Journalist

Galim Kwon
  • South Korea Forecast: Mostly Cloudy Thursday With Scattered Rain, Big Temperature Swings
    South Korea Forecast: Mostly Cloudy Thursday With Scattered Rain, Big Temperature Swings Thursday the 7th is expected to be mostly cloudy nationwide, with rain developing in scattered areas from the afternoon, mainly in central regions. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on the 6th, morning lows will range from 9 to 18 degrees Celsius, with daytime highs of 18 to 27 degrees. From afternoon into the night, about 5 millimeters of rain is forecast for the Seoul metropolitan area, inland and mountainous parts of Gangwon, northern South Chungcheong Province and central to northern North Chungcheong Province. From night, parts of the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions and western and northeastern inland and mountainous areas of North Gyeongsang Province may see trace drizzle of less than 0.1 millimeter. Expected rainfall totals are: about 5 millimeters for Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province; the five West Sea islands; and inland and mountainous Gangwon; and less than 5 millimeters for northern South Chungcheong, the southern South Chungcheong west coast, central to northern North Chungcheong and western North Jeolla. Ulleungdo and Dokdo are forecast to receive less than 5 millimeters between the 7th and 8th. Elsewhere in the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions and along the mid-to-northern Gangwon east coast, some areas may get brief nighttime drizzle of less than 0.1 millimeter. Gusts of around 55 kilometers per hour are also possible, mainly in central regions and the Jeolla area. Fine dust levels are expected to range from “good” to “moderate” nationwide.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-06 18:00:21
  • IBK Research Chief Warns Small Firms Face Failures; Calls for More Productive Lending
    IBK Research Chief Warns Small Firms Face Failures; Calls for More Productive Lending 최근 고환율·고유가 등 대외 여건이 악화되면서 한국 경제의 허리인 중소기업들이 전례 없는 위기에 직면했다. 조달 비용 상승으로 마진은 줄고 이자조차 감당하기 어려운 한계기업이 속출하고 있다. Seo Gyeong-ran, head of the IBK Economic Research Institute, said the biggest challenge facing South Korea is what she called a “downward chain reaction of polarization.” She said global bloc tensions are widening the gap between export industries and domestic-demand industries, deepening differences in companies’ ability to recover and ultimately affecting people’s livelihoods. “Small firms’ survival is the banks’ survival,” Seo said, calling on lenders to balance productive finance and inclusive finance by learning to assess value beyond financial statements. The following is a Q&A with Seo. -최근 대내외 경제 여건이 녹록지 않다. 한국 경제를 짓누르는 가장 큰 부담 요인은 무엇인가. “Rising exchange rates and oil prices,” she said. Companies that import raw materials to process and export face higher procurement costs, squeezing already thin margins. More firms cannot cover interest with operating profit, which can lead to loan delinquencies, she said. Zombie firms with an interest coverage ratio below 1 have increased for three straight years since 2023 and are expected to rise again this year, she said. -기업 가운데 중소기업의 연체율이 급등하고 있다. 원인은 무엇인가. Seo cited three structural problems: shrinking scale, aging and polarization. Large companies are export-oriented, while small and medium-sized enterprises rely on domestic demand, she said, making it hard to build resilience and lowering survival rates. The average lifespan of long-lived companies has recently fallen to 10 years, she said. She also pointed to aging industrial infrastructure and management. Industrial complexes built for small firms in the late 1960s are now 50 to 60 years old, with high vacancy rates and weak productivity, she said. Many CEOs are 60 or older, but succession and business shifts are difficult, and young workers are no longer coming in, she said. As conditions worsen, corporate lending has concentrated in stronger, high-tech sectors, creating a financing divide that contributes to small-firm failures, she said. -올해 중소기업들의 건전성 회복은 어려울까. Small firms’ distress was delayed for about two to three years during the COVID-19 period due to government support, but delinquencies began rising again in 2022, she said. With Middle East war-related risks and tariff policy issues added this year, a prolonged period could increase pressure on soundness and delinquency rates, she said. -이런 상황에도 은행권은 생산적 금융 차원에서 기업 대출을 늘려야 한다. 어떻게 해야 기업에 도움이 되고 은행도 건전성을 지킬 수 있을까. Seo said companies can be grouped into four levels by technology: high, upper-middle, lower-middle and low. Bank funding is concentrated in upper-middle and lower-middle firms because that ecosystem is largest and often has collateral such as real estate and factories, she said. High-level firms include many technology-driven companies, while low-level firms include declining sectors such as textiles and apparel, she said. She said the institute’s role is to identify where funding is concentrated and where it is lacking and to encourage financial support accordingly. She added that the institute is also focusing on research to help banks find ways to support the upper-middle and lower-middle segments while appropriately hedging risk. -정부와 금융권, 중소기업이 어떻게 역할을 분담해야 시너지가 커질까. Seo said productive finance and inclusive finance should be pursued together in corporate lending. Narrowly, inclusive finance supports credit recovery for low-income borrowers, she said, but broadly it can include companies facing temporary difficulties due to credit ratings or the business cycle — including firms that temporarily struggle to pay interest. She said the government should design support systems that reflect these varied situations. The financial sector, she said, should be able to provide funding by assessing nonfinancial factors such as technological capability and CEO competence even when financial ratings are low. Companies also need to present long-term visions, concrete business plans and future directions such as industry shifts, she said. Firms should first seek consulting to raise productivity, with financing attached to build a sustainable structure, she said. -생산적 금융 싱크탱크 역할을 하며 어떤 것을 최우선 과제로 보고 있나. Seo said the Industrial Bank of Korea was founded in 1961 and evolved into a specialized lender for small firms as the need for SME support grew. Its creation itself marked the start of inclusive finance, she said. SMEs that were once the target of inclusive finance have grown into key players in productive finance, while some still need inclusion, she said. Finding the right balance between productive and inclusive finance is IBK’s core task, she said. -기업은행만의 차별화된 지원책은. Seo said IBK operates the largest corporate consulting center, providing free management diagnostics and connecting companies to policy funds. Based on the belief that small firms’ fortunes are tied to the bank’s, IBK is investing in nonfinancial services, she said. She added that IBK carries a heavy responsibility because it is, in her words, unique worldwide as a listed company dedicated to SME finance that reinvests its profits back into small firms. -올해 경제성장률은 어떻게 전망하나. Seo said the International Monetary Fund’s estimate for South Korea’s economic growth this year is 1.9%, below the global average of 3.1%. Many research institutions are warning of downside risks, she said. The institute analyzed five industries closely tied to energy supply chains — coal and petroleum products, electricity, chemical products, nonmetallic minerals, and transportation and warehousing — and found their sales all fell from a year earlier and by more than the overall industry average, she said. She said restoring potential growth should start with raising productivity and innovation capacity across the broader corporate ecosystem, rather than relying on the performance of a few strong companies. -앞으로 한국 경제가 집중해야 할 과제는. Seo said South Korea is already an advanced economy by GDP size and trade volume, but still has unresolved issues in business efficiency, including labor-related challenges. The most urgent issue is demographics, she said. The working-age population began declining in 2020, and low birthrates are constricting the supply of human capital, she said. She called for considering measures such as expanding women’s participation in the workforce, adopting flexible work systems and using foreign labor.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-06 17:07:28
  • IBK Economic Research Chief: AI-Driven Industry Shift Could Be Turning Point for SMEs
    IBK Economic Research Chief: AI-Driven Industry Shift Could Be Turning Point for SMEs Seo Gyeong-ran, head of the IBK Economic Research Institute, is known as a specialist with experience across finance and industry. Building on that background, she is pushing research beyond economic analysis to examine the role of policy finance and link it to the bank’s growth strategy. Seo earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of Seoul and began her career as a researcher at the Korea Development Institute, or KDI. For more than 20 years, she has analyzed financing for small and midsize enterprises and the broader business environment, offering policy recommendations to government and the financial sector. Last year, she also worked as an expert member of the current administration’s state affairs planning committee, gaining firsthand policy experience. She is now deeply involved in setting policy direction and mid- to long-term strategy at IBK, a policy lender specializing in SMEs. Her top research focus recently has been the sweeping changes artificial intelligence is bringing to finance. With global economic uncertainty persisting and AI-driven industrial restructuring accelerating, she said the moment could be a major turning point for both the South Korean economy and its SMEs. Seo said AI should be viewed not merely as a workplace tool but as a foundation for expanding finance’s role. She argued AI can create new industries while also being integrated into manufacturing, reshaping it. Korea’s shipbuilding, auto and steel sectors, she said, should not decline in the face of AI but instead build new competitiveness by adopting it — a shift she sees as essential to sustaining the country’s potential growth rate. She expects finance to expand toward supporting corporate decision-making as AI adoption spreads. Using AI-based evaluation systems, lenders could more precisely assess growth potential and risks based on sales trends and productivity data, then design and supply tailored financial products. More customized consulting that reflects a company’s specific situation would also become possible. Seo said the success of the AI transition will hinge on data. “We are focusing on building a system that selects useful information from the vast amount of continuously generated data and links it organically,” she said. She added that “beyond simple adoption, developing business models that can generate profitability is essential,” underscoring IBK’s deliberations over its artificial intelligence transformation, or AX, roadmap.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-06 17:06:08
  • Kakao Pay Launches Parents Day Campaign, Gives Carnations and Message Cards
    Kakao Pay Launches Parents Day Campaign, Gives Carnations and Message Cards Kakao Pay is rolling out a special campaign and promotions for May, widely observed in South Korea as Family Month. A survey published Monday by Pay Attention, Kakao Pay’s official finance journal, found that 89% of 27,095 respondents chose cash as their preferred Parents Day gift. Kakao Pay said its user data showed a similar pattern. The busiest day for Kakao Pay remittances in May last year was Parents Day, when more than 3.03 million transfers were made in a single day, the highest daily total of the year. Reflecting that demand while encouraging in-person family connections, the company is hosting a series of events. For Parents Day, Kakao Pay is running a campaign titled, “Don’t use Kakao Pay. Go see them now,” urging users to visit their parents rather than relying only on convenient money transfers. Kakao Pay said that when the campaign debuted last year, it delivered its message to about 400,000 people. Kakao Pay, which has promoted a “conversation-like” remittance culture, said the campaign is meant to encourage people to share their gratitude face to face, especially around Parents Day. The company has also held various remittance-related events around holidays such as Lunar New Year. Kakao Pay also took the campaign offline with a “Heart Truck.” The truck toured major Seoul areas including Gangnam, Jamsil and Seongsu from May 2 to 3 to share the campaign message. From May 4 to 5, Kakao Pay is holding an on-site event at the intersection near Ttukseom Station in Seongsu-dong, using the “Heart Truck” concept. The company plans to give the first about 1,000 visitors message cards featuring family-themed phrases by author Lee Seul-a, along with carnations and “heart envelopes,” to help them share their feelings directly with family members. A Kakao Pay official said, “We hope that through the online and offline events Kakao Pay has prepared for Family Month, people will have time to meet face to face and share deeper warmth.” * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-04 20:18:18
  • KB, Shinhan and Woori Tell SEC Inclusive Finance Push Could Strain Asset Quality
    KB, Shinhan and Woori Tell SEC Inclusive Finance Push Could Strain Asset Quality South Korea’s major financial holding companies have warned that the government’s expanding “shared growth” and inclusive finance policies could weigh on asset quality. According to the financial sector on the 4th, KB Financial Group and Shinhan and Woori Financial Group recently filed earnings-related reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Korean financial holding companies regularly submit reports to the SEC as they diversify funding channels. The filings shared a common concern about soundness. KB said that aligning with the government’s “productive finance” policy could lead to losses, adding that increased exposure to small and midsize enterprises this year could push delinquency rates higher. Shinhan also said delinquency rates are likely to rise as it advances programs such as the Sae Do-yak Fund. Woori said measures such as adjusting interest rates for middle- and low-income borrowers could add pressure to its net interest margin, and it may need to take steps to reduce SME exposure. Delinquency indicators have already worsened as banks expand lending to SMEs under the productive finance drive. The average corporate delinquency rate at the five major banks — KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — rose to 0.46% in the first quarter from 0.37% the previous quarter. The SME delinquency rate increased to 0.57% from 0.49%. Delinquencies in real estate-related industries have hit the highest level in 13 years as the Middle East war has delayed a recovery in the property market. The burden from estimated losses and other asset-quality pressures is likely to grow, as high inflation and an economic slowdown further weaken conditions for SMEs. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said the Small Business Health Index (SBHI) for May fell 3.2 points from the previous month to 77.6. A reading below 100 means more firms expect conditions to worsen than to improve.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-04 18:42:18
  • Bitcoin Nears $80,000 as Middle East Tensions Ease
    Bitcoin Nears $80,000 as Middle East Tensions Ease Bitcoin was closing in on $80,000 on expectations that geopolitical risks in the Middle East may ease. Bitcoin was trading at $79,201 as of 8 a.m. on the 4th, up 0.44% from a day earlier, according to CoinMarketCap. The cryptocurrency had fallen as low as the $66,000 range amid a war between the United States and Iran, but has moved within a roughly $78,000 band over the past week. The latest gains appeared to reflect rising hopes for reduced tensions. Iran recently delivered a new ceasefire proposal to the United States through mediator Pakistan. The United States was reported to have sent its response via Pakistan. Some in the market expect the current trend to continue for now, while noting that because April’s rise was driven largely by futures trading, a price correction could emerge over the coming months. Major altcoins also edged higher. Ethereum, the No. 2 token by market value, rose 0.88% to $2,344. Ripple (XRP), ranked third, gained 0.29% to $1.39. Solana added 0.43% to $84. In South Korea, bitcoin was trading at 117.17 million won (about $79,334) on the won-based exchange Bithumb at the same time, up 0.47% from a day earlier. The so-called “kimchi premium,” in which domestic prices trade above overseas levels, stood at about 0.49%.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-04 08:33:14
  • Big 4 Korean Financial Groups’ Uncollectible Loans Near 3 Trillion Won as SMEs Struggle
    Big 4 Korean Financial Groups’ Uncollectible Loans Near 3 Trillion Won as SMEs Struggle High interest rates and a prolonged economic slowdown have made it harder for banks to recover loans, pushing the Big Four financial groups’ estimated losses to nearly 3 trillion won by the end of the first quarter. Fact books released on May 3 by KB, Shinhan, Hana and Woori showed estimated losses totaling 2.9963 trillion won in the first quarter. That was up 5.8% from a year earlier and 16.8% from the previous quarter, the highest on record. Banks classify loan quality into five categories based largely on delinquency: normal, precautionary, substandard, doubtful and estimated loss. “Estimated loss” refers to loans delinquent for more than 12 months and considered effectively unrecoverable. By group, Hana Financial Group posted the fastest increase, with estimated losses rising 30.3% from a year earlier to 503 billion won. KB Financial Group’s estimated losses climbed 27.2% to 807.2 billion won from 634.6 billion won a year earlier. Woori Financial Group’s rose 12.4% to 826 billion won from 735 billion won. Shinhan Financial Group was the only one to report a decline, down 20.1% to 860.1 billion won, as it managed troubled assets through write-offs and other measures. The surge in write-offs indicates weakening repayment capacity among borrowers. The average corporate delinquency rate at the five largest banks — KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — rose to 0.46% in the first quarter from 0.37% the previous quarter. The small- and medium-sized business delinquency rate increased to 0.57% from 0.49%. Delinquencies in industries tied to real estate have hit a 13-year high as a Middle East war has delayed a recovery in the property market. Nonperforming loans, a broader asset-quality measure that includes substandard and doubtful loans in addition to estimated losses, also jumped. NPLs at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori banks totaled 5.0773 trillion won at the end of the first quarter, up 12% from the end of last year. Asset-quality pressure could intensify. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said small businesses’ May outlook index, the Small Business Health Index, fell 3.2 points from the previous month to 77.6. A reading below 100 means more firms expect conditions to worsen than to improve. Banks said they plan to manage risk through steps including selling bad loans. A financial industry official said lenders are applying measures such as early credit assessments for vulnerable borrowers, screening high-risk borrowers and quickly restructuring loans to troubled companies. The official added that banks are also building real-time monitoring systems through overseas offices and setting aside additional reserves to prepare for possible further losses from overseas real estate investments. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-03 16:04:52
  • South Korea approves five National Growth Fund projects, bringing total to 8.4 trillion won
    South Korea approves five National Growth Fund projects, bringing total to 8.4 trillion won The Financial Services Commission is moving to step up investment through the National Growth Fund. The FSC said Saturday it approved funding support for five projects at a meeting of the fund’s investment review committee. With the latest approvals, the fund has approved 11 projects totaling 8.4 trillion won in cumulative financing. A key agenda item was a 100 billion won direct investment in Upstage, a South Korean AI venture that develops AI solutions for businesses and government and builds large language models. The FSC said the investment will be used to develop next-generation AI models and build infrastructure to operate large language models, as part of a planned 560 billion won fundraising effort. The committee also approved a project to build a national AI computing center. The FSC said the approval confirms 400 billion won in capital fundraising, with plans to pursue additional loans of up to more than 2 trillion won. A proposal tied to building an advanced industrial belt in Saemangeum was also approved. The National Growth Fund decided to provide Future Graph with a total of 250 billion won in low-interest loans, including 200 billion won from an advanced strategic industries fund. The FSC said the factory project, with 400 billion won to be invested, is expected to establish an annual production base of 37,000 tons of spherical graphite at the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex. Other approved items included an expansion of STGen Bio’s contract manufacturing plant for biopharmaceuticals and low-interest loans for a midsize semiconductor materials company. The FSC said it is accelerating investment planning after creating the 150 trillion won National Growth Fund to foster advanced strategic industries and support an economic rebound. It said it will regularly announce large-scale projects with broad industrial spillover effects while responding on an ongoing basis to diverse funding needs across the advanced-industry ecosystem.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-03 12:05:10
  • KB Financial Discusses Digital Asset Cooperation With Pantera Capital
    KB Financial Discusses Digital Asset Cooperation With Pantera Capital KB Financial Group said Saturday it discussed ways to cooperate in blockchain with Pantera Capital, a U.S. blockchain-focused venture capital firm and hedge fund. Founded in 2003, Pantera Capital launched the first U.S. bitcoin fund in 2013 and specializes in blockchain investments. It currently manages about $5.2 billion in assets. The two sides shared the latest trends in the global blockchain industry and looked for areas that align with KB Financial’s digital asset agenda, the company said. They also discussed benchmarking investment approaches and cooperation models that have been proven in global markets, and ways to strengthen collaboration going forward. A KB Financial official said the group will “secure future financial competitiveness based on blockchain and accelerate efforts to identify promising new global businesses” by building close ties with leading global funds. Separately, KB Financial has been moving to strengthen cooperation with Tether and Circle, the top two global stablecoin operators, as it seeks an edge in the digital asset market. It has also signed a business agreement for the second phase of “Project Hangang,” led by the Bank of Korea. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-05-03 11:30:14
  • With Won Near 1,500 per Dollar, Expert Urges Stronger Foreign-Exchange Defenses
    With Won Near 1,500 per Dollar, Expert Urges Stronger Foreign-Exchange Defenses Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song took office April 20. The central bank’s most important tasks are price stability and defending the exchange rate, the author wrote. The won has trended weaker over decades, from the 200-won range in the 1970s to about 2,000 won during the IMF foreign-exchange crisis and 1,600 won during the global financial crisis.  South Korea depends on trade, with a trade-to-GDP ratio of about 75%, the world’s second-highest, the author said. That makes exchange-rate swings from external shocks more than a market indicator, he wrote, calling on the government to build a stronger foreign-exchange “breakwater” on three fronts. First, the author urged building foreign-exchange reserves toward $1 trillion. South Korea’s reserves stand at $420 billion, which he said is insufficient in a crisis and equals about 23% of gross domestic product. He compared that with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Switzerland, which he said hold reserves equal to 80% to 130% of GDP.  He cited Taiwan’s experience in the 1997 Asian financial crisis, saying its stockpiled reserves helped it remain stable. South Korea should expand reserves to $1 trillion, or about 50% of GDP, to provide psychological stability to markets, he wrote, arguing that readily deployable cash is the most practical shield against speculative attacks on the won.  Second, he called for restoring and expanding currency swap lines with the United States and Japan on a standing basis. If reserves are a country’s own capital, he wrote, swap lines are a second line of defense, like an overdraft. The $60 billion Korea-U.S. swap line has ended, and the Korea-Japan swap line has shrunk to about $10 billion from a previous $70 billion, he wrote. Swap lines with reserve-currency countries, he added, can convince markets that “Korea will not run short of dollars,” helping curb sharp exchange-rate spikes. Third, he urged stricter debt management and stronger fiscal discipline. The IMF has warned about 2030, when South Korea’s government debt ratio is expected to reach 60%, he wrote. Including contingent liabilities such as civil servant and military pensions, he said broader public debt has already reached 181%. If fiscal weakness erodes external confidence, he warned, the won’s long-term weakening could accelerate. The author also called for attracting more foreign investment by cutting South Korea’s corporate tax rate from 26% to the global average of 21% and easing regulations tied to the fourth industrial revolution. He wrote that new industries such as Uber, Airbnb and Tada have all been banned in South Korea, adding that the exchange rate is “the price of national credibility.”  He argued the government must also avoid injecting excessive liquidity. The government has finalized a 26 trillion won supplementary budget. Last year, South Korea posted 1% economic growth and 2% inflation, and he wrote that an appropriate money-supply increase would be about 3%. But he said the minimum wage was raised 2.9%, the annual budget was increased 8.1%, and including the 26 trillion won “war” supplementary budget would push the total above 9%. More won liquidity would fuel demand, lift prices and lead to a weaker currency, he wrote. South Korea’s ratio of money supplied relative to GDP is 154%, he said, compared with 71% for the United States.  Only preemptive action can prevent a “second IMF,” he wrote. Companies and individuals have accumulated more than $1 trillion in dollars, he said, but low-income households holding assets only in won would face greater hardship in an exchange-rate crisis. With war and global supply-chain restructuring, he added, exchange-rate stability is no longer solely the Bank of Korea’s task.  He urged an all-of-government push to build reserves, expand swap lines and strengthen fiscal discipline. The government, he wrote, should not miss the “golden time” to protect the economy and break what he described as an 86% probability that the exchange rate will keep rising. He called for a responsible choice between repeating a foreign-exchange crisis and protecting livelihoods through early action.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-29 17:07:58