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Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

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Banking & Finance

Woori online banking to offer fintech service

A poster promoting Woori Bank's online bankingBy Lee Kyung-min Woori Bank has strengthened its data sharing system with 14 fintech firms to better help customers use new and innovative services on its online platform WiBee Bank, the bank said Wednesday.The services include ways to avoid voice phishing, and recommendations on auto insurance, auto prices and promising stocks, among others. This is part of “Open Finance,” defined by closer integration between Woori and promising fintech companies to share data, functions and customer bases, a key initiative of bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung who doubles as Woori Financial Group chairman. The bank said customers will be able to use the services on the online platform without having to install new apps. It also plans to increase the number of services available on the platform. “Fintech firms have innovative technologies and services, but they oftentimes struggle because they do not have a comprehensive marketing and distributing channel to promote and make new financial products available,” a Woori official said.“Ou

Sep 11, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Woori online banking to offer fintech service
Economy

To boost economy

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, second from right, speaks during a meeting attended by economy-related ministries at the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Sept. 10. The ministers discussed ways to help protect export firms against external uncertainties, innovate contents businesses and grant more people broader investment opportunities for real estate investment trust (REIT) businesses. Yonhap

Sep 11, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
To boost economy
Banking & Finance

NongHyup Bank expands presence in Australia

NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon, left, poses for a photo with Austrade North East Asia General Manager Brett Cooper, at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Sept. 10. Courtesy of NongHyup BankBy Lee Kyung-min NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon is accelerating efforts to help boost business expansion in Australia, a country with substantial demand for agricultural projects, which is a strong suit of the bank specializing in financing and developing traditional businesses, it said Wednesday. Lee met with two senior trade and investment officials from Australia's Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Sept. 10, to discuss plans to help enhance human resources exchanges as part of a long-term business strategy to expand in Australia. They are Austrade North East Asia General Manager Brett Cooper and Austrade Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner to Korea Rodney Commerford. Under the plan, officials from Australia will be invited to visit the bank's innovation campus that encompasses the Research & Development center and a startup center in Yangja

Sep 11, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Economy

Tax agency inspects Korea Investment and Securities

Korea Investment & Securities CEO Jung Il-munBy Lee Kyung-minThe National Tax Service (NTS) is conducting an audit into Korea Investment & Securities after an employee allegedly became involved in a private equity fund (PEF) scandal involving new Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his wife, according to industry sources and the tax agency, Tuesday.The NTS said the three-month audit initiated in mid-July will continue through October at the brokerage's headquarter on Yeouido, Seoul.“This is part of a regular audit most large companies are subject to every four or five years,” an NTS official said without elaborating further. The brokerage house also denied that the ongoing tax inspection was related to the allegation“This is part of a regular audit; nothing more, nothing less,” a Korea Investment & Securities official said. However, the audit is drawing more attention as the firm's private banking center in Yeongdeungpo, southwestern Seoul, was where the prosecution earlier confiscated computer hard disks and key internal documents concerning the assets m

Sep 10, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Tax agency inspects Korea Investment and Securities
Economy

'3 lows' become new normal in Korean economy

New engines crucial to ensure sustainable growthBy Lee Kyung-minThe Korean economy has entered the era of the so-called new normal, with “three lows” ― low growth, low interest rate and low inflation ― becoming a reality, a rather bleak combination of economic conditions already in progress in many advanced countries, analysts said Monday. The much-feared economic conditions are fast becoming a reality after consumer prices dropped in August, the first time in the 54 years that statistics authorities have been compiling relevant data.According to Statistics Korea, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 104.81 in August, down 0.04 percent from 104.85 a year earlier. The decline came after the growth rate had stayed below the 1 percent threshold for eight consecutive months since January.According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1 percent in the second quarter of 2019 from three months earlier following a “shocking” 0.4 percent contraction in the first quarter. A major point of concern was the second-quarter GDP defla

Sep 9, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
'3 lows' become new normal in Korean economy
Economy

Korea's growth potential on downward spiral

By Lee Kyung-minKorea's economic growth potential has been on a downward spiral due to the toxic mixture of a low birthrate, aging population and low productivity, the central bank said Monday.It forecast a continued decline as such structural issues are combining to hamper productivity compounded by external uncertainties including the trade feud between the U.S. and China.Experts said that corporate investment to increase capital and continued efforts to enhance labor productivity and efficiency are among the long-term solutions to help Asia's fourth-largest, export-reliant economy become less vulnerable to global shocks, economists said. According to the Bank of Korea, the nation's potential growth rate is estimated to have fallen to an annual average of 2.5 percent to 2.6 percent between 2019 and 2020 due to a fall in working population and sluggish investment.Economic growth potential is the gross domestic product (GDP) growth that can be achieved without causing inflation. A failure to achieve this would mean the economy will have difficulty growing without triggering inflation

Sep 9, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Korea's growth potential on downward spiral
Banking & Finance

For safe holiday

Models for NongHyup Bank hold a sign promoting a safekeeping service available during the upcoming Chuseok holiday which falls Sept 13. The bank's branches nationwide will hold customers' valuables and cash from Sept 9 to 18. Courtesy of NongHyup Bank

Sep 8, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
For safe holiday
Economy

Brokerages to reduce new hires amid stagnant stock market

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Jobseekers will have to undergo a cutthroat competition to enter securities companies in the latter half of 2019 as most firms plan to reduce the number of new employees due to a weaker-than-expected performance amid a stagnant stock market, industry officials said Sunday. While their performance in the first six months was largely in line with market consensus, most of them are bracing for a far worse situation in the latter half given reductions in fees for asset management and stock trading over the past few months. Korea Financial Investment Association data showed the nation's 50 brokerages posted 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in brokerage fees in the January to June period, a 34.9 percent drop from 2.6 trillion won the year before. Investment sentiment since July has turned sour due to uncertainties triggered by the Korea-Japan trade feud, which also poses a considerable risk on the brokerages' investment banking prospects, their major source of profit. Only around 300 jobs will be available at the country's top 10 brokerages, with about half o

Sep 8, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Brokerages to reduce new hires amid stagnant stock market
Economy

Private think tanks cut Korea's growth outlook

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Korea's two leading private think tanks have revised down the country's 2019 economic growth outlook, adding to the growing worries that Asia's fourth-largest economy is facing a steeper-than-expected slowdown, Sunday.In a quarterly review, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said Korea's economy will grow 1.9 percent from a year earlier in 2019, an estimate 0.3 percentage points lower from 2.2 percent made in June. June's estimate had already been revised down 0.2 percentage points from 2.4 percent.KERI is supervised by the Federation of Korean Industries, the biggest business lobby in Korea representing most of the large conglomerates here. It said the bleaker outlook came as a mixture of weak consumption and corporate investment amid a sharp drop in exports over the past few months. Chief among the factors is, it added, the overall deteriorating trade terms of Korea's trading partners amid a global economic slowdown triggered by the drawn-out trade feud between the U.S. and China.Adding to the heightened uncertainty is trade woes following

Sep 8, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Private think tanks cut Korea's growth outlook
Economy

Central banks flock to gold amid uncertainty

By Lee Kyung-min Central banks from emerging market economies are increasing their gold reserves due to heightened uncertainty surrounding the U.S. dollar amid a fragile macroeconomic outlook. The stable, central bank-led demand is driving up the cost of gold, a popular safe asset as investors move away from high-risk, volatile investments including stocks. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), central banks added 374.1 tons to their holdings in the first six months of 2019, the highest volume in 19 years.The amount was part of the 2,181.7 tons in total demand, which recorded a three-year high. On Sept. 5, gold price hovered around $1,553.10, near last week's $1,554.56, its highest since April 2013.The gold price has spiked around 19 percent in 2019 as the U.S.-China trade feud shows no signs of abating, coupled with a U.S. recession looming larger signaled by bond market developments. Also factored in was a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.The central banks' increase in gold holdings began in 2018, when central banks bought 651 tons of gold, up 74 percent from a year earlie

Sep 5, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Central banks flock to gold amid uncertainty
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