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  • Others

    Labor unions seek 16.3% minimum wage hike, employers push for freeze

    Labor and management began a fierce tug-of-war over next year's minimum wage Tuesday, with labor representatives seeking an increase of more than 16 percent and management representatives pushing for a freeze. The stark differences between the two sides are expected to complicate discussions in the coming months. The Minimum Wage Commission held its eighth plenary meeting at Government Complex Sejong, kicking off deliberations on next year's minimum wage, with labor and management representatives presenting their respective proposals. The commission consists of 27 members — nine representatives each from labor, management and the public interest sector. Ahead of formal negotiations, labor representatives submitted an opening proposal calling for the hourly minimum wage to be raised to 12,000 won ($7.8), up 16.3 percent from the current 10,320 won. “The minimum wage plays a critical role in protecting low-income workers and reflects the level of social equity in the country,” the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the nation’s two larges

    2 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Labor unions seek 16.3% minimum wage hike, employers push for freeze
  • Economy

    Korean won slumps against US dollar on expectations of Fed rate hike

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korean won slumps against US dollar on expectations of Fed rate hike
  • Others

    Foreign sell-off in Samsung Electronics, SK hynix drags KOSPI down 10%

    2 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    Foreign sell-off in Samsung Electronics, SK hynix drags KOSPI down 10%
  • Economy

    Mirae Asset likely to face fines, disciplinary action over SpaceX allocation fallout: experts

    3 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Mirae Asset likely to face fines, disciplinary action over SpaceX allocation fallout: experts
  • Economy

    Bourse operator issues circuit breaker for KOSPI on sharp fall

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Bourse operator issues circuit breaker for KOSPI on sharp fall
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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

LG, LX shares drop sharply after spinoff

LG headquarters on Yeouido in Seoul / YonhapBy Anna J. ParkOn the trading day that LX holdings made its debut on the main benchmark KOSPI after spinning off from LG Corp., shares of both firms dropped sharply to the dismay of their shareholders. LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group, saw its share price plunge by 9.21 percent to finish at 108,500 won ($97) at the closing of Thursday's session, while LX Holdings also fell by 5.14 percent, closing at 12,000 won. Since the start-off, LX Holdings once rose as high as 14,300 won at 9:44 a.m. (KST), yet it continued to fall, despite fluctuations, until the price ended at 12,000 won. LG Corp.'s stock plunge was much more severe than LX's, as the price began to fall sharply just within a few minutes since the start of the trading, hitting as low as 107,500 won at around 10:56 a.m., and hovered at around similar prices during the rest of the trading session.As of the closing price, LG's market cap stood at 17.6 trillion won, while LX Holdings hit 915 billion won, lower than the respective forecasts of 19.9 trillion won and 1.9 trillion wo

May 27, 2021By Anna J. Park
LG, LX shares drop sharply after spinoff
Economy

Moon says Korea has room to keep aggressive fiscal policy

President Moon Jae-in speaks during an annual meeting on fiscal strategy sy Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, May 27. YonhapPresident Moon Jae-in said Thursday that South Korea needs to maintain expansionary fiscal policy for the time being despite a hike in national debts attributable to the response to COVID-19.He emphasized that the role of state budget spending is important amid the crisis, speaking at the outset of an annual meeting on fiscal strategy. It was convened to review fiscal policy, set the direction of next year's budget plans and discuss midterm fiscal strategy for the period of 2021-25.He said that it is true that South Korea's national debts have fast increased in the process of handling the pandemic-led crisis but added that its fiscal situation remains relatively sound.The president took note of disputes over whether Asia's fourth-biggest economy should keep the current mode of operating fiscal policy in an expansionary way."I think we need to maintain an expansionary fiscal policy stance at least until next year to ensure a strong rebound in the economy and tackle the gap

May 27, 2021
Moon says Korea has room to keep aggressive fiscal policy
Economy

Hanon Systems bid highlights SK's ties with Hahn & Co., Ford

Hanon Systems factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulLG still seen as most probable buyer of auto parts supplierBy Park Jae-hyukSK Group, which has been mentioned as a potential bidder for Hanon Systems, is in focus as observers wonder if the conglomerate will gain the upper hand over another probable bidder, LG Group. SK has close ties to the auto parts supplier's key stakeholders ― Hanon's owner Hahn & Company and Ford, a major customer.Hahn & Co., a private equity firm (PEF) that holds a 50.5 percent stake in Hanon, recently had the underwriters of the deal ― Morgan Stanley and Evercore ― send an sales memorandum to potential buyers here and overseas for the preliminary bid to take place in June. Given that Hanon's market capitalization exceeds 8 trillion won ($7 billion), a source familiar with the issue said the memorandum was sent only to the “big players,” including foreign automotive component manufacturers.While LG, SK and Halla Group, which established Hanon's predecessor Halla Climate Control (HCC), are said to hav

May 27, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Hanon Systems bid highlights SK's ties with Hahn & Co., Ford
Economy

Carrot's 'pay-per-mile' insurance attracts 200,000 subscribers

This graph shows the number of subscribers for Carrot Insurance's pay-per-mile auto insurance service. Courtesy of Carrot InsuranceBy Lee Min-hyungThe “pay-per-mile” auto insurance service operated by Carrot Insurance has attracted another 100,000 subscribers in the four months after it reached its first 100,000 users in January, the nation's first digital insurer said Thursday.The company launched the pay-as-you-go service for the first time here early last year, enabling its subscribers to save auto insurance costs, as it allows drivers to pay only for the miles they drive.“This milestone we reached in such record time translates into the demand and trust customers have in Carrot's value-added service and products,” Carrot co-founder and CEO Paul Jung said.The leader of the company also noted that it would resume supplying its Carrot Plug device for users next month. The device is used by customers who opted for monthly payment subscription services, as the device calculates the mileage driven in their vehicles.But starting from March, the company suspended

May 27, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Carrot's 'pay-per-mile' insurance attracts 200,000 subscribers
Economy

Kyobo gaining edge in fight against investors' alleged accounting fraud

Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae speaks during a meeting with top management at its headquarters in Seoul on Jan. 10. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKyobo Life Insurance is gaining an edge in its months-long legal fight against alleged accounting fraud ― which the insurer has argued was a result of “manipulation” of reports by the firm's financial investors ― after the prosecution indicted an accountant from Nexia Samduk Accounting, Tuesday, for writing a “fake valuation report” on the insurer.In November 2018, Affirma Capital, one of Kyobo's investors, signed a contract with Samduk while exercising its put option against Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae after the insurer failed to go public on an agreed timeline with its investors.Samduk is suspected of writing fake valuation reports at the request of the client. The prosecution is also known to have investigated whether the report by Samduk was based on a similar one written by Deloitte Anjin.Prosecutors have already looked into some Deloitte Anjin accountants amid suspicions that they manipul

May 27, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Kyobo gaining edge in fight against investors' alleged accounting fraud
Economy

Virus hits manufacturing, service industries

A Statistics Korea senior official gives a press briefing at the Sejong Government Complex, Thursday. YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min More than 91,000 people under 40 lost jobs in the October-December period last year, whereas people in their 50s and older added nearly 550,000 jobs, mostly through the government's job creation initiative put in place to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. But the added jobs are short-term and low-quality, not too different from ones created long before the pandemic. People in their 30s lost jobs over the last five quarters, and those in their 20s for the last four quarters. Manufacturing continued to shed jobs for five consecutive quarters, indicative of the industry-wide slowdown compounded further by the pandemic. Statistics Korea data released Thursday also showed the number of salaried workers stood at 19.58 million, up 503,000, or 2.6 percent, from a year earlier. People in their 60s and older added 392,000 jobs, up 15.7 percent from the year before. This is the biggest increase since 2018 when the government began compiling related data

May 27, 2021By Lee Kyung-min
Virus hits manufacturing, service industries
Economy

2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum

Hong Nam-kiKevin SneaderThe Korea Times will host the Global ESG Forum "ESG, Strategy for Survival" at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in Seoul, June 10.The event, designed to highlight the importance of ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) and help Korean companies fulfill their ESG pledges, has been jointly planned with global consulting firm McKinsey & Company in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki will give an opening speech on the Korean government's ESG strategies for sustainable growth, followed by McKinsey Global Managing Partner Kevin Sneader, who will speak on ESG's value and its emergence as a trend in the post-COVID-19 era.Two panel discussions will be conducted via a hybrid online-offline format, moderated by Institute for Global Economics Chairman Jun Kwang-woo and American Chamber of Commerce in Korea Chairman James Kim.The panelists will include chief executives from ESG powerhouses ― KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, National Pension Servic

May 27, 2021
2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum
Economy

Bank of Korea ups 2021 growth outlook to 4% as recovery gathers pace

Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol speaks during a meeting at the bank head office in Seoul, May 27. YonhapSouth Korea's central bank on Thursday sharply raised its 2021 growth outlook to 4 percent, while holding its benchmark policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, amid a strong rebound in exports.Buoyed by signs of a robust recovery in exports, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its growth outlook to 4 percent for this year, and to 3 percent for next year. The BOK's February forecast was that South Korea's economy would grow 3 percent this year. The BOK also raised its inflation outlook for this year to 1.8 percent, compared with its previous forecast of 1.3 percent.As widely expected, the BOK's monetary policy board members voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's fourth rate-setting meeting.Low inflationary pressure and rising home prices also appeared to prod the BOK board to stand pat, analysts said.Many analysts have predicted that the BOK may not raise its key rate throughout this year as a wave of coronavirus infections at home show little signs of slowin

May 27, 2021
Bank of Korea ups 2021 growth outlook to 4% as recovery gathers pace
Economy

Experts optimistic over KOSPI amid possible tapering

gettyimagesbankDespite possible short-term corrections, general upward movement expected for 2021By Anna J. ParkDespite market concerns over possible tapering measures, experts are remaining optimistic over the future course of the KOSPI, as they expect that the index could rise to 3,700 points, an increase of over 15% over the current level. According to recent reports by leading brokerage firms, the KOSPI's expected moving range has been set between 3,400 to 3,700 points during the second half of this year. Shinhan Financial Investment was the most positive about local stock markets' future performances, suggesting that the KOSPI index could hit 3,700 points, in the best scenario, during the second half of this year, followed by Heungkuk Securities' forecast of 3,600 points, and Daishin Securities' prediction of 3,630 points. Hanwha Securities expects the index to rise as high as 3,500 points, while IBK Securities and Eugene Investment & Securities both presented the highest level to be around 3,400 points during the second half of this year. Solid earnings by companies and a g

May 26, 2021By Anna J. Park
Experts optimistic over KOSPI amid possible tapering
Economy

Gov't set to examine approval of former FSS official's move to crypto firm

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) headquarters located on Yeouido, Seoul / Korea Times fileBy Anna J. ParkA high-level official of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) quit the state-run financial watchdog recently to move to Upbit, the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange. As it marks the first time for any of the FSS's officials to move to the cryptocurrency sector, the official's move is causing a stir.According to the FSS Wednesday, the official completed his retirement process at the financial watchdog agency earlier this week and he is officially no longer with the FSS as of Wednesday. The former FSS official has been known for years for his expertise in worldwide cryptocurrency policies as well as blockchain technologies, and has often been quoted as the government's leading cryptocurrency expert. Market insiders of the coin industry are well aware of his reputation as a top expert in the field. “While he led the FSS's fintech department, he has been known for his own research and studies into blockchain technologies. So it is understandable if Upbit seeks to h

May 26, 2021By Anna J. Park
Gov't set to examine approval of former FSS official's move to crypto firm
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