The Korea Times

Korea to launch pilot offshore won settlement network in September

The Bank of Korea (BOK) plans to launch a pilot of its 24-hour offshore won settlement network in September, the central bank said Tuesday, in a move aimed at making the currency more widely used overseas. The pilot program will involve four major commercial banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — which are currently conducting tests with the central bank. The BOK said it expects to complete revisions to its payment and settlement regulations by August, ahead of the pilot launch. Full-scale operations are expected to begin in January. The network, officially named the Bank of Korea Won International Wire Network (BOK-WireInt), will operate 24 hours a day on business days, from 9 a.m. to 9 a.m. the following day, excluding weekends and public holidays. The system will allow foreign investors to settle Korean won transactions through accounts held at banks in their home countries during local business hours, rather than waiting for Korean banks to open. The BOK expects the new settlement network to improve foreign investors' access to Korea's won settlement infrastructure and supp

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea to launch pilot offshore won settlement network in September

Banking & Finance

SC Bank Korea rolls out new incentives for private banking clients

Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea has expanded its private banking offerings for high-net-worth clients, introducing new incentives for first-time customers, the bank said Tuesday. New private banking customers can receive benefits worth up to 15 million won ($10,100) under a welcome program. The bank said first-time customers who qualify for its private banking service will receive a one-time bonus of 1 million won. Existing customers who are upgraded to private banking status can receive 300,000 won if they meet additional requirements. The bank is also offering rewards based on the amount invested in its wealth management products. Eligible customers can receive between 500,000 won and 15 million won under the welcome program. The program will run through the end of the year. Existing private banking clients can earn rewards by referring new customers. Those who introduce friends or family members who subsequently qualify as private banking clients with at least 1 billion won in deposits can receive gift certificates worth up to 1.5 million won, depending on the amount of new assets b

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

SC Bank Korea rolls out new incentives for private banking clients

Economy

Customs officer honored for busting $73 mil. illegal FX scheme

When Kim Min-hye, an official at the Busan Regional Customs' financial investigation division, was assigned to investigate a suspected illegal foreign exchange scheme involving cryptocurrency, she had little experience with digital assets. "The term stablecoin itself was unfamiliar to me, and I had never personally traded cryptocurrency. Understanding how cryptocurrency transactions worked was quite a challenge," Kim told The Korea Times in a written interview, Tuesday. Yet that challenge ultimately led to one of this year's largest foreign exchange crime busts at the Korea Customs Service. Kim was named customs officer of the month in June after uncovering an unregistered foreign exchange business that illegally transferred about 108 billion won ($73 million) using Tether (USDT), a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, according to the customs agency. The monthly award is presented to officers recognized for outstanding achievements in customs administration and investigations. According to Kim, the suspect received USDT from an overseas accomplice and sold it through a domestic cryptocurrency

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Customs officer honored for busting $73 mil. illegal FX scheme

Economy

Backlash over leveraged chip ETFs persists despite tighter rules

"Why are they penalizing only retail investors? If regulators can't fix the problem, they should just delist these products. They're wreaking havoc on the market," one user recently wrote on a Naver stock investing community. "I've lost nearly 60 percent investing in these leveraged ETFs (exchange-traded funds) myself, but these measures won't do anything to restore order to the market," another wrote. The comments reflect mounting frustration among retail investors after financial authorities last Thursday tightened trading rules for single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The newly announced measures raised the minimum deposit requirement to 30 million won ($20,200) from 10 million won, and required investors to fully fund purchases in cash. Previously, investors could meet up to 70 percent of the 10 million won deposit requirement with the value of stocks they already owned. Regulators also agreed to temporarily halt new product launches, ban advertising for existing products and raise the minimum order size to 20 units from one until market conditions st

Jul 20, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Backlash over leveraged chip ETFs persists despite tighter rules

Economy

Chip-driven growth could fuel Dutch disease risks: BOK

While Korea's semiconductor boom is driving the country's economic growth, its benefits may not spread evenly across the broader economy and raise the risk of Dutch disease, the Bank of Korea (BOK) warned Sunday. Dutch disease is an economic term that originated from the Netherlands' natural gas boom in the 1960s and refers to a phenomenon in which rapid growth in one sector draws capital and labor away from other industries, weakening their competitiveness. The BOK warned that Korea could face a "semiconductor Dutch disease" if the semiconductor boom persists, as capital and labor become increasingly concentrated in a single industry, potentially widening imbalances across the economy. "The domestic semiconductor industry still relies on imports for about 60 percent of its manufacturing equipment, while outbound investment has also increased as firms seek to reorganize global supply chains, limiting the spillover effects of investment on the domestic economy," the central bank said in a report on the economic impact of the semiconductor boom. The BOK added that IT manufacturing’s shar

Jul 19, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Chip-driven growth could fuel Dutch disease risks: BOK

Policy

Foreign investors to use won overseas without accounts at Korean banks

Korea will establish an offshore won settlement system and ease foreign-exchange regulations under a road map to internationalize the Korean won, officials said Sunday, as Seoul seeks to make the currency more widely usable overseas. The measures are designed to make it easier for foreign investors to buy, hold and use the won regardless of time or location, encouraging greater investment in won-denominated assets. Over the longer term, the government aims to boost potential growth by driving wider international use of the local currency. The road map, jointly announced by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Bank of Korea (BOK), the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Securities Depository, seeks to turn the won from a restricted currency into a freely convertible currency, marking the biggest overhaul of the foreign-exchange regulatory framework established after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. A key part of the plan is launching an offshore won settlement system that will allow foreign investors to hold and settle won through designated overseas financial institutions wi

Jul 19, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Foreign investors to use won overseas without accounts at Korean banks

Banking & Finance

Can merger revive Korea's regional banks?

An activist fund's proposal to merge BNK Financial Group and JB Financial Group has reignited debate over whether consolidation is needed to secure the long-term sustainability of Korea's regional banks, industry officials said Wednesday. The proposal comes as regional lenders face mounting pressure from demographic decline and weakening local economies. Activist fund Align Partners said Tuesday it had sent an open letter to the boards of BNK Financial, the parent company of Busan Bank and Kyongnam Bank, and JB Financial, the holding company of Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank, urging them to review the strategic merits of a merger. The fund owns about 14.8 percent of JB Financial and around 1 percent of BNK Financial. "A regional bank's business model increasingly points to gradual decline as the population and economic base in Korea's southeastern and southwestern regions continue to shrink," Align CEO Lee Chang-hwan said during a press conference. He argued that the two groups have limited overlap in their customer bases while their nonbanking businesses are complementary, creating opport

Jul 16, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Can merger revive Korea's regional banks?

Economy

Rate hike to add $1.21 bil. to mortgage borrowers' interest burden

A quarter-percentage-point increase in mortgage lending rates would add 1.8 trillion won ($1.21 billion) to Korean borrowers' annual interest burden, Bank of Korea (BOK) data showed Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate on Thursday. The estimate comes a day ahead of the BOK's Monetary Policy Board meeting, where policymakers are expected to raise the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent, in what would mark the first rate increase since January 2023. According to data submitted by the BOK to Rep. Lee Jong-wook of the main opposition People Power Party, a quarter-point increase in mortgage lending rates would raise the average annual interest burden per borrower by about 296,000 won, from 5.84 million won to 6.14 million won. The estimate is based on 1,178.6 trillion won in outstanding housing-related loans as of the end of March, including mortgages and jeonse loans — a rental system in which tenants make a large lump-sum deposit instead of paying monthly rent — extended by banks and other financial institutions. Th

Jul 15, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Rate hike to add $1.21 bil. to mortgage borrowers' interest burden

Economy

Borrowers face double whammy from tighter lending, higher rates

"I found a 1.1 billion won ($737,000) apartment I wanted to buy and planned to finance 450 million won with a mortgage. But my entire plan has fallen apart now that banks are suddenly tightening mortgage lending," one user wrote on a Naver real estate community. "I had planned to buy a home using my savings and a mortgage of up to 600 million won. But after KB Kookmin Bank cut its mortgage lending cap to 300 million won last week, I had no choice but to abandon the plan," another user wrote. Similar complaints have spread across online communities in recent days as major lenders tighten household lending, making it increasingly difficult for prospective homebuyers to secure mortgages. The country's five largest lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — have begun tightening mortgage rules after approaching their annual household lending growth targets set by financial authorities. As of early July, the banks have already used about 80 percent of their annual lending capacity for this year. Last Wednesday, KB Kookmin Bank halved its mortgage lending cap for home purc

Jul 15, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Borrowers face double whammy from tighter lending, higher rates

Economy

Korea eyes 3% growth in 2026 riding on AI chip boom

The government on Tuesday raised Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2026 to 3 percent, up from the January projection of 2 percent, citing robust semiconductor exports driven by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. To keep the growth momentum going, it plans to focus on developing semiconductor-centered industries and creating relevant jobs for young people. The revised forecast was unveiled as the government announced its economic strategy for the second half of the year. "The economy is expected to grow 3 percent this year as strong AI-driven demand for semiconductors continues to support exports, while downside risks stemming from the Middle East conflict will be cushioned by the supplementary budget and other policy measures," the Ministry of Finance and Economy said. The government's projection is more optimistic than those of major international organizations. Earlier this month, both the OECD and the International Monetary Fund released their forecasts that Korea's economy would expand by 2.6 percent this year. The ministry also pro

Jul 14, 2026By Lee Hyo-jin

Lee Hyo-jin

Read more

Korea to launch pilot offshore won settlement network in September

SC Bank Korea rolls out new incentives for private banking clients

Customs officer honored for busting $73 mil. illegal FX scheme

Backlash over leveraged chip ETFs persists despite tighter rules

Chip-driven growth could fuel Dutch disease risks: BOK

Foreign investors to use won overseas without accounts at Korean banks

Can merger revive Korea's regional banks?

Rate hike to add $1.21 bil. to mortgage borrowers' interest burden

Borrowers face double whammy from tighter lending, higher rates

Korea eyes 3% growth in 2026 riding on AI chip boom

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