September 25, 2021

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EDITOR'S PICKS

• Markets 
  

  4 out of 10 Seoul apartments bought by 20s, 30s

  On the back of soaring housing prices, a growing number of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s have rushed to buy apartments, with nearly 4 out of 10 Seoul apartments being purchased by those young buyers, data showed Sept. 23. According to data from the Korea Real Estate Board, people in their 30s bought a total of 12,550 homes in the capital city between January and July, which accounted for 36.9 percent of the total 34,045 properties that changed hands in the given period. Those aged 20-29 or

• Markets 
  

  [ESG Talk] Overseeing critical ESG risks: Environmental issues

  As regulatory and stakeholder issues heighten around environmental, social and governance factors, companies must now oversee the associated risks more strategically. Unfortunately, ESG issues are sensitive to public choices, rely on future scenario-based materiality and require longer time horizons. Thus, the challenge in quantifying ESG risks has prompted companies to adopt different risk management procedures. Since ESG risks can turn to sizable negative impacts throughout a company’s

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  [Feature] How fans are turning favorite K-pop songs into investments

  K-pop fans have found a new way to support their favorite idols that could also fatten their wallets at the same time. A growing number of fans are experimenting with new investment methods by investing in shares of copyrights to songs by idols. This new combination of Korean culture and investing comes as K-pop fans seek alternative and meaningful ways to show support for their stars.  For instance, Music Cow, a platform for investing in K-pop songs, allows fans to buy shares to own par

• Markets 
  

  Eximbank to provide over $300m to Egypt for railway project

  　The Export-Import Bank of Korea said on September 23 it will offer more than $300 million in loans to the Egyptian government’s railway modernization project. 　The state-run policy lender plans to supply a combined $312.2 million for the African nation through the “Economic Development Cooperation Fund” as well as the “Economic Development Promotion Facility.” 　Launched in 1987, the EDCF is aimed at helping poor and less developed countries by providin

• Markets 
  

  Kakao Pay faces renewed scrutiny ahead of IPO

  　Ant Group-backed financial technology firm Kakao Pay is facing renewed scrutiny ahead of its upcoming initial public offering as South Korea’s tech crackdown shows no signs of abating. 　Regulators’ tightening grip on online financial platforms puts Kakao Pay, known for its mobile payment app interoperable with Korea’s popular messenger app KakaoTalk, under mounting pressure to revise its prospectus again to scale down its fintech service. 　The stock market debut of Kakao Pa

• Markets 
  

  Overseas stock transactions hit all-time high amid meme stock fad

  　South Koreans’ transactions of foreign shares reached a new high in 2021 as retail investors rushed to trade meme stocks, data showed on September 23. 　Domestic investors’ trading of overseas shares was valued at $277.1 billion from the beginning of the year to Sept. 16, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository. 　The figure was up by 39.7 percent from last year’s accumulated trading volume of $198.3 billion, having already exceeded the 2020 total on June

• Markets 
  

  ADB maintains S. Korea’s growth outlook at 4%, trims projection for Asia

  　The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday maintained its previous 4 percent growth outlook for the South Korean economy this year, on the back of robust exports and mild recovery in private consumption. 　The ADB kept its earlier growth scenario for Korea, which was released in July. It also left its 2022 growth outlook unchanged at 3.1 percent, according to the bank’s report titled “Asian Development Outlook Update.” 　However, it forecast that Korea’s inflation rate will

• Markets 
  

  NPS exposure to Japanese ‘war crimes companies’ reaches W1.57tr: lawmaker

  The National Pension Service, Korea‘s largest public pension scheme, has 1.57 trillion won ($1.33 billion) exposure to stocks of what was labeled as “war crimes companies” during the World War 2, data showed Sept. 19. NPS was directly investing some 880 billion won in companies suspected to have contributed to Japanese ruling of the Korean Peninsula during Korea’s colonial era as of February, according to data compiled by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea‘s law