Business - The Korea Times

SM Entertainment to terminate production contract with Lee Soo-man

A photo of SM Entertainment's founder and chief producer Lee Soo-man, provided by the company/ YonhapSM Entertainment announced Friday that it will sever ties with its chief producer Lee Soo-man at the end of this year.SM said its board of directors convened a meeting and decided to terminate a production license contract with Like Planning, a music production company owned by Lee, on Dec. 31, earlier than scheduled.The singer-turned-music producer founded the K-pop company in 1995 and has been behind the production of SM's leading artists such as Girls' Generation, EXO, Super Junior, NCT and aespa.SM has outsourced the production to Like Planning and paid tens of billions of won (millions of dollars) in royalties to the company every year. Lee is the largest shareholder of SM, holding 18.73 percent as of now. (Yonhap)

Oct 14, 2022

SM Entertainment to terminate production contract with Lee Soo-man

KakaoBank, Kakao Pay employees agonize over stock price plunge

The headquarters of KakaoBank in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province / NewsisBy Anna J. ParkAs the stock prices of key Kakao affiliates continue to plunge, employees at KakaoBank and Kakao Pay, who spent hundreds of millions of won to purchase their company's stocks when they went public last year, are suffering from snowballing losses.The stock prices of KakaoBank and Kakao Pay have been falling to new lows for consecutive sessions lately. KakaoBank's stock price ended at an all-time low of 16,550 won ($11.56) on Thursday, down 6.76 percent. Kakao Pay's stock price also logged a record-low of 34,400 won, displaying a losing streak for seven consecutive sessions. Both companies' stock prices nosedived to less than one sixth of their value logged during the early months of their listing on the benchmark KOSPI last year. The lackluster performances contrast starkly with what employees had expected at the time of their much-anticipated IPOs last year. At the peak of a liquidity-driven boom in the local stock market, employees were certain of the stocks' upward movements in the coming years, which

Oct 13, 2022By Anna J. Park

KakaoBank, Kakao Pay employees agonize over stock price plunge

SillaJen shares soar after trading resumes

SillaJen's office in Busan / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungSillaJen's share price soared around 30 percent after its long-suspended stock trading resumed on Thursday.The Kosdaq-listed biopharmaceutical firm closed at 10,850 won per share, up 29.47 percent, or 2,470 won, on expectations of its business recovery.This came a day after the Korea Exchange decided Wednesday evening to allow the trading of SillaJen shares to resume. Trading of the shares was suspended in May 2020 amid an embezzlement scandal.The decision made headlines, as more than 160,000 retail investors of the company were feared to lose their money under the worst-case scenario of a potential delisting from the country's secondary stock market. As of the end of June, SillaJen's minority shareholders owned more than 66 percent of all of the company's outstanding stocks.The complete reshuffle of the firm's top management was cited as the main reason behind the latest decision by the exchange operator. In February, the company was given a six-month grace period by the exchange's market committee to improve its business practices.

Oct 13, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

SillaJen shares soar after trading resumes

Scandal-ridden bio firm Sillajen to resume trading after 2.5-year suspension

Sillajen headquarters in downtown Seoul  NewsisSouth Korea's bourse operator on Wednesday decided to allow scandal-ridden bio firm Sillajen Inc. to resume its stock trading after a 2 1/2-year suspension.Trading of shares in Sillajen will resume on the tech-laden KOSDAQ on Thursday, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said, after a review of the biotechnology company's plan to improve its business.The stock has been suspended since May 2020, after its former executives were charged with embezzlement and breach of trust. In November 2020, the KRX gave Sillajen a one-year grace period to meet listing requirements. In January this year, however, the bourse operator said the bio firm still did not meet the requirements. Upon Sillajen's appeal, the KRX granted the firm an additional six-month grace period. The Sillajen fiasco has drawn an outcry from some 170,000 retail investors.After its market debut on Dec. 6, 2016, shares in Sillajen rallied to over 150,000 won (US$104.54) in late 2017. Sillajen tumbled to the 12,000 won level ahead of the trading ban, lower than its IPO price of 15,000 won,

Oct 12, 2022

Scandal-ridden bio firm Sillajen to resume trading after 2.5-year suspension

INTERVIEW Women bring competitive edge with 'rainbow leadership': KB Securities CEO

KB Securities CEO Park Jeong-rim speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at its headquarters in Seoul, Sept. 27. Courtesy of KB SecuritiesPark underscores new horizontal, diverse corporate culture paradigmBy Lee Min-hyungWomen contribute their “rainbow leadership” to organizations, succeeding in the hyper-competitive, male-dominated Korean business environment through utilizing their competitive edge in communication skills, multitasking capabilities and high level of concentration, KB Securities co-CEO Park Jeong-rim said in an interview with The Korea Times.Park took office as the leader of the securities firm in January 2019 for the first time as a woman, and is the only top-ranking woman CEO in the industry. She advised more woman officials to have bigger dreams of reaching higher-ranking positions without conforming to the conventional male-centered corporate culture that dominates Korean society.“My key message is that men and women should all have a multicolored character and charisma, which I call 'rainbow leadership,'” she told The Korea Times

Oct 12, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

[INTERVIEW] Women bring competitive edge with 'rainbow leadership': KB Securities CEO

Kakao Pay Insurance launches first product

The headquarters of Kakao Pay / Courtesy of Kakao PayBy Anna J. Park Kakao Pay Insurance officially launches its very first insurance plan this week, aiming to solidify its position as the country's representative fintech-led digital non-life insurer. It took six months for the digital insurer to come up with its first product, since the country's financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), gave the green light to the firm to enter the insurance sector. It is the first case of a local IT platform giant advancing into the insurance industry.Boasting strength in IT-based technologies, the company's first insurance product protects insurance holders from cyber financial crimes, such as various online phishing scams and online commerce fraud. Holders of the insurance plan can receive compensation before the financial authority makes judgment calls concerning damage reimbursements. The new insurance plan is expected to shorten the average amount of time it takes to reimburse any damages from online financial fraud by more than two months, compared to other local insuranc

Oct 11, 2022By Anna J. Park

Kakao Pay Insurance launches first product

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

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

Woori chief discusses climate crisis with United Nations

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, right, poses with Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Ibrahim Thiaw, at the latter's headquarters in the German city of Bonn, Oct. 5. Courtesy of Woori Financial GroupBy Lee Min-hyungWoori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung pledged to strengthen cooperation with international organizations for the restoration of nature and climate finance. Son embarked on his business trip to Europe for four days from Oct. 4 and visited a series of international organizations dedicated to fulfilling environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) values.According to Woori, Son met with Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Ibrahim Thiaw. The two held talks on how to ensure sustainable forest and land management amid escalating concerns of climate crisis.“It is very crucial for Woori and global ESG organizations to solidify their ties to save the planet at this period of unstable global financial environ

Oct 10, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

Woori chief discusses climate crisis with United Nations

Banking CEOs to make rare appearance at Assembly audit over irregularities

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, front row fourth from right, poses with CEOs of commercial banks during their meeting at Korea Federation of Banks building in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, in this photo taken on June 20. The National Assembly will summon the CEOs of all five biggest banks as witnesses in its audit of the FSS, Tuesday. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooThe CEOs of five major commercial banks will be summoned to the National Assembly for an audit, Tuesday, in the wake of fraud, embezzlement and other serious irregularities involving lenders.The five CEOs ― Lee Jae-keun of KB Kookmin Bank, Jin Ok-dong of Shinhan Bank, Park Sung-ho of Hana Bank, Lee Won-duk of Woori Bank and Kwon Jun-hak of NH Nonghyup Bank ― will appear as witnesses for the audit of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).This is the first time since 2017 for the chiefs of all five major banks to be summoned as witnesses in an annual parliamentary audit, according to political and financial sources, Monday.“The planned appearance of the witnesses suggests the grave nature of irregularit

Oct 10, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Banking CEOs to make rare appearance at Assembly audit over irregularities

KB-controlled Indonesian bank rises in Jakarta financial watchdog's rating

Board of directors and executives from KB Kookmin Bank and KB Bukopin pose during a shareholders' meeting of KB Bukopin at its headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, in this photo taken in August 2020. KB Kookmin Bank has been KB Bukopin's largest shareholder since July 2020. Korea Times fileBy Yi Whan-wooAn Indonesian bank controlled by KB Kookmin Bank has received virtually the highest rating from Indonesia's financial watchdog, the Korean lender said Sunday.KB Bukopin moved up its risk-based bank rating (RBBR) to Level 2 from Level 3 on a five-point grading scale from Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJT), an Indonesian government agency that regulates and supervises the financial industry.The rating was developed to measure Indonesian commercial banks' liquidity, corporate governance and other factors concerning financial soundness.No commercial bank operating in Indonesia has received a Level 1 rating so far, according to KB Kookmin Bank, meaning KB Bukopin currently holds the highest grade among its competitors.“The elevation in KB Bukopin's rating is anticipated to let the firm intr