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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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Economy

Corporate bond issuances by builders fall to 5-year low

gettyimagesbankConstruction sector forecast to bear negative credit outlook for 2023By Anna J. ParkBonds issued by domestic construction companies fell to the lowest level in five years.According to data compiled by financial information service provider, Yonhap Infomax, Wednesday, cumulative bond issuances by builders stood at only 541 billion won ($426 million) this year.The figure shows a drastic shrinkage compared to the past few years. Back in 2018, a total of 1.7 trillion won worth of corporate bonds were issued by the construction sector. The amount increased to 2.3 trillion won in 2019, edged down to 2.2 trillion won in 2020, but rose again to 3.2 trillion won in 2021. This amount of capital raised this year by the construction industry through corporate bond issuances stood only at one sixth of last year. The number of construction companies that issued corporate bonds this year also nosedived to five, from last year's 18. And most of the debt was issued during the first half of this year, before the country's corporate bond market experienced a credit crunch crisis.Notably,

Dec 28, 2022By Anna J. Park
Corporate bond issuances by builders fall to 5-year low
Banking & Finance

Korean firms face vulnerabilities in internal money controls: KPMG report

gettyimagesbank By Anna J. Park In matters of corporate accounting management, Korean corporations turn out to have particular weaknesses regarding internal money controls and irregularities caused by high-ranking management officials.This is according to a report published on Wednesday by Samjong KPMG, which surveyed internal accounting control systems conducted by 94 companies in Korea and 197 companies in the U.S. in 2021. The report compared the differences in the internal accounting control systems practiced in Korea and the U.S. Lack of internal money controls and irregularities by high-ranking corporate management officials together accounted for 30.3 percent of the reasons behind audit qualified opinions for the Korean companies surveyed in 2021. A qualified opinion is issued by an auditor upon finding deviations in a company's financial statements, and differs from an unqualified opinion, which is issued when the auditor finds the financial statements to b

Dec 28, 2022By Anna J. Park
Korean firms face vulnerabilities in internal money controls: KPMG report
Economy

Contribution Some misconceptions about Korean won

Arguments about rate hikes, external debt woes, and FX funding risks have misled market participantsBy Stephen LeeStephen Lee, chief economist of Meritz SecuritiesThere was no winner in the investment scene except the U.S. dollar in 2022, which has rallied as much as 18.6 percent during the year, and 8.4 percent (based on DXY: USD versus six major currencies) year-to-date until Dec. 23 with the recent retreat. Non-U.S. currencies have depreciated, with the Korean won not being an exception. It started the year at 1,189 won per dollar, and saw 1,440 won per dollar by Sept. 28, before coming down to 1,281 won per dollar by Dec. 23. The currency is down 7.2 percent vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar so far this year. It showed a rollercoaster ride just as other non-U.S. currencies did.During the steep depreciation of the Korean won ― eg. when it was above 1,400 won per dollar, there were arguments insisting that the value of the Korean won could fall further, due to some structural reasons. Here are some of the arguments which I believe are misleading. First, the BOK needs to hike its policy rat

Dec 28, 2022By Anna J. Park
[Contribution] Some misconceptions about Korean won
Economy

Financial companies face heavier penalties for security failures

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkIn a move to foster more nimble and flexible responses from financial companies in case of security accidents, the financial authorities have decided to allow the companies greater autonomy by revising relevant financial security regulations. Instead, the government plans to hold financial companies more responsible for failing to prevent such accidents. The country's top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), announced a set of measures on financial security regulations earlier this week. The FSC explained the changed policy direction for regulating financial security problems is aimed at encouraging an effective response to heightened security threats and to support financial companies' digital innovation.First off, the FSC plans to form a task force, comprised of IT security experts as well as officials from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Financial Security Institute (FSI). The task force team will examine the government's long-term stance in terms of financial security regulations. For example, the task force t

Dec 27, 2022By Anna J. Park
Financial companies face heavier penalties for security failures
Economy

ESG no longer seems to be priority for corporations amid economic slowdown

gettyimagesbankESG bond market shrinks significantly in 2022By Anna J. ParkWith increased external and internal economic uncertainties, corporations have opted for survival as their top priority over considerations of economic, social and governance factors ― ESG principles ― in their management strategies. As a result, the weight of ESG bonds issued by corporations aiming to achieve environmental, social or governance improvements with the raised capital has been significantly reduced this year. It is a stark contrast from last year, when companies in various sectors, ranging from construction, to energy and retail, focused on issuing sustainable bonds. According to data by the Korea Exchange (KRX), the proportion of ESG bonds out of aggregate local bonds issued in the third quarter of this year dropped to 12.5 percent, which is about 10 percentage points lower than the same period last year. In particular, the weight of ESG bonds issued by general enterprises plunged to 1.6 percent in the third quarter of this year, which is down considerably from 18 percent logged in the first qua

Dec 27, 2022By Anna J. Park
ESG no longer seems to be priority for corporations amid economic slowdown
Economy

Mandatory bid rule in M&A deals to take effect in Korea as early as 2024

gettyimagesbankGlobal standard finally to be adopted in KoreaBy Anna J. Park In a move to strengthen the protection of minority shareholders, the Korean government aims to adopt a mandatory bid rule in the country's capital market as early as 2024. If the rule is adopted, any person or entity that plans to take over a company through a stock purchase deal is legally required to offer to the remaining minority shareholders a buy-out of all their shares at an equitable price. According to the financial authorities, including the top policy maker, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and market bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX), the government aims to revise relevant laws to include the mandatory bid rule next year. As a grace period of at least 12 months will be granted before the revision takes full effect, it is expected that the rule will take force in Korea as soon as 2024.“While most M&As in Korea have been done through stock transfer deals, there has been a consistent criticism that the Korean financial law framework was significantly lacking in protection for mi

Dec 26, 2022By Anna J. Park
Mandatory bid rule in M&A deals to take effect in Korea as early as 2024
Economy

FSC to strengthen capital market investigations to eradicate securities crimes

Financial Services Commission (FSC) headquarters in central Seoul / YonhapBy Anna J. ParkThe Financial Services Commission (FSC) aims to strengthen its capital market investigation functions, with the goal of eradicating securities crimes in the country. The nation's top financial regulator announced Monday that it has newly created two units devoted to capital market investigations, while abolishing one incumbent unit that's been working on investigative tasks. “With both the number of participants and the size of the local capital market having been broadly expanded, crimes related with securities have become much more complicated. The FSC has realized it needs more than a single unit to address the situation effectively,” the FSC explained as its reason for restructuring and strengthening investigative tasks. The two new units will take charge of various roles related to capital market investigations, ranging from investigating unfair transactions, false disclosures and the omission of key facts, to the adjustment of investigations and external relations of investigati

Dec 26, 2022By Anna J. Park
FSC to strengthen capital market investigations to eradicate securities crimes
Economy

Chips, battery, defense stocks to benefit from state economic policies in 2023

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho speaks during a press conference briefing on Korea's 2023 economy policy direction at the Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap By Anna J. ParkWith the Korean government's economic policy for next year outlined in its official announcement on Wednesday, securities firms forecast that semiconductors, secondary battery, defense, nuclear power generation as well as the content sector will benefit from the policy direction.The 2023 economic policy direction announced jointly by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, along with related ministries, stressed that the government aims to turn Korea into one of the world's top five export powerhouses. The government plans to achieve the goal by putting emphasis on maintaining significant technological gaps with other export countries, in terms of the country's key export industries, such as semiconductors, secondary batteries and displays. Besides the

Dec 23, 2022By Anna J. Park
Chips, battery, defense stocks to benefit from state economic policies in 2023
Economy

Korea's housing prices fell most among 56 major nations

A view over apartment complexes in Seoul, Dec. 21 / Yonhap By Anna J. Park While housing prices continued to rise in many countries during the third quarter this year, Korea turned out to be the country that posted the biggest fall globally in average housing prices during the period. According to U.K.-headquartered real estate company Knight Frank's quarterly “Global House Price Index” published for Q3 this year, Korea's housing prices fell by 7.5 percent in nominal terms during the quarter, compared to a year ago. It is the largest loss ratio logged among 56 countries and territories that the real estate company surveyed. The Global House Price Index published quarterly by Knight Frank tracks the movement of mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide. The index tracks nominal prices of housing prices, using official statistics, in local currencies. Out of t

Dec 23, 2022By Anna J. Park
Korea's housing prices fell most among 56 major nations
Economy

100 rich people in Korea own over 22,000 homes

A man watches apartment complexes in Seoul, Dec. 19. YonhapBy Anna J. Park The number of homes owned by the country's top 100 people, in terms of the number of homes they have, exceeded 22,000 as of November this year. The number is up by around 2,000 compared to last year. According to Statistics Korea's data submitted to opposition lawmaker Rep. Kim Hoi-jae, the exact number of homes held by the 100 people, as of Nov. 1, stands at 22,582, which is 1,893 more, or a 9.1 percent jump, from the figure of last year. The aggregate government-declared asset value of the homes reaches 2.95 trillion won ($2.3 billion), a 17 percent increase compared to a year ago. On average, this means that one person out of the top 100 holds 226 homes, and the total value of all their declared assets stands at about 30 billion won. The opposition lawmaker criticized that the Yoon administration's real estate policies encourages speculative investment by owners of multiple homes. The government announced Wednesday in its economic policy directions for the next year that it aims to lower taxation and loan r

Dec 22, 2022By Anna J. Park
100 rich people in Korea own over 22,000 homes
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