정원식(46) 전 알리페이 한국 지사장이 한국 최대 규모 가상화폐 거래소인 빗썸의 대표로 영입되었다고 한 소식통이 전했다. 　익명을 요구한 소식통은, 정 전 지사장은 “9월 4일부터 이미 빗썸 대표에 내정되어 있다”고 말했다.　소식통은 또한 빗썸이 9월 핀테크, PG(전자결제), 보안 등 각 분야의 전문가들 뿐아니라 금융당국 출신 인력 등으로 구성된 전문경영인체제팀을 구축했다고 밝혔다.　이에 대해 빗썸 측은 “(정 전 지사장이) 내부에서 대표직 등으로 논의, 확정된 바가 없는 상황”이라고 밝혔다.　 (사진=링크드인)정 전 지사장은 서울대학교 대학원 경영학과 석사학위를 받았으며, 올해 2월까지 1년여간 알리페이 한국 지사장을 역임했다. 이전에도 후지쯔, 텔랩스 등 다국적 핀테크 관련 회사에서 임원급으로 일한 바 있다.　최근 정 전 지사장은 가상화폐 관련 행보를 보여 왔다. 정 전 대표는 14일 빗썸이 주최한 ‘2017 가상화폐포럼’에 모습을 드러내는 한편, 24일에는 코엑스 인터콘티넨

Nearly half of the entire trade volume in South Korea’s stock market this year until mid-September stemmed from day trading, indicating individual traders’ growing tendency to seek instant profit from stocks with high price volatility, data showed Monday. From January to Sept. 15, day traders bought or sold some 48 percent of shares, or 89.5 billion shares, on the first-tier and second-tier markets, according to data by the sole market operator the Korea Exchange. This comes in contr

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the first installment. -- Ed. While cryptocurrency exchanges among those in their 40s and 50s deal with larger volumes, the older generation more often than not face inconveniences in trading their digital currencies.“Some traders often found themselves in trouble,” Kevin Cha, founder and chief executive of digital currency exchange Coinone, told The Korea Herald in an interview. The inte

With South Korea aiming to quadruple its forestry employment, Japan’s policy -- which has sparked an interest among the young generation -- could be the thing to aim for. The high-level dialogue Monday between Korea and Japan held at the Korea Forest Service headquarters in Daejeon offered a nation suffering from chronic unemployment a chance to benchmark Japan’s track record of a recovery in forestry employment, the officials said.The two-hour meeting was held in light of the Korean government

The United States Federal Open Market Committee’s decision this week to take another step back from yearslong quantitative easing is likely to ease uncertainties for the financial markets in South Korea, according to multiple analysts. The FOMC’s highly-anticipated decision to shrink the balance sheet, backed by signs of pick-up in US consumer inflation, will “lift some uncertainties out of the market,” wrote Kim Yu-kyum, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securitie

The Korea Exchange, South Korea’s sole securities market operator, is bracing for the 10-day closing of the market next month, the longest in more than three decades.The main bourse and the secondary bourse are scheduled to be dormant from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9 for the weekends and national Chuseok holiday. This is the third time for the market to close for 10 days since Kospi was launched by KRX in 1983.In 1983 and 1984, Kospi did not open from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3 the following year to allow t

South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchanges largely appear unshaken despite the latest drop in bitcoin price fueled by the Chinese government’s reported plans to shut down domestic bitcoin exchanges, which experts here say would more likely stabilize, rather than stumble, the market.  The Korea Composite Bitcoin Price, based on prices of a bitcoin in major exchanges in Korea’s Bithumb, Korbit and Coinone, came to 4,351,533 won ($3,842.1) as of 4 p.m. Thursday, down 5.9 percent

A vote by the United Nations Security Council to implement further sanctions on North Korea would have limited impact on South Korea’s stock market, analysts here said Monday, amid signs of geopolitical risks abating on the market.The stock market in Korea bounced back from Friday losses. The first-tier Kospi closed at 2,359.08, up 0.66 percent, while the secondary Kosdaq rose 0.34 percent.Shares of tech giants and financial sectors saw an upturn. Handset maker Samsung Electronics jumped 1

South Korean banks failed to make it into the global top tier in capital volume last year, data showed Monday.According to an estimate by Korea Ratings, none of the country’s banking groups were among the top 60 in terms of core capital as of the end of 2016.Five banking groups -- KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Woori Bank and the state-run Korea Development Bank -- were part of the top 100, but none made it on the top 50 list.The estimate was based on a

This is the 41st in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- EdThe blockbuster debut in July of Kakao Bank, an online-only bank launched by messaging app giant Kakao, has driven a surprising stock race among fintech companies listed on the nation’s stock market. And Minwise, a digital security service provider based in Seoul, has been one of a few beneficiaries. 　More than two years after going public on South Korea’s secondary bourse

South Korea’s top state-run financial bodies are expecting leadership changes, with candidates -- who worked for the former Roh Moo-hyun administration -- awaiting presidential approval. The Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku recommended Lee Dong-gull, a business administration professor at Dongguk University, to head the Korea Development Bank on Thursday.During the first 18 months of the Roh administration, Lee served as a vice chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commi

South Korean banks saw a nearly 50 percent increase on-year in net profit from offshore banking units in the first half of this year on surge in interest revenue, while the reliance on the overseas business dropped to a third over the cited period, data showed Wednesday. The net profit of all 184 offshore banking entities during the first half came to $461.2 million, up 48.7 percent from a year prior, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service. In the first half of 2016, net revenue

A technician at South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI will join an international motorcycle race slated for early summer next year. Kim Sun-ho, assistant manager at a battery production line, is one of the three players in Team South Korea and one of 60 competitors from 20 countries who will take part in the International GS Trophy 2018 in Mongolia sponsored by BMW Motorrad. The nine-day challenge involves a 2,000-kilometer off-road motorcycle race for seven days,  Samsung SDI battery technicia

South Korea’s stock markets on Tuesday remained under the influence of North Korea’s sixth nuclear test Sunday.The main bourse index Kospi shed 0.13 percent and closed at 2,326.62, while the secondary market index Kosdaq took a 0.33 percent loss.Both markets opened higher Tuesday, but swung back to negative territory with foreign sell-offs emerging from late morning trade. The Kospi opened 0.37 percent higher, while the Kosdaq was up 0.69 percent at 9 a.m.  The Kospi suffered fo

Markets in South Korea took a downturn Monday in the wake of the most powerful nuclear bomb test by North Korea on Sunday, drawing a mixed forecast on the aftereffect from local analysts.The main bourse index Kospi closed at 2,329.65, down 1.19 percent, while the tech-heavy secondary Kosdaq tumbled 1.68 percent to 650.89. 　 Market bellwether Samsung Electronics‘ stock price fluctuated, starting 2.02 percent lower in the opening and closing at 0.95 percent lower.Of the Kospi-listed top 20 p

Security tension is most likely to return to focus in South Korea’s stock markets this week following the North’s sixth nuclear test Sunday, further dampening investors’ sentiment.A 5.7 magnitude tremor was detected in northeastern North Korea on Sunday at around 12:29 p.m., which North Korea claimed to be a test of a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded into its intercontinental ballistic missile.“The news would bring noise in investor sentiments and stock markets in South K

A gold-embellished, red-lacquered pailou, or Chinese arch, looms over a street on the shore of South Korea’s port city of Incheon.The blue-colored board attached to the 11-meter high structure reads Zhonghuajia, Chinese for ‘Chinese avenue,’ marking the entrance to Incheon Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in the nation. For over 130 years, Incheon Chinatown has been standing as the only officially recognized one of its kind in Korea since 1884, when Joseon Dynasty leased parts of Incheon to Qing

Beats, melodies, or words flow into your ears uninterrupted, and no one can touch what you picture with the sounds. Earphones and headphones divide a solitude space among multitudes on a busy street, mass transit or in a room full of people. With the ability to escape unwanted noise, earphones have long become a natural necessity in modern everyday life.(123rf)Portable devices like the Walkman began to nurture the culture of earphones in South Korea in the 1980s. For decades, the compact devices

Hyundai Steel completed a seismic retrofit for a school free of charge Tuesday in an increasingly earthquake-prone zone in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Hyundai Steel staff and executives including Executive Director Ham Young-chul (fourth from right) and the Principal of Naenam Elementary School Kim Nak-gon (fifth from left) pose for a photo at a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a seismic retrofitting project Tuesday. (Hyundai Steel)The Incheon-headquartered steelmaker, the sec

Stock markets in South Korea recouped earlier losses Tuesday, after being rattled yet again by another North Korea missile test in the morning, while local currency and short-term bonds remained weak.Korea’s primary stock market index Kospi closed at 2,364.74, down 0.23 percent from Monday. The index had tumbled by 1.58 percent at the lowest in late morning trade, but the daily loss began to gradually narrow in the afternoon. The secondary Kosdaq market gained 0.16 percent, after seeing 0.