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Kang Seung-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.

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Companies

Financial regulators vow measures to weed out insurance fraudsters

By Kang Seung-woo An increasing frequency in fraud by insurance salesman has spurred authorities to enforce a no-tolerance policy, sources said Sunday. Financial regulators are fine-tuning new regulations with the Justice Ministry that will allow them to revoke the license of insurance people involved in fraud and ban them from conducting business permanently. This ``one-strike-and-you’re-out’’ scheme and other sanctions will be included in the revised bill for the insurance law the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to present to lawmakers soon. In a dismal lack of foresight, the current regulations on insurance businesses provide no specific rules on the punishment of fraudulent activities, just vaguely stipulating that insurance salesmen should not commit them. ``Insurance salespeople who are punished for insurance fraud at one company can usually move to another with no problem because there is no system for sharing such information between the companies. Our plan is to weed out those without professionalism and ethics and kick them out of the industry,’

Nov 13, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Popular bloggers slapped for corporate kickbacks

By Kang Seung-woo The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Sunday that it had sanctioned 47 bloggers and Internet cafe operators for taking cash from companies and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations. The nation’s antitrust watchdog said that seven popular bloggers, so-called “power” bloggers, took commissions from advertisers in return for organizing group purchases without disclosing this to consumers. It fined four of them, who took cash regularly, 200 million won ($176,800). “If bloggers write favorable product reviews and promote group purchases after receiving cash from advertisers, a number of consumers who joined the collective bargaining in the belief that the blog or cafe were not profit-seeking may have suffered losses from distorted and sponsored information on products,” said an official at the FTC. In July this year, the FTC, headed by Chairman Kim Dong-soo, announced that local online users, including power bloggers who post products reviews in reward for benefits, will have to disclose their links with advertisers from July 14 in an action t

Nov 13, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

3-4 savings banks may ask public funds

By Kang Seung-woo Three to four savings banks are considering asking for public funds as part of bolstering their assets, the nation’s financial regulator said Thursday. “A few savings banks are interested in receiving special funds. Around the deadline of Nov. 21, they are expected to apply,” said an official of the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The Korea Finance Corp. (KoFC) that manages the fund also confirmed that some savings banks are expected to apply for funding although it did not specify who they were. The state-run agency is scheduled to hold a presentation next week. In August, the FSC asked the finance ministry to allot 500 billion won in taxpayers’ money for a savings bank overhaul fund to shore up the banking sector. As of the end of June, the final month of the fiscal 2010 for the secondary lenders, a total of 24 entities whose bank for international settlements (BIS) ratio stood at between 5 percent and 10 percent were eligible to request funding. The BIS ratio is a barometer for banks’ solvency. This will be the first time for the governmen

Nov 10, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Vietnamese president visits Kumho chairman

By Kang Seung-woo Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo discussed ways to enhance bilateral exchanges and economic cooperation with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, the group said Wednesday. Park met the Vietnamese President for the first time in December 2007, when the group established the Kumho Asiana-Vietnam Scholarship and Cultural Foundation (KVSC) and since then, the two figures have met each other on four other occasions. Kumho Asiana is the first Korean company President Sang to pay a visit to during his three-day stay here. In the meeting, the group’s top executives and the Southeast Asian country’s government officials were also present. “I hope that President Sang’s visit to Korea will help boost relationship between Korean and Vietnam,” the chairman said. “Kumho Asian will also try its best to contribute to the economic development of the two countries.” Currently, the group’s affiliates Asiana Airlines, Kumho Engineering and Construction, Kumho Tires and Kumho Buslines operate in Vietnam, with an investment of about $500 million so far. A

Nov 9, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Regulator to lift short-selling ban on non-financial stocks

By Kang Seung-woo The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Tuesday it will lift a three-month ban on short selling of non-financial stocks starting Thursday. However, the financial regulator will maintain the ban on financial shares, which are swayed more by external economic factors. “The ban on short selling of non-financial shares will be lifted starting on Nov. 10, but the ban on financial stocks will not be lifted for the present time,’’ Chin Woong-seob, director-general of the FSC’s capital market bureau, said. Short selling refers to the practice of selling borrowed shares in the hopes of repurchasing them at a lower price. Korean government officials imposed a three-month suspension on the short selling of stocks in August, after the eurozone debt crisis and U.S. credit downgrade left markets decimated. FSC observers that the market is now stable enough, from the KOSPI recovering from closing at 1,801 on Aug. 9 to 1,919 on Nov. 7. However, lingering doubts on European nations Greece and Italy, as well as the massive amount of European debt expected to matur

Nov 8, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Lone Star asks for 6 months in disposing of KEB stake

By Kang Seung-woo Lone Star has reportedly asked the Korean government to give it six months to implement an order to sell its controlling stake in the Korea Exchange Bank, regulators said Tuesday. The six-month period will allow Lone Star to get the best price out of its deal with Hana Financial, a prospective buyer, analysts said. The request comes at a time when the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is about to order the Texan buyout fund to dispose of its controlling stake in KEB after a court ruling deprived it of its status as a majority stakeholder. “We have received a request from Lone Star on the order to dispose of its stake in KEB,” an FSC official said. He didn’t reveal any details, but Yonhap News Agency reported the company asked for six months to do so. The FSC’s prospective order is a result of a former employee of Lone Star being convicted of stock manipulation in the firm’s purchase of the spun off KEB credit card arm in 2003. The Seoul High Court ruled Lone Star and its former Korean unit chief Paul Yoo were guilty of manipulating stock p

Nov 8, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

SK boss gets down to lubricant business

By Kang Seung-woo SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is seeking a bigger presence in the European markets for the chaebol’s lubrication oil business affiliate, the company said Monday. According to the group, Chey, along with SK Lubricants CEO Choi Kwan-ho and SK G&G President Yoo Jung-joon, visited Repsol YPF Chairman Antonio Brufau last week in Madrid, Spain and agreed to cooperate in a variety of areas including the ongoing construction of a new production facility. The two sides began to build the plant at the Spain-based company’s Cartagena refinery in June last year, and it is scheduled to be completed by 2014. SK, based in Seoul, said that the plant will produce 12,000 barrels per day of Group III lubricants and it is expected to be a trailblazer for the group’s entry into other European markets. Given that about 40 percent of the demand for Group III base oil is from Europe, the joint venture with Repsol is estimated to boost the Korean firm’s market share there. SK Lubricants, which operates two plants in Ulsan, North Gyeongsang Province, currently produces 4,

Nov 7, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Unfounded anti-FTA rumors spread via SNS

By Kang Seung-woo Unfounded and absurd rumors about the ill effects of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) are spreading rapidly through social networking services (SNS). One rumor argues that the FTA will wipe out Korean rice farmers and Korea will fall victim to big grain producers, although the rice market has already been opened in accordance with the multilateral agreement made under the supervision of the World Trade Organization. Another claims that the FTA will push mad cow disease to immediate epidemic proportions; while firearm controls will be lifted, turning Korean streets into scenes of gun battles. There appear to be a couple of different twists to the “mad cow protests” over Seoul’s decision to resume American beef imports that peaked with candlelit protests two and a half years ago. One of them is the medium. It was then Internet blogs but now SNSs such as Twitters are taking over. But there are common threads pushing the two rumor machines ― a high level of discontent among young people, hit by dark prospects of unemployment, and deep d

Nov 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Low-priced gas station plan hits snag

By Kang Seung-woo The government has a plan to open 1,300 low-priced gas stations as part of its effort to contain rising fuel prices. But there is growing opposition to the idea, questioning of its effectiveness and calling it another vain move by the current administration. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy Thursday said that the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and the National Agricultural Cooperation Federation, better known as Nonghyup, will purchase fuel in bulk from oil refiners in Korea and abroad and supply it for the so-called “thrift” gas stations. These outlets will be able to sell fuel cheaper than the current gas stations, with the average price up to 100 won less per liter, thanks to cheaper supply prices. The first low-priced gas station will open in December, with 500 to be set up next year. The anti-inflationary action seemed to hit a snag from the beginning. Local oil refiners balked at the proposal, citing price fairness. “It is not fair that we offer fuel at cheaper prices to thrift gas stations, while continuing charging existing

Nov 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Can POSCO meet challenges?

By Kang Seung-woo POSCO’s “Vision 2020” is facing a great deal of challenge but it remains to be seen how one of Korea’s blue-chip firms will get back on track. The global economic slump is a key factor. Also adding to this are pressures from rival firms and the rising price of raw materials. As a result, the world’s third largest steelmaker saw its credit valuation downgraded. POSCO’s 2020 plan aims to achieve 200 trillion won in revenue by 2020. Under the plan, unveiled in February, the group expects 120 trillion won in sales from its core steel business, with 60 trillion won in sales coming from its energy and petrochemicals-related ventures. Areas such as alternative energy are expected to generate 20 trillion won in sales by that time. On Monday, Standard & Poor’s announced that its downgrade of the Korean steel giant’s long-term corporate credit and debt ratings to “A-” from “A” due to slowing demand, growing competition and weaker-than-expected earnings. The downgrade came five months after the U.S.-based rating agency lowered its credit outlook for POSCO to

Nov 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo
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