my timesThe Korea Times
jjh

Jun Ji-hye

Korea Times Finance Reporter

Hello, I am Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at The Korea Times. I primarily cover financial authorities and write articles on a wide range of topics related to finance and capital markets. If you have any information to share, feel free to email me at jjh@koreatimes.co.kr, and I will review it carefully. I am committed to always doing my best to communicate with readers through high-quality articles.

Go to Email

Read more

Cryptocurrency

Experts warn crypto ownership cap may hurt competitiveness

Academic and legal circles, along with the virtual asset industry, are increasingly scrutinizing the government’s plan to cap major shareholder stakes in crypto exchanges, noting that the proposal falls short of providing sufficient legal grounds or a convincing industrial policy rationale, according to industry officials and politicians Wednesday. The measure would limit the largest shareholder’s stake to about 15 to 20 percent, reflecting the view of the Financial Services Commission that crypto exchanges function as “quasi-financial institutions” because they hold client assets in custody, facilitate transactions and manage listings. The proposal has emerged as a key issue in drafting the tentatively titled Digital Asset Basic Act, widely referred to as the second phase of virtual asset legislation, with attention focused on how the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will ultimately proceed. Experts stress that the regulation requires thorough review before legislation, given its potentially significant impact on industry growth, legal stability and global competitiveness

Feb 25, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Experts warn crypto ownership cap may hurt competitiveness
Banking & Finance

IBK's film investment strategy in focus as 'The King's Warden' gains traction

As “The King’s Warden” continues to perform strongly at the box office, attention is turning to the content investment strategy of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), which financed the film, industry officials said Wednesday. The movie is seen as a potential follow-up hit to the bank’s earlier successful investments in “Extreme Job” and “Exhuma,” both of which surpassed 10 million admissions. According to the Korean Film Council’s ticketing database, “The King’s Warden” topped 6 million viewers on Monday, 20 days after its release. IBK invested 1 billion won ($699,000) in the project. Should admissions exceed 10 million, the lender is expected to extend its streak of profitable film investments. A total of 11 movies backed either directly or indirectly by IBK have crossed the 10-million-viewer threshold, including “The Admiral: Roaring Currents,” “Ode to My Father,” “Assassination,” “Veteran,” “Train to Busan,” “Parasite,” “Extreme Job” and “Exhuma.” IBK has generated notable profits from its film investments, posting a 377 percent retu

Feb 25, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
IBK's film investment strategy in focus as 'The King's Warden' gains traction
Banking & Finance

Insurance sector accelerates AI shift across core processes

Insurance companies are accelerating the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) agents across their core operations, from policy underwriting and sales support to claims assessment and payouts, industry officials said Monday. The sector’s broader push toward AI transformation (AX) is expected to enable customers to receive faster, more consistent guidance without waiting, while helping companies reduce operating costs and improve profitability over the long term. Last Thursday, DB Insurance rolled out an AI-enabled claims platform that embeds conversational assistance throughout the process, from incident reporting to settlement. The system provides step-by-step instructions and situation-specific responses while automating routine inquiries and paperwork guidance to enhance both processing speed and accuracy. On Feb. 12, Shinhan Life unveiled Life Copilot, a generative AI-driven advisory tool designed to support insurance planning. By analyzing client data and advisor behavior patterns, it recommends suitable products in real time and assists with drafting and revising policy pro

Feb 24, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Insurance sector accelerates AI shift across core processes
Others

Parents rush to open stock accounts for children as KOSPI hits highs

Kim, a 39-year-old office worker in Seoul, recently set up a brokerage account in the name of his 5-year-old daughter as the benchmark KOSPI continues to hit record highs. He said putting money into his child’s account early and within the tax-exempt gifting limit seemed like a smart way to pursue long-term investment. “Since the assets will eventually go to my child anyway, I thought it would be better to start investing sooner,” he said. Lee, a 43-year-old office worker living in Gyeonggi Province, also opened accounts for her two elementary school children late last year. She said she plans to invest mainly in IT-related stocks to build funds for her children’s future wedding expenses over time. “It feels less burdensome to invest gradually rather than keep the money in cash,” she said. With Korea’s benchmark index repeatedly hitting record highs, more parents are following suit by opening accounts for their underage children, industry officials said Monday. Many are aiming to transfer assets early while keeping taxes low and maximizing long-term returns. Even so, market

Feb 23, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Parents rush to open stock accounts for children as KOSPI hits highs
Others

Foreign investors lock in gains as KOSPI rally continues

Foreign investors are taking in profits by net selling more than 9 trillion won ($6.2 billion) worth of shares as the KOSPI continues to hit record highs this year, in contrast to strong institutional buying, market analysts said Sunday. They said the sharp rise in stock prices appears to have prompted foreign investors to trim positions and lock in gains. According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors recorded net sales of 9.16 trillion won on the main board from the start of the year through Friday, almost double the 4.66 trillion won in net sales logged for all of last year. The bulk of the selling was concentrated in semiconductor blue chips. Foreign investors were the biggest net sellers of Samsung Electronics, offloading 9.55 trillion won worth of shares. The stock has surged 59 percent this year alone and topped 190,000 won for the first time on Thursday, with the rally seemingly providing an opportunity for profit-taking. Net sales of SK hynix were also high at 5.97 trillion won. Foreign funds also reduced exposure to several major blue-chip stocks. Net selling in Hyundai Motor

Feb 23, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Foreign investors lock in gains as KOSPI rally continues
Cryptocurrency

Bithumb market share falls after fee waivers tied to bitcoin fiasco end

Bithumb’s crypto exchange market share, which had generally hovered near the 30 percent level, fell to the mid-20 percent range in the aftermath of the erroneous bitcoin distribution incident on Feb. 6, industry officials said Sunday. The exchange’s temporary zero fee campaign, introduced as part of its compensation plan, briefly pushed its share back above 30 percent earlier this month. However, the rebound quickly faded once the promotion ended, reinforcing the view that short-term pricing incentives were insufficient to fully restore weakened investor confidence. According to data from market tracker CoinGecko, Bithumb accounted for 24.8 percent of trading among the country’s five won-denominated crypto exchanges as of last Friday. Upbit led with 58.4 percent, followed by Bithumb, Coinone at 13 percent, Korbit at 3.5 percent and Gopax at 0.3 percent. On Feb. 6, Bithumb mistakenly credited users with 2,000 bitcoins each instead of distributing bitcoins worth 2,000 won ($1.38) during a promotional event, resulting in an erroneous payout of 620,000 bitcoins. The amount far exceede

Feb 22, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Bithumb market share falls after fee waivers tied to bitcoin fiasco end
Cryptocurrency

Investors weigh buying or selling bitcoin amid cooling momentum

Yang, a 39-year-old office worker living in Mapo District, Seoul, sold part of his bitcoin holdings last summer when prices surged, locking in profits. But as prices recently corrected, he began buying again in installments. “Whenever there’s news about interest rates or regulations, the market gets shaky, but I believe the long-term trend is upward. Whenever prices drop sharply, it actually feels like a buying opportunity,” she said. In contrast, another investor, Park, a 45-year-old office worker living in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, could not withstand a recent downturn and sold half of his holdings at a loss. “The market has become much more complicated than before, and the upward momentum seems weak. For the time being, I plan to increase my cash position and stay on the sidelines,” he said. The bitcoin market, which surged past the $120,000 mark in October last year, has cooled sharply, leaving investors weighing whether to step in at lower prices or cut their losses. On Korean crypto exchanges, bitcoin briefly climbed back above 100 million won ($69,000) during the Lunar New

Feb 19, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Investors weigh buying or selling bitcoin amid cooling momentum
Cryptocurrency

FSC, FSS criticized for missing Bithumb system flaw in 'ghost coin' case

Financial authorities are facing intensified scrutiny over their role in the recent erroneous bitcoin payout incident at Bithumb, after failing to detect critical flaws in the exchange’s internal systems, which were cited as a key cause of the case, lawmakers said Thursday. Data provided by Rep. Kang Min-guk of the main opposition People Power Party showed that the Financial Services Commission reviewed the exchange three times, once in 2022 and twice in 2025, while the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) conducted three inspections of their own over the same period. Despite the repeated supervision, authorities failed to identify a key vulnerability — a system structure prone to input errors — that was blamed for the incident. Kang said that existing safeguards were insufficient to prevent a scenario in which a single employee could trigger large-scale coin transfers, and discrepancies between actual holdings and accounting records went undetected. “The episode is not merely a technical mishap but a case that lays bare deeper structural weaknesses in the virtual asset market, in

Feb 19, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
FSC, FSS criticized for missing Bithumb system flaw in 'ghost coin' case
Others

Nextrade, Korea Exchange consortia win nod for STO platforms

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has named two consortia — the KDX consortium led by the Korea Exchange and the NXT consortium led by alternative trading platform Nextrade — as operators of new over-the-counter trading platforms for fractional investment, officials said Friday. Lucentblock, a startup operating a fractional real estate investment platform that had drawn attention after alleging procedural unfairness and misappropriation of technology, was eliminated after receiving the lowest marks, including in equity capital. Mindful of the controversy surrounding Lucentblock’s claims, the FSC disclosed detailed scoring results in an unusual move, saying it had applied startup-friendly criteria and that Lucentblock fell short in several areas, including its business proposal. Regarding the complaint Lucentblock filed with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged technology theft by Nextrade, the FSC effectively left the matter to the antitrust watchdog, stipulating that the final licensing review would be suspended if the FTC formally launches an administrative probe. T

Feb 13, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Nextrade, Korea Exchange consortia win nod for STO platforms
Cryptocurrency

Bithumb license renewal faces prolonged delay amid bitcoin misallocation scandal

Bithumb’s license renewal is likely to face a prolonged delay after the cryptocurrency exchange mistakenly distributed 620,000 so-called “ghost” bitcoins, triggering regulatory scrutiny, according to financial authorities and industry officials Friday. Under the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information, virtual asset service providers are required to renew their registration every three years. The country’s second-largest coin exchange has remained in provisional operating status since its license expired in December 2024. The firm applied for a renewal of its business registration in October 2024, and the review process is still underway. Financial authorities had aimed to conclude Bithumb’s renewal review within the first half of this year. That timeline, however, has been thrown into doubt following the recent bitcoin misallocation incident. On Feb. 6, the exchange attempted to distribute bitcoin worth 2,000 won ($1.40) to participating users as part of a promotional event, but an employee mistakenly entered 2,000 BTC, leading to the erroneous tr

Feb 13, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Bithumb license renewal faces prolonged delay amid bitcoin misallocation scandal
previous page
1213141516
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.