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.
Kbank, one of three domestic internet-only banks along with KakaoBank and Toss Bank, aims to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) again this year, after it withdrew its listing plan last year amid worsening market conditions. Industry watchers' attention is now on how high a valuation the internet-only lender can get from the stock market.
Mirae Asset Global Investments announced that the assets under management (AUM) of its subsidiary, Horizons ETFs, a Canadian-listed index fund management company, have surpassed $30.5 billion Canadian (30 trillion won).
The popularity of online mortgage refinancing loan services is soaring in the country, with over 1.3 trillion won ($970 million) worth of requests for transferring housing loans to other lenders having been made in just a few days since the service's launch in the past week.
Toss Bank launched a commission-free foreign exchange service on Thursday, which does not charge any fees when buying or selling currencies. The internet-only bank said it was the first domestic financial company to introduce the entirely free foreign exchange service.
President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to enhance shareholders' rights by institutionalizing online shareholders' meetings, aiming to amplify the collective voice of minority stockholders. Additionally, he intends to amend the country's Commercial Act to curb corporate directors from pursuing personal gains.
Naver received the highest rating for employee satisfaction among major business groups in the country, with 62 points out of 100.
The National Pension Service (NPS), Korea's largest institutional investor, has reduced its stakes in POSCO Holdings and Kakao, while increasing shareholdings in Samsung Electro-Mechanics during the last quarter of 2023.
A new cryptocurrency scam has become prevalent in the country, with financial authorities calling on investors to remain vigilant against fraudulent activities regarding coin investment.
Preliminary evaluations by the Korea Exchange (KRX), the country's bourse operator, on companies that filed for Kosdaq listing, are surpassing the usual timeline by several months. This delay is attributed to the heightened demand for Kosdaq initial public offerings (IPOs).