The United States has refrozen Korea’s payment for Iran’s crude oil exports that South Korea transferred to a Qatari bank as part of a prisoner swap deal between the United States and Iran.On Oct. 12 (local time), the U.S. government said that Iran will not be able to get its hands on US$6 billion t
The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is facing a 6.5 trillion won (US$4.9 billion) lawsuit. The people who filed the lawsuit are the victims of serial bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and their bereaved families.In 1998, a series of bombings hit U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
Hanwha Aerospace announced on Feb. 22 that it has invested a total of US$17.8 million in Fortem Technologies together with Lockheed Martin of the United States through a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE).A SAFE is an agreement between an investor and a company where the investor provides a c
The Bank of Korea announced on Nov. 7 that its second-phase central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment has been completed regarding offline transactability, interest payment and redemption, cross-border remittance, etc.The first phase was conducted from August to December last year. At that tim
The Seoul Regional Customs announced on Aug. 30 that it has uncovered 2.0715 trillion won of cryptocurrency-related illegal foreign exchange transactions as a result of its inspection that started in February.“The transactions are likely to be related to arbitrage trading to take advantage of the so
The Financial Supervisory Service recently detected that more than 8.5 trillion won flowed out of 70 or so South Korean bank branches through suspicious foreign exchange transactions, including arbitrage cryptocurrency trading.“In most cases, the flow of money is from domestic cryptocurrency exchang
Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) has signed a teaming agreement with Holtech International, a diversified energy company in the United States, to develop small modular reactors (SMRs) and promote new businesses together.The two companies agreed to cooperate in all aspects of the SMR
Cyber threats presumably from North Korea and for the purpose of money have become more and more frequent in South Korea since the 2010s.In the early stage, the most common form was malicious codes in illegal gambling software. In 2014, the prosecution caught three South Koreans who colluded with pr
The prospects of Korea resuming oil imports from Iran are growing as talks resumed between and Iran and global powers on returning to the 2015 landmark deal on containing Iranian nuclear development.The yield of Iranian condensate, which is mainly used for production of naphtha, is 80 percent at the
The National Assembly is expected to pass a new bill stipulating the scope of cryptocurrency business in the second half of this year. Then, cryptocurrency investors can be better protected and blockchain technology development can be accelerated.“The passage of the bill is anticipated this autumn,”
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has advised the South Korean government to strengthen its monitoring of financial companies in relation to money laundering prevention and terrorist financing prevention.“The South Korean government is well aware of the risk of money laundering and terrorist fi
With procedures for the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump started, South Korean enterprises are paying much attention to how their investment in the United States and export to the United States and China will be affected. There is a possibility that he will urge foreign companies to invest
Concerns over drone-based terrorist attacks are rising in South Korea with Saudi Arabian oil facilities compromised by unidentified drones. Experts point out that the government would be well advised to take measures to better protect nuclear power plants, semiconductor manufacturing plants, and oth
Although the mutual evaluation unit of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has finished a due diligence on South Korean financial companies, domestic banks cannot relax until the final results come out in April next year. The on-the-spot inspection has been completed, but they now face a stricter
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has made an equity investment in Canopius, one of the 10 insurers in Lloyd’s of London, advancing into the global specialist insurance market, the company announced on May 6.Specialist insurance covers damage from terrorist attacks and nuclear power plant accidents, d
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will tighten the supervision standards on cryptocurrency exchanges. It has decided to maintain the highest level of sanctions on North Korea which does not comply with the international standards set by the FATF as it is now.The Financial Services Commission (F
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) plans to improve the security of military drones by developing a blockchain-based drone control system.In recent years, drones have been increasingly used in the military, which increases potential security problems.The Agency for Defense Development said on Jan. 2
With the United States investigating Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for money laundering involving North Korea, the South Korean financial authorities disclosed on Nov. 27 the outcome of their assessment of domestic financial companies’ risks associated with money laundering and terrorist fi
The Korean mobile telecommunication industry has been caught in a dilemma over Huawei. As competition began for the commercialization of the world's first 5G mobile telecommunication in March of next year, the Korean mobile telecommunication industry is torn between the price competitiveness of Huaw
Thailand's army, which is running the Thai government since seizing power in 2014 in a coup, is supporting for producing military-themed soap opera, which highly resembles South Korea’s “Descendants of the Sun,” as part of its plan to remake its image.The series succeeded in attracting attention fro