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  • Economy

    DWS Group bullish on Korea logistics, upbeat on stock market reforms

    DWS Group said Monday that European real estate is expected to deliver annual returns of 9 percent over the next five years, offering fresh investment opportunities for Korean investors despite their recent caution toward alternative assets. Speaking during a press meeting at the International Finance Center in Seoul, officials from the German asset manager noted that European real estate has become increasingly attractive as supply remains tight across major sectors, while demand continues to be supported by structural factors. Clemens Schaefer, global head of real estate for the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa at DWS Group, said vacancy rates in Europe's residential, logistics and office sectors are significantly lower than those in the U.S. But new supply is expected to remain limited, as high development costs and relatively low expected returns have discouraged developers from launching new projects. The company forecast that European real estate will generate annual returns of 9 percent over the next five years, compared with 7.2 percent for the U.S. and 7 percent for

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    DWS Group bullish on Korea logistics, upbeat on stock market reforms
  • Economy

    Korea's $519 bil. chip megaproject sparks Kosdaq rally, fails to lift KOSPI

    2 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Korea's $519 bil. chip megaproject sparks Kosdaq rally, fails to lift KOSPI
  • Economy

    Korean won tumbles to fresh 17-year low on foreign stock selloff

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korean won tumbles to fresh 17-year low on foreign stock selloff
  • Economy

    Seoul shares down 2% late Monday morning on tech losses, Iran uncertainty

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul shares down 2% late Monday morning on tech losses, Iran uncertainty
  • Economy

    Korea's ETF market overtakes Kosdaq for 1st time

    2 MIN READBy Lee Yeon-woo
    Korea's ETF market overtakes Kosdaq for 1st time
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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

Regulator expected to inspect Korea Exchange to eradicate illegal shorting

Korea Exchange (KRX) Chairman Sohn Byung-doo delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the bourse operator's headquarters in Busan, Monday. / Courtesy of KRXBy Park Jae-hyukThe Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is expected to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the Korea Exchange (KRX) early next year to find out whether it has offered preferential treatment for brokerages to conduct illegal short-selling, industry sources said, Monday.The financial watchdog has not conducted a comprehensive inspection of the bourse operator since 2010, although there were several cursory inspections over the past decade.The envisioned measure comes after retail investors alleged the KRX concealed unlawful acts by foreign and domestic securities firms, including naked shorting, which refers to the practice of conducting short-selling without actually borrowing stocks. Short-selling refers to a method in which an investor sells borrowed shares in the belief that the price will fall and they can buy the shares back at a discount, keeping the profits and returning the borrowed shares.Reg

Dec 21, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Regulator expected to inspect Korea Exchange to eradicate illegal shorting
Economy

KDB Life deal gets back on track

KDB Life Insurance headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of KDB Life InsuranceBy Park Jae-hyukThe Korea Development Bank (KDB) is expected to sign a stock purchase agreement with local private equity firm (PEF) JC Partners in the near future as the possible final act of its long-term attempts to sell KDB Life Insurance, sources said Monday.JC Partners has recently attracted 150 billion won ($136 million) in funding from domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and retail investors, on top of the combined 200 billion won funded by the KDB and Woori Bank previously, sources familiar with the issue said. The funds came a few months after JC Partners, which was selected as the preferred bidder in July, had postponed taking over the life insurer, due to apparent difficulties in raising money for the acquisition.The state-run bank allowed the preferred bidder to delay the agreement in August and September. However, it decided in November to stop extending the PEF's status as preferred bidder.Despite the decision, JC Partners sought to attract the 150 billion won. KDB Life is worth 55

Dec 21, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
KDB Life deal gets back on track
Economy

Will Nomura talk with Google, Facebook for KineMaster deal?

A KineMaster user edits video using the app. / Courtesy of KineMasterBy Park Jae-hyukThe takeover of KineMaster by an overseas company has become more likely, after the Korean mobile video editing service provider's largest shareholder, Solborn, hired Nomura Financial Investment as underwriter and Kim & Chang as legal adviser for the planned sale.The move was announced Friday, two weeks after KineMaster's major shareholders confirmed their plan to sell a combined 55.02 percent stake. They said at that time the selection of an underwriter and advisory firms was underway, but a KineMaster official confirmed earlier that Kim & Chang would handle legal issues regarding the deal.Given that Kim & Chang is a top law firm here, market participants view its participation as an indication of Solborn's intention to talk with global players, such as Google or Facebook. The largest shareholder's decision to hire a foreign investment bank instead of a Korean one can also be interpreted as support for speculative investors.Some retail investors expect the selection of the Japanese inves

Dec 20, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Will Nomura talk with Google, Facebook for KineMaster deal?
Economy

Citibank Korea holds social enterprise awards

Representatives of Gangseo Sharing & Caring Center (job creation award), center, pose with representatives of Damsimpo (social innovation award), left, and representatives of Gyeongseong Technology (growth award), right, during an award ceremony held in Mapo-gu, downtown Seoul, Dec. 18. Courtesy of Citibank KoreaCitibank Korea and Joyful Union held a ceremony for the “2020 Korea Social Enterprise Awards” at the Frontone building located in Mapo District, Seoul, last week.The Korea Social Enterprise Awards was established in 2017 at the initiative of the union and under the sponsorship of Citibank Korea to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the “Social Enterprise Promotion Act” and the 50th year of Citi's presence in the Korean market. The award is designed to identify and encourage sound social enterprises that lead people-centered growth and promote revitalization of social enterprises in society. The award ceremony took place in full compliance with the COVID-19 quarantine guidelines with all participants required to wear masks and the

Dec 20, 2020
Citibank Korea holds social enterprise awards
Economy

SMEs collapsing due to virus

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min A restaurant owner surnamed Jeong said his business in Myeongdong, Seoul, has no hope of recovery, with his debt snowballing.“I thought August was the worst amid the second wave of the COVID-19 spread, but that is likely to be overshadowed by how I am doing over the next couple of weeks.”He, like many of his peers in the same in-person services business, can no longer see the point of keeping his business open, since the only certainty is that there will be no customers for the foreseeable future.“News reports are all about new infections soaring and people dying. Who would want to risk their lives to go eat out?” The COVID-19 pandemic is tanking small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a repeated predicament set to take a drastic turn for the worse given social distancing regulations are likely to be raised to Level 3 with new infections topping 1,000 daily for the past few days.Experts say one-off emergency relief of only a couple of thousands of won will do little to help their businesses stay afloat, stressing that extend

Dec 19, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
SMEs collapsing due to virus
Economy

Seoul stocks expected to continue bullish run in 2021

GettyimagesbankExperts forecast KOSPI to break 3,000 barrier on ample liquidityBy Anna J. Park Nearing the end of the year, the benchmark KOSPI is continuing its rally based on ample liquidity and investors' rosy outlook on listed companies' business performance for next year. This month alone, the KOSPI renewed its all-time high several times, reflecting both retail and foreign investors' huge interest in Korean stocks. Since Nov. 2, the KOSPI has risen 20.4 percent from 2,300.16 points to 2,772.18, Dec. 18. The KOSPI saw a daily average of 11 trillion won ($10 billion) worth of transactions this year, a 130 percent rise compared to last year, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ's average daily transactions also rose 140 percent to 10 trillion won over the same period. Retail investors' share in these transactions took up about 76 percent of trading, up 11 percentage points from last year. Will this fever in the stock market continue in 2021? Predictions for stock markets might sound futile to some, given that such year-end forecasts given at the end of last year and early this year were bl

Dec 18, 2020By Anna J. Park
Seoul stocks expected to continue bullish run in 2021
Economy

Bank of Korea chief strikes back at land ministry over soaring jeonse prices

Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeolBy Lee Kyung-min Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol made it clear that the recent spike in jeonse prices stems from a supply-demand mismatch in the market, squarely rebutting the claim made by the land minister and ruling party lawmakers who say the record-low interest rate was the chief culprit.Lee's remarks brought to the fore a decades-long issue whereby policymakers and lawmakers point to low interest rates as the driver of housing price spikes, in what the central bank considers an “irresponsible attempt” to divert criticism for policy failures. Implicit in the remarks are criticism of the land ministry's revision to a related leasing law largely criticized as “overly protective” of tenants and considered a reason landlords raised jeonse deposits, switched to asking for monthly rent, or outright pulled their rental properties off the market. This significantly reduced the number of homes available for rent, with more people seeking housing and prices soaring as a result. Unique to Korea, jeonse is a home renting system wh

Dec 18, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Bank of Korea chief strikes back at land ministry over soaring jeonse prices
Economy

Will Shinhan accelerate establishment of digital insurer?

Shinhan Life Insurance headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Shinhan Life Insurance By Lee Min-hyung Shinhan Life Insurance CEO Sung Dae-kyu Shinhan Financial Group is expected to speed up its drive for the launch of a digital life insurer next year, after uncertainties over top management controlling the group's insurance business were cleared away during a recent year-end reshuffle.In recent years Shinhan been searching for a non-life insurance firm, in a move to complete building its group-wide insurance portfolio. For now, the financial group has two life insurers, Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance, which will be integrated into one entity in July 2021.In contrast, KB Financial Group, which maintains a neck-and-neck rivalry with Shinhan, is on track to complete its insurance portfolio. After KB finalized its takeover of Prudential Li

Dec 18, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Will Shinhan accelerate establishment of digital insurer?
Economy

Bourse operator grants Kolon TissueGene 1-year period to improve management

South Korea's bourse operator on Thursday decided to grant the scandal-ridden drugmaker Kolon TissueGene Inc. a one-year period to improve its management.In a meeting to decide whether to delist the drugmaker, the KOSDAQ market committee under the Korea Exchange (KRX) decided to give the company, an affiliate of Kolon Life Science, a one-year grace period to enhance its management.Kolon TissueGene was listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market in 2017. The trading of Kolon TissueGene has been suspended since late May after the government revoked its permit to sell the gene therapy drug Invossa over mislabeling and false reporting of an ingredient.Trading of Kolon TissueGene's stocks will remain suspended during the period.In July, Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety banned the production and sale of Invossa after it canceled the license for the drug made by Kolon Life Science.Kolon Life Science acknowledged that a substance in the joint pain treatment drug had been mislabeled since 2003, with authorities arguing the company intentionally failed to disclose additional data it discover

Dec 18, 2020
Bourse operator grants Kolon TissueGene 1-year period to improve management
Economy

Goldman Sachs causes debate over financial services cluster

Yeouido financial district in Seoul / gettyimagesbankBy Park Jae-hyukGoldman Sachs has unintentionally sparked a debate in Korea, after foreign news outlets reported the U.S. investment bank is considering moving its asset management arm to Florida from Wall Street, the center of the global financial industry.The bank's possible action has been mentioned here as a case that supports those who claim domestic financial firms clustered in Seoul should be dispersed to provincial cities, such as Busan and Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.Korea Institute of Finance senior research fellow Lee Yoon-sok is one of those who cite Goldman Sachs to raise questions about the clustering of financial services.“At the time of the unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clusters cannot guarantee the development of the financial industry anymore,” he said in a recent forum on ways to make Yeouido an international financial hub.Korea Development Bank's overseas business department head Yang Seung-won opposed the claim in the forum. He supported the necessity of clustering for the fin

Dec 18, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Goldman Sachs causes debate over financial services cluster
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