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Lee Kyung-min

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Economy

Eateries, lodging services grapple with economic stagnation

Eateries and lodging services have been in decline for the past 22 months, the longest slowdown since the statistics agency began tracking the data in 2000, according to figures released Sunday. Of particular concern are small, self-employed businesses, strained by years of anemic consumer spending, political turmoil and Trump tariff uncertainties. According to Statistics Korea, the two sectors’ production index in February came to 103.8, down 3.8 percent from the previous year. The decline continued from May 2023 through February 2025, with the only exception being January 2024, when the year-on-year figures remained flat. The sector outlook slumped further on a seasonally adjusted basis. It fell 3 percent in one month, the steepest monthly decline since February 2022 when it plunged 8.1 percent. Key factors were the Jeju Air plane crash and impeachment proceedings against former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The index is emblematic of many self-employed businesses closing. A record 986,487 businesses closed in 2023, when the industry-wide slowdown began. About 158,000 of them were eateries. The

Apr 13, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Eateries, lodging services grapple with economic stagnation
Others

SMEs hit harder by plunging won

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are grappling with the recent sharp weakening of the Korean currency against the U.S. dollar, market watchers said Sunday. Most of them say their operating margin target was based on the Korean currency moving at around 1,304 won relative to the global reserve currency. However, the figure is now approaching 1,500 won, depreciating to 1449.9 won, as of 3:30 p.m. Friday. Last week, the Korean currency fluctuated by 67.6 won, the widest changes in value since July, when the local foreign currency trading was extended to 2 a.m. the following morning from the previous daytime closing of 3:30 p.m. According to a survey by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in January, more than half of the 360 surveyed, or 51.4 percent, cited the weakening won as a major negative for their businesses. Only 13.3 percent said the currency depreciation was a positive for them. At the time of the survey, their combined break-even currency averaged 1,334.6 against the dollar. This means the currency losing ground further will translate to losses for their bu

Apr 13, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
SMEs hit harder by plunging won
Banking & Finance

KB, Shinhan, Hana hit by economic downturn in Southeast Asia amid Trump tariff uncertainties

Major Korean banks are facing growing uncertainties over their businesses in Southeast Asia as the region has been weighed down by years of stagnant economy and worsening financial market soundness amid U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariff war, market watchers said Thursday. Four major commercial lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori — have a combined 26 percent of overseas business exposure in Southeast Asia. Vietnam and Indonesia top the list with 7.1 percent exposures each, followed by Singapore at 6.7 percent and Cambodia at 4.7 percent. Over the past decade, the number of their combined branches increased to 65, up 2.5-fold from 25. Their combined assets are also said to have surged by more than six times. On Wednesday (local time) Trump paused his threatened "reciprocal" tariffs against most countries for 90 days. “The Trump tariff policies have been delayed, but the last-minute measure is far from a guarantee of stable business conditions in the weeks or months to come,” a KB Kookmin official said. The implementation of the high tariffs against the region will

Apr 10, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
KB, Shinhan, Hana hit by economic downturn in Southeast Asia amid Trump tariff uncertainties
Economy

Mirae Asset chair donates dividends for 15th consecutive year

Mirae Asset Group’s Global Strategy Officer and Chairman Park Hyeon-joo donated 1.6 billion won ($1 million) in dividends earned last year, bringing his total donations over the past 15 years to 33.1 billion won, the company said Thursday. He made this commitment in 2008, writing in a letter to Mirae Asset employees that he planned to donate all of his dividends to support the development of the younger generation in Korea. He first began donating his dividends in 2010 and has continued the annual drive since. The donation will be routed through two group-operated foundations, each dedicated to supporting either education or career development programs for young people. Included are scholarship programs, leadership projects and cultural exchange opportunities. As of last year, the two foundations have invested 106.9 billion won in various social contribution initiatives. The group said it will continue to nurture future generations, upholding the chair’s motto: “I would rather be the greatest giver than the richest man.” In his view, science and technology are other key areas for fo

Apr 10, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Mirae Asset chair donates dividends for 15th consecutive year
Economy

FSS fines Kakao Pay $10 mil. for illegally transferring customer data to Alipay

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has imposed a 15 billion won ($10 million) fine on Kakao Pay, the settlement and payment subsidiary of Kakao Corp., for handing over some 40 million users' data to its second-largest shareholder, Alipay Singapore Holdings, without user consent, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The final amount of the fine will be determined by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). If the FSC upholds the FSS recommendation, the figure will be the heaviest fine to date. In January, the Personal Information Protection Commission imposed a fine of 5.9 billion won on the Kakao subsidiary. The commission’s fine factored in Kakao Pay’s business revenue. However, the FSS can raise the amount up to 3 percent of its revenue total, as long as it complies with the relevant law governing credit information. The issue was whether the Kakao subsidiary needed user consent before the transfer and whether encrypted data handlers ensured that users were guaranteed easy access to their data at any time. The relevant law requires user consent before collecting their data or

Apr 9, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
FSS fines Kakao Pay $10 mil. for illegally transferring customer data to Alipay
Economy

Why was Korea's WGBI inclusion delayed until April next year?

Korea’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI), operated by the London-based FTSE Russell, was delayed from November to April next year, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The five-month delay is said to have centered on growing concerns over the domestic financial market conditions among Japanese investors, a group with a significant bond market influence, according to market watchers. In addition, a bigger culprit appears to be months of political turmoil from former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration and ensuing impeachment proceedings, they said. The assessment is underpinned by Korea’s export-reliant economy extremely vulnerable to U.S. tariff shocks, as evidenced in part by the Korean currency crashing to nearly 1,500 won relative to the U.S. reserve currency. Equally concerning is a series of downward revisions to the country’s economic growth forecast for this year. Wednesday’s development pushes back the much-anticipated series of benefits. They include the inflow of foreign funds of up to 90 trillion won ($60 billion), stabilization

Apr 9, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Why was Korea's WGBI inclusion delayed until April next year?
Economy

Financial groups expand assistance for tariff-hit small businesses

The country’s leading financial groups are extending assistance amounting to trillions of won to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and self-employed, affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs, market watchers said Tuesday. The measure followed a meeting presided over by Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan on Monday. Also in attendance was Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun, along with the heads of the country’s top five financial holding groups — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup. Shinhan Financial Group pledged to provide over 10.5 trillion won ($7.1 billion) to SMEs and small businesses, including exporters with a U.S. business presence. Of them 10.5 trillion won, 9.4 trillion won is earmarked for lowering interest rates for corporate borrowers including Korean exporters. It will also provide 500 billion won to the Korea Federation of Credit Guarantee Foundations to help small businesses take out new loans. Shinhan will give about 600 billion won to the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF) for similar purposes. KB Fi

Apr 8, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Financial groups expand assistance for tariff-hit small businesses
Economy

Rehiring after retirement better than retirement age extension: BOK

Extending the retirement age without overhauling the seniority-based pay system will exacerbate youth joblessness and labor market polarization, a central bank report said Tuesday. The criticism centers on greater older employee retentions at large conglomerates and an increase in early retirements, resulted by the 2016 retirement age extension without pay system overhaul, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Korea should rehire retired employees, instead of extending the retirement age, the report suggested. Otherwise, job opportunities will be further limited for young people and more jobseekers will increasingly favor large conglomerates over small companies even when it means delaying or landing jobs for years. According to the report, the number of wage workers — including irregular and temporary employees — aged between 55 and 59 rose about 80,000 between 2016 and 2024. The number of regular workers rose by about 100,000. However, over the same period, wage workers aged between 23 and 27 decreased by about 110,000, while that of regular workers in the same age group dipped by

Apr 8, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Rehiring after retirement better than retirement age extension: BOK
Economy

BOK to pause rate cuts due to won's weakness, rising household debt

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is widely expected to leave the key rate unchanged at the upcoming monetary policy board meeting on April 17, according to market watchers on Monday. Underpinning the view is the sustained weakness of the Korean currency against the U.S. dollar and a rapid uptick in household debt due to a short-term 39-day easing in the property regulations on Seoul's affluent areas before retightening. However, calls for swift easing are also rising, as this year’s growth is feared to register lower than 1 percent, hamstrung by broader- and stronger-than-expected tariff shocks from the U.S., they said. The country’s first-quarter growth is highly likely to be limited to the low-zero-percent range, according to the finance ministry and the central bank. The only upside factor to the otherwise grim growth outlook is the potential implementation of an extra budget of at least 10 trillion ($6.8 billion), as advocated for by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok. “The central bank is likely to leave the key rate unchanged,” KB Securities researcher Lim Jae-k

Apr 8, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
BOK to pause rate cuts due to won's weakness, rising household debt
Economy

Banks on alert over heightened risk of corporate loan defaults amid Trump tariff war

Commercial lenders are rushing to strengthen their monitoring of at-risk corporate borrowers exposed to greater delinquency probabilities due to the Trump tariff policies, industry officials said Sunday. Under tighter monitoring are local exporters with significant exposure to the world's largest consumer market but without production capacities there. Sudden tariff shocks translating to a plunge in export volumes could lead to defaults on loans extended by lenders. Also of concern are apparel makers with manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, a country subject to a U.S. tariff rate of 46 percent. “We established an emergency committee and held a meeting among executives from the group and its affiliates (Friday) and have since monitored the developments closely,” a Hana Financial Group official said. “We are strengthening financial health soundness, aided by early detection of borrowers that are likely to fall delinquent.” Rechargeable battery industries are under close monitoring, the official said, as part of an overall bank-wide risk diversification efforts. “During this meeti

Apr 7, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Banks on alert over heightened risk of corporate loan defaults amid Trump tariff war
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