The Korea Times

UN model conference to open today

By Kang Seung-woo The opening ceremony of the Global Model United Nations (GMUN), with more than 1,200 participants, is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. Thursday at Songdo Convensia in Incheon, west of Seoul. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to give a keynote address during the ceremony to mark the beginning of the event that runs through Sunday. The 67-year-old will also speak to some 1,000 local students in a session later in the day. According to Incheon City officials, one of the three organizers of the meeting, 646 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 26 from 61 countries will be present, as well as some 100 special guests and press groups. In addition, around 400 high school students in the city, who were recommended by their schools, will also participate in the conference as observers. The meeting, established in 2009, is an academic simulation of the United Nations with the purposes of educating participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the U.N. agenda. This year, the students will discuss “Su

Aug 10, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Unemployment stabilizes

Youth jobless rate falls 0.9% point to 7.6% in July By Kang Seung-woo Korea’s labor market conditions continued to improve in July, as the nation’s jobless rate fell from a year ago, helped by solid exports and growing industrial production, a government report showed Wednesday. According to the latest figures from Statistics Korea, the country’s unemployment rate for last month was 3.3 percent, down 0.4 percentage point from a year ago. The June reading for the jobless rate also stood at 3.3 percent, down 0.2 percentage point year-on-year. As for youth unemployment, the biggest headache for the government and policymakers, its rate for those aged between 15 and 29 registered 7.6 percent last month, down from 8.5 percent at the same time last year. Since May, when it increased by 0.9 percentage point from the same period a year earlier, the youth jobless rate has been sliding on a year-on-year basis. The unemployment rate of those actively searching for work aged between 25 and 29 has also been on the decline. According to the report, the unemployment rate for th

Aug 10, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Bahk calls for international cooperation

By Kang Seung-woo The nation’s finance minister stressed the need for international cooperation Tuesday to deal with the fallout from the global financial turmoil in the United States and Europe. He was followed by the chief of the financial regulator, who called the investor response in the local financial markets, particularly the Seoul Bureau, too much. “The market especially dislikes uncertainties,” Strategy and Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said at a regular meeting of economic ministers. “The uncertainties have been amped up, as last week’s U.S. downgrade in Standard and Poor’s credit rating was added to the lingering jitters over the U.S. slowdown and the eurozone’s debt crisis.” His remarks come as Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been hit hard by fears of a possible U.S. double-dip recession and Europe’s debt crisis, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) losing more than 10 percent to fall below 1,900 points during the last five trading sessions, sparked by foreign investors’ selloffs. “To prevent uncertainties about the global economy at a

Aug 9, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Is 4.5% growth target assailed?

By Kang Seung-woo The Korean economy is rattled the U.S. recession and Europe’s debt crisis, which is expected to eventually cause Korea to miss the government’s growth target, market watchers said Tuesday. Since Standard and Poor’s downgraded the credit rating of the United States by one notch Saturday from AAA to AA+, due to concerns over its debt and its ability to handle it, the local financial markets have been hit hard, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) losing ground for days. The government earlier this year forecast the nation’s economic growth at 5 percent for 2011 but lowered that estimate to 4.5 percent in June. Now, it is no longer unthinkable that Korea, the fourth-largest economy in Asia, may fall short of 4-percent growth. “Any harsh slowdown in the U.S. Economy is unlikely, but the world economy is struggling, so Korea’s second-half economic growth is expected to slow. Taking the situation into consideration, the government’s target of 4.5 percent is out of the question,” said Shin Suk-ha, director of an economic analysis team at the Korea

Aug 9, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Savings banks need more provisions

By Kang Seung-woo Local savings banks’ losses from bad construction loans are expected to worsen, as their reserves for lending have increased, a lawmaker said Monday. Rep. Park Sun-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party said in a press release that the domestic savings bank sector has to set aside an additional 1.1 trillion won reserve this year in order to cover its non-performing loans, with the amount totaling 2.98 trillion won ($2.79 billion) thus far. The total reserves are the loan-loss provisions calculated by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)’s on-site inspections of savings banks in 2008 and 2010, with the lenders’ bad-debt funds deducted. According to Park, the remaining reserves that the secondary banks had to also accumulate stood at 337.5 billion won in 2008 and 1.55 trillion won in 2010. Last month, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) extended to five years a deadline for savings banks to accumulate reserves. This year, the financial watchdog carried out an inspection of the ailing industry from May 30 to June 6, which found that it must

Aug 8, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Can pension funds be savior?

By Kang Seung-woo With local shares plunging day by day in jitters over the U.S. double-dip recession and Europe’s debt crisis, pension funds are setting out to purchase shares in an effort to stabilize the stock market. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed approximately 100 points in early-morning trading from the previous session's close. The pension funds, which have often eased concerns in the market amid internal and external uncertainties, started flexing their muscles Friday by buying some 50 million worth of shares to stem a selloff. They focused on large-cap stocks of POSCO, Samsung Electronics, Kia Motors and KT that saw their shares tumble, fueled by massive selling by foreign investors. On Friday, the KOSPI ended down 3.7 percent, or 74.72 points, to 1,943.75, the lowest close since March 15, with selling trumping buying 805 to 66. Observers credited pension funds’ intervention for the benchmark index’s afternoon rally. While the KOSPI lost 229 points from Tuesday to Friday, with foreigners selling shares worth 2 trillion won at

Aug 8, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

POSCO seeks investment in Colombia

By Kang Seung-woo POSCO, the Korean steel giant, is close to inking a sizable investment deal in Colombia, hoping to achieve synergy with the resource-rich country in an ideal match that could benefit both sides. POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang met Friday with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to discuss business endeavors that include resource development, infrastructure construction and steel investment, company officials said Sunday. Chung also talked with Serafino Iacono, chairman of Colombian natural gas and oil producer Pacific Rubiales Energy, and Alberto Losada, head of the local transportation giant, Fanalca Group, over possible partnerships. The company expects to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the companies sometime next month. “We are keeping a very close watch on Colombia, which is rich with underground resources such as iron ore, coal, petroleum and natural gas,” said a POSCO spokesman. “In addition, the Colombian government and local firms there have genuine interest in POSCO contributing to developing resources and building infra

Aug 7, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

Suhyup, Woori, KDB top in bad loans

By Kang Seung-woo Suhyup, Woori Bank and the Korea Development Bank (KDB) posted the highest bad-loan ratio in the second quarter of this year, hovering well above the average ratio of 18 lenders, the financial watchdog said Thursday. According to a report by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Suhyup put up the highest number among the major local banks at 2.75 percent, followed by state-run financial institutions Woori and KDB, whose ratio stood at 2.42 percent and 2.33 percent, respectively. The bad-loan ratio refers to the portion of loans overdue for more than three months. The Korean banks’ non-performing loan ratio came to 1.73 percent as of the end of June. Among the commercial banks, Kookmin Bank came in second at 1.84 percent and Citibank Korea had the third-highest ratio of 1.45 percent. Shinhan Bank and Hana Bank posted 1.28 percent and 1.22 percent apiece. Among regional banks, Jeju Bank, an affiliate of Shinhan Financial, put up a 2.52 percent ratio, despite its relatively fewer loans of 2.2 trillion won, compared with Shinhan Bank’s 159.6 trillion w

Aug 5, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

50,000 collegians owe loan sharks W80 bil.

By Kang Seung-woo Some 50,000 college students owe around 80 billion won ($75.68 million) to private curb lenders due to high college tuition and worsening youth unemployment, the nation’s financial watchdog said Thursday. Making matters worse, the loans by the students have been picking up speed, while their default rate has been deteriorating. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), a total of 47,945 students borrowed 79.46 billion won from 40 private lenders as of the end of June, meaning each owes about 1.6 to 1.7 million won. Last year’s reading was 56.58 billion won from 30,494 students, which show 40.4 percent and 57.2 percent increases, respectively, over a year. With student loans increasing at a fast pace, bad debts are also on the upswing. Overdue loans escalated from 6.66 billion won to 11.81 billion won in the cited period, with the default rate soaring by 3.1 percentage points to 14.9 percent, higher than the overall default rate of 7.2 percent at the 40 major lenders. Due to the upside trend in the number of students relying on curb l

Aug 4, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Companies

ING confirms Korean commitment

CEO of Korean unit vows to exploit rapid growth of local insurance market By Kang Seung-woo Since the global financial crisis in late 2008, foreign-based companies in Korea have taken some hard knocks. And life insurers operating away from home did not betray the trend, with some hard-hit players’ future here in question. However, the head of ING Life Korea said that exiting Korea is not on the cards and the firm is exploring options to advance in the local market. “I think the global financial crisis affected all foreign companies, but ING has remained very strong throughout it and our sales this year have been exceptionally strong,” ING Life Korea CEO John Wylie said in an interview with The Korea Times. “I cannot talk for any other company (about leaving the Korean market), but for ING, we like the market, people and the business, so we have no intention (of it). Behind the more than 160 year history of the Netherlands-based ING Group in the insurance sector, ING Life Korea, founded in 1989, has established itself as the fourth biggest life insurer in the mark

Aug 3, 2011By Kang Seung-woo

Kang Seung-woo

Read more

UN model conference to open today

Unemployment stabilizes

Bahk calls for international cooperation

Is 4.5% growth target assailed?

Savings banks need more provisions

Can pension funds be savior?

POSCO seeks investment in Colombia

Suhyup, Woori, KDB top in bad loans

50,000 collegians owe loan sharks W80 bil.

ING confirms Korean commitment

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