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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

Household debt to continue shrinking in 2nd half

Customers sit at a commercial bank's loans counter in Seoul on July 13. YonhapBy Anna J. ParkAmid soaring key interest rates and a sluggish housing market, the country's household debt is forecast to continue on a downward path in the second half of this year, according to financial market analysts Sunday.According to data compiled by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's aggregate household debt decreased by 800 billion won ($603 million) to 1,060 trillion won, as of the end of June.It was the first biannual decrease since the FSC began compiling such data in 2015. The amount of household debt had been increasing fast, particularly since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. In 2020, the annual household debt increased by 8 percent throughout the year, while the annual increase rate slowed to 7.1 percent in 2021.Although the rate of increase in household debt slowed during the previous year, the aggregate debt amount actually logged a net reduction in the first half of this year, due to a series of interest rate hikes from both inside and outside of Korea.It is estimate

Jul 18, 2022By Anna J. Park
Household debt to continue shrinking in 2nd half
Economy

Financial regulator mulls forming stock market stabilization fund

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun speaks during the inauguration ceremony held at the government complex in central Seoul on July 11. NewsisBy Anna J. ParkKorea's top financial regulator has hinted at the possibility of employing a stock market stabilization fund, aiming to support sagging local stock market indices by injecting a sufficient amount of liquidity.This is the first time since 2020 that the stock market stabilization fund was mentioned by a key financial regulator. Following his inauguration early last week, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun told reporters of the possibility of creating the stock market stabilization fund if necessary.The stock market stabilization fund refers to a pool of money created jointly by private financial institutions as well as state-run lenders and agencies, which is designed to be invested by a fund management committee.The latest stock market stabilization fund was formed back in 2020 when the global pandemic erupted. That fund involved 23 private financial firms, 5 major financial groups ― KB

Jul 17, 2022By Anna J. Park
Financial regulator mulls forming stock market stabilization fund
Economy

State-run financial firms still awaiting appointments of leaders

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun speaks during a press briefing held at the Government Complex in central Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Anna J. ParkA couple of months have passed since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was inaugurated in early May, yet some of the key chief posts of state-run financial organizations remain empty, raising concerns over the leadership vacuum during this period of increased uncertainties in global financial markets.While Kim Joo-hyun officially began his term as chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) early this week, there are still several posts in state-run financial institutions awaiting the appointments of their new leaders. Market watchers expect these empty seats to be filled soon, now that Kim has taken the helm of the country's top financial regulatory agency. The Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) of Korea is one of these organizations that currently lacks a leader. Since its former CEO, Bang Moon-kyu, was tapped as the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination early last month, the bank has been goin

Jul 14, 2022By Anna J. Park
State-run financial firms still awaiting appointments of leaders
Banking & Finance

Samsung Card shares ESG achievement through annual report

Samsung Card ESG report image / Courtesy of Samsung CardBy Anna J. ParkSamsung Card has published its annual ESG report, Thursday, summarizing the company's achievements and progress in management based on environmental, social and corporate governance principles. The report has particularly stressed overall achievements in climate change responses, innovative digital finance and ESG-principled capital increase. For instance, the card company previously launched eco-friendly credit cards made with recycled plastics, along with environmental campaigns for both its employees and customers. The firm has also been active in raising capital through ESG-principled bonds and debt. It has been focusing on raising capital through ESG bonds, aiming to create environmental and social value through the capital increase. The company raised 100 billion won ($76.3 million) last September and another 170 billion won in June this year by issuing ESG-based bonds. Samsung Card was also the first local card business to succeed in issuing foreign currency-denominated ESG asset-backed securities (ABS) in

Jul 14, 2022By Anna J. Park
Samsung Card shares ESG achievement through annual report
Economy

Korea's real estate transparency rises to 28th in biennial global index

A birds-eye view of buildings in Seoul on June 24 of this year / NewsisBy Anna J. ParkKorea is ranked 28th on the Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) for this year, up two notches from 2020. The biennial index is a global benchmark of real estate market transparency, based on a combination of quantitative market data and information gathered through a survey of the global business networks of global real restate service firm JLL and global real estate investment management firm LaSalle, across 94 countries and 156 city markets. The index evaluates each country or territory in six sub-indexes, looking at market fundamentals, regulatory and legal frameworks, transaction processes and listed vehicles. The U.K. topped this year's list, followed by the U.S., France, Australia and Canada in the top five positions. Japan took the highest rank of 12th place among Asian countries, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong, which took 14th and 16th place, respectively. Korea was placed as the fourth-highest Asian country on the list. The country is categorized as “Transparent,”

Jul 13, 2022By Anna J. Park
Korea's real estate transparency rises to 28th in biennial global index
Banking & Finance

Banks desert BC Card to increase profitability

The headquarters of BC Card located in central Seoul / Courtesy of BC CardCard company responds by strengthening marketing and partnership initiativesBy Anna J. ParkStandard Chartered Bank Korea has decided to discontinue its joint card issuance business with BC Card from November. With this decision, most cards issued by the bank, ranging from credit and debit to business credit cards will be stopped from issuance or renewal from November. Standard Chartered Bank Korea explained that the decision is primarily based on improving the bank's profitability as well as on innovating card services. “Aiming to proactively respond to rapidly changing external and internal situations, the decision aims to create a new business platform for credit cards for the sake of both improving profitability and providing varied and quality services for customers,” an official from the bank told The Korea Times, Wednesday.The official explained that the bank will strengthen its strategic partnership with Hyundai Card, with which the bank signed an MOU agreement in April to develop innovative

Jul 13, 2022By Anna J. Park
Banks desert BC Card to increase profitability
Economy

Savings banks urged to keep guard up against risks, support vulnerable

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun speaks during a meeting with 14 local savings bank leaders in central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of the FSSBy Anna J. ParkFinancial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun called on local savings bank leaders to manage their fiscal soundness by fully preparing ample reserves, while also asking them to continue providing loans for the countrys low credit-rating customers. In a meeting with the CEOs of local savings banks on Friday morning, Governor Lee urged the lenders to continue supporting the livelihoods of lower-credit customers by offering loans targeting them. The CEOs of 14 savings banks, including SBI, OK, Welcome and more, gathered for the meeting with the FSS chief. “When the end of the temporary financial benefits from earlier in the pandemic coincides with interest rate hikes, the repayment capacity of borrowers with low credit-ratings is expected to be further weakened,” Lee said during the meeting, asking the leaders of the lenders to expand support for those vulnerable borrowers specifically. FS

Jul 8, 2022By Anna J. Park
Savings banks urged to keep guard up against risks, support vulnerable
Economy

Local life insurers' profitability falls

gettyimagesbank By Anna J. ParkLocal insurance companies' loss ratios have risen to their highest levels in five years, indicating the deteriorated profitability of life insurance products. Loss ratio refers to an insurer's incurred losses from paying out coverage divided by the total amount earned in premiums. The figure is used to gauge insurance companies' fiscal soundness for profitability, as the firms need to collect an adequate amount of premiums to cover their total number of life insurance claims. According to the life insurance industry, Friday, the average loss ratio of 22 life insurers based in Korea stood at 86.9 percent, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, which is up 5.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The ratio is also at its highest level since the end of 2016, when the burning-cost ratio was 87.5 percent. Many of the companies even logged loss ratios of over 100 percent, meaning that the losses they incurred fr

Jul 8, 2022By Anna J. Park
Local life insurers' profitability falls
Economy

Biz leaders identify data & analysis as most important tech: EY Korea

gettyimagesbank By Anna J. Park More than half of local business leaders point to data and analysis as the most important investment as well as technology that is expected to create the highest value to corporations during the next two years. This is according to “EY Tech Horizon 2022,” a global survey of more than 1,600 senior executives, including in Korea, on the role of technology in their business transformation strategies.Of the surveyed local business leaders, 53 percent chose data and analysis as the area of top priority for the sake of establishing innovative strategic goals. Other tech infrastructures were also selected as key areas of investment, including the internet of things by 51 percent of the local respondents, cloud services by 47 percent, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning by 42 percent and blockchain technology by 18 percent. While only 21 percent of the Korean businesses surveyed said they've completed transformations towards bec

Jul 8, 2022By Anna J. Park
Biz leaders identify data & analysis as most important tech: EY Korea
Economy

Financial consumer protection law to be strengthened

Financial Services Commission (FSC) headquarters at the Government Complex in central Seoul / YonhapBy Anna J. Park Financial companies will be facing more limitations in soliciting investments when they attempt to sell high-risk financial products to general consumers.This is according to Thursday's preliminary announcement by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on the revision of the nation's Financial Consumer Protection Act, which will take effect sometime later this year. In principle, the current law prohibits investment solicitations, unless there's a request made on the part of consumers. However, as enforcement ordinances of the law allow a wide range of exceptions to the prohibition, such investment solicitations on most products are actually possible, other than for over-the-counter derivatives products. Aiming to prevent an excessive increase of solicitations on financial consumers, the revision of the act will allow only exceptional cases of consumer persuasion by financial firms on the condition of acquiring consumer consent in advance. Even when they succeed at get

Jul 7, 2022By Anna J. Park
Financial consumer protection law to be strengthened
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