All banks will be required to adopt tougher guidelines for mortgage loans in the second half of this year, officials said Sunday, in accordance with the government's latest push to curb household debt. The decision was made last Friday at a meeting of financial regulators, senior bank executives and other financial institutions, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.Currently, people's ability to repay home mortgages is calculated on the basis of their home mortgage principal and

South Korean banks are planning to adopt a unified authentication certificate for online transactions in July to enhance customers' convenience, industry people said Sunday.Eighteen members of the Korean Federation of Banks plan to introduce the unified certificate named BankSign in July to allow customers to make online financial transactions using their PIN numbers, secret patterns or fingerprints, a bank official said.Customers can download the BankSign from each bank's application and use it

South Korea's economic growth rate ranked fifth among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the first quarter of the year, a sharp turnaround from three months earlier, OECD data showed Sunday.Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 1.1 percent in the January-March period from three months earlier, the fifth-highest among OECD member nations after Latvia (1.7 percent), Poland (1.6 percent), and Hungary and Chile (1.2 percent).South Korea tied with Finland and Mex

Alex Tapscott, co-author of best-seller ‘Blockchain Revolution,’ discusses post-crypto frenzy, opens up on working with his father on new edition

Stocks related to inter-Korean businesses suffer, markets likely to experience volatilities next week, experts say

The recent cancellation of the US-North Korea summit will likely have a limited impact on the South Korean financial market, a senior central bank official said Friday.The Bank of Korea held an emergency meeting at 8:30 a.m., hours after US President Donald Trump released his letter to scrap the planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore.The closed-door meeting was chaired by Yoon Myun-shik, the senior deputy governor of the BOK, with several senior officials at

South Korea’s economy will remain on its course to a 3 percent growth this year, the nation’s top economic policymaker said Thursday, downplaying lower forecasts by think tanks on sluggish employment and investment.“As for now, we have no plans to revise the 3 percent growth target,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a morning radio interview with CBS.“The economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter this year, which is more or less o

South Korea’s central bank kept the interest rate steady at 1.5 percent for six straight months in a unanimous board decision Thursday, citing external uncertainties due to an upshot in capital influx and currency woes from emerging markets.Despite relatively solid economic growth at home and abroad, the lingering uncertainties and low inflationary pressure on the demand side here led to the “accommodative monetary policy stance,” according to the seven-member Monetary Policy B

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady for May amid signs of an economic downturn and low inflation pressure.In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at 1.5 percent, extending its wait-and-see stance to six months.In November last year, South Korea's central bank adjusted up the key rate for the first time in more than six years, citing economic recovery.Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the rate-freeze decisio

US exchange operator CME Group has immediately suspended South Korea’s brokerage Hana Financial Investment‘s access to electronic trading or clearing platforms and markets run by the US derivatives exchange operator.Following the disciplinary action effective starting Tuesday, customers of the Korean securities firm are being banned from trading futures or options on CME Group’s platforms including Globex, using Hana‘s home trading system. The access will be denied for 60

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Tuesday that Africa can greatly benefit from changes being brought on by the fourth industrial revolution.In a gathering of the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) meeting on the sidelines of the weeklong annual African Development Bank (AfDB) gathering in Busan, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said that while the continent may not have traditional industrial foundations, a bold adoption of the latest technological changes could transform the reg

Up-and-coming exchange aims to change game with global network of comprehensive trade data

The combined value of shares owned by South Korea's 30 richest stockholders dropped 5 percent compared with the beginning of the year, industry data showed Tuesday. As of Monday, the combined value of shares owned by the stockholders stood at 85.8 trillion won ($79 billion), down 4.49 trillion won from 90 trillion won on Jan. 2, according to market tracker Chaebul.com.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, compared with the closing price of 2,479.65 of the first trading session of this

Key economic officials have recently expressed different views on the performance of the Korean economy, leaving market watchers confused about their intended policy direction. Last week saw the three top economic aides to President Moon Jae-in and the central bank head strike different tones on the current state of the economy and the effect of minimum wage hikes on employment.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who concurrently serves as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, came forward Thu

Banks in South Korea will see eased regulation when opening physical offshore units, as a revision bill gained approval from the Cabinet on Monday.  Following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Banking Act, banks will be exempt from the obligation to report to authorities about the establishment of foreign offices or branches prior to the setup, unless the investment into the foreign unit exceeds 1 percent of its capital. Before the revision, banks were required to submit a repor