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Yi Whan-woo

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.

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Economy

20-somethings make up largest share of long-term foreign arrivals

People in their 20s topped the list of foreign nationals of all age groups who entered Korea last year for purposes other than travel, such as employment, study, marriage and migration, government data showed Thursday. Statistics Korea said the number of those aged between 20 and 29 was tallied at 159,000, taking up the largest share among 451,000 foreign nationals who came to the country and stayed for longer than 90 days. The number of those in their 30s amounted to 103,000, followed by those aged 13 to 19 at 50,000 and 40-somethings at 49,000. The stats agency explained that the 451,000 foreign nationals came here on a variety of visas and were counted separately from visitors who entered the country as tourists. For many nationalities, visa-free entry is possible for up to 90 days in Korea for tourism and other types of short-term visits, amounting to 16.37 million visitors last year. Of the 451,000 who stayed more than 90 days, 36.4 percent, or 164,000, were on working visas. The figure was down 5.1 percent from 2023, marking the first decrease in four years. In particular, the number

Jul 10, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
20-somethings make up largest share of long-term foreign arrivals
Policy

Financial regulators to adopt AI to root out unfair stock trading

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used as a new regulatory tool to crack down on unfair stock trading practices in line with President Lee Jae Myung’s stock market reform drive, financial authorities said Wednesday. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), jointly with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Exchange (KRX), said Lee’s zero-tolerance policy will be strictly implemented against stock price manipulation, illegal short selling practices, false disclosures and other practices designed to seek illegal financial gains. The three organizations will establish a special joint task force of 34 officials on July 30 to monitor suspicious activities and launch investigations promptly when necessary. “The FSC, the FSS and the KRX have come up with these measures after discussing ways to strengthen initial responses and enforce strict penalties against unfair trading practices,” the FSC said. It explained that the discussion took place after the president addressed the need for a “one strike, you're out” rule, a week after his June 4 inauguration. Lee said la

Jul 9, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Financial regulators to adopt AI to root out unfair stock trading
Banking & Finance

Mirae Asset, Korea Investment & Securities engage in possible tit-for-tat over rating downgrades

Korea’s two largest brokerage houses — Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) — are engaged in an apparent tit-for-tat by downgrading ratings for each other’s stocks in their analyst reports early this week. The move is fueling speculation over whether the companies may be using the reports as a tool to attract investors away from each other, especially at a time when the stock market is rallying under the new government’s investor-friendly policies. On Wednesday, KIS lowered its investment outlook for Mirae Asset Securities from “buy” to “neutral” on the benchmark KOSPI in an analyst report on investment worthiness. The revised assessment came after Mirae Asset Securities downgraded its own rating for KIS, also a KOSPI-listed company, from “buy” to “neutral” in its report, Monday. According to market observers, a “neutral” rating is often regarded as being effectively equivalent to a “sell.” “In that sense, a neutral-rated stock is perceived as having little merit as an investment,” an executive of an advocate group for retail

Jul 9, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Mirae Asset, Korea Investment & Securities engage in possible tit-for-tat over rating downgrades
Banking & Finance

Toss introduces facial recognition payment system at gas stations

Viva Republica, a fintech giant pioneering a range of digital payment systems, said Tuesday that it introduced a new system that allows drivers to pay for gas by using their facial features as identification. The operator of widely-used mobile financial platform Toss said such a facial recognition system will be available at gas stations run by GS Caltex, a major chain in Korea. The company said Toss Place, which manages payment devices for offline businesses’ electronic transactions, formed a deal for strategic cooperation with GS Caltex concerning a facial recognition payment system. It will be the first time the system, called Toss Front, will be available at gas stations in the country. “We, as business partners, will combine our expertise and infrastructure to provide a differentiated customer experience and also enhance our competitiveness,” Viva Republica said. Toss Place will carry out a test to optimize Toss Front in line with a payment system that is currently adopted by gas stations nationwide. Viva Republica said it plans to come up with additional services that “furthe

Jul 8, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Toss introduces facial recognition payment system at gas stations
Economy

Inflation feared to surge over heat wave-driven price hikes in fresh foods

Scorching heat has been disrupting yields of agricultural and fisheries products in recent weeks, fueling concerns over higher consumer inflation in the coming months, according to economists on Tuesday. They say a long-term strategy is essential for the government to curb the prices of temperature-sensitive foods, noting they make up a significant part of people’s grocery budgets, while heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the retail price for a bundle of 10 cucumbers averaged 11,914 won ($8.70), Monday. The price marked a 27 percent increase from a year earlier and a 30.5 percent rise compared to a multi-year average, as the heat wave pushed daily temperatures to 37 degrees Celsius in some regions. Also as of Monday, perilla leaves were priced at 2,502 won, up 20.9 percent from the previous year and 25.3 percent higher than the average price for the past few years. Green chili peppers rung up at 1,671 won per 100 grams, jumping 6.8 percent year-on-year and 18.0 percent compared to the mu

Jul 8, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Inflation feared to surge over heat wave-driven price hikes in fresh foods
Others

Bull market raises hope for securities firms to join ‘W1 tril. club’ for 2nd straight year

A bull market is fueling optimism for five major securities firms here to join the “1 trillion won club” in operating profit for the second straight year, according to industry officials on Monday. The five — Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Securities, Kiwoom Securities and Meritz Securities — all surpassed 1 trillion won ($730.83 million) in operating profit last year after failing to do so in 2023, due to a downturn in the real estate market and other adverse economic effects. The 2024 milestone was made possible by a U.S. stock market rally and a surge in Korean retail investors’ overseas stock trading. Adding to the optimism for a revival of the “1 trillion won club” is the benchmark KOSPI recently surpassing the 3,000-point threshold for the first time since the COVID-19 era. Market analysts’ forecast for Mirae Asset Securities’ 2025 operating profit averaged 1.24 trillion won on Monday, after the company’s operating profit tallied 1.64 trillion won in 2024. The operating profit of Korea Investment & Securities is projected at 1.51 t

Jul 7, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Bull market raises hope for securities firms to join ‘W1 tril. club’ for 2nd straight year
Policy

Proposed state-run bank for southeastern Korea gains ground

President Lee Jae Myung’s plan to establish a state-run bank in Busan is gaining momentum as the new administration pushes ahead with two issues concerning national interests — balanced regional economic development and newly opened Arctic shipping routes, according to experts on Monday. Roughly translated as “Southeast Investment Bank,” the envisioned financial institution is considered an alternative for the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) that has been embroiled in a years-long debate over whether to relocate its headquarters from Seoul to Busan. “The establishment plan of the new bank is likely to pick up pace, given the agile and action-driven work style of the president that we’ve witnessed for the past month,” Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said, referring to Lee’s first 30 days in office since June 4. Busan, despite being the country’s second-largest city after Seoul, joins other regions in southeastern Korea facing economic and demographic risks as young people leave the region in search for jobs that are heavily concentr

Jul 7, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Proposed state-run bank for southeastern Korea gains ground
Banking & Finance

Banks tilted toward conglomerates in loan business over tightened household lending rule

Major commercial banks are focusing more on conglomerates over households to secure revenues for their loan business, a result of pressure to reduce loans for private households. The data compiled by five biggest lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — showed their combined outstanding balance in loans for large corporations totaled at 165.65 trillion won ($121.31 billion) last month, up 4.6 percent from December 2024. The net increase averaged 1.21 trillion won per month over the corresponding six months. “Such an increase marks a turnaround in corporate loan business, considering the amount was on a downward trend previously,” an industry official said. He noted the five lenders’ aggregate outstanding balance in loans for conglomerates amounted to 158.39 trillion won in December 2024. The figure represented a 0.3 percent decline from June 2024, and a net decrease of 80 billion won per month on average over the six months. Officials said the lenders are expanding loans for large businesses, as they are regarded as a reliable source of income at a time when f

Jul 7, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Banks tilted toward conglomerates in loan business over tightened household lending rule
Others

Why do funeral service firms expand to travel business?

A Kyowon Life telephone consultant surnamed Park says she increasingly takes calls from customers in their 60s or older who are heavily interested in the travel packages her company offers. They are all currently subscribed to the firm’s prepaid funeral service plan. Park says she also receives inquiries from potential customers, many of them in their 20s and 30s, who do not ask much about funerals. Rather, they want to know details concerning travel services that can be chosen as an alternative option only after first subscribing to the prepaid funeral service plan. “I wasn’t first sure whether they are serious about subscription, given that funeral planning, burial, cremation, memorialization and other death-related administrative tasks are far from honeymoon trips and cruise tours,” she said. Park’s experience illustrates a growing trend among funeral service providers where more customers opt to switch to travel packages and other available options after subscribing to pre-arranged plans for death. The trend is associated with Korea’s rapidly increasing life expectancy: In

Jul 5, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Why do funeral service firms expand to travel business?
Others

Korea moves to restrict foreigners' real estate purchases

An opposition party lawmaker has proposed a revised bill aimed at curbing foreign nationals from buying real estate properties in Korea, over heightened concerns that the government’s tightened land regulation only restricts Korean nationals from owning a home here. Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP) said Thursday that the bill asks foreign nationals to obtain approval from relevant Korean authorities in advance when they plan to acquire real estate. Currently, property buyers from abroad are only required to report to the authorities within 60 days of the purchase. Furthermore, they can report within six months if they buy property through auctions. “It is unfair and imbalanced for foreign nationals to freely acquire and transfer a range of properties, including apartments, whereas as a string of restrictive measures discourage Korean nationals from having a home,” Kim said in a press release. The bill also calls for a land minister-led assessment at least once a year to find out whether other countries are faithfully observing Korea’s principle of reciprocity on th

Jul 4, 2025By Yi Whan-woo
Korea moves to restrict foreigners' real estate purchases
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