Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that Korea was able to achieve growth of 2.7 percent this year and will hit 3.9 percent next year as projected last June.In a state audit by the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday, the finance minister said that the Korean economy was on a recovery path toward its projections, based on positive signs from various indices.“Industrial production, employment and exports showed significant quarterly pattern

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok urged the private sector to increase investment and employment to put the economy on a stronger growth path amid lingering external uncertainties.In a meeting with economic-related ministers on Wednesday, the finance minister said that various economic indices show positive signs that the economy is recovering backed by brisk exports, revived construction investment and consumption.Korea recorded around 3 percent annual growth in the third

I would like to sincerely thank The Korea Herald for giving us this recognition for Dongbu Financial Network’s promotional and advertising efforts that aim to spread its core image and message of “integration and trust” to every family in Korea.Dongbu Financial Network is a key brand that comprehensively unites six financial subsidiaries ― Dongbu Insurance, Dongbu Life, Dongbu Securities, Dongbu Mutual Savings Bank, Dongbu Capital and Dongbu Asset Management ― under the wing of the group’s finan

Korea’s foreign exchange market opened Monday with the local currency slightly weakened against the U.S. dollar as forex officials continued to caution traders as a means to prevent the won from excessive gains.But won-dollar exchange rate closed 0.7 won lower at 1,061.10 won on Monday despite the government’s reaffirmed stance against a stronger won.Foreign capital inflow into Korea’s stock market kept the U.S. dollar weak against the won, while boosting the benchmark KOSPI by 0.68 percent to 2

Almost two dozen infrastructure projects pursued by Korea’s central and regional governments and state-run enterprises risk wasting taxpayers’ money due to lack of economic feasibility.The National Assembly Budget Office’s data presented to the Strategy and Finance Committee showed that 23 ongoing infra projects carried out since 2003 fell well short of business potential measured by the standard evaluation method, or the so-called analytic hierarchy process. The data was based on studies by the

Woori Bank was caught the most in the banking sector for violating laws banning the creation of individual or corporate accounts using false names potentially for illicit transactions.Data by the Financial Supervisory Service presented to the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly on Sunday showed that Woori Bank broke the so-called Real Name Financial Transactions Law 72 times over the last three years.Kookmin Bank and SC Bank, both of which violated 31 times, and Shinhan Bank’s 29

The Korean won is expected to strengthen against major currencies as foreign investors reallocate their funds from emerging markets with weak fundamentals such as Indonesia to economies with stable outlooks such as Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy.The won-dollar exchange rate rose 5.2 won to 1,061 won on Thursday as forex officials from the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance jointly intervened for the first time this year by openly expressing concerns over the rate “exces

The Korean won is gaining ground over both the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, increasing the potential of further weighing down export-dependent recovery efforts of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.The won-dollar exchange edged near the 1,050 won line on Wednesday, leading lawmakers to urgently alert monetary policymakers to intervene to keep the rate from falling below the psychological and marginal threshold of 1,000 won.Increased demand for the local currency led the exchange rate to further

Japan’s weak currency policy driven by its monetary stimulus is beginning to take a toll on Korean exports to the world’s third largest economy, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.The growth rate of outbound shipments to Japan from Korea has been declining rapidly with the portion of Korean exports to Japan compared with the total number of Korea’s overall exports also shrinking at a fast pace.Industry data showed that the growth rate has been in negative territory

The Fair Trade Commission said Monday that it has ordered two coffee chain operators to correct misleading information given to their nationwide franchise partners.Coffine Gurunaru and Herry’s were found to have provided incorrect information to their partners regarding sales forecasts as a means to expand the number of outlets, the FTC said.They provided “unrealistic and overblown” sales projections when their partners open the stores within a certain period of time.For instance, Coffine Guruna

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, governments and businesses are increasingly exposed to evermore sophisticated cyber threats.South Korea, one of the world’s most wired economies, is no exception, becoming more vulnerable to widespread malicious codes and viruses that have the capability to shut down not only government, but also private sector networks.South Korea needs to “understand the behavior of its network systems,” meaning detecting irregular patterns flowing through its

Chiefs of Korea’s Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service may face investigation by the prosecution over Tong Yang Group’s liquidity crisis. The Financial Consumer Agency said on Thursday that it would file a complaint with the prosecution against FSC Chairman Shin Je-yoon and FSS Gov. Choi Soo-hyun for their “incompetence and negligence” in preemptively dealing with the conglomerate and preventing investor losses.The agency added that the financial regulators had known a

Korea’s stock market continued to see an inflow of overseas capital, hitting a record of 35 straight days of foreign investment in Seoul shares, according to the Korea Exchange on Thursday.A last-minute bipartisan deal over the U.S. federal debt-ceiling that also ended a government shutdown spurred foreign funds into Asia’s fourth largest economy where the benchmark KOSPI rose 0.29 percent to 2,040.61.The KOSPI surpassed 2050 points during intraday trading. Retail and institutional investors con

Korea’s stock market is a day away from seeing a record buying spree by foreign investors purchasing Seoul shares across the board.Foreign investors have invested in Korean shares listed on the KOSPI and tech-heavy KOSDAQ exchanges worth about 12 trillion won over the last 34 consecutive trading days since August 23, according to the Korea Exchange on Wednesday.The Korean stock market would see its previous record in foreign investment in terms of consecutive trading broken should they continue

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said on Tuesday that it imposed punitive measures on the four biggest daily deal-site operators for their “deceptive” marketing.The antitrust regulator levied a combined penalty fine of close to 100 million won ($93,000) against the four major social commerce companies: Coupang, We Make Price, Ticket Monster and Groupon.The four were punished by the authority for posting false information including prices of products that were not included as part of their daily dea

Failure to reach a bipartisan agreement over the federal debt ceiling of the world’s largest economy would be “catastrophic” and trigger a “worldwide crisis,” global financial leaders warned.Korea would not be an exception to this emerging scenario as the deadline to the debt limit negotiations looms large this week with no clear signs of the two parties securing a deal in sight, analysts said.Although the U.S. has never defaulted on its debt over the last 224 years of its history, failing to ra

Spending by the country’s 64 pension funds and other state operational funds is expected to reach a record of more than 500 trillion won next year amid increased welfare costs. In a report to the National Assembly on Thursday, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that such spending would reach 517.4 trillion won next year, up 4 percent from 497.5 trillion won this year.This comes as the government is not able to financially support various projects with its tax revenue as it faces a revenue

Deposits by the rich in private banking accounts reached a record of over 150 trillion won ($139 billion) in the first half of this year.In a report to the National Policy Committee lawmakers of the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Financial Supervisory Service, the country’s financial regulator, said that some 2,600 people in the top income bracket deposited a total of 153.5 trillion won into their private banking accounts in the first half of 2013.Private banking deposits increased about 21

The National Pension Service has allocated more than half of its domestic equity investments into major blue chips of the country’s four largest family-run conglomerates, according to NPS data.Its investments in shares of units of Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG, worth some 40.7 trillion won ($37 billion), accounted for more than 54 percent of the pension fund’s equity portfolio as of the end of July.The NPS’ investment in debt securities of those four chaebol worth 9.6 trillion won accounted

Credit spending on pets increased sharply last year due to purchases by people living alone without kids, the Credit Finance Association said Monday.There were more than 10 million Koreans living with an animal companion as of the end of August this year.Their spending via credit cards for pet products such as food and veterinary products amounted to more than 83.1 billion won in August this year, up about 12 percent from July this year.Their credit spending increased about 21 percent year-on-ye