my timesThe Korea Times
annajpark

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.

Go to Email

Read more

Banking & Finance

Korean content production firms to debut on Nasdaq via SPAC merger

A scene from “A Taxi Driver,” a Korean film starring Song Kang-ho. The film garnered over 10 million viewers at theaters after its release in August 2017. NewsisSPAC merger between Global Star and K Enter Holdings expected to attract U.S. investors By Anna J. ParkSeven Korean content production companies, including The Lamp, which produced one of Korea's highest-grossing films, “A Taxi Driver,” are set to make their U.S. stock market debuts on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger as early as the fourth quarter of this year, according to the companies involved. This is the first time for Korean content production companies to be listed on the U.S. stock market.A SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, is a publicly traded shell company serving as a vehicle for a private business to go public.The IPO process will be the result of a merger with Global Star, a SPAC listed on the Nasdaq. A public listing via a SPAC merger such as this usually takes less time than a traditional IPO process. Companies choose to use this path in order to have more certainty in raising c

Jun 18, 2023By Anna J. Park
Korean content production firms to debut on Nasdaq via SPAC merger
Economy

Local securities firms' reliance on investment banking profit falls to 6-year low

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkAs domestic securities companies' commission revenues from the investment banking sector have continued to drop, the proportion of commission profit from investment banks in the total earnings of local securities firms has fallen to its lowest level in the past six years. In terms of an absolute amount, the commission profit from the investment banking sector has also declined half year-on-year. According to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Thursday, the total amount of net profit posted by local securities companies stood at 3.89 trillion won ($3.03 billion) in the first quarter of this year.While it is a whopping 89 percent jump from the same period last year, the increase is due mostly to an unusual one-off revenue at some firms. When the influence from this one-time revenue is not factored in, local brokerage firms' quarterly net profit in the first quarter stood at 2.23 trillion won, an 8 percent increase year-on-year. Despite the slight increase, what is worrisome is that the firms' aggregate profits from commission busin

Jun 15, 2023By Anna J. Park
Local securities firms' reliance on investment banking profit falls to 6-year low
Economy

Another local stock plunge raises questions

Dealers look at computer monitors at the headquarters of Hana Bank in central Seoul, Thursday. YonhapOverseas travel ban issued on online stock community leader By Anna J. ParkFinancial authorities are investigating what triggered five local stocks to plunge during Wednesday's trading session, vowing to protect investors from manipulative market schemes. Each of the five companies stated in disclosures on Thursday that they could not identify any evidence of alleged unfair market trading or manipulation. According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), stock prices of five companies ― Dongil Industry, Dongil Metal, Manho Rope & Wire, Taihan Textile and Pangrim ― fell by 30 percent during Wednesday's session, hitting daily rock bottoms. The Korean stock market rules stipulate that a stock's price cannot rise or fall over a daily range of 30 percent from the price of the previous session. As the prices of the five stocks ― four listed on the main benchmark KOSPI market and the other on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market ― nosedived, a total of 504 billion won ($393 million) evaporated from their m

Jun 15, 2023By Anna J. Park
Another local stock plunge raises questions
Economy

Manyo Factory stocks soar on IPO debut

Product image of Manyo Factory / Courtesy of Manyo FactoryGreen light for cosmetics companies awaiting IPO in H2 By Anna J. ParkCosmetics company, Manyo Factory, made a successful debut on the Kosdaq market, Thursday, with its stock price finishing at 41,600 won ($31.80), up by the 30 percent daily limit.According to the bourse operator, Korea Exchange (KRX), the opening price of Manyo Factory stocks was set at 32,000 won at the beginning of the day's trading session at 9 a.m., which is double the price of the initial offering subscription of 16,000 won. The opening price is determined based on pre-orders made from 30 minutes before the start of the trading session until the session opens. Thus, the stock price succeeded in rising by 160 percent from the initial subscription price, which is the maximum possible increase of a share's value on the Korean stock market on the IPO day. The cosmetics company's IPO success was somewhat predicted, as the firm recorded the highest subscription competition rate among companies that went public this year. Institutional investors from both in an

Jun 8, 2023By Anna J. Park
Manyo Factory stocks soar on IPO debut
Economy

Dollar remittance, foreign exchange rules to be eased

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkThe Korean government is set to increase the annual cap on foreign currency remittance that does not require additional documentation, up to $100,000 from July this year, from the current cap of $50,000. The finance ministry announced the measures that will take effect from the second half of this year, on Thursday. The measures are a follow-up to the government's policy direction first announced in February to ease rules on public foreign remittances as well as corporations' foreign currency borrowing for the sake of improving convenience. Currently, a person who sends foreign currency transfers exceeding $50,000 per year is required to submit documentation to prove the goal of the remittance. Under the changes, this requirement will be dropped. People can wire foreign currency transfers up to $100,000 a year without having to report, as long as the aggregated remittances are under the annual limit. Ministry officials explained that the annual cap, created in 1999 when the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act took effect, does not suit the current economic

Jun 8, 2023By Anna J. Park
Dollar remittance, foreign exchange rules to be eased
Economy

FSS, banks draw up 'three-step defenses' to prevent suspicious foreign remittance

gettyimagesbank By Anna J. ParkThe Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the state-run financial watchdog agency, and local banks have decided to prevent abnormal foreign remittances by strengthening internal control and procedural codes to heighten the monitoring of such transactions. The FSS and the country's bank association jointly announced the so-called “three-step defenses” on Monday, which describe procedural steps that a bank should follow when handling suspicious foreign remittances. It is a follow-up measure of months of taskforce meetings held between the FSS and the bank association to prevent abnormal foreign remittance cases. Last June, financial authorities and banks caught over 83 companies that made $7.2 billion worth of suspicious remittances over the past several months through Korean banks to countries including Hong Kong under the false guise of trade. Most of the remittance transactions were illegal transfers suspected of criminal links utilizi

Jun 7, 2023By Anna J. Park
FSS, banks draw up 'three-step defenses' to prevent suspicious foreign remittance
Economy

Korea's corporate bond market regains vigor

gettyimagesbankReal estate PF risks to determine direction of credit market in H2By Anna J. ParkThe Korean debt market is showing signs of a recovery with investor appetite for corporate bonds rising during the first half of this year. Bonds issued by top-rated companies and even by some businesses with lower credit ratings succeeded in attracting hundreds of billions of won in investments during the first half of this year. Hotel Lotte, whose bonds are rated AA-, decided to increase the size of its debt issuance scheduled on Friday to 163 billion won ($125 million) from 120 billion won. The increase is due to heated investment demand that exceeded the initial debt issuance target by about four times. Hanwha Solutions, whose bonds are also rated AA-, is also considering expanding the amount of debt issuance by up to 300 billion won. The company originally planned to issue 150 billion won worth of bonds next Tuesday, but it attracted over 800 billion won in demand during the book-building process.What is noteworthy is that the two companies already issued bonds earlier this year and s

Jun 7, 2023By Anna J. Park
Korea's corporate bond market regains vigor
Economy

Retail investors bet on wrong horse despite KOSPI rally

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkRetail investors have failed to enjoy the boon of recent stock market rallies, as they turned out to have purchased trending stocks related to post-pandemic reopening and secondary batteries at their peak prices. According to bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday, the monthly average rate of return for the 10 most-purchased stocks by retail investors stood at minus 2.46 percent in May. This contrasts with the KOSPI, the benchmark index of the Korean stock market, which rose by 3.02 percent in the past month.The top 10 most-purchased stocks by retail investors in May on the KOSPI market included POSCO Holdings, LG Chem, LG Household & Health Care, NCSOFT, Doosan Enerbility, AmorePacific, Hanwha Solutions, E-mart, KT&G and Korea Zinc, in the order of the total amount of the monthly buying by retail investors. All of the 10 favored picks by individual investors logged a minus return in May, except Doosan Enerbility at 2.6 percent. AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care were two of the most unprofitable stocks last month, logging re

Jun 5, 2023By Anna J. Park
Retail investors bet on wrong horse despite KOSPI rally
Banking & Finance

Operating loss clouds Kakao Entertainment's IPO plan

Kakao Entertainment headquarters in Seoul / YonhapLoss in webtoon and web novel platform behind poor profitability By Anna J. ParkDespite managing a superstar like IU, Kakao Entertainment suffered an operating loss last year for the first time in seven years, casting a shadow over its ambitious IPO plan. The unusual poor profitability of a major entertainment and content powerhouse hurts especially more, as its competitors, including HYBE and JYP Entertainment, are enjoying stock price rallies lately with their all-time-high earnings. The entertainment subsidiary of the Kakao conglomerate posted an annual operating loss of 13.8 billion won ($10.5 million) last year and a revenue of 1.8 trillion won. While the annual revenue increased by about 50 percent compared to 1.2 trillion won in 2021, the 2021 operating profit of 29.6 billion won shifted to a loss the following year.Market watchers cite poor earnings from the firm's webtoon and web novel businesses as the major cause of the deteriorated profitability. Kakao Entertainment launched Tapas Entertainment last September, by merging T

Jun 5, 2023By Anna J. Park
Operating loss clouds Kakao Entertainment's IPO plan
Banking & Finance

Shinhan Card strengthens retail loan business in Kazakhstan

Shinhan Card CEO Moon Dong-kwon speaks at his inauguration ceremony held at the firm's headquarters in central Seoul, Jan. 3. Courtesy of Shinhan CardBy Anna J. ParkShinhan Card aims to become a top-tier operator in retail loans in Kazakhstan by strengthening local partnerships as well as accelerating digitalization.The company announced on Sunday that Shinhan Card CEO Moon Dong-kwon visited LLP MFO Shinhan Finance, the local subsidiary of the card company in Kazakhstan earlier this month.During the visit, Moon also held meetings with local auto companies, including Aster Auto and Orbis Auto, to strengthen their business partnerships. Aster Auto is the biggest used car dealer in Kazakhstan and Orbis Auto is a major automobile dealership. The card company formed a strategic business partnership with Asia Auto, the top automobile manufacturing and sales company in Kazakhstan, in August 2020, followed by another partnership with Aster Auto in October 2021. Based on such solid partnerships with local companies, the Kazakh subsidiary of Shinhan Card posted an average annual growth of 72 p

Jun 4, 2023By Anna J. Park
Shinhan Card strengthens retail loan business in Kazakhstan
previous page
96979899100
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.