FUTURE OF DIGITAL CURRENCY -- Participants discuss the future of central bank digital currencies in a session at Deconomy 2018, held in Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday. From left are: Jeff Paik, chief executive at Finector; Clark Thompson, solution architect at Consensys; Ian Grigg, partner at Block.one; Antony Lewis, director of research, CBDC strategy at R3; and Stanley Yong, global lead for CBDC at IBM. Yonhap

The chief of the state-run credit backer of SMEs on Wednesday offered to resign following a scandal over an extramarital affair. Kim Kyu-ok, who leads the Korea Technology Finance Corp., offered his resignation, according to Ministry of SMEs and Startups officials, following his alleged adultery. The ministry said it will decide soon whether it should conduct an audit or ask the police to investigate him.  Earlier Wednesday, local cable network JTBC reported that Kim has had an inappropriat

South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group is facing increased pressure to break away from its circular shareholding corporate governance, as its insurance units may have to sell off most of their affiliate stocks in compliance with reinforced financial regulations.Weighing further upon the group is the recent appointment of a former civic group activist and progressive lawmaker who is known for reformist conglomerate policies as the head of the nation’s financial market watchd

Concerns over Korea’s mounting state liabilities and debt are being deepened by the Moon Jae-in administration’s push to hire a massive number of public sector workers and expand government spending beyond limits set by an existing fiscal management plan.Korea saw its state liabilities for pensions paid to retired public employees and debt owed by central and regional governments more than double over the past six years to exceed 1,500 trillion won ($1.42 trillion) combined last year

Foreign banks with branches in South Korea reported a decline in earnings here in 2017, on falling interest and trading income, data showed Wednesday.  The 38 branches from global banks across the globe had logged a combined 680.7 billion won ($642.8 million) of net income in 2017, down 10.6 percent from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The branches suffered a drop in interest income by 58.3 billion won, or 5.2 percent on-year. The los

South Korea's cryptocurrency exchange operators reaped huge profits in 2017 on the back of the national frenzy over digital money, data showed Wednesday.The annual turnover of BTC Korea.com, which is in charge of local cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, stood at 333.4 billion won ($315.6 million) in 2017, up a sharp 77 times on-year from 4.3 billion won. Its net profit jumped from 2.5 billion won to 427.2 billion won over the past year, according to the report by Vidente Co. The major source of in

South Korea’s top five financial conglomerates and two other financial heavyweights will be required to ease their intra-group transactions, especially their cross-shareholding structures, according to regulators.The Financial Services Commission on Tuesday announced a reinforced set of rules, obligating major financial companies to sell off their shares in non-financial affiliates in case such business practices may bring risks in the financial system. The regulation, which came as p

country's chronic youth unemployment as well as to help those who have lost their jobs in the wake of corporate restructuring, a senior government official said Tuesday."The government will create some 4 trillion won ($3.75 billion) in funds that will be spent to help young people find jobs and set up their own businesses," Kim Yong-jin, deputy finance minister, said in a meeting with scholars and other government officials.The supplementary budget plan is to be submitted to parliament

The growth of household debt appears to have accelerated last month as households took out more loans ahead of tougher mortgage rules, industry data showed Tuesday.Household loans provided by the five major banks, including Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, rose by 3.06 trillion won ($2.89 billion) in March on a monthly basis, according to the data.It was the sharpest monthly growth since November last year, when it grew by 4.6 trillion won. The government has implemented a series of measures to co

South Korea's private spending fell to record low levels last year, according to the central bank Tuesday.Data from the Bank of Korea showed the ratio of private spending to the country's gross domestic product came to 48.1 percent, the lowest since record keeping began in 1970.The ratio used to run in the 70 percentile in the 1970s, but it slid to 53.8 percent in 2000 and further to 49.3 percent in 2015, the data showed. It further dipped to 48.7 percent in 2016.Comparisons with other countries

South Korea's consumer prices increased more than 1 percent in March on a rise in the costs of agricultural goods and services, but growth slowed from a month earlier, government data showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index climbed 1.3 percent last month from March of the previous year, decelerating from the 1.4 percent on-year gain in February, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The March figure is well below the Bank of Korea's target of 2 percent for the year, stokin

The central bank chief on Monday pledged to focus on change and innovation, signaling a more active and practical policy approach in the next four years compared to his initial first term in office. “For the past four years, we have placed focus on aligning the organization but from now on (we) will seek change and innovation,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told reporters after his inauguration ceremony, starting his second term in office.Lee, who is the first BOK chief in 44 years

Recent economic data show a modest recovery in the country’s economy that has fallen short of boosting employment and improving people’s livelihoods.Underlying the trend is a widening polarization between large and small companies and between exporting and domestically focused firms, experts say.What is further concerning is the economy is set to face severe downside risks in the latter half of this year when the impact from deteriorating external and internal conditions will begin b

The new governor of the Financial Supervisory Service in his inauguration speech Monday stressed a need to bolster autonomy as a regulator and enhance consumer protection. Kim Ki-sik, a new chief regulator of financial institutions who took office Monday, succeeded the role of Choe Heung-sik, who offered to step down on March 12. Ex-governor Choe‘s resignation came amid growing allegations of irregularities and abuse of power in the process of hiring entry-level employees at Hana Financial

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed the recently concluded negotiations between his country and the United States to revise their bilateral free trade agreement Monday, saying it will benefit both countries.The president also insisted the conclusion of negotiations will aid the local economy by removing uncertainties."Removing external uncertainties by concluding negotiations to revise the FTA with the US is a great achievement, especially when trade protectionism is spreading,"