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Lee Kyung-min

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Economy

Gov't to invest in SOC, energy to spur economy

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki speaks at the beginning of a meeting with economy-related ministers at the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min State-run organizations will invest 60 trillion won ($51.2 billion) in building power plants and developing satellite cities to strengthen social overhead capital (SOC) to spur the economy, the government said Wednesday. This is the latest of the government measures to revitalize the economy with a state budget of 512 trillion won in 2020. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the measures will be bolstered further by shortening the preliminary feasibility study period to seven months from the current 10 months. The study is a prerequisite to initiating any state-commissioned projects over 300 billion won to measure economic viability. “The government will spend 60 trillion won, up 6.5 trillion won from 2019, to foster job creation and identify sustainable growth engines,” he said at the beginning of a meeting with economy-related ministers at the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun Seoul. Hong reiterated that th

Jan 8, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Gov't to invest in SOC, energy to spur economy
Banking & Finance

INTERVIEW Hana to pursue two-track growth strategy

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-taiThis is the fourth and last in a series of interviews with chairmen of the nation's top four financial groups ― Shinhan, KB, Woori and Hana ― to mark the beginning of New Year 2020. ― ED.Chairman vows to turn group into data-based digital firmBy Lee Kyung-min Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai has vowed to pursue a two-pronged growth strategy in 2020 by putting equal weight on organic and inorganic growth in a bid to perfect the group's strategy to become a digital, global leader. Kim plans to increase spending on manpower and resources to strengthen IT capabilities, a prerequisite for the group to become a data-based information services firm run by digitally savvy workers.At the same time, Kim said that he will pursue inorganic growth by pushing for aggressive mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of payment service providers, securities firms and insurers.Boosting those non-banking business will help Hana diversify its business portfolio by reducing its reliance on KEB Hana Bank, the group's largest and most lucrative subsidiary. The

Jan 7, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
[INTERVIEW] Hana to pursue two-track growth strategy
  • Hana's coding education to boost digitization
Economy

Bithumb launches R&D center for blockchain technology

bithumb logoBy Lee Kyung-min Korea's leading cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has set up a research center in a bid to strengthen blockchain technology capabilities and exchange operation, the firm said Monday. Comprised of 30 members, the research and development (R&D) center set up Jan.1 has three research divisions specializing in blockchain, architecture and overall development. Additional IT experts will join the center over the next few months, the firm added. The blockchain research team will bolster system security via analysis of public blockchain transactions and private keys.Otherwise known as a secret key, a private key is a highly secure variable in cryptography used with an algorithm for encryption and decryption of codes. The firm will develop a private key security protection technology to help with securing and safe storage of one of the methods of authentication. Blockchain analysis will source cryptocurrency transactions. Technology to be developed will help the exchange better manage user addresses and cash wiring services.The company's goal is convenient user

Jan 7, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Bithumb launches R&D center for blockchain technology
Economy

INTERVIEW Financial CEOs urged to reform mindset on security

Financial Security Institute (FSI) President Kim Yeong-gi speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the institute on Yeouido in Seoul, Dec. 12. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulDigital innovation meaningless without securityBy Lee Kyung-min No development without security, no security without development. As simple and banal as this may sound, no other statement can better encapsulate the growing yet oftentimes neglected importance of financial security amid digitization, according to the head of a private security institute. “Digital innovation is meaningless without security,” Financial Security Institute (FSI) President Kim Yeong-gi said in an interview with The Korea Times. “Once compromised, consumer trust is lost. Getting it back is hard, a reason why prevention is the best precaution, especially in the financial industry with people's money at stake,” the former Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and Bank of Korea (BOK) official said. The financial industry is undergoing major changes amid digitization, an industry-wide initiative to bette

Jan 5, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
[INTERVIEW] Financial CEOs urged to reform mindset on security
Banking & Finance

Banks create culture space to attract young customers

People walk by H-PULSE, KEB Hana Bank's branch near the main gate of Hongik University. Coutesy of KEB Hana BankBy Lee Kyung-min Korea's leading commercial banks are rushing to create a culture space in Hongdae, or the Hongik University area, to strengthen a future customer base. The area in the northern part of Seoul, known for music, art and various other cultural activities, is frequented by those in their late teens and 20s. KEB Hana Bank opened Hana members' lounge on the second floor of H-PULSE, the bank's branch near the main gate of Hongik University, Dec. 23.The lounge is open to the public for cultural exhibitions. It can be used as a place for gatherings, seminars or study for those who have bank accounts. “Hongdae is where young customers come to meet friends and go to music or art performances on the weekend. We thought creating a space for our customers to stay there would be a good idea,” a Hana official said. A similar space Chungchun Maru created by KB Kookmin Bank has drawn over 180,000 visitors, only about a year-and-a-half after it opened in April 2018

Jan 5, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Banks create culture space to attract young customers
Economy

Ex-Seoul mayor raps incumbent over real-estate policy

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, right, speaks during a broadcast on his YouTube channel, Dec. 29, 2019. YouTube captureBy Lee Kyung-min Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized sitting Mayor Park Won-soon for spiking housing prices, in what he said was a consequence of “failure to understand market principles,” Friday. Park's misplaced priority on curbing speculation, Oh said, has fueled a continued increase of housing prices in Seoul, a policy that requires immediate correction to boost supply, meaning the city should build more housing. Experts say, however, Oh's politically charged remarks seeking to court voters lack substance given he failed to mention the need to ease lending rules to lower borrowing costs for people who need homes.On his YouTube channel, Oh appeared with a senior official of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic group, to discuss Seoul's “unbridled” housing prices, Dec. 29, 2019.“Empty land owned by the Seoul city including that in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, formerly occupied by Seoul Medical Center, should be c

Jan 3, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Ex-Seoul mayor raps incumbent over real-estate policy
Economy

Happy 2020

Finance Minster Hong Nam-ki, second from right, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, center, and other financial leaders raise their glasses at a New Year's celebration event at Hotel Shilla Seoul, Jan. 3. Yonhap

Jan 3, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Happy 2020
Economy

Woori, KB to clash over Prudential takeover

The headquarters of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea in SeoulBy Lee Kyung-min Competition between Woori Financial Group and KB Financial Group will become fierce over the acquisition of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea, the local insurance arm of Prudential Financial, industry sources said Friday. Either of the two that adds the Korean subsidiary of the U.S. insurance giant will solidify its business presence among its top five peers, all of whose top priority in 2020 is bolstering non-banking sectors via mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The process to select a preferred bidder for the life insurer is scheduled for Jan. 20. KB Financial is showing a keen interest to boost life insurance business, the long-cited weakness of the former industry leader recently outperformed by Shinhan Financial. Shinhan reclaiming the top in 2019 was helped largely by successful acquisition of ING Life Korea, now Orange Life Insurance, from MBK Partners in 2018.“Acquiring Prudential Life will certainly help us to improve overall business portfolio,” a KB official said

Jan 3, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Woori, KB to clash over Prudential takeover
Banking & Finance

Five major banks to shut down 89 branches by early next year

By Lee Kyung-min Korea's top five banks plan to shut down a combined 89 branches nationwide by early next year amid fast-deteriorating profit coupled with digitization, industry officials said Thursday.Of the five, KB Kookmin plans to close 37, followed by KEB Hana closing 35. Shinhan and NongHyup will each shut down seven while Woori closes three. The number of their branches has been on a steep decline over the past few years.They had 5,093 in 2015, 4,726 in 2017 and 4,682 in 2019. This number will drop further to 4,593 in 2020.The move seeking efficiency is a notable turn from four years earlier when they increasingly opened branches in line with the shared notion that the number of branches spoke to the market capitalization. But a year after that, the banks came under growing pressure to streamline their corporate structures with dropping profit margins, when an industry-wide digitization initiative began to gain momentum. Yet they were not able to reduce the number of branches drastically due to the financial regulator's guidelines that put much emphasis on equal acce

Dec 29, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Five major banks to shut down 89 branches by early next year
Banking & Finance

Strategy for 2020

NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon discusses business strategies for 2020 at a meeting attended by around 90 senior officials of the bank at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Dec. 28. Courtesy of NongHyup Bank

Dec 29, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Strategy for 2020
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