The Korea Times

NTS holds digital tax forum with Latin American countries

National Tax Service (NTS) Commissioner Kim Chang-ki, third from left, poses with high-level tax officials from Latin American countries at the 2nd Korea-Latin America Digital Tax Administration Forum held in Seoul, Monday. From left are Suriname's tax chief Ismael Kalaykhan, IDB Fiscal Management Division Chief Emilio Pineda, Kim, Guatemala Superintendent of Tax Administration Marco Livio Diaz Reyes and Panama Director of Revenue Publio de Gracia. Courtesy of NTSBy Yoon Ja-youngThe National Tax Service (NTS) is holding the 2nd Korea-Latin America Digital Tax Administration Forum jointly with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) from Nov. 7 to 10, joined by some 50 participants including five commissioners and high-level tax officials from 15 Latin American countries.The forum was prepared to share Korea's experience in the digital transformation of its tax administration, contributing to the enhancement of Latin American countries' tax administration capabilities and establishing close cooperation. The tax agency held the first forum in Seoul in 2019 after signing an MOU for co

Nov 7, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

NTS holds digital tax forum with Latin American countries

Banking & Finance

What needs to be done to shore up Korea's economy in times of crisis?

By Yoon Hee-sungEximbank Chairman and President Yoon Hee-sungIn August, I attended the opening ceremony of KEXIM Global (Singapore), Korea Eximbank's subsidiary in Singapore. The event was organized to announce Korea Eximbank's resumption of operations in Singapore after 25 years of absence due to the Asian Financial Crisis, and also to launch the bank's new regional financing hub in the Asia-Pacific region.As the youngest staff member in the original Singapore office at the time of closing in 1997, I am overjoyed to return to the bank as chairman and president, celebrating the reopening of a new corporation in Singapore. Over the past 25 years, Korea has overcome economic crises and developed into the world's 10th-largest economy. Korea's economic accomplishments are often cited as a “textbook recovery” by many international news outlets. Likewise, Korea Eximbank has also grown into a leading policy institution in Korea, providing new standards for export credit agencies worldwide.However, before we have the chance to fully celebrate and enjoy our achievement, another &l

Oct 11, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Economy

Tax commissioners' meeting

National Tax Service (NTS) Commissioner Kim Chang-ki, left, poses with OECD Forum on Tax Administration Chair Bob Hamilton, center, and Australian Taxation Office Commissioner Chris Jordan, right, at the 15th Plenary meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration held in Sydney, Australia, Thursday. At the meeting, tax commissioners discussed taxation policy for the post-pandemic era as well as international cooperation on digital taxation. Courtesy of NTS

Sep 30, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Economy

Korea's 100 richest in housing own 21,000 homes

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngThe country's richest 100 people in terms of housing ownership possess nearly 21,000 homes. The total official value of these homes exceeds 2.5 trillion won ($1.74 billion). According to Statistics Korea data submitted to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the 100 most prolific homeowners in the country owned 20,689 units of housing as of 2020. Their total value stood at 2.52 trillion won. The figure breaks down to each of these people owning on average 207 homes, worth 25.2 billion won. The number of homes owned by the top 100 homeowners has been increasing steadily, from 17,244 units in 2016 to 20,689 in 2020. Their total value also rose steeply during this five-year period from 1.5 trillion won in 2016. The increase means that each homeowner gained over 10 billion won in the value of their housing assets.The lawmaker pointed out that those who are already the richest in terms of housing will benefit from the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's tax revision plan. Based on a simulation, the lawmaker estimated that they will e

Sep 29, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Korea's 100 richest in housing own 21,000 homes

Economy

Koreans consume 53 bottles of soju, 83 bottles of beer a year

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngThe average adult residing in Korea consumed on average 53 bottles of soju and 83 bottles of beer last year, data showed. That is equal to a bottle of soju and nearly two bottles of beer a week. According to National Tax Service (NTS) data submitted to Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the ruling People Power Party, 825,848 kiloliters of soju was shipped out from local soju breweries last year.The amount of beer ― locally brewed and imported beer combined ― totaled 1.79 million kiloliters. That amount may seem huge but it is actually less than what Koreans used to consume before. The amount of soju shipped from local breweries in 2017 totaled 945,860 kiloliters, and the figure last year was 12.7 percent less compared to then. The amount of beer also dropped 16.7 percent from 2017 when 2.15 million kiloliters of beer was consumed. Imports of some liquors also dropped. Whisky Imports dropped 23.9 percent and liqueur dropped by 23.6 percent. Imports of Japanese sake also decreased to half. Imports of wine, however, more than doubled during the same period, from 36,517

Sep 22, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Koreans consume 53 bottles of soju, 83 bottles of beer a year

Economy

Brokerages lose credibility due to dearth of sell recommendations

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngThe country's securities firms are losing investors' trust as their analysts are only recommending buying shares in their reports, while sell recommendations account for only 0.13 percent of the total reports.According to Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) data submitted to Rep. Kang Byung-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the country's 32 securities firms recommended selling certain company stocks only 32 times in their analysts' reports issued between 2017 and 2021. That is only 0.13 percent of the total reports issued. They recommended buying stocks of certain companies in 88.8 percent of the reports, while being “neutral” in 11 percent of the reports.'This contrasts with foreign brokerages operating in Korea. Among the analyst reports on diverse companies foreign brokerages issued during the same period, they recommended buying in about half of the time, while recommending selling in 15.8 percent of cases.As the local brokerages only recommend buying shares regardless of fluctuations in the market, there have been do

Sep 16, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Brokerages lose credibility due to dearth of sell recommendations

Banking & Finance

MBK Partners chairman donates $10 million to the Met

By Yoon Ja-youngMBK Partners' co-founder and partner Kim Byung-ju is donating $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the museum announced Tuesday. The museum will name a gallery after Kim and his wife, which will be the first gallery in the museum named after a person of Korean descent.MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-ju / Korea Times fileAccording to the museum, Kim, who founded and heads North Asia's leading private equity firm, has pledged $10 million to support the renovation of the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing for modern and contemporary art at the museum. It plans to name a gallery in the new wing, the Michael B. Kim and Kyung Ah Park Gallery, after Kim and his wife.The renovation follows the museum's plan announced last year, which will create 80,000 square feet of galleries and public space by fully reimagining the current modern and contemporary galleries, led by architect Frida Escobedo. “We are enormously grateful to Michael Kim for his exceptional generosity, which will contribute to a landmark next chapter for The Met's presentation

Sep 7, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

MBK Partners chairman donates $10 million to the Met

Economy

Korea should raise the official age of senior citizens to 73: researcher

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngIn Korea, people are categorized as senior citizens once they reach 65. In the future, they may have to wait until 73 to be defined as such, as a research think tank suggested raising the official age of senior citizens in an attempt to reduce social welfare spending. Lee Tae-suk, director of the department of public finance and social policy at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), noted in a report published on Tuesday that Korea will see the steepest rise in its old-age dependency ratio among OECD member countries over the next 30 to 40 years. The ratio compares the number of elderly people aged 65 or older with the working age population, or those from 15 to 64. While Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world, with around 0.8 babies born per woman, the average life expectancy of 83.7 here is long compared with most other countries, the researcher points out. The proportion of senior citizens is thus expected to rise to the world's highest level. “Korea was once the youngest country among the OECD, but it is now transforming into the o

Sep 7, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Korea should raise the official age of senior citizens to 73: researcher

Economy

Government moves to overhaul inheritance tax system

gettyimagesbank By Yoon Ja-youngThe Yoon Suk-yeol administration took the first step to lower inheritance tax rates, following an announcement in July that it will overhaul the inheritance tax system. The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced recently it is taking bids for a research project looking into the introduction of an inherited property acquisition tax system. The ministry had announced in its tax revision plan in July that it will substitute the current inheritance tax system with the inherited property acquisition tax system to lower the burden on beneficiaries.Currently, an inheritance tax rate of between 10 percent and 50 percent is applied to the total value of assets bequeathed by the deceased. If the new tax system is introduced, the tax will be imposed on benefactors separately, thereby lowering their tax burden. There have been complaints, especially among business owner families, over the heavy inheritance tax. A majority of OECD member countr

Sep 2, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Government moves to overhaul inheritance tax system

Economy

Banks to toughen monitoring to prevent voice phishing

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngWhen a bank customer wants to withdraw a lump sum of money from their account, they will be asked some specific questions to prevent them from falling prey to voice phishing starting next month, the financial regulator announced on Thursday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), customers withdrawing 5 million won ($3,700) or more at the banks will be asked some questions to check if they are being scammed. The crime has become more sophisticated in recent years, coming in diverse forms. The FSS noted that men in their 40s and 50s are often victimized by scammers who claim that they will help them switch to cheaper loans, while women in their 60s or older often send money to criminals who claim that they are the victim's family. To withdraw cash, customers will have to answer questions to verify that they are not being manipulated. If customers withdraw more than 10 million won, bank clerks will confirm why the customer needs so much cash. Elderly customers in their 60s or older will also be asked whether they had a phone call with someon

Aug 26, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Yoon Ja-young

Read more

NTS holds digital tax forum with Latin American countries

What needs to be done to shore up Korea's economy in times of crisis?

Tax commissioners' meeting

Korea's 100 richest in housing own 21,000 homes

Koreans consume 53 bottles of soju, 83 bottles of beer a year

Brokerages lose credibility due to dearth of sell recommendations

MBK Partners chairman donates $10 million to the Met

Korea should raise the official age of senior citizens to 73: researcher

Government moves to overhaul inheritance tax system

Banks to toughen monitoring to prevent voice phishing

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