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.
After Booyoung Group's recent announcement to pay a combined 7 billion won ($5.25 million) in cash for 70 babies born to its employees after 2021, the government is considering offering tax benefits both to the company and the employees over the childbirth bonus.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to release a draft of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) disclosure standards, which will apply to companies listed on the Korean stock exchanges. This draft is scheduled to be released between March and April, according to the financial regulator.
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spending patterns of tourists in Seoul have shifted towards seeking more enjoyable experiences in trendy districts within the capital city. This marks a departure from their previous focus on shopping-centric activities in commercial districts.
EcoPro Materials' stock price soared during Tuesday's trading session, following its new addition to the MSCI Korea Index, which was announced earlier in the day.
With the Lunar New Year holidays ending, many companies have begun to accelerate their preparations for their respective initial public offering (IPO) goals, aiming to accomplish their stock market debuts within the first half of this year. As companies that have previously withdrawn their original IPOs — due to unfavorable market conditions at the time — are now attempting to make another push to be listed, the domestic IPO market is forecast to see an increase throughout this year, according to investment banking industry officials, Monday.
Starting this year, cryptocurrency exchanges that are deemed unsuitable, due to failing to meet stringent standards, will be expelled from the marketplace, as financial authorities plan to strengthen scrutiny and inspection of them, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) said Monday.
KakaoBank posted a record-high annual net profit last year, thanks mainly to the digital bank's continued success in attracting new customers, which in turn led to stable increases in both loans and deposits.
Starting in the second half of this year, crimes related to digital assets such as price manipulation, insider trading and unfair trading practices will be prohibited, as the country's first law on protecting digital asset investors will take effect on July 19. Individuals involved in such illegalities can face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, if they are found guilty of pocketing a wrongful gain of over 5 billion won ($3.7 million).
Four startups — Lendit, Lunit, Jobis & Villains and Travel Wallet — as well as Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance jointly formed the U-Bank Consortium earlier this week, aiming to become the country's fourth internet-only bank. So far, there are three internet-only banks in Korea: Kbank, KakaoBank and Toss Bank.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial regulator, is pushing for a stronger disclosure obligation in the corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process, aiming to better protect and enhance general shareholders' rights. The financial authority also plans to impose expanded responsibilities to a corporate board to ensure more transparency in their decision-making process on M&A deals.