Fried chicken franchises marked the largest on-year sales increase last year on growing demand for takeout and delivery, data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, fried chicken franchises saw their sales jumping 21.7 percent in 2019, with each branch selling about 200 million won of products and services on average. “Increased chicken prices, along with the inclusion of delivery fees in chicken prices, have boosted the overall revenue in the segment,” said Lee Jin-seok

The growing number of small businesses, including restaurants and mom-and-pop stores closing down their operations amid the lingering coronavirus crisis, has seriously affected commercial real estate markets as well, a report said Wednesday. The report published by KB Financial Group suggested that commercial property markets will continue to suffer next year, along with hotel, commercial space rental, and retail businesses, among others, facing serious challenges. The number of vacant commer

Samsung shares came under the market spotlight as the amount of inheritance tax was set at a record 11.03 trillion won ($9.96 billion) based on closing prices of the stocks on Tuesday. Among shares held by late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee are those of tech giant Samsung Electronics, IT solutions developer Samsung SDS, construction firm Samsung C&T, and insurer Samsung Life Insurance. According to the nation’s sole securities exchange operator Korea Exchange, the value of Lee&rsquo

The local initial public offering market was all the rage in 2020 as nearly 300 trillion won ($272.9 billion) poured in, three times more than 2018 or 2019, according to industry data on Sunday. This year’s IPO market will come to a close with materials firm Sukgyung AT making its debut on Wednesday. Other than special-purpose acquisition companies and companies that merged with listed firms, a total of 76 companies were newly listed on the nation’s main Kospi and secondary Kosd

Financial regulator Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it has ordered online-only bank Kakao Bank to beef up its plans to deal with emergent situations, such as shortage of capital. The watchdog regularly assesses financial companies’ capital adequacy and risk management schemes, and it orders them to fix inefficient emergency measures if there is any. It was the first time for the online bank to be reviewed by the financial authority over its contingency plan. The nation&

South Korea’s National Pension Service is likely to log a 7 percent return on its investments this year, the nation’s welfare minister said Wednesday. “Investment environments seem to be on a recovery path with domestic and global economic indices improving and the (local) stock market hitting record highs recently,” said Park Neung-hoo, minister of health and welfare, who chairs the NPS’ asset management committee. “The fund operator will be able to ac

Bitcoin on Wednesday came under market watch after it spiked nearly to $20,000 earlier this month and continued its rally for days, on the back of institutional investors diversifying their portfolios. The most popular cryptocurrency remained above $19,000 per coin for a third straight day Wednesday morning, according to Upbit, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges here operated by local financial technology firm Dunamu. After the digital coin reached a recent high of $19,850 on Dec. 1,

The Korea-housing affordability index, or K-HAI, which measures median household income relative to the income needed to buy a median-priced house, in Seoul reached a record high in 11 years in the July-October period this year. The index increased 1.7 points from the previous quarter to 144.5—the highest since the figure came to 150.8 in the fourth quarter of 2009. A value of 100 means that a family would have to put 25 percent of their income toward paying off the mortgage. A higher r

Investors from the UK became the biggest net buyers in the South Korean stock market, as they bought shares worth 2.2 trillion won ($2.02 billion) in November, which accounted for nearly 36 percent of stocks purchased by foreign investors in the month, according to data Monday. The data from the nation’s watchdog Financial Supervisory Service showed that foreign investors net purchased shares worth some 6.1 trillion won in November, the highest monthly purchase since September 2013, whe

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of special reports on the glass ceiling in the financial industry, focusing on South Korea’s market compared with other major economies. Funded by The Korea Press Foundation, the series will evaluate where Asia’s fourth-largest economy stands in terms of gender equality, will reflect on changes being made and will explore ways to boost inclusion in the sector. -- Ed. Looking back at her 41-year career in South Korea’s finance sector, Soh

Riding momentum recently created in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries, cryptocoin exchange operator Dunamu held a five-day conference for domestic and global blockchain developers last week to discuss the future of the industry as central banks around the globe experiment with digital money. Due to the global pandemic, the third annual Upbit Developer Conference was organized as a free online event, broadcasting a series of sessions from Nov. 30 to Friday, but still drew over 3,000

South Korean credit card issuer Hyundai Card announced Friday that Dive, Hyundai Card’s culture app, had won a high-profile app award two years in a row. Hosted by the Korea Internet Professionals Association, a nonprofit body that supports the local internet industry, the Smart App Award is one of the most prestigious contests for apps developed by local companies and government agencies. Its annual awards go to the best smartphone apps in six categories -- visual design, user interfa

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday reiterated his call to foster the non-memory semiconductor, fuel cell vehicle, and bio-health industries to create new growth in the post-coronavirus era. Presiding over a meeting with ministers for economic affairs in Seoul, Hong discussed strategies to nurture the so-called “big three” sectors and lead the global digitalization, among others. “The government and private sector should join forces to revitalize the coronavirus-hit econ

Mirae Asset Global Investments, one of South Korea’s largest asset management firms, said Tuesday that it won a US court case against Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group over legal disputes involving a $5.8 billion deal to acquire luxury hotels. The Delaware Court of Chancery rejected Anbang’s demand of Mirae Asset to pay off the rest of the deal, and ordered the Chinese insurer to return $580 million it received from the South Korean company as a deposit of the deal, with inte

Hyundai Card, one of South Korea’s leading credit card companies, has been beefing up its abilities to analyze consumer data, such as where consumers use credit cards and what items they buy, to better understand customer habits. These efforts are aimed at offering tailored services and products to meet differing customers’ needs. “Hyundai Card has established a curation system that defines data and cleanses unnecessary data, so that data of diversified nature may be systemat