk, bookshelf and bed. The business originally took off to temporarily accommodat

Korea Forest Service Minister Shin Won-sop said that the state-run afforestation agency would continue to step up efforts to forge strategic partnerships overseas, and support Korean SMEs to stably invest in Southeast Asia’s forestry sector in the long term.KFS Minister Shin Won-sop. (KFS)The exchanges with countries such as Indonesia and Cambodia will help Korea secure necessary wood resources for sustainable growth, and create jobs for the young.He stressed the importance of job creation not o

The Park Geun-hye government is increasingly getting caught in the crossfire between politicians and taxpayers over its broken promise not to raise taxes even in the face of growing welfare costs.The ruling Saenuri Party leaders are urging the administration to face the reality that tax hikes are inevitable to maintain and provide welfare services, and that fiscal policies are constrained by the negative side effects of indirect tax increases.They also urged the government to properly communicat

S-Oil, South Korea’s third-largest refiner, said Friday it logged a bigger net loss in the fourth quarter on-year as a steep fall in oil prices hurt the value of its crude stockpile.The net loss came to 248.64 billion won ($226.16 million) in the October-December period, further widening from the 27.5 billion won loss a year ago, S-Oil said in a regulatory filing. Sales were down 22.1 percent to 6.2 trillion won in the period, with the company recording an operating loss of 213.2 billion won. Th

South Korea’s consumer prices face both upside and downside risks this year ― sliding oil prices and volatile agricultural prices ― the country’s central bank said Friday.Additional falls in oil prices and a prolonged slump in domestic demand are expected to drag down the inflation rate in Asia’s fourth-largest economy this year, while uncertainties over agricultural prices pose upside risks, according to a semiannual report by the Bank of Korea.The report comes after the central bank slashed it

South Korea and China agreed to strengthen economic ties through a free trade agreement, technology exchange, investment in venture start-ups, sharing urban policies and combating climate change, the country’s Finance Ministry said Thursday.In a meeting between the economic chiefs of the two countries in Beijing, South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and China’s National Development and Reform Commission Xu Shaoshi also called for stronger partnership in dealin

Choi Kyung-hwan. (Yonhap)South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma agreed to seek partnership between Korea’s logistics companies and the Chinese e-commerce giant, Seoul officials said.The two sides held talks on Wednesday in a follow-up meeting to August last year to reaffirm the partnership between Alibaba and Korea’s small and medium enterprises seeking to make inroads into China.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi met Alibaba chairman Ma ah

South Korea’s consumer sentiment index rose for the first time in four months in January, but consumers are expected to further tighten their spending amid a slow economic recovery and high household debt, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index stood at 102 this month, up from 101 a month before.The index improved after months of decline since the Sewol ship sinking, which adversely affected private spending and investment.Although the index is above 100, showing more optimi

South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan urged private companies to support the government’s economic reforms by increasing employment and investment.In a meeting with business executives affiliated with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Monday, the country’s top fiscal policymaker said the government would do its part by listening closely to the private sector and easing corporate regulations to spur investment.“We hope that the companies wil

South Korea’s secondary KOSDAQ bourse continued its strong rally in January as the government’s push to support financial technology fueled upward momentum, data showed Sunday.The price index of the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market closed at 589.31 point on Friday, the highest close in 6 1/2 years since it hit 590.19 on June 30, 2008, according to the data compiled by the Korea Stock Exchange, the bourse operator.It also gained 46.34 points, or 8.53 percent, from the year-end close price of 542.97, with

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol stressed Thursday that the central bank’s main priority was maintaining stability by paying close attention to rising household debt and the possibility of quantitative easing by the European Central Bank.In a meeting with foreign press in Seoul, South Korea’s top monetary policymaker said that it was necessary to manage risk and come up with countermeasures for high household debt and market volatility expected from eurozone stimulus. The ECB is expected to begin

The Finance Ministry and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed Wednesday to revise tax laws in April to expand tax rebates for multiple-child and single-person households, and introduce new tax credits to encourage childbirth.The government will also raise tax credit rates for pension investments. The changes will apply retroactively, officials said. “There are problems in the tax refund process under the current law,” Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said during a meeting with party officials.He adde

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance reiterated Tuesday that it would revise its income tax codes to better reflect individuals’ annual spending, savings and earnings amid public outcry against increased taxes on salaried workers.In a hastily-arranged news conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the government would consider readjusting the levels of tax credits and the categories subjected to deductions.The revision, which will b