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Anna J. Park

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.

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Banking & Finance

Startup acceleration policies needed in global ChatGPT competition: Samil PwC report

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkWhile the latest technology of ChatGPT is sending global shockwaves through industries, a report published by Samil PwC on Tuesday urges the government to come up with systemic startup incubation and acceleration programs and support policies to secure artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The report, titled “Is ChatCPT an opportunity or threat?” stressed that the natural language-processing technology will fundamentally alter the production of global industries, while accelerating similar AI-based technologies. Among others, the content and IT sectors are expected to be the most influenced by AI innovation, while the impact would be felt in almost every industry, ranging from advertising, media and semiconductors to cybersecurity. “As ChatGPT is able to create based on big data-based machine learning capabilities, it will be a game changer of productivity in countless industry sectors,” said Lee Do-shin, a partner at Samil PwC who leads the firm's unicorn platform department, adding that domestic AI technologies lag far behi

Mar 7, 2023By Anna J. Park
Startup acceleration policies needed in global ChatGPT competition: Samil PwC report
Economy

Kakao launches tender offer to win controlling stake in SM Entertainment

The headquarters of Kakao Entertainment located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / YonhapKakao to inject up to 1.2 trillion won to become largest shareholderBy Anna J. Park Kakao has launched its own tender offer Tuesday, aiming to acquire an additional 35 percent stake in SM Entertainment. It is a major counterattack move by the big tech against HYBE, following HYBE's failure to acquire its targeted stake of SM through its tender offer that ended at the end of last month.If Kakao's tender offer succeeds, the IT conglomerate will become the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment with a 39.91 percent stake, while also winning the management rights of the company. HYBE will then be pushed back to the second-largest shareholder with its 19.43 percent stake. According to a regulatory filing by Kakao and its entertainment subsidiary Kakao Entertainment on Tuesday, the two companies plan to purchase a total of 8.33 million shares, or a 35 percent stake in SM Entertainment, through the tender offer at the price of 150,000 won ($115) per share. This means that Kakao will inject up to 1.25 tri

Mar 7, 2023By Anna J. Park
Kakao launches tender offer to win controlling stake in SM Entertainment
  • Where are singers and fans in SM's management dispute?
Banking & Finance

KakaoBank's CEO to begin 4th term in late March

KakaoBank CEO Yoon Ho-young speaks during an online press conference held at the internet-only bank's office located in Yeouido, Seoul, Feb. 15, 2022. Courtesy of KakaoBankBy Anna J. Park KakaoBank's CEO Yoon Ho-young successfully secured his fourth two-year term that will begin later this month. Kakao Bank announced Monday that the internet-only bank's executive appointment committee selected Yoon as the sole candidate for the bank's next chief. The decision on the digital bank's next top position will be officially confirmed at its shareholders' meeting slated for later this month.A graduate of Hanyang University, the 51-year-old leader is often called the “father of KakaoBank” as he has been leading the digital-only bank since its beginnings. After spending his early career as Daum's vice president from 2009 to 2014, he led the Daum-Kakao task force team to launch a mobile bank from late 2014 to early 2016. Then, he became the CEO of Kakao Bank in April 2016, a position he has maintained ever since. With his reappointment to the leading position of the digital lender,

Mar 6, 2023By Anna J. Park
KakaoBank's CEO to begin 4th term in late March
Economy

HYBE-Kakao war over SM enters 2nd round

The headquarters of SM Entertainment in Seoul / Courtesy of SM EntertainmentHYBE urges SM to rescind partnership deal with Kakao By Anna J. ParkKakao planned to hold an emergency board meeting on Monday evening, industry sources say, to discuss how to respond to the fast-developing situation surrounding its de facto battle with HYBE to win the management rights to SM Entertainment. The saga surrounding the fight between the corporate giants has been unfolding at breathless speed since last month. In the latest development, the big tech's plan to strengthen its partnership with SM Entertainment by securing a 9.05 percent stake was crushed last Friday. The local court granted an injunction requested by SM founder Lee Soo-man, who filed for legal action in early February to stem Kakao's acquisition of the sizeable stake. Following the court decision last Friday, SM Entertainment announced on Monday in its regulatory filing that it officially revoked a contract with Kakao to issue new shares and convertible bonds to the big tech. The entertainment firm explained that the move is to abide

Mar 6, 2023By Anna J. Park
HYBE-Kakao war over SM enters 2nd round
  • Where are singers and fans in SM's management dispute?
Banking & Finance

KDB begins process to sell HMM

A container owned by HMM / Courtesy of HMMBy Anna J. Park Korea Development Bank (KDB) has officially kicked off procedures to sell the management right of HMM, a global shipping and logistics company. As KDB Chairman Kang Seog-hoon pledged to expedite the sale of the shipping firm, HMM's privatization process is expected to be carried out in a speedy manner.According to the state-run bank, Friday, it initiated the process for appointing advisory companies for the sales deal jointly with the Korea Ocean Business Corporation (KOBC) earlier this week. The two firms plan to receive M&A advisory firms' proposals until March 20, and by the end of the month they will select one sales manager, one accounting firm and one law firm, necessary for conducting the sales deal. KDB and the KOBC are HMM's largest and second-largest shareholders, holding 20.69 percent and 19.96 percent stakes, respectively. The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, another state-run institution, also holds a 5.02 percent stake in the container transportation company. The state-run companies acquired the management rights

Mar 3, 2023By Anna J. Park
KDB begins process to sell HMM
Economy

Regulators to allow shareholders to check banks' compensation plans

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Kim So-young speaks during a working-level task force meeting to ameliorate banking management and practices held at the government complex in central Seoul, Thursday afternoon. Courtesy of FSC Gov't accelerates overhaul on banking sector with task force meetings By Anna J. Park As the government is speeding up its moves to promote competition in the local banking industry, it plans to adopt a system of “say on pay,” through which shareholders of a firm can vote on the payment and remuneration policies for executives. The introduction of the system into the country's banking sector will allow shareholders to actively participate in lenders' decision-making processes about executive compensation plans. Financial authorities also plan to introduce “clawback” policies, through which money already paid to company management can be returned, sometimes with a penalty, as a way to exert checks and balances on banks' “excessive” bonus pa

Mar 3, 2023By Anna J. Park
Regulators to allow shareholders to check banks' compensation plans
Banking & Finance

IMM PE increases Hanssem stake through tender offer

Hanssem headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of HanssemBy Anna J. ParkIMM Private Equity (PE) launched a tender offer Thursday to purchase an additional 7.7 percent stake in Hanssem, or 1.81 million shares, aiming to increase its stake in the home furnishing company to 36 percent from the current 28.2 percent.According to the electronic disclosure system DART on Thursday, investors of Hanssem have until March 21 to decide whether to respond to the tender offer at the price of 55,000 won per share. With the announcement, Hanssem's stock price soared to 53,700 won at Thursday's closing, jumping 19.73 percent from 44,850 won the previous session.If the tender offer succeeds, IMM PE's control over Hanssem will increase to a 36 percent stake, as its two blind funds, Haim Limited Company and Haim No.2 Limited Company, will acquire 1.03 million and 780,000 Hanssem shares, respectively.The PE firm was previously expected to increase its stake in Hanssem by purchasing the furniture company's treasury stocks. Yet, it instead decided to launch the tender offer to purchase shares from local stock ma

Mar 2, 2023By Anna J. Park
IMM PE increases Hanssem stake through tender offer
Economy

Activist fund demands Namyang Dairy boost share price

Namyang Dairy headquarters located in southern Seoul / NewsisBy Anna J. ParkActivist fund Tcha Partners Asset Management has launched a Namyang Dairy shareholder campaign urging the dairy company to take active measures to protect minority shareholders' rights. According to Tcha Partners' proposals sent out the company boards earlier this week, the activist fund urged the firm to buy back 50 percent stakes of both common shares as well as preferred shares ― worth 191 billion won ($144 million) in total ― at the price of 820,000 won per share. It is the price that Hahn & Co. agreed to pay per each stock, when the private equity firm signed a stock purchase agreement in May 2021 to acquire a 55.7 percent stake of the dairy company from the firm's founder and former Chairman Hong Won-sik.“The proposal urging the firm to buy back the 190 billion won worth of common and preferred shares aims to provide an opportunity for exit to minority shareholders, who had been excluded from the stock purchase agreement of the firm's management rights in 2021,” the activist fund's lette

Mar 1, 2023By Anna J. Park
Activist fund demands Namyang Dairy boost share price
Economy

Financial authorities increase pressure on banks

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun speaks during his visit to KakaoBank headquartered in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. YonhapFSS to conduct regular inspection on Shinhan in MarchBy Anna J. Park The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will be conducting a regulator inspection into Shinhan Financial Group and Shinhan Bank later this month, the watchdog agency said Wednesday. It will be the first of its kind conducted on Shinhan in four years. The FSS' regular inspection takes place every two to five years, during which the financial watchdog thoroughly examines a financial company's overall management, ranging from corporate governance, executive appointments, internal control systems, banks' loan-to-deposit interest ratios and salary increases.As it will be the first large-scale regular inspection of a major financial group since President Yoon Suk Yeol criticized bank executives' excessive profit-taking and bonus parties last month, market attention is now on how the inspections will be rolled out. Besides Shinhan, the FSS plans to conduct regular inspec

Mar 1, 2023By Anna J. Park
Financial authorities increase pressure on banks
  • Korea seeks to overhaul banks' corporate governance
Economy

Korea seeks to overhaul banks' corporate governance

Gov't forms taskforce to improve fairness, transparency of lendersBy Anna J. ParkOne of the key areas that Korean banks are lagging behind global financial firms is corporate governance.Along with the country's complex regulations, a less-than-effective system of checks and balances has been cited as a key factor resulting in the undervaluation of stocks issued by Korean financial institutions compared to their earnings performances. A series of financial accidents that occurred over the past few years further highlights the structural weaknesses of local banking groups in terms of governance.Against this backdrop, financial authorities have placed top priority this year on strengthening internal control systems at financial institutions and improving corporate governance. In order to achieve the goal, both the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently launched a taskforce to overhaul the system of checks and balances overseeing lenders. The FSC is Korea's top fi

Mar 1, 2023By Anna J. Park
Korea seeks to overhaul banks' corporate governance
  • Financial authorities increase pressure on banks
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