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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

Cheil Industries shares continue to overshoot estimated value

By Yoon Ja-young Shares of Cheil Industries, which debuted on the stock market in December, are continuing to soar.Strong demand has pushed the stock way above the target price suggested by analysts, but they now have a problem estimating how far it will go as the price is not based on fundamentals.Cheil Industries closed at 171,000 won, Friday, rising over 8 percent from the 2014 closing price on Dec. 30.  The stock, which debuted on bourse on Dec. 18, drew huge attention from investors even before its debut. When it took subscriptions for the IPO, it set a record by being 195 times oversubscribed, with deposits totaling 30.06 trillion won.So far, those who bet on Cheil Industries have made the right decision, as its shares have risen by 3.2 times its IPO price of 53,000 won.Cheil Industries has become the ninth biggest company in terms of market cap, now standing at 22.1 trillion won. It has already surpassed SK Telecom and Samsung Life Insurance, and is expected to surpass Hyundai Mobis soon.Before the IPO, analysts suggested between 70,000 won and 100,000 won as the tar

Jan 4, 2015By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Finding job tops young people's wish list

Applicants are interviewed at a job fair for high school graduates at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in this file photo taken in April. Young jobseekers hope the government and companies will create more job opportunities this year. / YonhapBy Yoon Ja-young New Year is the time when people make a new plan, promising themselves that they will endeavor for a life better than last year.For some people, however, the change of the year only means losing confidence. They are frustrated that they haven’t achieved anything despite the efforts of last year.Park Jun-ho, 29, could be one of those people, though he tries not to lose faith in himself _ he is one of the desperate young jobseekers, whose number is estimated to have reached 1 million.“To be frank, I didn’t expect I would fail in the job market,” Park said. He majored in economics at a so-called “SKY university,” which refer to the country’s top three colleges _ Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei universities.He once studied to become a certified public accountant, but after tw

Dec 31, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Finding job tops young people's wish list
Economy

Deflation, low consumption haunt economy

Top,  gasoline price boards taken in November and December, show oil prices falling. Cheongryangri Agricultural Market in Seoul looks deserted, Tuesday, amid a protracted economic slowdown. / YonhapBy Yoon Ja-young Consumer prices rose 1.3 percent this year, far lower than the central bank’s yearly inflation target of between 2.5 and 3.5 percent.With inflation at its lowest level since 1999, concern is growing that the country may enter deflation amid extremely low consumption and plunging oil prices.According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in December, the lowest since September 1999.Consumer prices rose an average 1.3 percent this year. In 2011, they rose 4 percent, but slowed to 2.2 percent in 2012 and 1.3 percent in 2013 and this year.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance attributed the low inflation to good harvests and a fall in global oil prices. Prices of agricultural products fell 2.7 percent, while oil products dropped 4.3 percent. Dubai crude is trading at below $60 per barrel, the lowest level since 2009.“Inflation will pick up

Dec 31, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Deflation, low consumption haunt economy
Economy

Real estate bills to have limited impact on market

Members of the National Assembly vote to pass three key real estate reform bills to boost the property market, Monday. The bills, including steps to reinvigorate the reconstruction of apartments, are expected to have a limited impact on boosting the real estate market. / YonhapBy Yoon Ja-young The passage of real estate reform bills at the National Assembly is expected to help revitalize the real estate market in some part of southern Seoul, but the effect is likely to be limited, according to market analysts.The National Assembly passed a number of controversial real estate related bills, Monday, which the market has been demanding in order to boost it.With the passage of the bills, the apartments built by private construction companies won’t be subject to the price cap set by the government.Since the real estate market bubble in late 2000s, the government has been restricting construction companies from adding too much profit onto their construction costs.It also delayed the taxation on the profits gained from reconstruction of old apartments. The decades old a

Dec 29, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Real estate bills to have limited impact on market
Economy

Minimum wage to rise 7% to W 5,580

By Yoon Ja-young From Jan. 1, the minimum wage will rise over 7 percent to 5,580 won or $5.08 per hour from 5,210 won. Cigarette prices will also be raised an average 2,000 won per pack, while smoking will be prohibited in all restaurants.The increase to the minimum wage means those who work eight hours a day should be paid at least 44,640 won a day. The monthly wage should be at least 1.17 million won for those who work 209 hours a month.The cigarette price, which averages 2,500 won per pack, will be raised to 4,500 won.The government hopes this will help curb smoking as well as increasing tax income.Smoking is currently banned at restaurants that are 100-square-meters in size or bigger, but it will be prohibited in all restaurants from next year.Currently, stock prices are allowed to rise or fall daily by up to 15 percent, but this daily limit will be doubled to 30 percent.The government will also lower commission fees for real estate agents.The maximum commission that realtors can charge is currently set at 0.9 percent on assets valued between 600 million won and 900 million

Dec 29, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Banks to expand overseas operations next year

By Yoon Ja-young The country’s banks are looking further overseas amid low interest rates and market saturation. While they previously focused on just East and Southeast Asian markets, they are trying to expand operations to other regions including the Middle East and Latin America.Shinhan Bank is planning to open a branch in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to support Korean firms operating there with trade financing.It has also decided to provide $85 million in loans to an agricultural development program by the Myanmar government. The bank, which has successfully advanced into the Vietnamese market, hopes to expand its presence in Southeast Asia.“We expect to create bigger profits from overseas operations as we have expanded our global presence over the past years,” an official said.Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) CEO Kwon Seon-joo also said at a press conference that she is considering advancing into the Middle East.“We will actively consider inroads into overseas markets through M&As or investment in shares of foreign financial firms. We will expa

Dec 26, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Goldman Sachs considering buying Ticket Monster

By Yoon Ja-youngGoldman Sachs is considering acquiring shares of Ticket Monster, the country’s major social commerce company, reports said Friday.Principle Investment Area (PIA) of Goldman Sachs is considering an acquisition of Ticket Monster, according to Money Today.Currently, Ticket Monster is 100 percent owned by Groupon, the world’s largest social commerce company. Groupon wants to sell at least a 20 percent stake and is also considering handing over managerial control, selling over half of its stake.Ticket Monster started as a venture company by Shin Hyun-sung, who holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and his colleagues in 2010. It became a huge success in its first year, and Shin sold the company to Living Social in 2011 for 400 billion won.However, amid growing concern over excessive marketing expenses in the social commerce industry, Living Social ended up selling the firm to Groupon for $260 million, or 290 billion won, in 2013.The world’s leading deal-of-the-day company had originally said that it aimed to increase its market share in Asia th

Dec 26, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Variable products of Allianz sell briskly

An Allianz employee, right, explains about the Allianz Multiple Variable Universal Whole of Life product to a potential customer in the company’s office in Seoul. / Courtesy of Allianz KoreaBy Yoon Ja-youngTwo variable whole of life (WoL) products from Allianz Life Insurance, one of the leading global insurers in Korea, have enjoyed growing popularity since their launch in July.The Seoul-based entity said Thursday that sales of the Allianz Multiple Variable Universal Whole of Life and the Family Love Variable Universal Whole of Life amounted to 3.94 billion won and 1.68 billion won this year in terms of annualized premiums, respectively.Experts point out that the two products’ performances are outstanding as the insurance industry has suffered from setbacks throughout 2014 amid the lingering economic downturn and the low interest rates.“It seems that people love the two variable WoL products because they can select the best plan in line with their needs out of many options. Plus, the two intensively cover the death risks before retirement, which we think attracted m

Dec 25, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Variable products of Allianz sell briskly
Economy

Lotte, Hyundai require highest commissions Department stores, TV home shopping channels get 30% sales commission

By Yoon Ja-youngLotte Department Store and Hyundai Home Shopping were found to have demanded the highest commissions from suppliers, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Thursday.The country’s department stores and TV home shopping channels are collecting high sales commissions from suppliers. When a customer buys a 10,000 won item at a department store, for instance, 2,800 won goes to the department store as commission. This means consumers end up paying a higher price.The FTC examined sales commission rates at seven major department stores ― Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, AK Plaza, Galleria, NC and Donga ― as well as six TV home shopping channels ― CJ O, GS, Hyundai, Lotte, NS, and Home & Shopping.It turned out that the department stores got on average 28.3 percent of the sales price as sales commission, compared with 28.5 percent the previous year.This means that if the department store has paid a supplier 7,170 won for a certain item, the price tag at the department store will be 10,000 won for consumers. Lotte Department Store levied the highest sales commis

Dec 25, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Weak yen prevents US recovery from helping Korea

By Yoon Ja-young The U.S. economy is gaining confidence, with diverse indices indicating a recovery. A bullish U.S. economy used to pull Korea’s growth rate up immediately, but economists say it is not that simple these days as the weak yen is expected to hurt Korea’s exporters.The U.S. posted 5 percent GDP growth in the third quarter, the quickest pace in 11 years.The country is recovering in private consumption and corporate investment.Real personal consumption, which makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, increased 3.2 percent, and business investment 8.9 percent.The benchmark Dow Jones index passed 18,000 for the first time.A U.S. recovery, of course, is never bad for Korea.“As consumption is recovering in the United States, exports will increase,” said Korea Institute of Finance economist Lim Jean.“Higher growth in the United States, a big trading partner for Korea, means bigger exports and higher growth for Korea as well.”However, the effect will be limited, Lim pointed out, because the trickledown effect is not working as well as in t

Dec 24, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Weak yen prevents US recovery from helping Korea
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