South Korea’s Internet Banks Step Up Lending to Sole Proprietors South Korea’s internet-only banks are accelerating efforts to grow lending to sole proprietors as they look for new revenue sources. With major commercial banks taking a more cautious approach to such loans to manage asset quality, online lenders are moving to capture niche demand and diversify their portfolios. According to the financial industry on Saturday, KakaoBank since Feb. 2 has added a new three-year maturity option to its real estate-backed loan for sole proprietors, which has a maximum limit of 1 billion won. The bank previously offered only 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year terms, but expanded choices as demand for short-term funding has grown. It also added a bullet repayment option alongside installment repayment, allowing borrowers to reduce monthly payments. Toss Bank, which has not yet launched a collateralized loan, is strengthening its lineup with unsecured products aimed at specific sole proprietors. On Feb. 5, it introduced a “professional sole proprietor loan” for nine licensed professions, including doctors, lawyers and accountants. The bank said it can automatically verify license and certification information through a non-face-to-face process. K Bank moved first among internet-only banks by launching a real estate-backed loan for sole proprietors and has sought to add customers by expanding refinancing so borrowers can switch from loans at most regulated financial institutions. It is promoting competitive terms, including an average interest rate about 1 percentage point lower than major commercial banks. The push reflects the need to sustain growth as financial regulators continue to tighten oversight of household lending, limiting asset growth for internet-only banks that have relied heavily on consumer loans. Loans to sole proprietors are seen as a new growth area because they are relatively less affected by those rules. Demand is also shifting as South Korea’s five largest banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — have raised rates or tightened screening for sole proprietor loans amid concerns about weakening asset-quality indicators. As of the end of last year, the five banks’ outstanding sole proprietor loans totaled 324.4325 trillion won, down 0.4% from a year earlier. Over the same period, KakaoBank’s outstanding sole proprietor loans, including real estate-backed and unsecured loans, rose 61.3% to 3.0550 trillion won. K Bank’s total outstanding sole proprietor loans also doubled. “Because growth strategies centered on household lending are becoming difficult, we have no choice but to expand corporate credit, especially financing for sole proprietors,” an internet-only bank official said. “Non-face-to-face financial services that improve convenience for sole proprietors will continue to be introduced.” 2026-02-08 07:03:00

South Korea's K Bank targets 85 trillion won assets by 2030 SEOUL, January 08 (AJP) - Choi Woo-hyung, CEO of South Korea's digital lender K Bank, said on Thursday the bank aims to become a “comprehensive digital finance platform” by 2030, targeting 26 million customers and 85 trillion won ($59 billion) in assets. Choi unveiled the mid- to long-term growth strategy at the bank’s 10th anniversary event. For this year, K Bank set a goal of reaching 18 million customers, supported by three growth pillars: platform-based services, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance, and the expanded use of artificial intelligence and digital assets. The bank plans to deploy AI more widely across its operations and enhance its ability to respond to developments in digital assets, including stablecoins, Choi said. Founded in January 2016, K Bank began operations in April 2017 and has positioned itself as a pioneer in digital-only banking in South Korea. Its products include the country’s first non-face-to-face apartment mortgage loan, launched in 2020, a remote guaranteed loan for sole proprietors introduced in 2022, and a non-face-to-face real estate collateral loan rolled out in 2024. The bank’s customer base has surpassed 15 million, while assets and annual profits have continued to grow. Reflecting on the past decade, Choi said the bank had weathered repeated challenges but built a foundation for sustained growth. He added that K Bank would continue to focus on differentiated products and services driven by innovation. 2026-01-08 14:13:21

South Korea's Upbit reports $31 million crypto theft SEOUL, November 27 (AJP) - Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said Thursday that digital assets worth about $31 million were stolen in an early-morning security breach, marking the platform’s most serious incident since its major hack six years ago. Operator Dunamu said the breach was detected around 4:40 a.m., when assets on the Solana network were transferred to an unauthorized wallet. The stolen holdings include Solana (SOL) and 23 other tokens such as DoubleZero (2Z), Access Protocol (ACS), Bonk (BONK) and Doodles (DOOD). “Upon detecting the anomaly, we immediately halted all Solana-related transactions and initiated a comprehensive security review,” Dunamu said in a statement. “The loss has been fully covered by Upbit’s own assets.” The company added that remaining assets had been moved to offline cold wallets to prevent further unauthorized transfers and that it is preparing to cooperate with law enforcement. The incident is the first major theft involving Upbit since November 2019, when 342,000 Ethereum — then valued at roughly $500 million — were moved from the exchange’s hot wallet to an external address. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-11-27 14:11:41

South Korea's crypto curbs push investors to foreign exchanges SEOUL, November 04 (AJP) - The number of South Korean investors holding large sums in overseas cryptocurrency exchange accounts has more than doubled in a year, reflecting both the global market’s resurgence and growing frustration with South Korea’s restrictive trading environment. According to data from the National Tax Service, 2,320 South Koreans reported offshore crypto accounts exceeding 500 million won (about $360,000) by the end of last year — a two-fold increase from the previous year. The number of such investors was 1,043 in 2021 and 1,432 in 2022, before surging amid last year’s cryptocurrency boom. Under South Korea’s foreign financial account reporting system, individuals and corporations must declare any overseas accounts that hold more than 500 million won at any point during the year. Crypto holdings were newly included in this requirement beginning in June 2023. Of all the accounts reported last year, 75.3 percent were linked to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange — a sharp rise from 52.7 percent in 2022. Industry sources say Binance’s popularity stems from its wide range of trading products and high leverage options, which appeal to risk-tolerant investors but are restricted or banned in South Korea. Binance allows derivatives trading with leverage of up to 125 times, offers low fees, and lists 437 cryptocurrencies — compared with 294 on Upbit, South Korea’s dominant exchange. Upbit, constrained by local regulations and the 2021 enforcement of the Financial Information Act, focuses mainly on conservative spot trading. The gap underscores a broader concern that South Korea’s digital asset market could become increasingly isolated as tighter regulations limit innovation and investment opportunities. Capital inflows to domestic exchanges have slowed in recent years, while global platforms have continued to expand. “Expanding institutional participation and allowing foreign investors into the local market are essential to boost liquidity,” said an official from a domestic exchange who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “Without structural reform, South Korean exchanges will lose their competitiveness.” Industry officials and lawmakers have urged regulators to ease restrictions and encourage market openness, warning that continued rigidity could push more investors offshore — and leave the country’s crypto sector behind. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2025-11-04 08:54:59