The recent trend of an increase in the proportion of working women in their 30s was primarily due to a reduction in the number of women with children, according to a report released Monday by the Korea Development Institute, a South Korean state-run think tank. Kim Ji-yeon, a researcher at the KDI, noted that although the drop in the number of women in their 30s that have children may seem like a positive factor in the short term because it boosts the number of women working in their 30s, it wil

To grab a bit of Apple or leave it on the shelf? That's the question that has been lingering among card companies here since Apple Pay was launched in Korea in March with initial local partner Hyundai Card. Hesitation over adopting Apple Pay entered a new phase after a parliamentary audit held on Oct. 11 raised concerns about Hyundai Card, which introduced the service at the cost of paying high commission fees to Apple. During the parliamentary audit, Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the ruling P

The Korean financial regulator’s decision to refer Kakao and its executives to the prosecution could lead to disruptions on the IT giant’s future takeover strategy and global expansion plans, sources said Sunday. Three Kakao executives, including its chief investment officer Bae Jae-hyun, and two entities, Kakao and Kakao Entertainment, who were involved in market manipulation regarding Kakao’s purchase of K-pop agency SM Entertainment, were sent to the prosecution for possible

Woori Bank, one of South Korea’s top four commercial banks, has announced its plan to achieve up to 25 percent of its net profit from global sales by 2030. “Woori Bank's global division reported a net profit of $340 million last year, and it has achieved an average annual asset growth of 9 percent during the last three years," Yun Seog-mo, Woori Bank's global business division head said during a press conference held at the bank's headquarters in Seoul on Wednesda

Fitch said that South Korea's "AA-" sovereign rating, which has remained steadfast over 10 years, could be adjusted upward if geopolitical issues such as inter-Korean relations and US-China conflicts are improved, during the 2023 Fitch on Korea seminar held in Seoul on Friday. While improved relations with North Korea are necessary for a positive rating adjustment, Fitch does not see that improvement as promising in the near term, said Jeremy Zook, Fitch's director of Asia-Pa

A Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for Kakao Chief Investment Officer Bae Jae-hyun on Thursday on charges of market manipulation related to SM Entertainment's stock price. The development has raised uncertainty about joint projects initiated by Kakao and SM Entertainment. "The arrest warrant was issued due to concerns about Bae destroying evidence or fleeing," the court said. The court dismissed arrest warrants for Kakao's head of investment strategy, surnamed Kang, and

Park Jong-bok, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Korea, has been nominated as the sole final candidate for the bank's top position again, according to the lender on Monday. The bank's executive candidate recommendation committee selected Park as the final candidate for the next CEO during a meeting held last Friday. If appointed, he will be serving his fourth term, which will last for a year starting Jan. 8, 2024, as the CEO of SC Bank Korea. "Since assuming the top position in 2

The Financial Services Commission, Korea's top financial regulator, unveiled plans on Monday to increase the pet insurance enrollment rate, currently at approximately just 1 percent in a country with some 8 million pets. "The pet insurance enrollment rate in the US is approximately 2 percent, while in Japan, it exceeds 12 percent. Our goal is to position ourselves between these two countries,” Shin Sang-hoon, head of the insurance department at the FSC, emphasized during a press

More than 90 percent of all fines for illegal short selling of stocks have been issued to foreign financial firms, government data showed, amid calls from Korean retail investors for stricter regulation. According to Financial Services Commission data submitted to Rep. Yun Ju-kyung of the ruling People Power Party, the regulator dealt with 45 cases of illegal short selling in the first eight months of the year, with total fines exceeding 10.7 billion won ($7.9 million). Of the 45 cases, 23 invol

South Korea's economy is expected to achieve a growth rate of 2.1 percent in 2024, according to the recent report titled "2024 Economic and Financial Market Outlook" by Hana Bank's research institution, the Hana Institute of Finance. “Considering the base effect of the sharp slowdown in 2023, the growth momentum is not strong,” Oh Hyun-hee, a researcher at the Hana Institute of Finance said. The institute forecasts an annual economic growth rate of 1.3 percent f

Korean science fiction writer Bae Myung-hoon on Wednesday emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between our familiar neighborhoods and space in order to craft compelling space exploration narratives in a Korean setting. He explained that this is difficult, because creators' cognitive range -- the space that creators are familiar with and can describe well -- is limited usually to their surroundings. Korean content consumers also often struggle to simultaneously envision both space

Kakao Bank, the banking arm of Korean mobile giant Kakao, announced Tuesday that it will acquire a 10 percent stake in PT Super Bank Indonesia, aiming to boost its presence in the Southeast Asian market. The acquisition will be Kakao Bank's first investment outside of Korea, and will be done in collaboration with the Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery app, Grab. A consortium led by Grab and Singapore-based global telecom company, Singtel, is the largest shareholder of PT Super B

Sara, a Czech citizen who has been living in Korea for about six years, tried to open an online bank account three years ago. “But it didn’t work, as it wasn’t open to foreigners. I had a lot of trouble with verifying my identity for various services online,” she said. The difficulty in accessing online services due to issues of identity verification has long been a frustration for foreigners residing in Korea, so the Korean government has recently come up with easier mob

More than 1 in 4 foreign recipients of unemployment benefits received more last year in unemployment benefits than from the wages they earned before their employment ended, Ministry of Employment and Labor data showed. According to Labor Ministry data submitted to Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the ruling People Power Party on Wednesday, of 12,100 foreign recipients of unemployment benefits last year, 3,200 (26.4 percent) received more from the scheme than from their previous wages. Rep. Kim expressed

South Korea's household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio increased the most last year from 2017 among 26 nations that provided such data, despite financial authorities taking various measures to curb it. According to the International Monetary Fund's Global Debt Database, the ratio reached 108.1 percent last year, an increase of 16.2 percentage points from 92 percent in 2017. South Korea is the only country among the 26 countries included in the data set where private sector debt &

The Korean government on Tuesday said it plans to supply an additional 120,000 public homes by this year to help ease the housing crunch in the sluggish market. The plan came after the government held a meeting earlier in the day attended by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Land Minister Won Hee-ryong and Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun. Since the second half of last year, rising construction costs and an increase in real estate project financing borrowing rates have worse

KB Financial Group's outgoing chair, Yoon Jong-kyoo, said Monday that he hopes his successor will realize his unattained goal to grow the group as a top-10 financial firm in the world. "I previously said I want to turn the group into the 'Samsung of finance,' but now that I look back, I feel a lot of regret when thinking about how much progress we've made (on global stage)," Yoon said at a press conference held at the group’s headquarters in Seoul. He will ste

Lee Seung-min, a third-grade student at Gyeongju Hwarang High School, won the 16th KB Financial Group Women's Amateur Golf Championship on Friday. Lee finished the second round of the tournament at Century 21 Country Club in Gangwon Province with a total of 6-under 138 strokes to take the top spot. The final round of the tournament was delayed by about two hours due to heavy fog and ultimately had to be canceled. The winner was determined by the combined scores of the first two rounds. Lee

Mirae Asset Global Investments has been leading the domestic equity ETF market with its innovative growth ETFs since April 2022, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. In recent years, ETF products have become increasingly popular in Korea and have attracted significant inflows of funds. As a result, the Korean ETF market attracted more than 100 trillion won ($74.77 billion) in investments, with equity ETFs attracting 50 trillion won. Industry sources say Mirae Asset&

European automakers called for a relaxation of regulations on selling electric vehicles in Korea during a press conference for the publication of a white paper by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Thursday. The ECCK’s passenger vehicles committee chairperson, Kim Hong-joong, said that the recent law amendment requiring automakers to secure the pre-certification of electric vehicle batteries to prevent safety hazards should be aligned with United Nations standards. “We re