South Korea's third largest credit company, KEB Credit Service, suspended most of its short-term cash loans for a second day yesterday, fueling concerns over the country's shaky credit card industry.
KEB Credit Service, which is to be merged into its parent company, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) on Feb. 28, stopped most of its cash advances, saying its cash reserves were running dry.
The suspension came after the KEB Credit Service's union launched a partial strike on Dec. 15, demanding the withdrawal of the merger plan, which it said will lead to massive lay-offs.
Korea Exchange Bank, the country's sixth-largest lender which was taken over by US investment fund Lone Star in October, said it was unable to come to the rescue of the credit card unit, citing regulations on financial ties with units.
Analysts said the suspension of the cash loan service indirectly puts pressure on the labor union over its strike action.
"It is hard to believe that KEB Credit Service suspended cash advances because of liquidity problems," said Kim Uk-Rae, an analyst with Sejong Securities Co said.
Kim and other analysts also said KEB could have easily secured official clearance to extend help to the credit card unit beyond the 10-percent limit as it is to take over KEB Credit Service.
KEB Credit Service provides an estimated 35 billion won (US$29 million) of cash advances every day.
"By cutting down on cash loans, KEB Credit Service is shifting the onus to other credit card firms," Kim said.
South Korea has 3.6 million credit card users who have defaulted on their card loans. With total assets at 5.8 trillion won (US$4.9 billion), KEB Credit Service has 7.5 million clients. Its net loss for the first nine months to September stood at 411 billion won (US$345 million).
The ratio of overdue payments at the card company rose from 8.1 percent in September to 8.8 percent in October, according to KEB Credit.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
SECURITY: Grassroots civil servants would only need to disclose their travel, while those who have access to classified information would be subject to stricter regulations The government is considering requiring legislators and elected officials to obtain prior approval before traveling to China to prevent Chinese infiltration, an official familiar with national security said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) in March announced 17 measures to counter China’s growing infiltration efforts, including requiring all civil servants to make trips to China more transparent so they can be held publicly accountable. The official said that the government is considering amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require all civil servants to follow strict regulations before traveling to China.
RSS