South Korea’s four major bank holding firms are expected to hand out record-high dividends this year amid their highest net profit estimates buoyed by pandemic recovery, officials said Monday. The total dividends the four companies -- KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group and Woori Financial Group -- would pay is estimated to be 3.8 trillion won ($3.2 billion), about 26 percent of the combined net profit of 14.6 trillion won. “We were asked to refer to 2

Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man was named person of the year by the Korea Exchange, Korea’s sole bourse operator, for his contribution to the local capital market, officials said Monday. “Chairman Choi heads a leading brokerage company that helped 21 firms go public this year, including game maker Krafton, in what was the biggest initial public offering in 2021,” the Korea Exchange said. The exchange credited its first awardee Choi for becoming the first non-fa

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party, on Monday called for the provision of full compensation to pandemic-hit small businesses as he unveiled a set of measures to support their recovery. "I want to pay back people's sacrifice in a way that is completely different from now," Lee said in his meeting with small business owners and self-employed people. "I will change the paradigm with a preemptive system that provides damage compensation to peopl

Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind the superband BTS, has released an official teaser for “7 Fates: CHAKHO,” an upcoming original webtoon collaboration among BTS members, Hybe and Naver Webtoon. The one-minute video, starring RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, talks about fate -- the central theme of the upcoming webtoon. In the teaser clip, the members are seen reaching toward a ball of light as a dramatic instrumental song plays in the background. Drawn from the tiger

President Moon Jae-in on Monday ordered the government to secure additional COVID-19 hospital beds, health care workers and testing centers to counter the growing numbers of COVID-19 cases. “The government will take extraordinary measures to secure enough medical capacity” to counter the resurgence of cases, Moon said in a statement released by Cheong Wa Dae. Moon also ordered concerned government agencies to designate additional public hospitals for exclusive care of COVID-19 pati

What started as a split-second decision to follow a friend’s suggestion to go on an adventure to Asia became a turning point in Aaron Cossrow’s life. Find out why the Philadelphia native is painting everyday people in Seoul and how he put together an exhibition in the middle of the bustling city. By Team Konnect Kim Min-jung (minjung.kim@heraldcorp.com) Jung Ji-eun (jungje@heraldcorp.com) Choi Jeong-yoon (jychoi@heraldcorp.com) Kim Jeong-ryul (ryul@heraldcorp.com) Cho Eun-bee (hone

“The Policeman’s Lineage,” directed by Lee Kyu-man, will be the first Korean film in the theaters next year, according to the film’s distributor Acemaker Movieworks on Monday. “Despite the toughened Level 4 social distancing rules this summer, Korean films like ‘Escape from Mogadishu,’ ‘Sinkhole’ and ‘Hostage: Missing Celebrity’ were screened,” the distributor said in a statement. “Although we are in a pandemic situat

The Korean Film Archive on Monday announced it will screen nine Korean independent films that were well received between December last year and November this year at Cinematech KOFA in Sangam-dong, Seoul. The nine films are “Happy Children” by Lee Ji-won, “I Don’t Fire Myself” by Lee Tae-gyeom, “Snowball” by Lee Woo-jung, “Festival” by Kim Rok-kyung, “Black Light” by Bae Jong-dae, “Short Vacation” by Kwon Min-pyo and

Krafton Inc., the South Korean gaming giant behind the global smash hit "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" (PUBG), said Monday that it has invested $5 million in the Indian dating app FRND. The investment into FRND is part of a Series A round of funding worth $6.5 million that includes other investors, such as India Quotient and Elevation Capital, the company said. A Series A round of financing is the first round of financing that a startup receives from a venture capital firm. FRND is

South Korea's finance ministry on Monday revised up its 2022 growth outlook for the country's economy to 3.1 percent, saying that exports and private spending will likely gain ground despite heightened economic uncertainty. The government's latest projection is higher than the 3 percent growth forecast made in June, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The ministry's outlook is more upbeat than the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Organization for Econ

South Korean stocks plunged nearly 2 percent Monday morning amid spreading virus concern. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 54.73 points, or 1.81 percent, to close at 2,963 points, the lowest closing since Dec. 2. Trading volume was low at about 371 million shares worth some 8.5 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 785 to 117. Foreigners offloaded a net 552 billion won, and institutions

65 technologies from chip, battery and vaccine sectors to be developed as national strategy in 2022