Articles by Park Ga-young
Park Ga-young
gypark@heraldcorp.com-
FSS to oversee virtual assets; cryptocurrencies in negative territory
The Financial Supervisory Service has been designated to man the main control tower overseeing the country’s burgeoning virtual asset market, putting an end to months of discussions on who would take charge, while major cryptocurrencies fell over the weekend. In an announcement on Friday, the government delegated the FSS, the country’s financial regulator, in charge of virtual assets while the Ministry of Science and ICT will take the helm in leading the country’s blockchai
Market May 30, 2021
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Jungheung interested in Daewoo E&C, but takeover still under review
Jungheung Group, a local construction company, has expressed interest in acquiring Daewoo Engineering and Construction, but is in the process of reviewing its value and business potential, the builder said Friday. ”The company is interested in acquiring Daewoo E&C but nothing is confirmed,” an official at Jungheung said. “We’ll carefully examine the various conditions including Daewoo’s domestic and overseas business status, prospects after the acquisition an
Market May 28, 2021
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Legal ambiguity poses hurdles for NFT businesses: experts
Nonfungible tokens have seen a soaring popularity this year, but its future in South Korea remains uncertain due to legal gray areas, experts said Thursday during a conference on NFTs held in Seoul. Despite the short history of NFTs, the digital asset could create many opportunities for domestic companies as they try to add value to the fledgling technology and industry, experts said. But there are limits to bringing it into the commercial sphere as the domestic regulatory framework is not re
Market May 28, 2021
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K bank’s capital jump to W2.1tr with inflow of new shareholders
K bank, South Korea’s first Internet-only lender, more than doubled its paid-in capital via share purchases from major private equity funds, the bank said Wednesday. The move comes as the company gears up for the further growth amid heightened competition from other digital banks including Kakao Bank and Toss Bank. The board of directors of K bank on Wednesday morning made the decision to increase the amount of capital by 1.25 trillion won ($1.11 billion) or 192.29 million shares, to
Market May 26, 2021
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Korean proptech Dongnae raises $8.2m in seed rounds
Dongnae, a property tech company based in South Korea, said on Tuesday that it has raised an additional $4.1 million in an extended seed series funding from global investors. Dongnae’s final seed round stood at $8.2 million including $4.1 million in the latest fundraising and another $4.1 million raised five months ago, the company said. The company’s seed funding size compares with local venture investments in all rounds that stood at an average of 2 billion won ($1.7 million) per
Market May 25, 2021
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Cryptocurrencies on downward spiral amid tightening regulations
Cryptocurrencies extended a dayslong loss Monday in South Korea before recovering some of their losses in the afternoon, as investors and businesses reacted to strict regulations recently introduced in China and the US. The price of the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin stood at about 44 million won ($39,058) in late afternoon trading, losing almost half of its value from only a month ago, according to Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange by transaction volume. It fell below 40 mi
Market May 24, 2021
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[Eye Plus] Last decades of Joseon era on show at Unhyeongung
Unhyeongung near Anguk Station on subway line No. 3 is surely not a major Joseon-era palace that appears prominently in tourist guide books. The relatively small complex that once belonged to Heungseon Daewongun, father of King Gojong, however, is worth a visit as it embodies the final years of the dynasty before losing power to Japanese intervention in early 20th century. Not only the dark history of the consequent fall of Joseon royal line, but also the house shows the everyday lives of the r
Market May 22, 2021
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Bithumb dismisses concerns about fraud case
Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, shrugged off questions on Friday about a fraud case involving a major shareholder. Lee Jung-hoon, former chairman of Bithumb Korea -- the operator of crypto exchange Bithumb and Bithumb Holdings, which controls Bithumb Korea -- is currently under investigation in connection with fraud allegations. Due to a very complicated corporate structure, Lee reportedly holds a 65 percent stake in Bithumb Korea. In Oc
Market May 21, 2021
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Cryptocurrency panic-selling wipes out W900tr in 24 hours
Cryptocurrency markets continued to experience a sellout on Thursday, triggered by a combination of negative news including China’s latest regulations. According to CoinMarketCap, a market data tracker, some 900 trillion won ($794 billion) worth of cryptocurrency was lost within less than 24 hours as of Wednesday night. That is twice as much as Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization, which stood at 474 trillion won Thursday. The price of a bitcoin was around 51 million won
Market May 20, 2021
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Bithumb Korea’s net profit soars 876% in Q1
Bithumb Holdings, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, saw a surge in sales and net profit in the first quarter of 2021, its largest shareholder’s financial results showed on Tuesday. According to Vidente’s regulatory filings, Bithumb logged 250.2 billion won ($220 million) in sales in the first quarter this year, jumping 458 percent from the same period last year. Its net profit soared 876 percent to 222.5 billion won in net profit during the same period. The company&
Market May 18, 2021
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KakaoBank’s Q1 net profit jumps 150%
KakaoBank, South Korea’s biggest online bank, saw more than a 150 percent growth in its first-quarter net profit due to an increase in interest income and transaction fees, the firm said Monday. Its net profit stood at 46.7 billion won ($41.1 million) in the first quarter, up 152.4 percent from 18.5 billion won from the same period last year, according to the banking unit of mobile giant Kakao. The company’s profit from transfer fees turned around from a net loss of 3.1 billion w
Market May 18, 2021
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Bithumb faces mounting criticism over repeated server errors
Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by transaction volume, is facing mounting criticism over repeated glitches on its platform, which has accumulated to at least 11 times since April. As of Sunday, there were a total of 11 server delays that Bithumb disclosed officially since April, including the latest one Friday. The figure excludes temporary suspensions in transactions due to network issues. Bithumb’s server errors, ranging from suspension in price
Market May 16, 2021
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BOK seeks authority to monitor crypto transactions
The Bank of Korea is seeking the authority to monitor cryptocurrency transactions made through users’ real-name bank accounts, a document recently submitted to a lawmaker here by the central bank showed. “We plan to utilize our legal authority over requesting document submittal from financial institutions to monitor the volume of cryptocurrency transactions made through bank accounts,” the document submitted to Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the main opposition People Power Party on W
Market May 13, 2021
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Kakaobank lowers rates for mid-credit holders
Kakaobank, the country’s second internet-only bank, has cut interest rates for mid-range credit holders, the lender said on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to provide better services to customers with thin credit files. The banking arm of mobile giant Kakao said it has slashed rates by up to 1.2 percentage points for mid-range credit holders. The bank also expanded a loan limit from 50 million won ($44,518) to 70 million won for them while halving the limit for high creditors to 50 mil
Market May 12, 2021
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Accelerator Future Play raises W10B for expansion
Future Play, a South Korea-based accelerator, said on Tuesday that it has raised 10 billion won ($8.9 million) in the latest funding for its business expansion. Its Series B funding drew investment from LG International, DB Financial Investment, Prophet Asset Management, Futura, Data Solution and Hashed, said the company’s CEO and founder Ryu Jung-hee. The company plans to enter Indonesia later this month and introduce FuturePlace.AI, an online platform to provide tailor-made resources
Market May 11, 2021
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