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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Employees, employers at odds over changing work norms

gettyimagesbankWork perception difference widens between employees and employers during pandemic By Anna J. ParkA recent international survey has shown that employees and employers have vastly divergent attitudes on working policies that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. While 64 percent of employees believe their productivity has increased with the change to more flexible work patterns during the pandemic, 41 percent of employers think work productivity has dropped due to those same conditions according to EY's “2022 Work Reimagined Survey,” which polled over 17,000 employees and 1,500 employers across 22 countries.Twenty-two percent of employers say all employees must return to the office five days a week, while only 14 percent of employees said they want to come back to full-time office work. Eighty percent of the surveyed employees responded that they prefer a hybrid working policy including two or more days per week of working from home. Also, while 72 percent of surveyed employers expressed concerns that the new work plans would cut down their workers' comp

Jun 24, 2022By Anna J. Park
Employees, employers at odds over changing work norms

Politicians call on banks to ease borrowers' interest burden

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, center, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), joins the party's supreme council meeting in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. He asked commercial banks to share the burden that borrowers are suffering under massive inflation while lenders profit from growing interest income. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooCommercial banks are facing calls to lower lending rates as part of efforts to ease the burden placed on low-income borrowers, amid soaring inflation and a spike in the benchmark interest rate.Some in political circles joined in criticism recently against lenders that profit “excessively” from interest income, while borrowers are struggling to make repayments due to higher interest rates. “The banks should play a part in sharing pains at a level that does not breach their rights in the market,” Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said during the party's supreme council meeting this week.He noted public criticism of banks is growing for abusing the difference between deposit and lending rates to reap hu

Jun 24, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Politicians call on banks to ease borrowers' interest burden

Insurers see profitability decline amid increased forex hedging costs

gettyimagesbank By Anna J. Park A period of rising interest rates has normally been a boon for insurance companies, yet this long-held notion looks to be changing now. Increased market volatility, in addition to soaring foreign exchange (forex) rates, has been disrupting local insurers' efforts to hedge their assets, which are held in foreign currencies, projecting their declining profitability in the coming months.According to the latest research report published by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), the increased financial and geopolitical risk factors stemming from the U.S.' quantitative tightening as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine are likely to put a burden on local life insurers' hedging costs of their assets, which are held in foreign-currencies. As of the end of last year, local life insurance companies' foreign assets stood at 129 trillion won ($99.3 billion), which is up by more than 100 trillion won from that of 2013. The amount accounts

Jun 24, 2022By Anna J. Park
Insurers see profitability decline amid increased forex hedging costs

Investors cry foul over Hybe's stock fall

K-pop boy group BTS / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungHybe, the nation's most valuable entertainment company, is mired in yet another controversy regarding possible information leakage over BTS' suspension of activities. The company's stock plummeted after the K-pop powerhouse shared its video in mid-June where it informed fans that it would temporarily stop group activity. The message left Hybe with a loss of more than 2 trillion won as the stock fell the following day.However, the controversy is further tainting Hybe's corporate image, as it turned out that the video was filmed about three weeks before its upload date. Some investors are raising complaints that it was not proper for Hybe to share such key information via YouTube, adding that the time interval increased the chances of insider trading.Even if no specific evidence has been found to back up the claim, investors are shifting part of the responsibility for the recent stock fall to Hybe.Hybe shares nosedived by 24.87 percent on June 15, a day after the video was uploaded. The firm's stock price also fell sharply by 11 percent a day

Jun 23, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Investors cry foul over Hybe's stock fall

Securities firms enjoy hefty dividend profits despite earnings fall

Seen above are the headquarters of securities firms in the financial district of Yeouido in Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKorea's major securities firms enjoyed hefty dividend profits in the first quarter of this year by generating stable rewards from their assets. The companies will use them as a source of risk management amid the stock market doldrums. According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the nation's 59 securities firms chalked up 501 billion won ($384.6 million) in dividend profit between January and March, up 11 percent from the previous year.This dividend profit was driven by earnings growth of their affiliates and improved cash flow generated from their diverse assets such as stocks and real estate. In general, dividend profit means a stable source of financial reward that investors receive regularly from their stocks, property or funds.Mirae Asset Securities, the nation's largest brokerage house by annual profit, reported the largest dividend profit of 64 billion won during the same period. The company did not unveil a specific breakdown of the di

Jun 23, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Securities firms enjoy hefty dividend profits despite earnings fall

Deloitte Korea acquires PRGATE to strengthen marketing capacity

PRGATE CEO Kang Yun-jeong, left, stands next to Deloitte Korea CEO and Country Managing Partner Hong Jong-sung at the acquisition signing ceremony held at the One IFC building located on Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Deloitte KoreaBy Anna J. ParkDeloitte Korea has officially signed earlier this week to acquire PRGATE, a local communications and consulting company with an expertise in setting up brand strategies. The move aims at strengthening its consulting and marketing capabilities so as to accelerate innovative growth potential. PRGATE was established in 1999 by founder and CEO Kang Yun-jeong, and has been offering services to over 500 local and global companies, ranging from brand strategy, risk management and media advocacy to digital publicity. Around 60 staff members and management of the company, including Kang, will officially join Deloitte in July. With the acquisition, Deloitte Korea aims to offer more integrated services to clients, strengthening its communication capabilities with effective campaign tools and image consulting strategies. “Starting from the

Jun 23, 2022By Anna J. Park
Deloitte Korea acquires PRGATE to strengthen marketing capacity

Shinhan Bank to set up joint venture for SME-focused digital platform

By Yi Whan-wooShinhan Bank has signed a deal to set up a joint venture aimed at a tailor-made banking platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in partnership with an information and communications technology (ICT) firm, the lender announced on Wednesday.Shinhan Bank headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of Shinhan BankIt said the deal with Douzone Bizon is anticipated to offer financing assistance to prospective SMEs, which struggle with raising capital due to a lack of credit compared to conglomerates.“We will prepare to introduce a platform that can promptly fund SMEs through the deal,” the bank said in a press release. It went on to say that it will capitalize on the partnership with Douzone Bizon to pioneer new businesses connecting traditional banking and ICT, in line with Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung's vision of making new banking services easier and more convenient. The envisioned platform focuses on encashing SMEs' trade receivables quickly, as well as analyzing the manufacturing process, sales and other business activities in

Jun 22, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Shinhan Bank to set up joint venture for SME-focused digital platform

Citibank Korea partners with KB, Toss for W8 trillion loan repayment

Citibank Korea's headquarters in Seoul / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungCitibank Korea has picked KB Kookmin Bank and Toss Bank to manage its existing debtors while its retail banking operation here undergoes a phased shutdown.The Korean subsidiary of the U.S. banking group said Wednesday that its retail customers can pay the interest and principal on their existing loans to KB and Toss from the beginning of July.The combined loans extended to Citibank Korea's retail customers stands at around 8 trillion won ($6.17 billion). The two affiliated banks will be able to attract potential customers from Citi by operating the loan repayment program.“Citibank's retail customers who received our non-collateralized loans can receive benefits ― such as preferential interest rate discounts ― by applying for the program at the two lenders' apps or sales offices,” a Citibank Korea spokesperson said.All eyes had been on which lender would attract Citibank Korea's retail customers at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Korea have entered a cycle of monetary tightening.The Korean

Jun 22, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Citibank Korea partners with KB, Toss for W8 trillion loan repayment

KDB chief inauguration ceremony goes ahead amid union protests

Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon speaks during his inauguration ceremony held at the headquarters of the state-run bank on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of KDBBy Anna J. ParkTwo weeks after being appointed to head state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), Chairman Kang Seog-hoon finally held a delayed inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, vowing to communicate closely with the bank's workers regarding a government-led relocation plan to Busan. Unionized workers of the bank had been blocking the new chairman from entering the bank headquarters since his appointment, urging the Yoon administration to scrap the previously devised relocation plan for the bank's headquarters to the southeastern city.Due to the strong protest, the new chief had so far been working at a separate office outside of the bank headquarters. Tuesday was the first day that he entered the bank headquarters, despite the ongoing protests by the unionized workers.Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Kang Seog-hoon, center, enters the headquarters of the state-run bank located on Yeouido, Seoul, as u

Jun 21, 2022By Anna J. Park
KDB chief inauguration ceremony goes ahead amid union protests

Financial regulator investigates Meritz Asset Management CEO

Meritz Asset Management CEO John Lee / YonhapBy Anna J. Park The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has been conducting investigations into Meritz Asset Management CEO John Lee over allegations that he violated a conflict of interest obligation when making an investment decision for his firm. According to the FSS, it carried out on-site inspections into the asset management company from May 23 to June 7. Although the FSS said it could not give any further details other than confirming that the investigation is still ongoing, the financial regulator is known to have launched the investigation as it had received a tip that Lee had led his company to invest into a local peer-to-peer (P2P) real estate company for which his wife is one of the shareholders. Lee's wife had allegedly invested 200 million won ($155,000) for a 6.57 percent stake in the P2P real estate company, which was founded by Lee's acquaintance in 2016. After his wife obtained the stake in the company, Meritz Asset Management set up a private equity investment fund in 2018, investing 6 billion won into a product of the P

Jun 20, 2022By Anna J. Park
Financial regulator investigates Meritz Asset Management CEO
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