The Military Mutual Aid Association, which provides pension services for military personnel, has been the most profitable mutual aid association in South Korea for the past three years, business data tracker CEO Score Daily said Friday. Currently, the nation has seven large mutual aid associations, including the Public Officials Benefit Association, the Korea Local Finance Association, the Police Mutual Aid Association and the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union. The MMAA’s return on

The South Korean government has rolled up its sleeves once again to help virus-battered small businesses. Next Wednesday it plans to expand its ongoing emergency loan program for merchants and entrepreneurs, and a Finance Ministry representative said it will also try to minimize the impact of the lockdown measures on the economy. 　 “The government has raised the credit limit on the second round of its emergency lending program, from the previous 10 million won ($8,620) to 20 million won

South Korean asset manager Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Friday that it would beef up efforts to take climate change into account in its asset management business, as part of its green finance and impact investing. Under its climate action declaration released Friday, the joint venture of Shinhan Financial Group and BNP Paribas Asset Management will consider the impact its investment decisions and financial products could have on climate change. It is the first such declaration in

SEJONG -- The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating digital transformation and the world needs to prepare for this structural change in a post-pandemic era, South Korea's finance minister has said. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the remarks at an online meeting of the Group of 20 Finance and Health Ministers on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement. Hong said the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and contactless solutions in businesses and society, while increasing the

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, led by a rebound in battery and bio heavyweights.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 6.03 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,412.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading.  The KOSPI rebounded after the index lost 1.22 percent in the previous session.  Battery and biopharmaceutical large caps fared strong, while auto-related shares dipped.Leading chemical company LG Chem jumped 2.33 percent, a day after it announced its decisi

The International Olympic Committee has sent a congratulatory letter to life insurance firm Kyobo Life Chairman Shin Chang-jae, who has been appointed as the organizing chief for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games. While congratulating Shin’s appointment, Thomas Bach, the IOC president, expressed expectations for the quadrennial global sports event, which is scheduled to be held in Gangwon Province. “Considering the chairman’s contributions to youth sports and cult

The amount of money local retail investors have poured in the local and overseas stock markets has reached more than 100 trillion won ($85.2 billion), according to data released by the nation’s sole securities operator Korean Exchange on Thursday. Individual traders bought a total of 55.9 trillion won in the local market this year as of Wednesday. Of the total, 43.5 trillion won went to the main bourse Kospi, and the rest, or 12.4 trillion won, to the tech-heavy Kosdaq. Investor deposit

Hong reiterates need for expansionary fiscal move amid COVID-19

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, who is likely to keep his role for another three-year term, pledged Thursday to boost the firm’s shares with a strong and versatile portfolio. “As you can see, KB’s shares have remained at a disastrous level for some time, which reflects concerns surrounding South Korea’s economy and finance coupled with doubts about traditional institutions’ competitiveness in the contactless era,” Yoon told reporters on his way to

Debt per capita climbs to W15.4m in 2020, from W11.5m in 2015

S. Korean real estate investors say they seek distressed assets, publicly-traded assets for downside protection

South Korean stocks decreased more than 1 percent Thursday, as more investors turned to profit-taking that stemmed from tech valuation concerns. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 29.75 points, or 1.22 percent, to close at 2,406.17. Trading volume was moderate at about 834 million shares worth some 13.9 trillion won ($11.8 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 655 to 200. Foreigners sold a net 126 billion won, whil

Users of Toss, a local financial services app operated by Viva Republica, spent 65 percent of their disaster relief funds in less than a month, the company said Thursday, referring to its data analysis. According to the estimate, 65 percent of the total 395.2 billion won ($336.5 million) in spending by 778,000 recipients was spent before end-May, after the Korean government started to dole out some 14 trillion won to every Korean household that month. Viva Republica compiled the data from use

To facilitate remote working amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s financial watchdog will ease restrictions on external access to network systems at local financial companies.  The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday it would allow employees to stay connected to the company’s internal communication software throughout the day by revising the regulations on the supervision of electronic finance, which stipulate the so-called “network separation syst

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea touched a new all-time high in August as companies boosted dollar holdings, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents came to $88.5 billion as of end-August, up $1.14 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The August amount was the largest tally since the central bank began to compile related data in June 2012. Foreign currency deposits