The Finance Ministry said Wednesday that the average annual salary for the staff at 304 state-controlled firms came to 67 million won ($63,800) in 2013, up 1.7 percent or 1.13 million won from the previous year.Heads of the public firms were paid 163 million won on average, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, it added.“The salary level stays above the average at firms such as the Korea Exchange, the Korea Securities Depository and the Korea Development Bank,” an official said. “Considering the u

Households’ debts are growing at a faster pace than income, delaying improvement in their financial health, South Korea’s central bank said Wednesday.The Bank of Korea said in a semi-annual financial stability report that South Korea could experience temporary volatility in cross-border capital flows as short-term foreign funds move in and out of the country due to the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing tapering.It added that the Fed’s tapering could have sizable impacts on companies’ credit

Former high-ranking government officials should be banned from taking influential posts in financial companies, the government decided in the aftermath of the ferry sinking.But without an alternative plan, this sudden and restrictive measure may also cause side effects, such as a personnel vacuum or nonprofessionals taking key posts, observers pointed out.The government recently stated that former ranking officials of the Finance Ministry and the Financial Supervisory Service should be banned fr

Shinhan Financial Group is actively expanding its overseas business to diversify its profit-taking sources and benchmarking high-end skills in advanced markets under its vision to become the No. 1 first-tier financial services firm in Korea.Its renovation in a variety of segments over the past few years has been linked to marked profitability.In its regulatory filing on Tuesday, Shinhan Financial reported a net profit of 558.4 billion won ($531 million) during the first quarter, up 16.1 percent

South Korean stocks finished 0.12 percent lower on Monday as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, having started in negative territory, gained some ground before losing steam to finish at 1,969.26, down a marginal 2.4 points from Friday’s close.Trading volume was light at 153.15 million shares worth 2.57 trillion won ($2.47 billion). Decline

The state-run Korea Development Bank decided to take over Dongbu Special Steel and Dongbu Steel’s Dangjin Port, two debt-ridden special function affiliates of Dongbu Group, officials said Monday.KDB and Dongbu Group on Friday agreed to establish a KDB-led private equity fund to acquire 100 percent of the two companies’ shares for 110 billion won ($106 million) and 150 billion won, respectively.It is expected that the PEF will kick off in May and the purchasing process will round off in June, but

Over the past few years, Korea has discovered a number of undervalued export-oriented companies, pinning hopes on the so-called hidden champions to of counterbalance the nation’s conglomerate-centered economy and creating new growth momentum.To achieve this long-term goal, it is crucial to provide continuous financial support to the prospective companies, the Export-Import Bank of Korea said Sunday.The state-run bank over the weekend held the Hidden Champion Academy, a two-day educational sessio

South Korea was the fifth-largest supplier of high-tech goods to the United States in 2013, up two notches from the year before, a report by an international trade organization said Sunday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, locally manufactured goods made the top 10 list in seven of the 10 high-tech fields.The fields examined were broken down by the harmonized system code used to track products traded between countries and covered information technology, electronic parts, fl

The nation’s financial watchdog is widening its probe into all financial subsidiaries of the now-defunct Semo Group, a suspected source of funds for Yoo Byung-un, the owner of Chonghaejin Marine Co. and the sunken ferry Sewol.The Financial Supervisory Service is preparing an extensive audit on Semo Credit Union and other affiliated financial companies, FSS officials said Friday.The FSS will also further investigate the allegations that several of the local banks granted loans to the financially

South Korean stocks closed 1.34 percent lower Friday as investor sentiment was dented by weaker-than-expected corporate earnings results, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 26.68 points to 1,971.66. Trading volume was light at 201.7 million shares worth 3.6 trillion won ($3.46 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 569 to 230.“The earnings results were not a shock, but corporate bottom lines were mostly weak

(AFP) - Standard and Poor's on Friday downgraded its rating of Russia's ability to repay debt as alarm grew over the effects of the Ukraine crisis on the economy amid increased capital flight and slumping growth.Russia's central bank also hiked interest rates by half a percentage point in a move aimed at curbing inflation which could also help limit capital flight and pressures on the ruble.Russia saw capital outflows in the first quarter of 2014 double from the level a year earlier to $50.6 bil

Hyundai Mobis, the nation's largest auto parts maker, said Friday its net earnings for the first quarter rose 5.3 percent on-year to 817.7 billion won ($787.5 million) on increased in demand for key automotive modules. Operating profit jumped more than 13 percent to 721 billion won in the same period, with sales rising a solid 10 percent from the year before to 8.92 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.Net profit in the first quarter of 2013 stood at 776.7 billion won, with oper

The nation's No. 2 banking group, KB Financial Group, said Friday its first-quarter earnings slipped more than 9 percent from a year earlier on a slipping profit margin amid falling commission income.Net income reached 373.5 billion won ($358.8 million) in the January-March period, compared with the 411.5 billion won from the previous year, the group said in a regulatory filing. Net profit jumped 44 percent from three months earlier.The group said its interest income declined on a long streak of