President Park Geun-hye stressed the role of female financiers in strengthening South Korea's financial sector and boosting growth Wednesday, saying their efforts are crucial to address an array of economic and social challenges facing the nation.In her video message to a gathering of women financiers in Seoul, Park also called on the participants to make the best use of their abilities to enhance the competitiveness of the high value-added service industry."I hope you will put yourselves at the

Publicly placed stock funds have suffered a massive capital outflow, totaling 24 trillion won ($21.9 billion) over almost four years, as investors' appetites for risky assets declined amid a tepid local stock market and increased uncertainties, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA), the outstanding deposit for publicly placed stock funds stood at 63.6 trillion won as of end-August, compared to 87.5 trillion won at t

Seventy three credit-specialized finance firms in South Korea, excluding credit card companies, saw their net profits jump more than 25 percent on-year in the first half of this year thanks to less loan loss costs and lower interest rates, official data showed Tuesday.Their aggregate net profits amounted to 959.7 billion won ($866 million) during the six months, up 25.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.It's mainly attributable to a reduction in delinque

South Korea's imports increased sharply in August in both quantity and value, led by the machinery and chemical sectors, the central bank data showed Monday.The import volume index jumped 7.5 percent to 124.58 in the month from a year earlier, marking the largest growth since late 2014, according to the Bank of Korea. It's a 5.6 percent rise from 117.94 recorded in July.By item, the imports of machinery and chemical products rose 22.7 percent and 18.9 percent on-year, respectively.Metal, coal, p

South Korea's seven bank holding companies saw their net profits plunge more than 16 percent on-year in the first half of 2016 on increased expenses from bad loans, government data showed Monday.They reaped a total of 3.44 trillion won ($3.11 billion) on consolidated financial statements, down 16.2 percent from the first six months of 2015, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.It's largely attributable to growth in loan loss reserves with the restructuring of the shipping and shipbuild

The customs agency was able to discover 1.99 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in illegal transactions in 2015 based on tips from the Financial Intelligence Unit, a report submitted Monday to a parliamentary committee said.The FIU, established in November 2001 under the Financial Services Commission watchdog, gives what is known as suspicious transaction reports to the Korea Customs Service on cases that may be linked to money laundering, illegal foreign exchange activities and asset smuggling.Accordi

Prosecutors said Sunday they plan to reapply for a warrant to arrest a former head of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) facing bribery charges, a day after a Seoul court rejected the initial request.Prosecutors said they will seek to formally arrest Kang Man-soo on charges of bribery and breach of trust. The 71-year-old is accused of receiving large kickbacks from Hansung Enterprise Co., a local seafood maker, since 2008. He was the country's finance minister from 2008 to 2009 under the

President Park Geun-hye on Friday attended a ceremony to launch a government-led institution handling micro-financing services in a show of resolve to pay greater attention to the underprivileged.Based on a law enacted in March, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency was launched to serve as a "one-stop" lending center for financially strained citizens, including workers, young entrepreneurs and college students. The agency has integrated a set of existing micro-credit and other loan service program