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Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

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Banking & Finance

Tongyang, Mirae Asset Life shine amid downturn

By Lee Kyung-min Most life insurance companies operating here have suffered earnings shocks due to falling interest rates amid economic downturn ― but a few players have weathered difficulties on the back of their diversified business portfolios and windfall gains from the sales of its assets.Tongyang Life and Mirae Asset Life have managed to report a rise in net profits in the July-September period. Tongyang posted a net income of 68.1 billion won, up 449 percent from 12.5 billion won the year before thanks to its strategy to increase the portion of its protection-type insurance business. The proceeds from the sales of its subsidiary Tongyang Asset Management to Woori Financial Group, estimated at around 80 billion won, also helped improve its balance sheet.The third-quarter figure has brought the net profit for the first nine months of the year to 143.4 billion won, up 110.7 percent from a year earlier. HI Investment & Securities chief researcher Kang Seung-gun said Tongyang's investment return is recovering

Nov 14, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Tongyang, Mirae Asset Life shine amid downturn
Economy

Senior Korean CPA joins IFAC board

Ahn Yeong-kyunBy Lee Kyung-min A senior certified public accountant (CPA) has joined the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) board, the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA) said Thursday. The KICPA representing some 17,000 CPAs said its vice president for research and education Ahn Yeong-kyun had been nominated as one of the members of the IFAC board at a council meeting held in Vancouver, Canada, Nov. 13 (local time). On the board, Ahn will be responsible for setting up and implementing auditing, ethical and educational standards, as well as research on auditing and assurance. Ahn is the third Korean to have joined the international body following Joo In-ki who became IFAC president in November 2018 six years after he joined the IFAC board in November 2012, and Choi Dhal, who was elected as a member of the International Panel on Accountancy Education in September, the first Korean woman to become a serving member of the international body. Ahn's 30 years of experience include as assurance partner at Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and at its Toronto

Nov 14, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Senior Korean CPA joins IFAC board
Banking & Finance

KB, Shinhan foster fintech startups

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, left, Saeed Amidi PNP CEO, right, and heads of fintech startups pose for a photo at 2019 HUB Day on Yeouido in Seoul, Nov. 13. Courtesy of KB Financial GroupBy Lee Kyung-min Korea's two leading financial groups are making hefty investments in budding fintechs to help them become unicorns ― privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion (1.17 trillion won).KB Financial Group held 2019 HUB Day where it announced it has invested 26.6 billion won in 23 startups as of October. The recipients were among 39 shortlisted firms that have a combined 108 ongoing joint business projects with the group. Over 200 people from startups, investment consultancies and KB Financial Group gathered to share the fintechs' business models and further plans at the event held Nov. 13 on Yeouido in Seoul. The event was jointly organized by Plug and Play Tech Center (PNP), an early-stage investor, accelerator and corporate innovation platform with global headquarters in Silicon Valley. Those selected will be able to team up with global firms to go abroad an

Nov 14, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
KB, Shinhan foster fintech startups
Economy

Boosting economy

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki gives a presentation on the government's plan to boost the economy at the Government Complex in Sejong, Nov. 11. Hong said he would map out measures to make Asia's fourth-largest economy grow at a rate of up to 2.3 percent in 2020, including ways to boost growth potential and speed up structural reform. Yonhap

Nov 13, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Boosting economy
Economy

Number of manufacturing jobs keep falling

By Lee Kyung-min Korea's overall employment data improved in October but the number of quality jobs for breadwinners, mostly those in their 30s and 40s in the manufacturing sector, decreased sharply, indicating that the government's efforts to create part-time jobs for older workers through tax spending have distorted the job market.Statistics Korea data showed over 27 million people were employed in October, up 419,000 from the year before. The country's unemployment rate also stood at 3 percent, hitting a six-year low on a year-on-year basis. Its employment rate of those aged between 15 and 64 stood at 67.3 percent, the highest October figure since the agency began compiling data in 1989. The agency said the economy added over 300,000 jobs per month for three months in a row from August, adding the job market is showing clear signs of recovery. However, a closer look into the figure tells a vastly different story, according to economists. “Of the added 419,000 jobs, most of them are held by those aged over 60 and the quality of the jobs are indisputably awful. You cannot even

Nov 13, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Number of manufacturing jobs keep falling
Economy

Helping SMEs

National Tax Service (NTS) Commissioner Kim Hyun-jun, right, speaks at a meeting at the Incheon office of Korea Industrial Complex Corp., Nov. 13. The meeting was organized to help small exporters based in Namdong Industrial Park in Incheon. The tax agency plans to delay regular tax audits for the companies struggling amid the Korea-Japan trade feud. Courtesy of NTS

Nov 13, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Helping SMEs
Economy

NTS targets young homeowners for suspected tax evasion

National Tax Service Assistant Commissioner for Property Taxation Rho Jeong-seok speaks at a briefing at the Sejong Government Complex Tuesday. Courtesy of NTSBy Lee Kyung-min The National Tax Service (NTS) is investigating 224 people over suspicions they received money from their parents without paying the proper taxes or bought high-priced apartments in affluent areas despite their clear lack of funds, the agency said Tuesday. Many of them ― aged under 30 ― are suspected of violating the transfer tax law, under which only up to 50 million won ($43,000) given by parents over a 10-year period can be exempted from tax. The limit is 20 million won for those under 18. The tax agency believes many have flats, widely known in Korea as officetels, or apartments in the affluent southern Gangnam area of Seoul because their parents bought them. Other areas with overheating housing markets include three “anti-speculative” zones ― Mapo, Yongsang and Seongdong in Seoul. “The investigation will include not only homeowners but their parents and relatives to identify the source of

Nov 12, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
NTS targets young homeowners for suspected tax evasion
Economy

Korea emerges as major real estate investor in Asia

By Lee Kyung-min Korea has been emerging as major real estate investors in the Asia-Pacific with the country ranking top in alternative real estate investment in the region among members of other Asian nations as of September, data showed Tuesday. This is due to a mixture of government regulations to crack down on property speculation amid falling interest rates.According to data from the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) and CBRE, a global real estate services and investment firm, Koreans' investment in real estate in the Asia-Pacific region through alternative investment funds accounted for 35 percent of the total made by Asians.The figure for Korea was the highest, followed by Singapore (29 percent), Hong Kong (14 percent) and Japan (10 percent).In 2017, China was the biggest investor accounting for 55 percent, followed by Singapore (17 percent), Hong Kong (14 percent) and Korea (6 percent).With a surge in Koreans' investment in real estate in the region, the KIF has warned against growing risk involving falling returns induced by heated competition. The return on investment of off

Nov 12, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Korea emerges as major real estate investor in Asia
Politics

Korean banks face heated competition in Vietnam

By Lee Kyung-min Leading Korean banks are increasing their efforts to expand in Vietnam, an untapped market rising rapidly as an alternative source of future growth amid the saturated domestic market. The move from latecomers including Woori and KEB Hana is threatening the reign of Shinhan, which has been the leading foreign-invested bank in the Southeast Asian country.Shinhan Bank Vietnam has over 4.9 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in assets, the largest amount held by a foreign bank, and runs 37 branches. Woori Bank is seeking to challenge Shinhan's dominant position with its CEO vowing to make it the best foreign lender in Vietnam after opening its tenth branch there in Da Nang, Friday."We will increase investment and spare no efforts to make our Vietnam operation the best in the Southeast Asian country," Sohn Tae-seung said during a ceremony for the opening of the branch.The lender plans to open three more by the end of 2019 and five by 2021. Woori said the new branches will handle corporate and investment banking, and syndicated loans, a value addition to ongoing efforts to strengt

Nov 11, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Korean banks face heated competition in Vietnam
Politics

Future innovation

Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok, second row fourth from left, poses with the bank's young workers at the bank headquarters in Seoul, Nov. 7, following the lender's innovative idea competition. Courtesy of SC Bank

Nov 8, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
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