The Korea Herald

Kim Yon-se

안녕하세요 Kim Yon-se 기자입니다.

Articles by Kim Yon-se

Consumer price growth slowest in 14 months

Mar 2, 2012

The growth of consumer prices dropped to its lowest in 14 months in February, while worries over inflationary pressure continue mainly due to skyrocketing oil prices.Statistics Korea data showed Friday that the nation’s consumer prices climbed 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier, which marked the lowest year-on-year growth since 3 percent in December 2010.In January, year-on-year price growth came to 3.4 percent. An official at the statistics agency attributed the fall to a drop in publi
Nonghyup to launch financial group Friday

Mar 1, 2012

Nonghyup Financial Group will make its debut on Friday as the fifth-largest out of the 11 finance holdings firms on the national market.The new group is an entity which has been spun off from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup.Nonghyup has decided to separately operate its financial and its agricultural products businesses for the first time in 51 years.Though Nonghyup Financial, also called NH Financial, lags behind the four major financial groups ― Woori, Hana, KB an
Hyundai Motor to support 2013 Universiade

Mar 1, 2012

Hyundai Motor has been selected as a sponsor for the 2013 Summer Universiade, which will be held in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia.The carmaker will support about 1,100 vehicles such as the Equus and Avante, dubbed Solaris in the Russian market, for the biennial sports event.It will also offer 340 buses for transportation of more than 10,000 student players from about 170 countries under a contract with the organizing committee.Hyundai Motor signed a
Hana Financial chief faces probe

Mar 1, 2012

Group dismisses allegation that management engaged in irregularitiesWith his retirement just several weeks away, Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu has been accused of committing irregularities during his involvement in the group’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star Funds.A group of lawyers, professors and civic groups filed a complaint against the Hana Financial chief with the prosecution for breach of trust last Wednesday.Hana’s 26 executives also face a criminal investigat
Hyundai Motor family firms up grip on group

TransportFeb 29, 2012

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo and his son Eui-sun have been expanding their presence in the group’s subsidiaries.Chairman Chung is to take on the role of a standing director in Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which was acquired by the automotive group in March 2011, Hyundai Motor said Wednesday.Last Friday, Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor vice chairman and Kia Motors president, was named a standing director of Hyundai-Steel.According to Hyundai spokespeople, their direct involveme
Standard Chartered avoids labor strike

Feb 29, 2012

Bank and union agree on pay raise, creation of task force on other issuesStandard Chartered Bank Korea has reached a compromise with its union on a wage hike, though there are still unsettled aspects to their talks.The two sides agreed to pay raises of 2 percent and 4.1 percent for 2010 and 2011 salaries, respectively, late Tuesday.Their talks on the salary hike have continued over the past two years amid the possibility of a general strike of unionized workers.They also tentatively compromised
Kia reveals K9 design

TransportFeb 28, 2012

Kia Motors unveiled the exterior design of the K9, a luxury premium sedan, on Tuesday.“Its design features futuristic and high-end technology,” the company said in a statement. The car will officially be launched sometime before July.The sedan, which is expected to compete with Hyundai Motor’s Equus and Genesis sedans in sales, is an upper series of Kia Motors’ K7 and K5 sedans. K9 is the latest product of Kia’s evolving design approach, carrying its signature radiator grille, bold “high-tech lu
Card firms to challenge fees bill in court

Feb 28, 2012

Controversial law may pass National Assembly ahead of April electionsCredit card firms are considering filing a petition with the Constitutional Court to ban lawmakers from providing the government with the right to lower the services fees on card payments.A revision of the Credit Finance Business Act allows the government to set the rates of credit card service fees charged on retailers.Ahead of the April 11 general elections, the bill has been pushed by a dominant number of ruling and oppositi
HSBC profits hit $22 bln on Asia growth

Feb 27, 2012

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank, made a $21.9 billion profit last year, the largest among western banks, as its strength in Asia helped it cope with a euro zone debt crisis that has plunged many rivals into huge losses.HSBC, which makes more than three quarters of its pretax profit outside Euro
Hana Bank CEO to head Hana Financial

Feb 27, 2012

Hana Financial Group selected Hana Bank CEO Kim Jung-tai, the No. 3 figure in the group, as its new chairman on Monday.Kim, who has been picked as the only candidate by the group’s ad hoc committee, will be appointed to the post in several weeks.The 60-year-old figure has been working for Hana Financial and its flagship unit Hana Bank for 20 years since its foundation in 1992.In a statement, the nominee said he would like to play the role of a “helper,” who will pave the way for employees to opt
Seoul shares dip 1.42% on higher oil prices

Feb 27, 2012

South Korean stocks dropped 1.42 percent Monday on concerns that rising oil prices may hurt the South Korean economy and corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 28.73 points to end at 1,991.16. Trading volume was moderate at 629 million shares worth 5.48 trillion won ($4.85 billion) with decliners leading gainers 570 to 275.“Rising oil prices could be a big burden to the local economy and hurt corpora
KEB to replace all executives

Feb 27, 2012

Korea Exchange Bank dismissed all nine of its executives Monday, under the business policy of its new CEO Yun Yong-ro to revamp management structure.His move comes a month after financial regulators endorsed Hana Financial Group’s takeover of KEB from Lone Star Funds.Yun, the first KEB CEO under the wing of Hana Financial, notified the nine executives, including four deputy CEOs, that their terms would not be extended.The executives were at their posts during Lone Star’s management of the bank f
Standard Chartered sees deepening labor dispute

Feb 26, 2012

The labor dispute in Standard Chartered Bank Korea has entered a critical phase again as its management recently failed to reach a compromise with the union.The union of Standard Chartered has threatened to stage a general strike amid the standstill in their negotiations with the management.Though the unionized workers, who went on a walkout between June and August, returned to work, the dispute has not been resolved, according to bank spokespeople.“They are working at branches. But their protes
Hana Financial to pick new chief this week

Feb 26, 2012

Chairman could oversee Hana’s emergence as Korea’s No. 1 financial groupHana Financial Group plans to select the successor to incumbent chairman Kim Seung-yu, whose term expires in late March, in the coming days.The new chairman will be the second figure to head Hana Financial since Kim took on the top post in 2005.Further, Kim’s successor will take on the role of integrating different corporate culture of Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank, which was acquired by the group this month, over the ne
KB Financial expands spending for society

Feb 23, 2012

By Kim Yon-seKB Financial Group has been expanding its social contribution activities such as educational programs for students and donations to the needy.In particular, the group’s social foundation is diversifying educational and scholarship programs.Last year, the group set up the KB Financial Public Foundation, specialized in education and research, to support economic and financial research projects.The foundation controls 20 billion won ($17.5 million) of funds donated by KB and its subsid