my timesThe Korea Times
lkm

Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr

Go to EmailGo to URL

Read more

Banking & Finance

KEB Hana to foster young artists

KEB Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyoo, second from left, and Parallel Contemporary Art (PCA) Chairman & Founder David Ciclitira pose for a photo with other officials and a Korean artist at the bank's headquarters in downtown Seoul, June 20. Courtesy of KEB Hana BankBy Lee Kyung-min KEB Hana Bank will help 30 promising young artists by financially supporting their overseas studies and exhibitions, it said Thursday.Under the program Korean Eye 2020 sponsored by the bank, art pieces of the 30 selected artists will be on display at the lobby of the bank's headquarters in downtown Seoul until June 27. The works, including photography, sculptures and video art as well as paintings, will be featured starting in March 2020 in exhibitions in Russia and the U.K., and then back to Seoul. Inspired by the Parallel Contemporary Art (PCA), the bank seeks to help nurture cultural and artistic figures, thereby boosting the country's profile on the global stage. “We have always tried to find young artists to help them live up to their full potential by providing them a stable source of financing,&r

Jun 20, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
KEB Hana to foster young artists
Economy

3 out of 10 firms failed to pay interest: BOK

By Lee Kyung-min Three out of 10 firms have failed to pay their loan interest in 2018, indicating a growing number of Korean companies are feeling the pinch amid the economic downturn, the central bank said, Thursday. It expects the number will reach 40 percent if the ongoing U.S.-China trade feud escalates.Particular caution is required by lenders about what could develop into a major default crisis, as more firms will struggle to pay interest in the coming months, it added. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), of 21,213 firms subject to outside audit, 32.1 percent saw their interest coverage ratio at below 1, the highest number after 25.9 percent in 2010 when the central bank began compiling data. The figure for their average slid to 5.9, down 0.4 points from the year before. The ratio, used to assess the risk of lending to a firm, is calculated by dividing a company's earnings before interest and taxes by the company's interest expenses for the same period. It is used to see how well a firm can pay the interest on an outstanding debt. A ratio of below 1 means a company's operatin

Jun 20, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
3 out of 10 firms failed to pay interest: BOK
Economy

Google, Facebook face 10% VAT from July

By Lee Kyung-min Global IT giants, such as Google and Facebook will have to pay a 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) starting next month, according to the National Assembly and industry sources, Wednesday. This comes from a revision to the VAT Act, a much-awaited measure for their local counterparts that have long demanded a “fair and level” playing field.The revision, which was approved by the Assembly late last year, is set to take effect from July 1.Under the revision, the tax authorities will impose a 10 percent VAT on global IT giants' business-to-consumer (B2C) digital services, including online-to-offline services, online advertisements and cloud computing, which many expect will increase the competitiveness of domestic IT firms.Accordingly, foreign IT companies are expected to increase their services and advertisement fees by 10 percent.The sources said that Google has sent notifications to its paid services account holders about the revised law. Similar action is expected from other IT giants including YouTube, Airbnb and Amazon Web Service (AWS). The revision stip

Jun 19, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Google, Facebook face 10% VAT from July
Economy

'It is high time for BOK to lower key rate'

Sohn Sung-won, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.By Lee Kyung-min The central bank should lower its key rate as soon as possible to help buoy the sluggish economy and achieve the best policy mix with fiscal expansion, according to a noted economist, Monday. Sohn Sung-won, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said that current concerns of the bank, seeking to achieve “inappropriate goals,” should be reorganized to prioritize growth.The Bank of Korea (BOK) has insisted on monitoring soaring household debt and massive foreign capital outflow, two major factors that could severely undermine financial stability. “Of course those are important considerations, but there are other more important factors such as economic growth,” he said. The BOK has more room to maneuver as the U.S. Federal Reserve has recently shown signs of taking a dovish stance, he added. “Now that the Federal Reserve has realized that its policy was too restrictive, it is high time for the BOK to reali

Jun 18, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
'It is high time for BOK to lower key rate'
Economy

Park nominated KIC CIO

Park Dae-yangBy Lee Kyung-min Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has nominated Teachers' Pension Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Park Dae-yang as its new CIO.Park will succeed the former KIC CIO Kang Shin-woo whose three-year term ended June 12, following qualification and reference reviews.His three-year term will begin in mid-July upon the KIC steering committee's final go-ahead. Park was among four candidates shortlisted out of around 20 applicants who entered bid for the position since April. Among the shortlisted were former CIOs: Lee Chang-hoon of the Government Employees Pension Service, Tong Yang Asset Management's Koo Se-hoon and another candidate from Samsung Asset Management. Park's soon-to-be predecessor Kang was also a CIO at Hanwha Asset Management. His professional experience and excellent command of English are expected to serve the sovereign wealth fund well. He became CIO of Teachers' Pension investments in January 2017. His previous work with asset management includes time with Samsung Life Insurance, Allianz Life Insurance, which was acquired by ABL Life Insurance,

Jun 17, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Park nominated KIC CIO
Banking & Finance

Financial CEOs aggressive in marketing insurance products

NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-sooBy Lee Kyung-min More heads of life and non-life insurers are buying insurance products themselves in a bid to help secure extra customers, companies said Sunday.The promotional efforts help firms' sales agents with marketing in assuring product quality, as people tend to trust the choice of a CEO. NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-soo purchased On-Off Overseas Travelers' Insurance June 12, on the day of its market release.He became the first customer of the new product that was developed to help improve convenience for frequent overseas travelers. As the name suggests, the service is “on” automatically when a customer leaves the country and “off” when they return.This means travelers can have insurance coverage when they are abroad without having to buy products every time they leave the country. NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance CEO Oh Byung-kwanSimilarly, NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance CEO Oh Byung-kwan bought an insurance product that offers broad coverage for serious illnesses i

Jun 16, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Financial CEOs aggressive in marketing insurance products
Companies

WeMakePrice files antitrust complaint against Coupang

Coupang CEO Bom KimBy Lee Kyung-min Fast-rising e-commerce company WeMakePrice (WMP) has filed a complaint against its major competitor Coupang over a suspected violation of antitrust laws, signaling an intensified power struggle between the two industry leaders over market dominance.WMP said Sunday it filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), claiming its business partners ― small merchants selling daily necessities ― suddenly terminated relationships for unclear reasons in May. The unexpected collective decision essentially undermined the firm's marketing campaign launched April 30 that promised to guarantee customers cash rewards twice the difference in the price gap between goods sold by WMF and Coupang. “We ended up withdrawing the campaign largely because the business partners stopped supplying goods,” a WMP official said.The firm said this was a result of suspected undue influence by Coupang, which has come under increasing threat following aggressive price-cutting marketing campaigns. “We are a newcomer to the market and we are willing to cut p

Jun 16, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
WeMakePrice files antitrust complaint against Coupang
Banking & Finance

Easy payment system

NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon, third from left, and NH NongHyup Card President Lee In-ki, third from right, cut a rice cake with officials from the NongHyup Financial Group at the card subsidiary's headquarters in Seoul, June 14. They celebrated the increasing popularity of Allone Pay, the card subsidiary's easy payment app. Over 2 million people are using the app less than two years after its launch in 2017. Courtesy of NH NongHyup Card

Jun 16, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Economy

State intervention hurts productivity, innovation

Analysts call for gov't to 'encourage healthy competition in the market'By Lee Kyung-min State intervention and lack of technology innovation have become a major stumbling block for Korea and its companies to finding a growth breakthrough, experts said, Monday.They called for the Moon Jae-in administration to come up with measures to ease rules and offer incentives for the private sector to foster more competition and try innovative things without concerns over bureaucratic controls. “Excessive regulation in Korea will continue to pose major hurdles to businesses, many of which will lose motivation,” said Park Chong-hoon, chief economist at SC First Bank.“In such a business environment, higher minimum wages without a corresponding increase in workers' capacity is a sure recipe for low productivity,” he added. A rapid hike of the hourly minimum wage over the past two years and a shorter workweek to 52 hours from 68 are key government policies pushed ahead by the Moon Jae-in administration to help guarantee “fair competition” following outcry over wi

Jun 14, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
State intervention hurts productivity, innovation
Banking & Finance

New Shinan branch in Vietnam

Shinhan Bank Chief Digital Officer Seo Choon-seok, fifth from left, cuts a ribbon with officials from the bank and the Vietnamese government during an opening ceremony for a new branch in Ha Nam in Vietnam, June 12. With 32 branches already, Shinhan Bank Vietnam plans to add four more this year. Courtesy of Shinhan Bank

Jun 13, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
New Shinan branch in Vietnam
previous page
280281282283284
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.