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Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

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

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Economy

MetLife offers comprehensive healthcare service

/By Lee Kyung-min MefLife, a global insurance services provider, offers coverage for 39 healthcare programs that can help subscribers before, during and after experiencing illness, the firm said Sunday. The firm has made the service available since 2005 as part of efforts to redefine the role and responsibility of a life insurer to help with psychological, emotional and mental support that could play a vital role in the full recovery of a patient following major operations due to series illnesses. This is a step forward from an earlier role limited to covering only the cost of illness diagnosis, the following surgeries and hospitalization. Regular or request-based consultations are available on various health-related inquiries as well as on symptoms subscribers suspect indicate possible illnesses.Reservations are made through a personal agent with extensive knowledge on the related illness who will accompany the subscribers see a doctor together in a situation possibly overwhelming and scary to patients. Upon diagnosis, the firm will offer a list of recommended doctors, hospitals and

Dec 28, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
MetLife offers comprehensive healthcare service
Economy

US-China trade feud likely to persist for years

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi JinpingBy Lee Kyung-min Korea should brace for a renewal of deepening trade tension between the United States and China in 2019 as it is likely to persist for years, according to economists, Thursday.Lee Chae-woongKorea is especially vulnerable, as it is a small, open economy with heavy reliance on external shipments. More importantly, the country has no control over the feud between the two economic giants.The economists expect the ongoing trade tension will continue without any clear end in sight, given the hegemony-oriented nature of the power struggle between the world's two largest economies. “The conflict will continue for an extended period of time, because it is not about a mere trade deficit, and much more about the dispute over technology, goods and services for generations to come,” said Park Chong-hoon, a chief economist at SC First Bank.“While the two sides will remain non-confrontational for the time being, the issue will continue for a long time given it is an overarching policy directive of th

Dec 28, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
US-China trade feud likely to persist for years
Others

Eye-Tracking ATM

An official from Shinhan Bank holds a sign promoting an ATM with a newly developed technology that recognizes customer eye movement. The technology was designed to help the disabled use the machine without difficulty at the bank's branch in Seoul, Dec. 27. New ATMs will be set up at the bank's select branches in the first half of 2019. Courtesy of Shinhan Bank

Dec 28, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Eye-Tracking ATM
Economy

Cracks appearing in banks' glass ceiling

Financial groups appoint more women to executive postsBy Lee Kyung-min A growing number of Korea's major financial service firms have appointed women as CEOs or senior executives.This is seen as a significant advancement inching closer to breaking the glass ceiling in the conservative industry long dominated by male-oriented culture. On Dec. 21, Shinhan Financial Group nominated two women to fill senior executive positions in 2019 ― Wang Mi-hwa and Cho Kyoung-sun. Park Jeong-rim at KB SecuritiesThe nomination is in addition to that of former KB Financial Group and Kookmin Bank Vice President Park Jeong-rim, who was nominated Dec. 20 to head KB Securities as co-CEO. The firm's general shareholders meeting approved the nomination the following day, making her the industry's first female CEO in the history of Korea's securities market since its launch in March 1956. Shinhan with the two nominations is now able to shed its earlier image of not having a single female senior executive, a source of criticism that the firm long remained “indifferent” to gender equality. In a

Dec 26, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Cracks appearing in banks' glass ceiling
Economy

Hyundai Marine & Fire to buy 25% stake in VBI

Officials from Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and VietinBank Insurance Joint Stock Corp. pose after signing an agreement under which the former will buy a 25 percent stake in the latter, Dec. 21, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Courtesy of Hyundai Marine & Fire InsuranceBy Lee Kyung-min Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance will acquire a 25 percent stake in VietinBank Insurance Joint Stock Corp. (VBI), in a move to accelerate business expansion in the Southeast Asian country, the firm said Tuesday. Korea's second-largest non-life insurer said it signed a stock purchase agreement to buy a quarter of the VBI. The deal will be finalized upon approval from the Vietnamese financial authorities. “A great synergy will be created with the business partnership boosted by the great potential of the VBI and our decades of experience and knowhow,” a Hyundai official said in a statement.VBI, a non-life insurer subsidiary of Vietnam's second-largest commercial bank VietinBank, ranks 13th in market capitalization only 10 years after its establishment. It was named among the 500 fastest-growi

Dec 25, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Hyundai Marine & Fire to buy 25% stake in VBI
Economy

Will Naver launch internet bank?

Naver's head office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Expectation is growing that Korea's largest portal Naver is on a fast track to opening the country's third internet-only bank. This follows the government's move to allow up to two more tech firms to enter the financial market by 2020, as part of efforts to spur the digital economy through the “new growth engine.” The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Sunday it plans to receive applications from internet and tech firms in March and preliminary approvals will be made in May at the latest.It said allowing more internet-only banks is in line with the regulator's efforts to upgrade the financial sector.The ongoing move will inevitably unnerve the two established internet banks, Kakao Bank and K bank, given Naver's capacity to provide substantial capital and its years of business experience as an IT giant. Naver may show a greater interest in the coming months following the revision of a law under which nonfinancial firms with over 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) in assets will be able

Dec 24, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Will Naver launch internet bank?
Others

For business partnership

Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Kim Tae-young, fourth from right, poses with his Algerian counterpart Achour Abboud, center, and federation officials from both countries at Hotel El-Aurassi in Algeria, Dec. 17. (local time) The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the finance sector. Courtesy of Korea Federation of Banks

Dec 24, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
For business partnership
Economy

Korean banks in Vietnam ride on Park fever

Shinhan Bank Vietnam model Park Hang-seo, the head coach of Vietnam's national football team, holds a sign promoting Shinhan Bank Vietnam SOL, a new all-in-one mobile banking application on Nov. 6. / Courtesy of Shinhan BankBy Lee Kyung-min Korean banks are enjoying growing brand recognition in Vietnam on the back of “explosive” popularity associated with Park Hang-seo, the head coach of the national football team who helped the southeastern country become the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup champion. The notable embrace followed his remarks asking that the Vietnamese public love his country as much as it loves him. “I would like to share the joy of victory with my players, the coach and the Vietnamese people. Please love my country Korea as much as you love me,” he said Dec. 15 (local time) at the MyDinh Stadium in Hanoi. Shinhan Bank has seen the greatest benefit after hiring Park and Luong Xuan Truong, a soccer player of the Vietnamese national team, as celebrity endorsers. The number of customers increased to about 1.2 million won as of Dec. 10, a 20 percent increase

Dec 21, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Korean banks in Vietnam ride on Park fever
Economy

Why are KakaoPay, Toss eying securities industry?

KakaoPay CEO Ryu Young-joon speaks at a press conference in Seoul, Nov. 19. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min KakaoPay and Viva Republica, two budding fintech firms in Korea, are seeking to enter the securities market, unnerving the traditional industry players known for their strong resistance to newcomers and the ensuing disruptions.In October, KakaoPay, the fintech subsidiary of Kakao Corp., acquired a 60 percent stake of Baro Investment & Securities, a mid-tier brokerage established in 2008 with 57.3 billion won ($50 million) annual sales and 7.3 billion won net income in 2017. At least six months will be required for Viva Republica, the operator of financial services platform Toss, to set up a securities firm, 11 years after the last launch of state-run IBK Securities and KTB Investment and Securities, both of which began business in 2008. KakaoPay said the acquisition will help the firm diversify business models by expanding the services from the current cash wiring or payment to investment in stocks, funds and real estate. “Upon approval from the financial authorities

Dec 19, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Why are KakaoPay, Toss eying securities industry?
Economy

KDB backs GM Korea's spinoff plan

By Lee Kyung-min The Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Tuesday that it will support GM Korea spinning off its research unit, a dramatic reversal from its earlier opposition to the controversial plan that the company's union has strongly protested against.The KDB said the spinoff will help the Korean unit of the U.S. auto giant boost profitability by strengthening its corporate management via proper debt management, and provide a boost in corporate value. KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull / Yonhap“We asked a disinterested, outside party to review the carmaker's business plan and determined that the current contract will best serve the interests of those involved,” KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull said at a press conference at company headquarters in Seoul.“A legal consultation also showed that the current plan will help us reduce costs, given we have limited means of seeking redress measures as KDB is not a direct party to the business contract. Should we resort to legal proceedings, the dragged-out process will pose a major hurdle to the normalization of the carmakers operations

Dec 18, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
KDB backs GM Korea's spinoff plan
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