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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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Busan G-20 meeting calls for sustainable growth

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter Busan ― Finance ministers of G-20 nations Saturday agreed to intensify their efforts to realize "strong, sustainable and balanced" growth. In the communique issued at the end of the confab that also included G-20 central bankers, it was observed that the global economy is making faster-than-expected recovery, but the recent volatility in financial markets has shown that significant challenges are still remaining. "The recent events highlight the importance of sustainable public finances and the need for our countries to put in place credible, growth-friendly measures, to deliver fiscal sustainability, differentiated for and tailored to national circumstances,"it said. The participants also agreed on the need to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Busan meeting was aimed at laying the groundwork for a leaders' summit in June later this month in Toronto, Canada. It is also a precursor to their summit in Seoul in November. "We agreed further progress on financial repair is critical to global economic recovery. This re

Jun 5, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
  • Yoon relieved; Geithner piqued; Osborne (U.K.) learning and Flaherty (Canada) triumphant
  • No consensus on universal bank tax
Companies

G-20 to focus on narrowing development gap

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter BUSAN ― The G-20 members need to make concerted efforts to narrow the economic gap between emerging and developing countries, said a senior Korean government official. At the World Bank-Korea Conference in Busan, Friday, Sakong Il, chairman of the Presidential Committee for the G-20 Summit, said member countries recently agreed not only to include growth-oriented development issues in the Seoul Summit but also to initiate a working group to further outline methods of progress. "The G-20 leaders in Pittsburgh agreed on implementing the framework for a strong, sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy. Toward this end, the G-20 has been focusing on rebalancing the global economy, particularly with regard to current international macroeconomic imbalances," he said during the conference held on the sidelines of the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting, which kicked off on Friday for a two-day run. The gathering was designed to pave the way for the G-20 by setting the key agenda for the summit in Toronto this

Jun 4, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Others

Woori aims to be worldwide player

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter Korea has cranked out a handful of global enterprises such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motors. But, the global stage has been an unfamiliar territory for local financial firms, as they have failed to earn worldwide recognition in the industry. Woori Financial Group has set its sights on putting an end to this, bursting onto the international scene as a leading financial firm with its new "OneDo" brand vision. Woori, the nation's second-largest financial holding company in total assets, unveiled the new motto for the group last December after finding a need to change in order to evolve. The catchword is a conjugation of two words - one and do. "One" means harmony, first place and cooperation, while "Do" represents creativeness, volunteerism and practice. The company hopes that the motto will be established through creating a new DNA at Woori through small changes with every single employee to create a leap forward as a leading global financial firm. As part of it, the holding company introduced three proj

Jun 4, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Others

KEB official bank for World Cup

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter When it comes to one of the most widely-recognized commercial catch phrases in business circles, "size does matter" is always high on the list, even within the banking sector. But such is not the case for Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), as the Korean lender looks to gain recognition as the nation's best-quality bank, not one to rely on only its bulk. Having a shot at reaching 800 billion won ($659.2 million) in net profit and a return on equity (ROE) of 10 percent this year, KEB, headed by CEO Larry Klane, has pushed itself to provide consecutive and profitable growth as well as strengthen multidimensional competitiveness. And the local bank seems to be on the right path. The nation's sixth largest lender reported 318.2 billion won in net earnings during the first three months of 2010. It is a big rebound from a year earlier, when it tallied a 74.8 billion won net loss, and it also increased by 11.8 billion won, or 3.9 percent, compared with the previous quarter. Its net interest margin (NIM), a barometer for profitability, also impr

Jun 4, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Others

KoFC seeks to become savior for SMEs

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter The Korea Finance Corporation (KoFC) was spun off from the Korea Development Bank (KDB) last October, as the state-run lender's first step toward privatization. But the newly-established agency assumed the public-financing functions of the KDB with dedication, seeking to contribute to the national economy and open a new dimension of policy-based financing in Korea. Under the vision, the KoFC, presided over by Ryu Jae-han, helps small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to raise money easily, and supplies and manages funds required for the growth of the economy, such as the development of regions, the extension of social infrastructure, the development of new growth engine industries, the stabilization of financial markets, and the facilitation of sustainable growth. The KoFC aims to foster the growth of SMEs through diverse means stipulated in its charter, and represent those with high growth potential with intermediary lending institutions. In its quest to enhance the nation's growth potential, the KoFC provides financial support for

Jun 4, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

G-20 finance meeting participants to receive red carpet treatment

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter Leading finance ministers and central bank governors from the G-20 nations will discuss how to deal with persistent troublesome issues during the Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting, scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Busan. However, the high-profile participants are expected to enjoy themselves off the table, as Korea's cutting-edge technology will wait on them during the two-day meeting in the southern port city. The G-20 Preparation Committee said Thursday that Hyundai Motors' Equus, a big sedan, will mainly be offered to the ministers and governors as well as German-made BMWs and Benzes. "Hyundai, along with BMW and Mercedes, proposed offering their vehicles for the meeting, so we plan to distribute them appropriately," a governmental official said. "It is rare that foreign car sellers provide automobiles in an international meeting taking place in Korea." The representatives from the 20 wealthy and developed economies of the world will also have the chance to sample the high-speed wireless broadband servic

Jun 3, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Woori Investment overexpanding abroad

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter Woori Investment & Securities, one of the nation's top three securities firms, has risked expanding overseas operation amid the global crisis to capitalize on opportunities arising afterwards from emerging economies. This is in stark contrast to other major brokerage houses that either have scaled back overseas businesses or maintained the status quo to head off the fallout from the unexpected financial turmoil. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Thursday that the number of local securities firms' overseas operations increased to 81 in March 2010 from 50 at the end of 2007 when the credit crisis started shaking the global economy.

Jun 3, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea

Monk burns himself to death

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter A monk has been found dead in an apparent self-immolation to protest the government's four-river restoration project, police said Monday. The 47-year-old Rev. Moonsu who belongs to the Korean Buddhist Jogye Order was found dead near a stream by local residents in Kunwi, North Gyeongsang Province. Police found a suicide note that read, "Abandon the four-river restoration project immediately. The Lee Myung-bak administration must root out corruption, and pay more attention to ordinary people, not the rich." It also said that Moonsu felt sorry for his family and other Buddhists. "It was confirmed he purchased gasoline at a gas station earlier in the day," a police officer said. "He seems to have set himself on fire, but we need further investigation." The Jogye Order dispatched monks to the site where he was found. It is known that the monk has not been a kingpin in the campaign against the four river project. He entered the Buddhist priesthood in 1986 and served as a student leader at Joong-Ang Sangha University in 1998. He pr

May 31, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Korea faces sharp drop in growth potential

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter Shortly after basking in the limelight of a high potential growth rate, South Korea is expected to see its economic capability weaken drastically in the long run due to a low birthrate and an aging society. In its latest economic outlook, the OECD said that South Korea's potential growth rate would tumble to an average of 2.4 percent between 2012 and 2025. The outlook is quite disappointing, given that the Paris-based organization reported that the fourth-largest Asian economy would hit an average of 4 percent in 2010 and 2011, the highest figure among its 30 member countries. The number is three times higher than the OECD's average of 1.2 percent. Korea was forecast to rank fifth at 3.7 percent, in the 2012 to 2015 period followed by Turkey, Chile, Slovakia and Luxemburg, but its rate may suffer a stiff decline, halving to 1.9 percent from 2016 to 2025, below the OECD average of 2 percent, which is likely to be a great hurdle in the future. "It is no wonder that the potential growth rate will go down due to the low birthrate and an ag

May 31, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
Companies

Recovery shows signs of losing steam

By Kang Seung-woo Staff reporter The nation's economic recovery is showing signs of losing steam, with its indicator for future economic conditions falling for the fourth month in a row. Statistics Korea announced Monday that the leading index for Asia's fourth-largest economy dropped by 1.2 percentage points in April. The index notched a 0.3 percentage point decline in January, the first fall in 13 straight months, and it has failed to rebound. The continued deceleration is attributed to downside risks in the second half of the year, such as the lingering southern European debt crisis and heightening tension on the Korean Peninsula, which many believe is hampering the economic recovery. "The decline in the leading index was mainly due to the base effect of 2009. The figure showed a steep increase last year from 2008 when the nation was hit by the global downturn," said Jung Gyu-don, director of the economic statistics bureau at Statistics Korea. "We cannot say that the economy will likely lose steam down the road based on the figures. Given the continued improve

May 31, 2010By Kang Seung-woo
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