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  • Economy

    Expected BOK rate hike prompts concern over rising interest burdens on households, firms

    Expectations of imminent interest rate hikes by the Bank of Korea (BOK) are adding to pressure on households and businesses already struggling with rising borrowing costs, analysts said Sunday. Lending rates at major banks have continued to climb as BOK Gov. Shin Hyun-song struck a hawkish tone following a Monetary Policy Board meeting on May 28, reinforcing market expectations that the central bank could begin raising rates as early as July. According to banking industry data, fixed-rate mortgage loans offered by the country's five major lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — carried interest rates ranging from 4.39 percent to 7.33 percent as of Friday. The upper end of the range was up 0.33 percentage point from a month earlier, when rates stood between 4.4 percent and 7 percent. It marked the first time since October 2022 that the highest fixed mortgage rate among the five major lenders exceeded 7.3 percent. Personal credit loan rates have also moved higher. As of Friday, interest rates on personal credit loans for top-tier borrowers with one-year maturities ra

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Expected BOK rate hike prompts concern over rising interest burdens on households, firms
  • Policy

    Top policymakers vow stern action against speculative FX market activities as won weakens

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Top policymakers vow stern action against speculative FX market activities as won weakens
  • Cryptocurrency

    Bithumb's bitcoin payout blunder results in $1.6 mil. compensation

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Bithumb's bitcoin payout blunder results in $1.6 mil. compensation
  • Economy

    S. Korean retail investors sell over $641 bil. in overseas stocks in 1st week of June

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    S. Korean retail investors sell over $641 bil. in overseas stocks in 1st week of June
  • Economy

    Seoul stocks, won hammered by massive foreign selling

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Seoul stocks, won hammered by massive foreign selling
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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.

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Economy

Korea's job growth slows in July amid economic uncertainty

Jobseekers look at employment information at a job fair held at the Busan exhibition & convention center (BEXCO) in Busan, Nov. 1, 2021. YonhapKorea reported job additions for the 17th straight month in July, but the pace of job growth slowed from the previous month amid heightened economic uncertainty, data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people came to 28.48 million last month, up 826,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The July figure was the largest for any July since 2000, when 1.03 million jobs were added from a year ago.But the pace of job growth slowed for the second straight month. The July reading was lower than the on-year increase of 935,000 in May and 841,000 in June.Korea's job market has markedly improved after taking a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. But the outlook for job recovery remains uncertain amid the economic slowdown.The Korean economy faces the risk of stagflation, a mix of slowing growth and high inflation, as external economic uncertainty has increased from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as

Aug 10, 2022
Korea's job growth slows in July amid economic uncertainty
Economy

Major firms' CEOs unload company shares amid weak stock market

Electronic signboards at a Hana Bank dealing room in Seoul's Jung District shows the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), Tuesday. YonhapChief executive officers of Korea's major listed companies have sold a large amount of their company shares this year amid a bear market, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.The CEOs of the country's top 500 firms by market cap sold a combined 227 billion won ($174 million) worth of shares in their own firms in the January-July period, or 3.2 times the amount of company stocks they purchased, according to CEO Score.Of the firms' 705 incumbent CEOs, 468, or 66.4 percent, owned their own company shares as of the end of July. The number was up 24 from the end of last year.The value of their company stock holdings came to 36.01 trillion won as of end-July, down 16.4 percent from December last year.The sharp drop came as the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 17.7 percent over the cited period due to soaring inflation and other negative factors.During the seven-month period, 69 CEOs purchased 3.44 million shares in their own

Aug 10, 2022
Major firms' CEOs unload company shares amid weak stock market
Economy

SOCAR's IPO price set at 28,000 won, much lower than hoped, amid weak demand

SOCAR CEO Park Jae-wook speaks to the press about the firm's IPO plan in Seoul, Aug. 3. Courtesy of Seoul IR NetworkSouth Korea's largest car-sharing platform operator SOCAR said Tuesday its initial public offering (IPO) price has been set at 28,000 won ($21.44) per share, which is much lower than the price range it had hoped for amid apparently weak demand.The price was determined after SOCAR conducted a two-day demand forecasting from domestic and foreign institutional investors that ended Friday. It was below the lower bound of its target price ranging from 34,000 won to 45,000 won. Despite the disappointing price setting, the company decided to go ahead with the IPO slated for later this month. It is pushing to sell a total of 3.64 million new shares with a plan to raise 101.92 billion won.Of the total new shares that it will offer, 910,000 shares, or 25 percent, will be sold to retail investors via subscription that will be held Wednesday and Thursday. "In consideration of the investors' voice and opinion, we decided to offer our stocks in an investor-friendly manner," SOCAR chi

Aug 9, 2022
SOCAR's IPO price set at 28,000 won, much lower than hoped, amid weak demand
Economy

Coordination between Asia-Pacific central banks

Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, fifth from left, poses with Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, fourth from left, and other participants of the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks held at the Korean central bank's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Participating at the meeting ― either online or in-person ― were the central bank governors and top financial regulators of 10 Asia-Pacific countries, discussing issues such as global financial risks following monetary tightening and policy implications. Courtesy of the Bank of Korea

Aug 9, 2022By Yoon Ja-young
Coordination between Asia-Pacific central banks
Economy

Insurers' growing exposure to project financing raises concerns over financial soundness

gettyimagesbank Insurance sector's total exposure reaches W42 tril. By Anna J. ParkLocal insurers are being called on to exercise more careful risk management in project financing due to soaring interest rates.According to a Korea Insurance Research Institute (KIRI) report, the total amount of local insurance industries' project financing has grown to exceed that of banking industries, triggering concerns over the insurance sector's financial soundness. The global interest rate hikes coupled with signs of depressed real estate markets add pressure on the insurers' shoulders to keep their loan assets in check.As of the end of last year, local insurance companies' project financing to real estate assets, such as loans associated with infrastructure projects, stood at 42 trillion won ($32.1 billion), steeply surging from 15.7 trillion won at the end of 2016. It accounts for around 30 percent of the insurance companies' aggregated corporate loans of 137.4 trillion won.

Aug 8, 2022By Anna J. Park
Insurers' growing exposure to project financing raises concerns over financial soundness
Cryptocurrency

Ethereum founder expects crypto payments to become prevalent soon

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin delivers a speech during the Korea Blockchain Week 2022 at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, Monday. The annual event will last for two days both in Seoul and Busan. YonhapCrypto moguls share blockchain outlook at Asia's largest fairBy Lee Min-hyungCryptocurrency moguls here and abroad shared their vision on blockchain technology during Asia's largest fair which kicked off its two-day run in Seoul, Monday. The Korea Blockchain Week 2022, co-hosted by FactBlock and Hashed, is an annual event that has taken place since 2018. For this year, a group of crypto magnates, such as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, joined the fair and expressed their ideas on the future of blockchain.Leaders and officials from game, venture capital firms and blockchain-centered platform operators ― such as non-fungible tokens (NFT) ― brought up a broad range of topics on the next big things regarding blockchain.The Ethereum blockchain founder delivered a keynote speech and shared its next mainstream growth strategy. He expects more people

Aug 8, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Ethereum founder expects crypto payments to become prevalent soon
Economy

Gov't aims to sell off $12.2 billion worth of state-owned properties

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho speaks during a meeting of economy-related ministers at Government Complex Seoul, Monday. YonhapBy Yi Whan-wooThe government will sell off 16 trillion won ($12.2 billion) worth of state-owned properties that are rarely used, as a part of efforts to improve the efficiency of the public sector.The targeted properties will be on sale over the next five years and the government expects the plan will lead to a cycle of assets being sold by the public to the private sectors in line with President Yoon Suk-yeol's vision of economic growth driven by private enterprises.“The government is pushing to drastically revamp management in the public sector to overcome the economic crisis,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said during a meeting with economy-related ministers at Government Complex Seoul in central Seoul, Monday. “This is where the sale of state-owned properties will come in, for them to be used in a productive way by the private sector.”The state-owned

Aug 8, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Gov't aims to sell off $12.2 billion worth of state-owned properties
Economy

Korea to unveil inflation-fighting measures, housing supply plan this week

gettyimagesbankKorea will unveil additional measures to tame inflation, and a package of housing supply plans, this week in an effort to help stabilize people's livelihoods, the finance minister said Monday.The government plans to roll out the soon-to-be announced inflation-fighting measures ahead of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday next month, as consumer prices ran at a near 24-year high in July due to high energy and food prices, according to Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho.Korea's consumer prices soared 6.3 percent on-year in July, the fastest rise in almost 24 years and an acceleration from a 6-percent spike in June.High inflation and rising interest rates have weighed on people's spending, possibly curbing economic growth.The Yoon Suk-yeol administration will also unveil its first package intended to stabilize the housing market Tuesday that includes the supply of more than 2.5 million houses.President Yoon earlier vowed an overhaul of the real estate policy, saying the previous government's pursuit of tougher regulations and heavier taxes to curb speculation ended up causing a

Aug 8, 2022
Korea to unveil inflation-fighting measures, housing supply plan this week
Economy

Surging costs of living push people to take side jobs

A woman shops at a grocery store in Seoul, June 27. Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min Choi Sun-hoo, a father of two living in Sejong, an administrative city south of Seoul, recently began working as a delivery man on weekends. “I'm a salaryman, and my monthly paycheck alone is hardly enough to support my family,” he said. His two children, both middle schoolers, go to private cram schools for Korean, math and English. Their education costs have not been low, but they'd been more or less manageable. But not anymore, because the prices of everything else spiked ― from putting food on the table to maintaining the roof over their heads. “I mean it's really what they say. Everything went up except my salary,” Choi said. “I don't know. My wife told me that she was thinking about taking a job as a cashier at a nearby retail chain mall. I didn't know what to say,” he added.Choi is not the only one who took on a side job to make ends meet.Shin Ji-seon, a mother of two in her

Aug 8, 2022By Lee Kyung-min
Surging costs of living push people to take side jobs
Economy

Gov't considers slashing tariffs on imported produce ahead of Chuseok

Vegetables are on display at a supermarket on Friday. YonhapEconomy-related ministers to meet Monday to discuss anti-inflationary measuresBy Yi Whan-wooThe government is anticipated to lower tariffs on imports of vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products in high demand temporarily in the lead up to Chuseok holiday, according to sources familiar with the matter, Sunday.Under the policy on tariff rate quotas, duties on imported target items can be cut far below the regular rate ― possibly even to zero ― in a bid to tame inflation.The targeted items include cabbages, radishes, onions, garlic, potatoes, apples, pears and chestnuts.The decision will be finalized during an economy-related ministerial meeting to be presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, Monday, where the prices of traditional Chuseok food ingredients will be checked.A traditional mid-autumn holiday in Korea, Chuseok is when prices normally rise as many people go shopping to prepare festive dishes, among others. It falls this year on Sept. 10.The ministerial meeting

Aug 7, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
Gov't considers slashing tariffs on imported produce ahead of Chuseok
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