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Lee Kyung-min

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Economy

Healthcare fraud by coverless foreigners hits $26.6 million over 5 years

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Foreign nationals who do not qualify for Korea's National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) have exploited the state-run healthcare system here over the past five years to the tune of 31.6 billion won ($26.6 million), mostly by using borrowed or stolen healthcare certificates, United Future Party Rep. Kang Ki-youn said Tuesday.The continuing problem of fraud adds to long-standing criticism that the government should strengthen relevant rules to more strictly prohibit unqualified foreign nationals from accessing medical service subsidies.Data submitted by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to Kang who sits on the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee showed that the cost of treating uninsured foreign patients between June 2015 and June 2020 totaled 31.6 billion won. In addition the cost more than doubled on an annual basis from 3.6 billion won in 2015 to 7.4 billion won in 2019.The government was only able to recover about half, or 16.1 billion won, of this.The 31.6 billion won was part of the 3.4 trillion won cost of medical services d

Aug 11, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Healthcare fraud by coverless foreigners hits $26.6 million over 5 years
Economy

S. Korea suffers record budget deficit in H1

Officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance give briefing at the Sejong Government Complex, Tuesday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The country's financial soundness has been deteriorating fast, with its budget deficit reaching a record high of 111 trillion won ($93.6 billion) in the first six months of this year due to the government's fiscal splurge in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the nation's fiscal balance, excluding four social security funds, recorded a 110.5 trillion won deficit, up 51 trillion won from the year before. The snowballing deficit in the first half was attributed to a mixture of a fall in tax revenue and a hike in expenditure including cash handouts to citizens.Seoul National University economist Kim So-young said the government should be mindful of the rapid increase in the deficit as it could pose a major risk to the country's' fiscal soundness. “Increased spending is inevitable at this point to weather the economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus. But the government shou

Aug 11, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
S. Korea suffers record budget deficit in H1
  • Unemployment benefit payments hit record
Economy

EXCLUSIVE Uzbek president to visit Korea to strengthen partnership

President Moon Jae-in and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, shake hands in Tashkent, in Uzbekistan, last year. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Korea before the end of this year, sources said Monday. “Apart from the visit, a couple of joint feasibility studies are ongoing to determine the economic impact that will entail the two countries signing a bilateral free trade agreement,” a senior official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance told The Korea Times. The visit of the head of state of a country in Central Asia, a key region with which Korea seeks to bolster bilateral economic relations, is in accordance with President Moon Jae-in's “New Northern Policy” initiative. Moon declared 2020 as the year of improving relations with what his government calls “New Northern Nations,” mostly in Eurasia.The envisioned visit will follow one by Umurzakov Sardor Uktamovich, the country's deputy prime minister for investments and foreign economic affairs who doubles as investments and foreign tra

Aug 10, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
[EXCLUSIVE] Uzbek president to visit Korea to strengthen partnership
Economy

Investors cash out amid record-high KOSPI

Dealers sit at their desks in a trading room at a branch of Hana Bank in Seoul, Aug. 4. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min An increasing number of stock-related bond holders have converted equity-like hybrid securities into common stocks in July, a move seeking to cash out on a steep gain brought on by a short-term bullish performance of the local bourse, data showed Sunday.Experts warn that the collective action bodes ill for retail stock investors, many of whose recent investment in the much-volatile equity market amid record-low borrowing costs could rapidly become shaky once the “highly overextended and overestimated” market plunges. Data from Korea Securities Depository (KSD) showed the number of conversion into stocks from convertible bonds (CB), bonds with warrants (WB) and exchangeable bonds (EB) was 358 in July, up 23 percent from 291 in June. Holders of each of the three bond types have the right to buy or convert the securities into a certain number of shares of common stock in the company that issues the bonds, a reason why the local bourse index and the number

Aug 9, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Investors cash out amid record-high KOSPI
Economy

Reporter's notebook Governor, your aim is off, and you know it.

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heun / Korea Times fileDaunted top supervisor's misplaced scrutiny should be directed where it really belongs By Lee Kyung-min Korea's top five commercial lenders are likely to close only about 40 branches nationwide in the latter half, in addition to the 126 shuttered in the first six months of the year.The marked drop in expected closures is at odds with their digitization initiative ― the top priority among financial service providers around the world ― and reflects a sudden change in plans brought on by rare vocal opposition expressed by Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heun weeks earlier. “Banks rapidly reducing their number of branches citing reasons related to COVID-19 is undesirable, although the growing trend is inevitable amid a sharp increase of contactless transactions and their cost-reducing efforts due to dwindling net interest margins,” Yoon said. He made these remarks during a meeting attended by senior officials of the organization, July 21, according to a highly unusual press rel

Aug 9, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
[Reporter's notebook] Governor, your aim is off, and you know it.
Economy

Conflict deepens over 'bungled' real estate policy

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki speaks during a meeting held to monitor irregularities in the real estate market at Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Wednesday. YonhapReal estate policy yet again rapped for lacking market principles, consistency By Lee Kyung-minDeputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government's plan to build new housing in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province will be pushed ahead as planned, Wednesday, railroading the opposition raised by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for what the city government considers “excessive government intervention” that distorts market principles.The city government together with the finance and land ministries announced a plan Tuesday to ensure the supply of 132,000 new homes in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.They plan to promote redevelopment by easing construction rules through the increase of floor area ratios -- building area divided by lot area -- by to up to 500 percent. They also plan to raise the current height restriction limit of 35 storie

Aug 5, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Conflict deepens over 'bungled' real estate policy
Economy

South Korea to supply 132,000 homes in and around Seoul

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, center, Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee, left, and acting Seoul mayor Seo Jeong-hyub give a press briefing at the Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Tuesday. YonhapSome experts see new supply plan as 'ill-conceived' policyBy Lee Kyung-min The government announced Tuesday that it will facilitate the supply of 132,000 new homes in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province by easing construction rules and making more land available in its latest effort to curb property speculation and stabilize home prices.Construction rules will be eased through the increase of floor area ratios, measured by building area divided by lot area, to up to 500 percent, which will allow redevelopment projects of aging apartments. Also the current height restriction limit of 35 stories for apartment blocks will be raised to 50. Lands to be opened for home construction include those previously occupied by state-run organizations, and areas returned by the United State Forces of Korea or owned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The supply-bolstering

Aug 4, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea to supply 132,000 homes in and around Seoul
  • Foreign homeowners face probe into suspected tax evasion
Economy

Foreign homeowners face probe into suspected tax evasion

National Tax Service (NTS) Assistant Commissioner for Investigation Lim Kwang-hyun gives a press briefing at the NTS in Sejong, Monday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minThe National Tax Service (NTS) has launched an audit into 42 foreign nationals, who each purchased at least two properties in Korea in the past three years, over suspicions that they dodged taxes on capital gains and rental income, the tax agency said Monday.They are among the 1,036 foreign nationals with multiple homes, owning a combined 2,467 apartment units in Korea. A total of 866 people owned two, while 105 owned three. Sixty-five people owned four or more, the tax agency said.According to the NTS, a total of 23,219 non-Koreans bought 23,167 apartments worth over 7.67 trillion won ($6.42 billion) in the last three years. More than half were purchased by buyers from China (13,573), followed by those from America (4,282), Canada (1,504), Taiwan (756), Australia (468) and Japan (271). Nearly half, or over 3.2 trillion won, was used to buy 4,473 apartments in Seoul, whereas over 2.7 trillion won was used to buy 10,093 apartment

Aug 3, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Foreign homeowners face probe into suspected tax evasion
  • Tenant protection laws take effect amid spiking prices
  • Bill proposed to ban top-ranking policymakers from owning more than one house
  • Controversy rising over real estate bills
  • South Korea to supply 132,000 homes in and around Seoul
Economy

Jeonse transactions hit 9-year low amid strengthened tenant protection law

A woman walks past a list of offerings of rent and sales of apartments put up on the entrance of a real estate agent's office in Seoul. Korea Times fileApartment sales spike due to panic buyingBy Lee Kyung-minThe number of jeonse transactions dropped to a record-low in June due to a supply shortage triggered by a slew of revised laws intended to better protects the rights of tenants, data showed Monday. Unique to Korea, jeonse is a home rent system whereby tenants pay a lump sum deposit instead of monthly rent.The sharp drop came as many landlords withdrew their jeonse offers from the market after the revised law guarantees up to four years of rent period from the current two, with the deposit hike limited to 5 percent of the previous amount. The collective move poses a further difficulty to tenants already under greater pressure to raise the deposit, a convenient way for landlords to offset the heavier property tax the government seeks to impose to curb real estate speculation.The trading volume of apartment sales by contrast spiked driven by “panic buying” mostly by tho

Aug 3, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Jeonse transactions hit 9-year low amid strengthened tenant protection law
Economy

Gov't to crack down on foreigners' real estate speculation

Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon walks inside the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minThe ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the government have been pushing for their plan to impose a hefty tax on foreigners buying homes in Korea for investment purposes, in the latest effort to limit further fallout of nearly two dozen botched real estate policies over the past three years.The move came as the median price of apartments in Seoul soared by 314 million won ($262,000), or 52 percent, over the past three years, despite ― and precisely due to ― the government's 22nd rounds of real estate policy.Policies in Singapore, New Zealand and Canada are likely to be taken under review, mostly due to heavier tax on foreigners there unlike Korea where a slew of loopholes have long been exploited by non-Korean investors. The move picked up speed after DPK floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon said Thursday that foreigners could end up buying most homes made recently available on the market following the government's stricter rules including heav

Jul 31, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Gov't to crack down on foreigners' real estate speculation
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