South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record high in January, aided by an increase in investment profit, the central bank said Wednesday.The country's foreign reserves totaled a record $348.39 billion as of the end of January, up $1.93 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.Foreign reserves had increased for the seventh straight month in December after declining by the most in 13 months in June.Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated i

South Korea's financial regulator is planning to allow insurers to sell policies covering social ills such as domestic and school violence starting this year, industry sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, the Financial Services Commission is pushing to introduce the insurance products as part of broader efforts to cover damages related to such social problems.President Park Geun-hye has been focusing on eradicating what she called the four major social ills threatening public safety --

The government began a review of how to change a decades-old resident registration system to better protect personal information in the wake of last month's massive data leak, officials said Tuesday.In January, some 20 million citizens' personal and financial data were found to have leaked from the country's major credit card companies, sparking a public outcry demanding a reform in the old and loose identification system."As part of efforts to better protect personal information, we've been rev

South Korean banks' earnings are estimated to have declined 31 percent last year amid a long streak of low rates and higher loan-loss reserves, data showed Tuesday.KB Financial Group and three other rivals are projected to have logged a combined net profit of 4.98 trillion won ($4.49 billion) in 2013, compared with 7.21 trillion won the previous year, according to estimates provided by FnGuide.The 2013 data would mark the steepest fall since an 11 percent on-year decline in 2009 at the heel of a

The number of business group affiliates subject to restrictions on mutual investments and loan guarantees declined in February from a month earlier, the antitrust watchdog said Tuesday.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of corporate affiliates on the watch list stood at 1,694 as of Saturday, down 6 from the previous month.Over the past month, 24 affiliates were excluded following mergers and acquisitions and other reasons, such as stake sales. Meanwhile, 18 companies were newly added, the

The three credit card companies involved in the latest data-leak scandal may have to pay over 170 billion won ($157 million) to customers involved in compensation suits, putting aside the additional expenses of reissuing cards and reinforcing their security systems.According to a regulatory report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service, KB Kookmin Card estimated that the total compensation amount may be as high as 86 billion won, assuming that 1 percent of the 43 million victims will par

Investors pumped their money into stock funds last month on expectations that the local stock market would rebound down the road after getting off to a weak start in 2014, data showed Monday.Stock funds took in 625 billion won ($583 million) last month, reversing from an outflow of 38.2 billion won the previous month, according to the data compiled by fund-tracking firm ZEROIN.“Investors seem to have poured their money into stock funds on hopes the local stock market will recover after a brief s

South Korea's public organizations are seeking to sell a combined 7 trillion won ($6.5 billion) worth of land and properties as part of efforts to reduce their ballooning debt and relocate their headquarters to regional areas, a parliamentary report said Monday.According to the report submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the National Assembly, 51 public organizations currently plan to sell a combined 2.46 million square meters of land on a total of 54 different lots

The South Korean currency sharply weakened against the U.S. dollar on Monday as the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing sparked concerns about capital outflows from emerging markets, dealers said.The local currency was trading at 1,081.55 won per the greenback as of 10:52 a.m., down 11.15 won from the previous session.The won fell as low as 1,082.30 per the dollar at one point after the market opened.The Fed said last week it will stay on course by reducing monthly asset purchases to $65 billi

Foreign direct investment in Seoul reached a record high since the 2008 global financial crisis to surpass $6 billion in 2013 on the back of a huge inflow of funds from the United States and Europe, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the amount of new FDI pledged to the South Korean capital city in 2013 totaled $6.14 billion, up 5.7 percent from the previous year.The investment from 987 companies from 74 countries marked the largest amount sin

The three credit card firms hit by recent massive data leaks may have to pay up to 170 billion won ($158 million) in compensation to their clients to settle class action lawsuits, data showed on Monday.Last month, the Financial Supervisory Service, the country's financial watchdog, revealed that some 20 million clients' personal data, including bank account numbers, addresses and credit ratings, have been leaked from the three card issuers -- KB Kookmin Card Co., NH Nonghyup Card Co. and Lotte C

The government on Sunday announced a plan to launch an intensive crackdown on the illegal distributors of personal data to prevent further damage from the latest massive leak of customer data from three leading credit card firms.Law enforcement authorities will begin an indefinite crackdown on those who illegally circulate or use the leaked data, the prime minister's office said after a meeting of related Cabinet ministers.It was the first regular weekend meeting presided over by Prime Minister