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Yoon Ja-young

Korea Times AI content 1 team Reporter

Yoon Ja-young is in charge of articles translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. She is interested in improving the newspaper through AI.

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Economy

Liquidity feeds into stock bubble

By Yoon Ja-young Stock markets here are expected to extend a liquidity-driven rally for a while, but some analysts caution that recent steep gains are backed by no improvement in the real economy.With the benchmark KOSPI and the tech-loaded KOSDAQ continuing their bull run, retail investors are increasingly returning to the market.The KOSPI closed up 3.60 points, or 0.17 percent, at 2,143.50 Friday, while the KOSDAQ closed up 8.59 points, or 1.23 percent, at an 87-month high of 706.90.The KOSPI is forecast to beat its record high of 2,228 points set in May 2011.Foreign investment banks are now forecasting between 2,200 and 2,300 points. Morgan Stanley expects the main index could reach as high as 2,700 this year if corporate earnings rise 21 percent.John Kim, an analyst at IBK Investment and Securities, said that foreign funds had been flowing into the Seoul bourse after Europe’s own version of quantitative easing.Foreigners bought nearly 3 trillion won in shares in March. “The quantitative easing by the European Central Bank will continue until September 2016. With

Apr 17, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Keangnam Enterprises to be delisted

By Yoon Ja-youngKeangnam Enterprises, a construction company at the center of a recent bribery scandal, will be delisted from the stock market on Wednesday.The Korea Exchange, the country’s bourse operator, said Tuesday that it would delist Keangnam in line with stock regulations because losses had wiped out its equity capital.  Its chairman, Sung Woan-jong, committed suicide last week after being investigated for alleged corruption in the “energy diplomacy” of the former President Lee Myung-bak administration. He left a list of politicians he claimed to have bribed, including close aides to President Park Geun-hye.Founded in Daegu in 1951, Keangnam Enterprises grew to be one of the top 20 construction companies in the country.It was the first Korean construction company to advance into overseas markets, winning orders from a Thai broadcaster in 1965. The company further expanded its business overseas, moving into the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Cameroon and Malaysia in the 1970s.Keangnam had an IPO in February 1973, becoming the country’s first construction

Apr 14, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

K-water leading smart innovation

Employees of K-water check the quality of tap water at a home in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in this file photo. K-water applies ICT in the production and supply of tap water, thus enhancing residents’ trust in the quality of the water./ Courtesy of K-waterBy Yoon Ja-youngWater, an essential part of human life, has never been easy to control. Climate change and urbanization have made water an expensive resource, the cause of international conflicts and one of the top global risks chosen by the World Economic Forum.K-water is suggesting “smart” as an answer, applying the latest ICT to maximize efficiency in water resources management. The state-run company presented a “smart water management initiative” at the World Water Forum. From rainfall to faucet K-water applies ICT for comprehensive management of water, from rainfall to faucet. The smart water management initiative starts with making accurate forecast to prepare for natural disasters. Radar and satellites are also used to gather real-time information, and integrate this around the country. IC

Apr 14, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

US tells Korea to stop forex intervention

By Yoon Ja-youngThe U.S. Treasury has accused Korea of intervening in foreign exchange markets to artificially lower the value of its currency.The finance ministry denied the accusation, but admitted that it engages in occasional “smoothing-out” operations.“The Korean authorities have intervened to resist an appreciation of the won in the context of its large and growing current account surplus, now standing at 6.3 percent of GDP (gross domestic product),” the U.S. Department of Treasury said in its semiannual report.“Estimates based on valuation-adjusted reserves show that Korean authorities intervened heavily last summer,” says the report. It added that the Korean authorities appear to have substantially increased intervention in December and January, “a time of appreciation pressure on the won.”“The foreign exchange rate is determined by the market. We only engage in smoothing operations to decrease fluctuation in exceptional cases,” said an official at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.“The treasury report has b

Apr 10, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

K-water to share water management knowhow at Water Forum

Employees of K-water take part in a simulated exercise for a flood in this file photo. K-water is presenting its smart water management initiative based on ICT at the World Water Forum in Daegu, which runs from April 12 to 17./ Courtesy of K-waterBy Yoon Ja-young Half of the world’s population will suffer from water shortages after 2025, according to the World Water Development Report issued by the United Nations.It is obvious that the future depends on how people will properly manage water.K-water, the country’s water resource management company, will offer its “smart water management” program as a solution at the weeklong World Water Forum that will begin in Daegu, Sunday.At the event held every three years by the World Water Council, policymakers and experts from around the world gather to discuss how to tackle water-related issues. At this year’s forum, around 35,000 people from 180 countries are participating.The event is getting a lot of attention because of increasing global awareness about water issues.  The World Economic Forum, more w

Apr 9, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Stock gains likely to be capped by weak fundamentals

By Yoon Ja-youngSeoul stocks are expected to maintain their modest gains for a while on ample market liquidity, analysts said Thursday.However, they remain skeptical about the sustainability of the advances due to weak economic fundamentals and a lackluster corporate earnings outlook. During the past three years, the country’s main KOSPI index has been rising and falling at somewhere between 1,850 and 2,050 points like a ball trapped inside a box.As the index surpassed 2,060 for the first time in seven months this week, with the market cap reaching the highest ever, investors are wondering whether the Seoul bourse will now make a leap forward, to soar above the range.The main bourse opened firmer on Thursday, but lost ground after the Bank of Korea revised down its forecast for 2015 economic growth to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent.The KOSPI closed at 2,058.87, Thursday, down 0.39 points from the previous day.Suh Dong-pil, an analyst at IBK Investment and Securities, said the index is likely to move upward for a while on increasing liquidity.“The quantitative easing by

Apr 9, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Govt. to attract private investment in SOC

By Yoon Ja-young The expressway linking Seoul and Incheon is notorious for traffic congestion. Experts have proposed that building another expressway underground could be a solution, but the lack of government funding has been hindering this.The government is considering attracting more private capital for social overhead capital (SOC) projects, including the Seoul-Incheon Expressway.“While the government is short of fiscal capability, the private sector has abundant capital amid low interest rates. We aim to provide stable investment in the market while leading economic recovery by effectively using the funds available,” said Bang Moon-kyu, vice finance minister.The government wants to take aggressive fiscal policies for economic recovery, but it is short of money. The private sector, meanwhile, has abundant liquidity and is looking for good investment. The short-term floating money in the market is estimated at 800.7 trillion won as of January, the largest ever amount. It could be win-win for both the government and the private sector if the fund is invested in SOC

Apr 8, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Snowballing state debt calls for pension reform

By Yoon Ja-young Government debt increased by 93 trillion won last year, amid snowballing pensions for former civil servants and the military.Experts agree that the country is in urgent need of pension reform.According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which closed its accounts for the 2014 fiscal year, the broader definition of government debt including pensions for government workers stood at 1.211 quadrillion won as of the end of the year. That is 93.3 trillion won more than a year ago.The ministry explained that the increasing debt was due to a decrease in tax income from the sluggish economy coupled with the issuance of government bonds to boost the economy.The increasing burden from government employees’ and military pensions also added to the government debt.The broader definition of government debt includes the current value of pensions that the government should pay recipients. Though the government hasn’t borrowed the money, it is regarded as debt as it will be paid in the future.This future debt to fund pensions stood at 643.6 trillion won as of the

Apr 7, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Relief loans cause worries for banks

Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong, center, speaks at a meeting with CEOs of local banks held at the Bankers’ Club in downtown Seoul, Friday. Yim said ‘Relief Loans’ have helped restructure household debt. / YonhapBy Yoon Ja-young The “Relief Loans” led by the government are worrying banks as they could cause negative side effects, including the erosion of their profitability, analysts said Friday.Banks finished the sales of the second batch of the new amortized, low-fixed rate mortgages Friday, the deadline set for the next round of the 20-trillion-won in relief loans, following the first 20 trillion won. Only half was used in the second batch.Policymakers have apparently been buoyed by the strong demand for the new loans.In a meeting with the heads of banks, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Yim Jong-yong said the relief loans changed the banks’ loan structure in a positive way.“More than anything else, it changed the customs ― the debtors pay back loans from the beginning. It also helps avoiding

Apr 3, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Relief loans cause worries for banks
Economy

Both export, domestic market losing steam

By Yoon Ja-young The country recorded a current account surplus for 36 months in row in February amid decreasing demand for imports due to the sluggish domestic economy.Exports, which have been the country’s sustaining pillar, are also making less of a contribution to economic growth.Amid a pessimistic outlook on the traditional export-led economic model, economists say that the government should focus on nurturing the domestic market.According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), exports’ contribution to the economy is falling each year. In 2014, exports of goods and services contributed to 45.5 percent of the country’s 3.3 percent economic growth rate. It has been falling each year since 2012, and fell to the lowest level since 2009 last year.The value of the country’s exports stood at $47 billion last month, down 4.2 percent from a year ago. It has been falling for three consecutive months compared with a year ago. The sluggish exports of petrochemical products due to low global oil prices and the weakening of the Japanese yen are further deteriorating this.Whi

Apr 2, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
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