Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
[Herald Interview] Balancehero urges govt. to support firms targeting India entry
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 20th installment. -- Ed.Since taking office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to level the playing field for offshore and domestic companies in financial services, declaring an end to bureaucratic “red tape.”For example, Indian financial authorities lowered regulatory hurdles in late 2016 that were set particularly for foreign business en
Market Aug. 7, 2018
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Remittance startup Sentbe steps up operation in Vietnam
South Korean remittance startup Sentbe said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietcombank Remittance. The move will allow recipients to pick up wired money in an hour on average from some 2,500 automated teller machines or some 500 branches that belong to Vietcombank, as well as some 500 nonbank cash pickup centers, with up to 95 percent lower commission fees, the startup said. This is a step up from the Korean startup’s existing partnership with Vietnam. Vitecombank
Market Aug. 7, 2018
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Kyobo Life’s insurance for education cost celebrates 60 years
South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance has launched a variable life insurance product that covers an individual’s education expenses for college in line with the company’s original philosophy, the firm said Monday.Since it was founded in 1958, Kyobo, formerly known as Daehan Kyoyuk Insurance and short for “life insurance for educational expenses,” was the first to introduce insurance products for education cost to promote literacy in the nation torn by the Korean War at
Market Aug. 6, 2018
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Duped investors vent anger, with losses, remorse of ‘treasure ship scam’
Before it backtracked, the claim of a South Korean company that it had discovered a “treasure battleship” in South Korean territorial waters was a ray of hope for digital asset investors in search of a financial bonanza.But the hope quickly diminished for investors holding what is thought to be a digital asset called Shinil Gold Coin, after a recent press conference by the Korean business entity. On July 26, officials of Seoul-based Shinil Group, declaring that it had changed its nam
Market Aug. 2, 2018
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Bank of Korea moves to allow payment with QR codes
South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday unveiled plans to create an equivalent to China’s Alipay or WeChat Pay by the first half of 2019, in a move to cut “social costs” of consumers and merchants caused by card networks here. The new infrastructure for smartphone-based mobile wallet service will allow an online payment to be settled between customers and vendors without intermediaries like a card network, where card companies, payment gateway providers and virtual account
Market July 31, 2018
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P2P lenders’ repayment on Tera Funding tops W200b
Peer-to-peer borrowers on South Korean lending platform Tera Funding had repaid 202.4 billion won ($180.6 million) in loans without becoming overdue, as of end-June, according to the startup on Monday. This marked the first time that a Korean P2P lending platform extended loans over 200 billion won and had the borrowing fully compensated, the startup said. Founded in 2014 by former banker and foreclosure freelancer Yang Tae-young, Tera Funding has been dedicated to financing projects for real es
Market July 30, 2018
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[Kosdaq Star] Asia Pacific Satellite to ride 5G momentum
This is the 59th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.Asia Pacific Satellite, a communications satellite hardware manufacturer based in Seoul, has seen swift recovery following a plunge in the past few weeks. While the stock price has suffered a heavy fluctuation, analysts have said the future market performance of the manufacturer has a reason for an upsurge, on anticipation for an upcoming introduction of fifth-generational network her
Market July 30, 2018
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Korea Post stresses role of postal network in global e-commerce
Kang Seong-ju, chief executive of the state-run Korea Post, stressed the role of the postal network in an era of global e-commerce during an annual meeting with Kahala Posts Group members, officials said Sunday. Kang was one of 11 representatives of member nations that took part in the KPG meeting held in Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, on Thursday. Members at the latest meeting agreed on increasing the level of customs clearance information exchange between members to 80 percent by 2021.
Industry July 29, 2018
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Samsung Securities fined W144m, imposed suspension over dividend fiasco
Samsung Securities on Thursday was fined 144 million won ($128,500) and imposed a six-month suspension for parts of its business by the financial authorities over a failure to prevent a dividend fiasco that broke out in April this year. The brokerage arm of Samsung conglomerate will be banned from brokering equity securities transactions of new investors from Friday to Jan. 26, 2019, according to the Financial Services Commission. Incumbent Chief Executive Koo Sung-hoon was slapped with a three-
Market July 26, 2018
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Samsung Securities steps up efforts for NK investment opportunities
South Korean brokerage house Samsung Securities is stepping up its support of foreign investors seeking investment opportunities in North Korea. The efforts are being spearheaded by the securities firm’s in-house North Korea Investment Strategy Research Team, established on June 8 as a first in the securities industry here. A recent example is a session on July 19 targeting officials of private equity funds or asset management firms, during the two-day AVCJ Private Equity & Venture For
Market July 26, 2018
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SC Bank Korea’s Miles card targets young customers
To the young generation increasingly placing work-life balance over career progression or income, an airline miles credit card could be attractive to those who make more overseas trips, Standard Chartered Bank Korea said in a release. The Korean unit of the London-based banking giant has offered its flagship airline miles card since March, called Plus Mile, so that miles earned can be used for airlines in Korea. The card offers a maximum bonus of 3.5 miles to fly with Asiana Airlines o
Market July 25, 2018
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[Herald Interview] DeepSearch spearheads financial data analytics
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 19th installment. -- Ed.Offshore institutional investors have often come across a lack of financial information about South Korean securities when building an investment portfolio for Asian markets.Some 3 million privately held Korean companies are barely on the map. Relevance from overflowing information about listed companies in Korea -- largely embellished -- was also
Market July 24, 2018
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Kospi undergoes most bearish H1 in 5 years
The Kospi, a benchmark index representing South Korea’s top-tier market, experienced the most bearish first half this year in five years, data showed Monday.From January to June, the Kospi fell 5.7 percent to 2,326.13, the sharpest since a 6.7 percent drop in the first half of 2013, according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange. Analysts cited a market impact from US-China trade war threats and strengthening US dollar that are associated with sluggish earnings of local manufacturers in
Market July 23, 2018
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[Herald Interview] Small-cap index can ‘reduce risk’ as long as qualities are checked
In February this year, the Korea Exchange, South Korea’s market operator and stock index developer, birthed the KRX 300 benchmark index that represents the tiered stock market in Korea. The KRX unveiled the mid-cap index called KRX Mid 200 in June, comprising constituents from the top-tier Kospi and second-tier Kosdaq, and released plans for another index for small caps in the near future. The moves aimed to balance institutional influx into tiered stock markets in Korea and enable investo
Market July 22, 2018
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NK economy retreats sharpest in 2 decades in 2017: BOK
North Korea’s annual real gross domestic product in 2017 retreated 3.5 percent on-year, marking the sharpest fall in over 20 years, as sanctions on the North appear to have taken a toll on its exports, data showed Friday. This comes in contrast to the secluded state’s 3.9 percent on-year economic growth in 2016, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The degree of decline is the steepest since 1997, when the real GDP decreased by 6.5 percent on-year.The central bank cited a
Economy July 20, 2018
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