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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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Banking & Finance

More than 70% of consumers willing to spend more on ESG goods

Seven out of 10 consumers are willing to pay extra for products made by firms that have excellent track records in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices, a survey showed Friday. The finding underscores the need for a continued green corporate drive, increasingly being revisited due to the second Donald Trump administration’s “America First” policy that deprioritizes diversity, equity and inclusion — a key part of the sustainable growth initiative that has dominated the world over the past decade. According to a survey jointly conducted by the Korea Economic Research Institute and Korea Research, 73 percent of respondents said they were willing to pay more for products made by companies that bolster environmental protection. About 70 percent said they would do the same for companies that fulfill corporate responsibilities. Respondents in the 50 to 60 age group were more willing to pay extra, compared to their peers in the 20 to 29 age group. More than a third —35 percent — said they would evaluate companies highly if they made significant corporate effo

Mar 21, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
More than 70% of consumers willing to spend more on ESG goods
Banking & Finance

Korea must boost investments in IP, culture for export growth: BOK

Private entities should expand investments in intellectual property (IP), telecommunications, culture and entertainment, in a swift collective move to identify new growth drivers, a central bank report said Thursday. This together with government deregulation will elevate the country’s long-undervalued services industries as a new source of export growth, it added. Korea has long relied on manufacturing, construction and facility investments for growth. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) report on the status quo of Korea’s service exports and future growth outlook, knowledge services constituted 26.5 percent of service exports last year, up from 7.6 percent in 2010. Knowledge services are part of overall service industries and include IP rights and royalties, information and communication services, cultural and leisure services and other professional and business services. According to the report, service exports are emerging as new growth drivers after global goods trade slowed down by about 5 percentage points in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in the late 2000s. Serv

Mar 20, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Korea must boost investments in IP, culture for export growth: BOK
Banking & Finance

Seniority-based promotions undermine Korea's labor productivity: BOK rate setter

The labor productivity of Korea’s overachieving, hard-working and competent pool of workers remains only half that of their U.S. peers, due largely to the Asian country's seniority-based promotions, a monetary policy board member of the central bank said Wednesday. The seniority-based promotions are defined by school, place of birth, family ties as well as mandatory short-term reshuffle limiting in-depth career expertise development. According to Bank of Korea (BOK) Monetary Policy Board member Chang Yong-sung, the decades of inefficiency in and misallocation of an academically stellar Korean workforce could be fixed with the performance-based evaluations used in the U.S., where job sorting matches workers to tasks based on their capabilities, promoting labor productivity and job satisfaction. He added that Korea’s contentious ongoing discussion of extending the retirement age is premature and bound to fail, unless preceded by greater labor flexibility and salary overhaul for highly paid older employees. “Korean workers in low-skilled, face-to-face professions are overqualified and

Mar 19, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Seniority-based promotions undermine Korea's labor productivity: BOK rate setter
Banking & Finance

Hana Financial chair to highlight global success amid criticism

Hana Financial Group Chairperson Ham Young-joo will underline the group’s robust global performance during the upcoming shareholders’ meeting on March 25 in a move to solidify his leadership amid lingering concerns over his term extension, market watchers said Tuesday.

Mar 18, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Hana Financial chair to highlight global success amid criticism
Banking & Finance

Delayed climate change responses to pose financial risks for banks, insurers: BOK, FSS

Financial institutions are expected to incur short-term losses due to more stringent climate response policies, compounded by slumping asset values in traditional carbon-intensive industries, the central bank and financial watchdog said Tuesday. However, the immediate profit risks are outweighed by the long-term value of fostering green technologies and overall climate crisis containment, they said. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), failing to implement timely and proper anti-global warming action plans will exacerbate environmental damage from abnormal climate events, such as extreme temperatures and heavy downpours. This, in turn, will deteriorate the credit and insurance profiles of institutions with exposure to agriculture, food and construction. Prompt action is crucial for Korea’s export-reliant economy, long underpinned by high-carbon manufacturing, they said. This reliance has provided grounds for many growth driver industries, accounting for a quarter of the country’s GDP, to delay or outright disregard the push for a low-carbo

Mar 18, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Delayed climate change responses to pose financial risks for banks, insurers: BOK, FSS
Banking & Finance

OECD lowers Korea’s 2025 growth outlook to 1.5% from 2.1% due to tariff uncertainties

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slashed Korea's 2025 economic growth forecast to 1.5 percent, Monday, from earlier outlook of 2.1 percent announced in December.

Mar 17, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
OECD lowers Korea’s 2025 growth outlook to 1.5% from 2.1% due to tariff uncertainties
Banking & Finance

Gov’t to bolster global KTB sales amid extra budget-triggered yield hike concerns

The government is seeking to attract a greater number of global Korea Treasury Bond (KTB) investors ahead of a record 240 trillion won ($165 billion) issuance this year in a preemptive move to anchor a stable inflow of offshore fixed-income funds ahead of the World Government Bond Index (WGBI) inclusion in November, the finance ministry said Monday.

Mar 17, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Gov’t to bolster global KTB sales amid extra budget-triggered yield hike concerns
Banking & Finance

Mirae Asset underlines AI-powered growth strategies during India seminar

Mirae Asset Global Investments discussed key growth strategies for India during a seminar titled “New AGE: The Future Ahead” in Mumbai, Friday, the firm said Sunday.

Mar 16, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Mirae Asset underlines AI-powered growth strategies during India seminar
Banking & Finance

Will Commercial Act revision bolster financial group, bank shares?

Expectations are growing that the long-undervalued shares of financial groups and banks will be re-rated, buoyed by the March 13 passage of a revision to the Commercial Act, market watchers said Sunday.

Mar 16, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Will Commercial Act revision bolster financial group, bank shares?
Banking & Finance

Woori Financial chair orders junior employees to monitor, report misconduct

About a dozen entry- and low-level employees of Woori Financial Group and its affiliates will monitor for and report any suspected irregularities to the group’s compliance office at the order of Chairman Yim Jong-yong, according to Woori officials, Thursday.

Mar 13, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Woori Financial chair orders junior employees to monitor, report misconduct
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