The Korea Times

Global insurers call for cross-border cooperation to tackle evolving risks, widening protection gaps

Artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies are rewriting the rules of risk, while more frequent climate-related disasters and geopolitical tensions are making that risk harder to predict and quantify. Those shifts have left insurers grappling with questions that extend well beyond traditional underwriting and claims management: how to price emerging risks, how to narrow widening protection gaps and how to remain relevant as the nature of risk itself evolves. Against this backdrop, more than 1,300 insurance executives, risk specialists and technology leaders representing 175 companies from around the world convened in Seoul this week for the Korea International Insurance Conference (KIIC). The two-day event, held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance as lead sponsor, was built around a theme that encapsulated those concerns: “Insuring the Future in a Changing Risk Landscape.” Opening KIIC’s main session on Thursday, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CEO Lee Mun-hwa remarked that the industry must move beyond its traditional role

1d agoBy Park Han-sol

Global insurers call for cross-border cooperation to tackle evolving risks, widening protection gaps

Banking & Finance

Global insurance leaders convene in Seoul as AI, emerging technologies reshape risk

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes industries and geopolitical tensions add new layers of uncertainty, more than 1,300 global insurance leaders and risk specialists have gathered in Seoul this week to debate how the industry should adapt and move forward. The Korea International Insurance Conference (KIIC), sponsored by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, opened Wednesday at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas under the theme "Insuring the Future in a Changing Risk Landscape." The two-day event has drawn participants from 175 companies across 27 countries, including insurers, reinsurers, brokerage firms, insurtech groups — which use technology to find cost savings and efficiencies — and risk consultancies, making it Korea's largest international gathering for the insurance sector. Now in its third year, KIIC has established itself as a forum for cross-border dialogue, knowledge sharing and business partnerships between Korean insurers and global markets. This year's conference moves beyond traditional discussions of underwriting and claims, focusing instead on how insurers ca

2d agoBy Park Han-sol

Global insurance leaders convene in Seoul as AI, emerging technologies reshape risk

Banking & Finance

Finda, Upstage team up to build finance-focused agentic AI platform

Fintech platform Finda has signed a memorandum of understanding with artificial intelligence (AI) startup Upstage to jointly develop an agentic AI platform tailored to financial services, the company said Wednesday. The partnership will combine Finda's financial expertise and proprietary data with Upstage's large language model (LLM) technology to develop AI agents designed for use across financial institutions. Under the agreement, Finda will provide financial domain data, support model fine-tuning through direct preference optimization (DPO) labeling, deploy financial specialists for user acceptance testing and advise on regulatory and compliance matters. Upstage will lead the development of finance-specific AI models based on its proprietary LLM Solar, while also building an agent training platform. The company is set to oversee the design, development and testing of the AI agents, as well as platform implementation and project management. The two parties also plan to explore new business opportunities for AI agents in financial services and collaborate on marketing and promotional ac

2d agoBy Park Han-sol

Finda, Upstage team up to build finance-focused agentic AI platform

Policy

Watchdog intensifies pressure on financial firms amid persistent won weakness

Korea's financial watchdog is launching a series of meetings with banks, brokerages and insurers as policymakers step up efforts to curb volatility in the foreign exchange market amid persistent weakness in the won. The move comes as expectations of higher U.S. interest rates and sustained foreign investor outflows continue to weigh on the Korean currency. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) began consultations with the banking sector on Tuesday and plans to hold similar meetings with securities firms and insurers in the near future. The won has come under mounting pressure as overseas investors lock in gains and rebalance portfolios away from Korean equities. As of Friday, the average won-dollar exchange rate for the second quarter had risen to 1,491 won, its highest level since the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. The currency has also traded above the psychologically significant 1,500-per-dollar threshold for 16 sessions. In Seoul's onshore foreign exchange market, the won closed at 1,512.1 per dollar, strengthening by 22.9 won from the previous session. At Tuesday

Jun 9, 2026By Park Han-sol

Watchdog intensifies pressure on financial firms amid persistent won weakness

Banking & Finance

Korea International Insurance Conference kicks off to navigate shifting risk landscape

The Korea International Insurance Conference (KIIC), the country’s largest global gathering for the non-life insurance industry, is set to kick off on Wednesday at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas. Now in its third year, the two-day event will bring together more than 1,300 professionals from 175 companies across 27 countries under the theme “Insuring the Future in a Changing Risk Landscape,” making it the largest edition to date. With Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Korea’s largest non-life insurer, as its lead sponsor, KIIC aims to strengthen ties between the domestic insurance sector and global markets while examining how the industry is responding to demographic shifts, technological changes and emerging risks. Attendees include major Korean insurers and reinsurer Korean Re, alongside global giants Munich Re, Swiss Re, Marsh and Aon. Technology companies specializing in cybersecurity and self-driving will also participate, reflecting growing overlap between the insurance industry and emerging technologies. One of the new additions this year is a Partners Zone, where v

Jun 9, 2026By Park Han-sol

Korea International Insurance Conference kicks off to navigate shifting risk landscape

Economy

Seoul stocks, won hammered by massive foreign selling

Seoul stocks plunged Friday as a prolonged foreign sell-off collided with a sharp downturn in global semiconductor shares, sending the benchmark KOSPI down more than 5 percent to below the 8,200 level. The sustained foreign investor exodus also continued to weigh on the Korean won. In Seoul’s onshore foreign exchange market, the won closed at 1,539.1 per dollar, down 9.4 won from the previous session. During intraday trading, it briefly approached the 1,550 level, its weakest since March 2009, during the global financial crisis. The won has now traded above the 1,500 per dollar threshold for 14 consecutive sessions. KOSPI opened at 8,323.20, down 3.66 percent from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. Heavy selling pressure persisted throughout the day, prompting the year’s 10th sidecar shortly after the opening bell — a market safeguard that temporarily suspends program trading during periods of extreme volatility. The index ultimately closed at 8,160.59, down 5.54 percent. Foreign and institutional investors drove the decline, selling a net 3.52 trillion won and

Jun 5, 2026By Park Han-sol

Seoul stocks, won hammered by massive foreign selling

Banking & Finance

Samil PwC, PwC Consulting announce leadership appointments amid AI push

Samil PwC, Korea’s largest accounting firm by revenue, and its consulting affiliate, PwC Consulting, announced a new slate of leadership and partner appointments Friday, underscoring the firms’ growing focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation. At Samil PwC, Jung Min-soo was named head of tax advisory. With three decades of experience, Jung previously led the firm’s domestic tax practice and advised clients on matters ranging from tax audits and disputes to refund claims. He also spearheaded the development of Tax Agent, Samil PwC's generative AI platform for tax services. The six appointed deputy leaders include mergers and acquisitions expert Kwak Yun-goo, banking and capital market specialist Kim Kyoung-koo, cross-border transactions and U.S. listings adviser Daniel Fertig, insurance specialist Lee Jun-ho, corporate governance adviser Choi Chang-yoon and mergers and acquisitions advisory expert Hong Jin-o. Among the 33 newly promoted partners are professionals specializing in semiconductors, telecommunications and insurance, as well as emerging areas such

Jun 5, 2026By Park Han-sol

Samil PwC, PwC Consulting announce leadership appointments amid AI push

Business

UC Berkeley graduate creates AI-powered app to make learning Korean more immersive

For as long as he could remember, education was where Jang Ji-woong imagined himself making a difference. He enjoyed working with children, but he found himself thinking less about classrooms and more about access — how to bring learning opportunities to communities often left out. “I often thought Korea’s rapid modernization was driven by the extraordinary emphasis placed on schooling,” Jang said. “But having a strong desire for education alone isn’t enough, especially today. I kept wondering how people in underserved regions could gain stable access to quality education.” That interest took him to UC Berkeley, where he studied political science with hopes of eventually working for an international organization, helping expand access to learning through projects ranging from school construction to online programs. After graduation, however, his path took a different turn, as he joined a Silicon Valley e-learning startup before moving into global commerce marketing in Korea. But the question that had first drawn him to the field never entirely went away. While weighing his n

Jun 5, 2026By Park Han-sol

UC Berkeley graduate creates AI-powered app to make learning Korean more immersive

Banking & Finance

Mirae Asset hosts global ETF rally to map its next growth phase

Mirae Asset Global Investments convened executives from across its international exchange-traded fund (ETF) businesses this week to map out the next phase of its growth strategy, the company said Thursday. The three-day “Mirae Asset Rally 2026,” held from June 1 to 3 at Sagewood Hongcheon in Gangwon Province, brought together leaders from the firm’s ETF businesses across major markets to review performance and discuss future opportunities. The gathering comes as Mirae Asset’s global ETF business reaches new milestones. Assets under management have climbed to 428 trillion won ($279 billion), making the firm the world’s 11th-largest provider of exchange-traded funds. In the U.S., Global X has surpassed $100 billion in assets, while TIGER ETF, Mirae Asset’s flagship ETF platform in Korea, has also crossed the $100 billion threshold. In Japan, Global X Japan recently exceeded 1 trillion yen in assets just six years after launch. The expansion reflects a vision long championed by founder Park Hyeon-joo, who has argued that asset managers must look beyond their home markets and cre

Jun 4, 2026By Park Han-sol

Mirae Asset hosts global ETF rally to map its next growth phase

Companies

Investors track Nvidia CEO's every expected move in Korea

As anticipation builds ahead of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Korea on Thursday, investors are not just following news headlines and earnings forecasts. They are also tracking his every expected move — quite literally. A website dedicated to monitoring Huang’s itinerary has emerged, turning his travel schedule into a market-moving signal of sorts. Dubbed “Jensen Huang KR Tracker,” it offers a live map of the CEO’s expected stops based on media reports, pairing them with real-time stock performance of companies that could stand to benefit from those encounters. The firms are grouped according to their roles within Nvidia’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, spanning semiconductors, AI software, servers and robotics. Among the featured stocks are memory chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK hynix; robotics and physical AI firms LG Electronics and Doosan Robotics; sovereign AI proponents Naver and SK Telecom; and Hyundai Motor, which is positioning itself a key player in self-driving and robotics push. The website marks the unusual sign of Huang’s star power

Jun 2, 2026By Park Han-sol

Park Han-sol

Read more

Global insurers call for cross-border cooperation to tackle evolving risks, widening protection gaps

Global insurance leaders convene in Seoul as AI, emerging technologies reshape risk

Finda, Upstage team up to build finance-focused agentic AI platform

Watchdog intensifies pressure on financial firms amid persistent won weakness

Korea International Insurance Conference kicks off to navigate shifting risk landscape

Seoul stocks, won hammered by massive foreign selling

Samil PwC, PwC Consulting announce leadership appointments amid AI push

UC Berkeley graduate creates AI-powered app to make learning Korean more immersive

Mirae Asset hosts global ETF rally to map its next growth phase

Investors track Nvidia CEO's every expected move in Korea

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