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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

Financial groups seek innovation

By Lee Kyung-min Korea's financial groups vowed to spearhead innovation in 2019 in respective moves to take the lead amid ever-intensifying competition.KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyooKB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said his group should and will cement itself as the leader in the financial industry through the newly created catchphrase “RISE,” short for reinforcement, innovation, smart working and expansion.KB seeks to reinforce the competitiveness of the group ― a source of pride as an established industry leader ― through quick and efficient decision making and clear-cut execution. “The group's card, securities and non-life insurance subsidiaries will secure aggressive management to retain its status as the top-tier financial services firms,” it said in a statement.The bank will innovate its business infrastructure to improve customer-oriented services, which will also help achieve smart working, mostly through digitization.“We must strengthen online services and mobile apps to boost customer convenience which will in turn help th

Jan 3, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Financial groups seek innovation
Economy

Financial leaders gear up for year of Golden Pig

By Lee Kyung-min Woori Financial Group Chairman and Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seungFinancial leaders who were born in the Year of the Pig are gearing up to thrive, as the animal represents luck and wealth in 2019, the Year of the Golden Pig. Woori Financial Group Chairman and Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung, born in 1959, is among the number of prominent figures with the most daunting tasks, especially given the bank will return to a holding company Jan. 11, over four years after it was disbanded in 2014. His success will be determined by a revised business portfolio that must be designed to ensure stable operation, a task that requires a clear vision, tight and thorough management as well as apt corporate streamlining by 2020. Sohn is pressed for time as after 2020 he will no longer be able to hold both positions, meaning his management control in the firm may decline. At the bank's Dec. 28 shareholders meeting, Sohn vowed that he will push for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as part of efforts to expand the business to better compete with four other financial groups. Woori under th

Jan 2, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Financial leaders gear up for year of Golden Pig
Economy

Korea faces danger of L-shaped recovery

Rigid labor, income growth policy seen as biggest risks to economyBy Lee Kyung-min The Korean economy is expected to face another rocky path in 2019 as it is set to undergo an L-shaped recovery, according to economists.They expect the economy is unlikely to bottom out and bounce back soon due to multiple challenges both domestic and international, including an inflexible labor market, the government's income-led growth policy and U.S.-China trade feud.This means Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to fall into a prolonged low-growth trap following in the footsteps of Japan's decades-long slump.This is the consensus view among five renowned economists that The Korea Times interviewed for its New Year Special to see the future course of the Korean and global economies.Park Chong-hoon, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said the current low growth will continue much longer than previously projected given the lack of growth momentum compounded by lingering risk factors both here and abroad.“The economy is not likely to have a V-shaped turnaround, because there is no ce

Jan 2, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Korea faces danger of L-shaped recovery
Others

Teaching finance

Children of multiracial families and officials from Hana Card pose after learning the basics of finance at Bogil Dong Elementary School in Wando County, South Jeolla Province, Oct. 29. The credit card firm taught them how banks work and why the central bank raises interest rates. Courtesy of Hana Card

Jan 2, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Economy

NongHyup vows to record W1 tril. net profit in 2019

NongHyup Bank Chief Executive Lee Dae-hoon, seventh from right, poses for a photo with company executives at 2019 strategy meeting at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, Dec. 29. Courtesy of NongHyup BankBy Lee Kyung-min NongHyup Bank Chief Executive Lee Dae-hoon vowed to continue efforts to post 1 trillion won ($895 billion) in net profit in 2019, a priority to maintain competitiveness in the financial industry amid fierce competition, the bank said Monday. The goal was discussed at a 2019 strategy meeting attended by over 90 executives at the bank headquarters in Seoul, Dec. 29. “NongHyup Bank will post over 1 trillion won in annual profit through stable management. Respective departments will leap forward to play a key role in helping agricultural households earn 50 million won in annual income,” Lee said at the meeting. Under what it dubbed “sustainable growth one plus management,” the executives discusses ways to establish a sustainable business model whereby the firm's long term goal will be attained by a stable source of revenue, coupled with a continued

Dec 31, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
NongHyup vows to record W1 tril. net profit in 2019
Economy

Minimum wage controversy to continue in 2019

/By Lee Kyung-min The Cabinet approved a revision bill whereby workers are eligible to receive an eight-hour wage every weekend for 40 hours of work that week. The eight hours have become legally recognized working hours together with weekday working hours, which will be used to determine whether businesses are paying workers in accordance with the state-set minimum hourly wage requirement. The minimum wage for 2019 is 8,350 won ($7.40), up 10.9 percent from 7,530 won in 2018, which was also a 16.4 percent increase from 6,470 won a year earlier. Operators of businesses will be punished if the monthly payment divided by hours worked that month is less than 8,350 won. More hours recognized as work provides grounds for the workers to demand higher wages, an enormous burden on employers, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They decried the government, saying the newly recognized eight hours are only pushing them toward bankruptcy. “According a recent survey, about 30 percent of SMEs have been unable to pay workers due to the state-set minimum wage that increased

Dec 31, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Minimum wage controversy to continue in 2019
Economy

Financial musical 'U-Turn' gains popularity

Actors and actresses perform in the musical “U-Turn” at Munhyeon Middle School in Songpa, Seoul, Oct. 10. Courtesy of Korea Federation of Banks By Lee Kyung-min “U-Turn,” an educational musical designed to enhance understanding of financial issues for middle school students, is gaining popularity among teenagers.The musical, jointly produced in 2016 by the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) and Financial Education Council (FEC), has been performed at about 200 schools nationwide. The success is largely attributable to a tightly woven storyline written in plain, easy language. It is about a lead character struggling to repay loans who returns to his middle school years to learn about the importance of organizing his priorities to maintain a healthy and responsible management of personal finances.Through the personal experience of the main character named Han Tae-man ― with Tae-man being a Korean word for delinquency ― the audience is able to understand financial terms

Dec 30, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Financial musical 'U-Turn' gains popularity
Economy

Sohn vows to expand business through M&As

Woori Financial Group Chairman and Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung speaks at a shareholders’ meeting at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul, Dec. 28. / Courtesy of Woori Bank  Woori to turn into holding company on Jan. 11By Lee Kyung-minWoori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung said Friday that he would push for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to compete with other financial groups.His remarks came after Woori Bank shareholders approved a plan to turn the lender into a financial holding company, Friday. The decision came four years after it had been disbanded in November 2014.“It took four years for Woori Bank, whose status changed to a bank from a holding company due to the previous government’s push toward privatization, to obtain approval from the government to return to the earlier state,” Sohn, who doubles as Woori Bank CEO, said at the shareholders’ meeting.“Upon returning to a holding company, the business portfolio that had largely prioritized banks will be diversified to create new financial services. This will serve as

Dec 28, 2018By Lee Kyung-min
Sohn vows to expand business through M&As
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
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