A total of 281 officials of listed companies have been caught for unfair stock trading over the past three years, data by the state watchdog showed Wednesday.Between 2015 and 2017, the Financial Supervisory Service caught 184 executives and 97 employees of the listed firms for illegal acts involving stock trading. Of them, 30.6 percent were from companies listed on the main KOSPI bourse (43 executives and 25 employees), while 69.4 percent worked for KOSDAQ-listed firms (129 executives and 66 emp

The South Korean district court has issued an arrest warrant for Ra Jeong-chan, chief executive of Korean biotech firm Nature Cell, on allegations that he manipulated stock market using false and misleading company information since 2017. This came after the prosecution sought an arrest warrant against Ra on Friday. Ra has been under custody for interrogation since Tuesday. The company said in a disclosure Wednesday it has nominated an acting CEO, adding that no allegations had been proven.Ra is

South Korea's government plans to increase spending to create more jobs and expand the social safety net, as Asia's fourth-largest economy is set to lose its steam down the road in the face of rising uncertainties, including the growing trade war between major economies and a slowdown in facility investment, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday.Charting out its second-half economic policy plans, the ministry cut its growth estimate to 2.9 percent this year from its earlier projected 3 percent

Govt, ruling party call for reinforcement of tax refunds, basic pension, job-seeking allowance

Credit unions will adopt stricter guidelines for mortgage loans next week, officials said Tuesday, in the government's latest effort to rein in household debt.The stricter lending calculation for home mortgages, called the Debt Service Ratio, uses a new system that measures all debt principal and interest payments as a proportion of annual income.Financial authorities said the DSR system, which was already adopted at commercial banks in March, better assesses a borrower's repayment ability and r

President stands by hike, albeit foregoing 10,000 won target, minister steps up objection, firms and workers remain largely split

The government is considering an increase in cash subsidies for smaller businesses in order to help ease the burden of higher payroll costs following the decision on an 11 percent minimum wage hike for next year, officials said Monday.The Minimum Wage Commission decided Saturday to raise next year’s minimum wage by 10.9 percent to 8,350 won ($7.37) per hour after an overnight meeting boycotted by business representatives. This year’s minimum wage is 7,530 won per hour, up 16.4 percen

A growing level of debt owed by self-employed businesses is becoming a ticking time bomb that hangs over the Korean economy, experts say.A continuous increase in the minimum wage amid sluggish domestic demand is set to add to precipitating the pace of debt growth.According to data recently submitted by the Bank of Korea to a lawmaker, the outstanding debt held by self-employed businesses in the country amounted to 549.2 trillion won ($487 billion) last year, up 14.4 percent from the previous yea

Panelists from academic circles at a roundtable discussion Monday called on financial authorities to lower the regulatory bar for South Korea’s digital banks, which face difficulties in launching new financial services due to failures in raising capital.Among issues at debate were calls to ease regulation on nonfinancial firms’ maximum ownership of banking firms, with some panelists saying such a regulation is outmoded. The ban was put in place to prevent companies from using banks a

South Korea's top economic and monetary policymakers met Monday to discuss an array of economic issues, such as the growing trade tussle between the United States and China and sluggish job creation.The meeting between Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol is their seventh round of policy talks since Kim took office in June of last year.Other senior officials from the finance ministry and the central bank also attended the gathering. "We are looking at potential

Korea's top economic and monetary policymakers are scheduled to meet early this week to discuss an array of economic issues such as the growing trade tussle between the United States and China and sluggish job creation, government officials said Sunday.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will meet Monday for their seventh round of policy talks since Kim took office in June of last year. Other senior officials from the finance ministry and the central bank will also

K bank, South Korea’s first online-only bank, has come under financial pressure over its failure in capital increase through issuing new stocks, as pledged in May. By Thursday, K bank shareholders were scheduled to buy 24 million newly issued common stocks and 6 million convertible preferred stocks without voting rights, worth a combined 150 billion won ($132.4 million). Of the total pledges with 5,000 won per share, only 30 billion won for the convertible securities purchase had been paid

Mirae Asset Global Investments, a South Korean asset management company, has harvested returns of over 20 percent a year in its stock funds dedicated to investing in innovative firms, the company said Sunday. Mirae Asset G2 Innovator Fund, investing in innovative companies in the United States, China and Taiwan, has generated some 33.02 percent of yearly returns, the highest among all Korean stock funds, according to an estimate by fund evaluator KG Zeroin on Wednesday. The secret behind the yie

The escalating trade war between the US and China may have a severe effect on the South Korean economy, which has an excessively high economic dependence on its Asian neighbor, a report said Sunday.The world's two largest economies have been at loggerheads over trade, leading to global repercussions. In its latest salvo against China, the Donald Trump administration this week unveiled an additional list of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The action came just days after Washington

The heads of the top five commercial banks here expect the country's economy to grow at less than 3 percent this year and rate hikes to become one of major risks facing the financial markets, a survey showed on Sunday.Their economic projection is in line with the latest outlook by the Bank of Korea for Asia's fourth-largest economy.Last week, the central bank adjusted its earlier growth forecast for the year down by 0.1 percentage point to 2.9 percent, citing rising economic uncertainties at hom