Journalist

Choi Min-sung
  • NH NongHyup Financial Adopts Five-Day Vehicle Rotation to Save Energy
    NH NongHyup Financial Adopts Five-Day Vehicle Rotation to Save Energy NH NongHyup Financial Group said on the 24th it has immediately introduced a groupwide five-day vehicle rotation system as the government raised its resource security alert due to the prolonged war in the Middle East. With uncertainty growing over energy supplies as Middle East conditions deteriorate, the government raised the resource security alert for crude oil to the “caution” level as of 3 p.m. on the 18th. Starting at midnight on the 25th, the public sector will begin a five-day passenger-car rotation system that restricts driving by day of the week based on the last digit of a vehicle’s license plate number. NongHyup Financial said it will apply the policy from the 24th to all affiliates, including the financial holding company, in line with the government’s energy-saving measures for public institutions. The rule covers both corporate vehicles and employees’ commuting vehicles. Exemptions apply to electric and hydrogen vehicles and to cases where travel is difficult, including people with disabilities, pregnant women and vehicles carrying infants. The group said it is also stepping up energy-saving and carbon-reduction efforts by turning off lights in office areas, shutting down unused electronic devices and encouraging stair use. Chairman Lee Chan-woo said the group has maintained an emergency response system for financial markets since the outbreak of the Middle East war. “All employees will join in saving energy and take the lead in overcoming this national crisis,” he said.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-24 15:39:00
  • IBK Industrial Bank of Korea to Provide 2 Trillion Won Package for Regional SMEs
    IBK Industrial Bank of Korea to Provide 2 Trillion Won Package for Regional SMEs IBK Industrial Bank of Korea said March 24 it will launch a 2 trillion won ($) “regional balanced growth” financing package to strengthen the competitiveness of small and midsize companies outside the capital area. The package consists of three programs: liquidity support (1 trillion won), financing-cost relief (1 trillion won) and business restructuring support. The liquidity program targets companies in regional strategic industries and firms relocating to provincial areas. It offers a 0.6 percentage point cut in guarantee fees and up to a 1.3 percentage point reduction in loan rates for three years. To fund the program, the bank will make a special 42 billion won contribution to the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corp. The financing-cost relief program will be linked to interest-subsidy loans backed by local governments and public institutions, under which they cover the gap between commercial bank rates and a policy target rate. IBK said it will add up to a 1.0 percentage point rate cut on top of local-government benefits to ease interest burdens for regional companies. Under the business restructuring program, the bank will provide investment and financing to strong regional companies that need to shift their business lines, aiming to help provincial SMEs improve their fundamentals and pursue sustainable growth. IBK CEO Jang Min-young said the bank will “take the lead in balanced regional development” by offering “meaningful rate benefits that regional SMEs can feel” and supporting local industrial ecosystems.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-24 14:03:40
  • NH NongHyup Bank Offers Free Anti-Voice Phishing Insurance for Seniors
    NH NongHyup Bank Offers Free Anti-Voice Phishing Insurance for Seniors NH NongHyup Bank said March 24 it will provide free enrollment in a “voice phishing compensation insurance” program for 1 million South Koreans age 60 and older, a group it described as especially vulnerable to financial fraud. Customers can apply at NH NongHyup Bank branches or through the NH All One Bank app. The policy covers up to 70% of direct remittance losses caused by voice phishing or messenger phishing, with a maximum payout of 10 million won. Bank President Kang Tae-young visited a senior welfare center in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 24 and held an on-site enrollment event using a mobile branch. The bank also provided fraud-prevention education for center users. The bank said the initiative was designed to support financially vulnerable groups in line with the government’s inclusive finance policy direction. It is being jointly promoted by NH NongHyup Bank and the NH Urban-Rural Co-Prosperity National Movement Headquarters to build a practical compensation system. NH NongHyup Bank said it has strengthened consumer protection, including creating a dedicated financial fraud response unit within its consumer protection division last year and elevating the division’s standing in its internal organization chart from 15th to second, raising the profile of its chief consumer officer. The bank also operates 24-hour monitoring of suspicious accounts to detect and block transactions believed to be linked to voice phishing, and it said branch staff may halt suspicious transactions during in-person consultations. The amount of losses prevented through these efforts rose from 27.2 billion won at the end of 2023 to 101.0 billion won at the end of 2025, more than tripling. “As financial fraud damage continues to rise, we hope this compensation insurance will provide real help to victims,” Kang said. “We will continue to expand support to underserved areas by using our nationwide branch network.” 2026-03-24 13:39:00
  • NH NongHyup Bank Launches Principal-Protected ELD With Up to 10.1% Annual Return
    NH NongHyup Bank Launches Principal-Protected ELD With Up to 10.1% Annual Return NH NongHyup Bank said March 24 it will launch its “Equity-Linked Deposit (ELD) 26-1,” a principal-protected product that guarantees principal and a minimum contracted interest rate if held to maturity, while offering potential additional returns. The one-year deposit is linked to the KOSPI 200 index, with returns determined by index movements. It comes in three types: Stable I, Return I and Return II. The KOSPI 200 Stable I type offers annual returns from 2.6% to 3.10% (2.45% to 2.95% for corporate customers), depending on the underlying asset’s gain. The KOSPI 200 Return I type offers 2.4% to 5.4% (2.25% to 5.25% for corporate customers). The KOSPI 200 Return II type offers up to 10.1% annually (9.95% for corporate customers). Subscriptions will be accepted from March 25 to April 3 through branches nationwide, as well as NH All One Bank and NH Smart Banking. “ELDs are products that protect principal at maturity while allowing customers to seek additional returns,” said Park Hyun-ju, executive vice president for personal finance at NongHyup Bank. “We will continue to support customers in building stable assets through a range of products.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-24 10:13:20
  • Hana Bank Launches AI Pension Investment Service in Mobile App
    Hana Bank Launches AI Pension Investment Service in Mobile App Hana Bank is rolling out a service that uses artificial intelligence to help manage pension assets from contributions through withdrawals. The bank said Tuesday it will offer an integrated “AI Pension Investment Solution” service through its mobile app, New Hana 1Q. The service uses AI to assess a customer’s investment profile and existing assets and recommend an optimal portfolio. It was developed through joint research with Hana Financial Group’s dedicated AI organization, the Hana Financial Convergence Technology Institute. For defined-contribution (DC) and individual retirement pension (IRP) customers in the accumulation phase, the tool proposes a portfolio centered on five asset classes — including stocks, bonds and alternative assets — based on the customer’s retirement timing and target assets. For IRP customers age 55 and older in the withdrawal phase, it analyzes the pension payout cycle and amount and supports an operating strategy built around six asset classes, including funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and deposits. The withdrawal tool can generate more than 1,000 portfolio combinations and provides a daily list of candidate investment products reflecting changes in market conditions. “Pension assets have been expanded into an investment solution that reflects life stages and management goals,” said Cho Young-sun, deputy head of Hana Bank’s retirement pension group. “We will continue to introduce innovative services by proactively identifying customers’ pension management needs.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-24 08:58:27
  • NH NongHyup Bank Conducts On-Site Internal Controls Checks to Prevent Mis-Selling
    NH NongHyup Bank Conducts On-Site Internal Controls Checks to Prevent Mis-Selling NH NongHyup Bank said March 22 it conducted on-site internal controls inspections to prevent consumer harm from mis-selling and to promote sound sales practices. Park Jang-soon, the bank’s executive vice president for financial consumer protection, visited the South Chungcheong business office on March 20 to assess whether consumer-protection internal controls were being carried out and how they were operating. The inspection focused on compliance with the Financial Consumer Protection Act and on the bank’s management system designed to prevent the incomplete sale of financial products. Park also checked whether the office had protection measures and response procedures for vulnerable customers, including older adults, people with disabilities and pregnant women. “This inspection served as an opportunity to further strengthen internal controls at branches,” Park said. “We will continue to step up financial consumer protection to remain a financial institution that always earns customers’ trust.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-22 10:18:00
  • IBK Industrial Bank Expands AI Use, Automates Guaranteed-Loan Reviews
    IBK Industrial Bank Expands AI Use, Automates Guaranteed-Loan Reviews IBK Industrial Bank of Korea is expanding its use of artificial intelligence by rolling out an in-house system across frontline operations. The bank said it built an AI model called ‘IBK GenAI’ to boost efficiency and productivity across the organization and is applying it broadly to day-to-day work. IBK GenAI is an internal large language model trained on the bank’s own data. It provides tailored AI environments by department and can instantly search and answer from 120,000 items of key business knowledge. It also offers 17 specialized services, including a letter-of-credit assistant. Head office and branch employees have used IBK GenAI to develop and deploy 249 customized services, the bank said, supporting more personalized workflow improvements. The bank is also applying AI to core lending operations, including guaranteed loans. In the guaranteed-loan process, it has automated AI reviews and approval work that had been handled manually, reducing repetitive tasks for staff. When issuing AI-based guarantees, the system automatically recommends internal products that match special contract terms, improving branch efficiency. An IBK official said the bank plans to pursue internal and external innovation so that, through a broad AI transformation, AI becomes embedded across operations — including work processes, decision-making systems and risk management — beyond being used as a simple tool.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-18 18:04:16
  • NH NongHyup Bank Launches AI Service to Automatically Request Loan Rate Cuts
    NH NongHyup Bank Launches AI Service to Automatically Request Loan Rate Cuts NH NongHyup Bank said it has launched and is operating an artificial intelligence-based service that automatically applies for loan rate reductions on behalf of customers, allowing financial consumers to exercise their right to request a lower rate without a separate application process. The bank said its "AI Loan Rate Care" service uses AI to submit requests to cut interest rates for customers who hold loans. The right to request a rate cut allows borrowers to ask for a lower loan rate when their credit conditions improve, such as through higher income or better creditworthiness. The system has been criticized for low usage because many consumers are unaware of it and the application process can be cumbersome. In December last year, the Financial Services Commission designated a MyData-based proxy service for rate-cut requests as an "innovative financial service" as part of efforts to expand inclusive finance. MyData is a system that lets individuals transmit their personal data to a destination of their choice and manage and use it based on their own decisions. NongHyup Bank said the core of its service is that AI analyzes customers' asset and debt information using MyData and, when conditions for a rate cut are met, exercises the right on the customer's behalf. NH MyData users can access the service after giving one-time consent for proxy applications through NH All One Bank or NH Smart Banking. After that, if the AI determines there is a possibility of a rate cut, it automatically submits rate-cut requests for loan accounts at each financial institution without any additional application, the bank said. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-18 18:03:47
  • Shinhan Bank Joins Bank of Korea’s ‘Project Hangang’ Phase 2 Digital Currency Pilot
    Shinhan Bank Joins Bank of Korea’s ‘Project Hangang’ Phase 2 Digital Currency Pilot Shinhan Bank said Tuesday it will participate in Phase 2 of the Bank of Korea’s digital currency pilot, known as “Project Hangang.” Project Hangang is a digital currency initiative led by the central bank with the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and commercial banks. Under the model, the Bank of Korea issues a wholesale central bank digital currency, and commercial banks issue deposit tokens based on it. Consumers make payments using the deposit tokens issued by their banks. Phase 2 is designed to test whether a digital-currency-based payments infrastructure can be commercialized, with a focus on building conditions that allow customers to use deposit tokens in everyday life. Shinhan said it will broaden participation and usage settings compared with Phase 1 and further test functions including person-to-person transfers, interest payments and automatic conversion. Customers will be able to convert deposits into deposit tokens in the Shinhan SOL Bank app and use them for everyday purchases, including the delivery app Ttaenggyeoyo, convenience stores and Shinhan EZ Insurance travel insurance. The bank also plans to introduce a merchant payment method linked to Shinhan Card. The project will also examine whether the system can be expanded to public finance disbursements, such as paying local government subsidies, vouchers and policy funds in deposit tokens that can be used only at designated outlets. In real-transaction tests that began in April last year, Shinhan accounted for 25% of all e-wallet openings among participating banks, 58% of usage and 73% of transaction value, it said. In Phase 2, the bank plans to strengthen links with group platforms and accelerate efforts to build a digital payments ecosystem spanning private and public sectors. “Deposit tokens are evolving beyond a technology test into a digital means of payment that can be used for real transactions and public finance disbursements,” a Shinhan official said. “We will expand payment experiences customers can feel in daily life and lead the buildout of a digital-currency-based payments infrastructure.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-18 15:27:21
  • KB Kookmin Bank to Hire About 110 Entry-Level Employees in First Half of 2026
    KB Kookmin Bank to Hire About 110 Entry-Level Employees in First Half of 2026 KB Kookmin Bank said March 18 it will recruit about 110 entry-level employees for the first half of 2026. Hiring will be conducted in five categories: UB (corporate client finance and wealth management), UB (regional talent), discharged officers, ESG shared growth, and veterans. Applications will be accepted through March 25 on the bank’s official recruitment website. The process includes document screening, a written test, a first interview and a second interview. Final successful candidates are expected to be announced in June. The UB (Universal Banker) track will select candidates to develop into private bankers and corporate relationship managers. The UB (regional talent) track aims to train regional finance specialists. The bank will also hire discharged officers to recruit candidates with organizational management experience and leadership. The ESG shared growth category targets people with disabilities, recipients of basic livelihood support, North Korean defectors, and children of multicultural families. The veterans category is for eligible national veterans or their family members. A KB Kookmin Bank official said the bank hopes for strong interest and applications from young people who understand the value of challenge and innovation and can help shape the future of finance. The official said the bank will continue inclusive hiring efforts to fulfill its social responsibilities.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-03-18 10:06:00