The Korea Herald

Kim Yon-se

안녕하세요 Kim Yon-se 기자입니다.

Articles by Kim Yon-se

HiteJinro taps Indian market with soju

May 2, 2013

HiteJinro said Thursday that it will make inroads into India’s liquor market with its soju products next month.Its advancement into the country reflects the liquor producer’s vision to penetrate fresh markets overseas such as Southeast Asia and South Asia and expand its presence in East Asia, company officials said.“We embarked on the project of diversifying export destinations two years ago when Hite Brewery and Jinro merged,” said a spokesman.HiteJinro recently signed a contract with Advent Br
Citibank, SC, Nonghyup rank bottom in consumer protection

Apr 30, 2013

Two major foreign banks operating in Korea ranked low in consumer protection, being given the lowest grade of “class 5” by the Financial Supervisory Service.In the yearly assessment from the FSS on financial firms’ consumer protection, Citibank Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea ranked at the bottom, along with Nonghyup Bank, out of 15 commercial banks.Their grade of class 5 means that they were “poor” in resolving customers’ complaints throughout the past year, FSS officials said Tuesday.T
KB Financial chief not to seek 2nd term

Apr 29, 2013

KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae said Monday that he would not seek a second term after his tenure expires in July.Euh, however, expressed his willingness to finish out the remainder of his first term until July 12 during a news briefing at KB Financial headquarters in downtown Seoul.Euh, who has held the post since July 2010, has been under continued pressure to step down under the Park Geun-hye administration. Along with Woori Financial Group chairman Lee Pal-seung, Euh was regarded as
Law firms, foreign financial firms may face external audits

Apr 29, 2013

The Financial Services Commission is considering widening the scope of its accounting oversight targets under the Park Geun-hye administration’s drive to raise tax revenue.The new targets may include law firms, accounting firms, religious groups, donation fund operators, some local units of foreign financial firms and luxury brands operating here, FSC officials said.The cited sectors have not been subject to external audits, while financial statements of a greater portion of businesses have been
Firms’ spending at room salons tops W900b

Apr 28, 2013

Korean firms’ annual usage of company credit cards at entertainment establishments including room salons totaled at least 1.4 trillion won ($1.25 billion) on average, the Korea Institute of Public Finance said Sunday.According to the institute’s research report, the nation’s corporate sector paid 1.41 trillion won with their company cards at entertainment spots in 2011.Room salons (or hostess bars) topped the list in company card settlement records of 923.7 billion won, followed by karaoke rooms
Ergo Daum warned for manipulating figures

Apr 28, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service said Sunday that it issued a “warning” against Ergo Daum Direct, an online auto insurance company, for rigging insurance premium-related figures in an alleged bid to attract more policyholders.Ergo Daum Direct, which is now under the wing of the France-based Axa General Insurance, was also levied fines of 50 million won ($44,600) from the financial regulator.In 2012, the insurer sought to increase its market share by manipulating the loss ratio ― or the ratio of
Woori Investment reprimanded for W1.3 billion embezzlement

Apr 27, 2013

　The Financial Supervisory Service ordered Woori Investment & Securities to dismiss two stockbrokers, including a branch manager, engaged in embezzlement, regulatory officials said Sunday.　The regulator said it has uncovered incidences of embezzlement of 1.39 billion won ($1.24 million) committed at two branches in Seoul and Busan of Woori Investment.　The manager of Woori Investment’s Suyeong branch in Busan pocketed 665 million won from five customers’ accounts two years ago, FSS officials said
[Graphic News] Seoul posts poor growth in equities

Apr 25, 2013

South Korea lagged far behind major countries in growth of stock prices this year due mainly to lackluster private consumption and a slowdown in export performance upon Japan’s weakening yen. According to an adjusted index unveiled by the U.S.-based Morgan Stanley Capital International, the country recorded minus 0.5 percent growth on-quarter of composite equity prices during the first quarter.The MSCI Index for the shares on the Korean bourse dropped from 575.311 at the end of 2012 to 572.151 a
FSC to scrap joint guarantee on loans

Apr 25, 2013

Regulators are poised to impose a ban later this year on joint guarantees on loans extended by secondary financial firms, following the earlier abolishment of the lending practice among commercial banks.Over the past several decades, lenders have demanded that some individuals or smaller businesses submit third-party debt guarantees when applying for loans. Such guarantees have frequently triggered a chain reaction of bankruptcy for guarantors, such as families, relatives and friends, when borro
Fair Trade Commission to take class action suits against cartels

Apr 24, 2013

The Fair Trade Commission vowed to take stern disciplinary measures against conglomerates for irregular business practices during its report to President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday.The antitrust regulator, which has already pledged to crack down on unfair intragroup trading among conglomerate-based affiliates, said it would also introduce the system of class action lawsuits by pushing for a Competition Law revision in June.“Enterprises including financial firms engaging in cartel practices will
Seoul denies G20’s backing of cheap yen

Apr 23, 2013

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday dismissed some local market analysts’ view that the Group of 20 countries recently reached a consensus not to tackle the Japanese yen’s weak position.“The G20 communique (drawn up by finance ministers in Washington, D.C., over the weekend) does not involve any common consent that the members would tolerate the cheap yen,” Finance Ministry’s international finance policy director Choi Hee-nam told a news briefing.Concerning arguments that the G20 members did not cri
Credit delinquents start to apply for rescue fund

Apr 22, 2013

Financial authorities on Monday started to take preliminary applications for the “National Happiness Fund” recently set up to rescue individual credit defaulters.While the preliminary application process will continue until April 30, the authorities will screen applicants between May and October, said the Financial Services Commission. Eligible applicants should be in arrears for at least 180 weekdays and their debt should not exceed 100 million won ($88,500).Debtors are allowed to submit applic
KDB Daewoo Securities under regulatory probe

Apr 21, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service will conduct a regulatory inquiry into KDB Daewoo Securities, a brokerage unit of the state-controlled KDB Financial Group, for the next three weeks.The financial regulator said it has dispatched about 20 inspectors to the Yeouido, Seoul, headquarters of KDB Daewoo Securities, which holds the No. 1 position in Korea’s securities market.This marks the first time in about three years for the brokerage house to be subject to a sector-wide probe by the FSS.A key reg
Mobile sign-up fees to be abolished by 2015

IndustryApr 18, 2013

The three mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― will be banned from charging new customers phone sign-up fees after 2015 under the new government’s drive to slash the financial burden on ordinary households.In its policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye on Thursday, the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning said it would ban the start-up fees in the mobile industry on a step-by-step basis.The ministry plans to instruct the three companies to initially cut 40 percent of the curr
Securities regulators to get more probe powers

Apr 18, 2013

Korea’s securities regulators will be entitled to investigate alleged stock manipulation cases with “special criminal authority” under the Park Geun-hye administration’s commitment to weeding out unfair trading.The government unveiled policies Thursday to grant criminal authority to Finance Services Commission investigators monitoring the brokerage industry and some nongovernmental inspectors at the Financial Supervisory Service.“The authority allows the securities inspectors to immediately hand