Hana Financial to Hire 230 in Second Half, Adds Incheon Track

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.

1. Hana Financial Opens Cheongna Era, to Hire About 230 in Second Half, Recruiting Incheon Talent

Key points: Hana Financial Group is conducting open recruitment of about 230 people in the second half of this year, with applications accepted until 6 p.m. on the 28th. The centerpiece of this round is the newly created "Incheon Hana Shared-Growth Hiring" track, established in connection with the relocation of the group's integrated headquarters to Cheongna in Incheon. Incheon has been added to the existing regional talent recruitment covering the Yeongnam, Chungcheong and Honam regions, and the group is also newly running a "Hana Green Leaders" track for discharged military officers and a hiring-linked internship track for vocational high school graduates. The "HanAXpert" track, which selects specialists, consists of six tracks including investment banking, credit review and risk, and AI and data finance. Successful applicants will begin training in late November at the Hana Global Campus in Cheongna, Incheon.

2. "Shortage of Experts" — Companies and Universities Join Hands to Train Security Talent

Key points: Demand for security talent surged after last year's large-scale personal data breaches at companies including SK Telecom, KT and Coupang, but 23% of Korean companies are struggling to hire information security staff, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Twenty-five companies, including LG Uplus, Toss, EY Han Young and Saltlux, are taking part in Seoul Women's University's plan to launch a graduate program in personal data protection, and some, such as LG Uplus, have also expressed an intention to hire master's and doctoral graduates. Chung-Ang University has created a hiring-conditional admissions track for seven students with partners including LIG D&A and LG CNS, guaranteeing employment after undergraduate graduation. KT is pursuing the establishment of a contract-based department with Seoul National University for a master's program in security, as industry-academia cooperation takes hold as a new route into security jobs.

3. Hundreds of Thousands of Compounds Analyzed in a Day — LG's "AI Autonomous Lab" to Start Up Late This Year

Key points: LG AI Research will bring into full operation late this year an autonomous laboratory based on "EXAONE Discovery," in which robots and AI carry out the entire experimental process on their own. In a collaboration with LG H&H, it identified a hair-loss-relieving ingredient among 420,000 candidate substances in a single day, and it is expanding cooperation on new materials discovery with LG Chem and GS Caltex. The company also unveiled "EXAONE Omni Inspect," a manufacturing quality inspection model, and "EXAONE BI," a financial forecasting solution, and is expanding its business to clients including the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Koscom. With AI taking over repetitive experiments, analysts say problem definition and judgment will emerge as the core duties of research jobs in science and engineering.

4. Park Hong-keun: "We Will Consider Tax Benefits if Universities Buy Buildings for Dormitory Use"

Key points: Park Hong-keun, minister of planning and budget, said the government will consider granting tax benefits when universities purchase dormitories or buildings near campus. The government plans to invest about 18 trillion won in public rental housing projects for young adults next year, supplying 106,000 units, and intends to promote private-sector supply in parallel by easing floor area ratio and lending rules. If the tax benefits are realized, some expect universities will gain momentum in expanding dormitories, easing part of the housing cost burden on job seekers and new employees in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area. Because the plan is still under review, however, further discussion is needed before it can actually take effect.

5. VC Investment in Early-Stage Firms Plunges From 63% to 14% Over About Two Decades

Key points: New investment by Korean venture capital firms grew more than elevenfold, from 617.7 billion won in 2002 to 6.8111 trillion won last year, but the share going to early-stage companies within three years of founding plunged from 63.5% to 14.1% over the same period. By contrast, the share going to later-stage companies more than seven years old jumped from 8.4% to 45.1%, deepening a concentration of risk capital in proven companies. Korean VC investment, at $8.7 billion, is equivalent to only 4% of the U.S. total of $215.4 billion, underscoring a clear gap between the two ecosystems. Some note that new employees considering jobs at startups need to assess the risks, taking into account that the funding environment for early-stage startups is structurally fragile.

6. Does Welcome Savings Bank Intend to Help Low- and Middle-Income Borrowers? 98% of New Start Fund Debt Restructurings Rejected

Key points: Welcome Savings Bank's rejection rate for brokered debt restructuring under the New Start Fund reached 98.2% in the second quarter of this year, while SBI Savings Bank recorded 81.7%. The New Start Fund is a program designed to reduce repayment burdens on small business owners and the self-employed hit by COVID-19, and debt restructuring is effectively difficult to complete when a financial company refuses to consent. The number of rejections across the savings bank sector rose 8.6% to 3,724 in the second quarter from 3,429 in the first, in contrast to declines in other financial sectors including banks, credit finance and insurance. Analysts say new employees considering side work or the use of loans need to check savings bank lending terms and the effectiveness of debt restructuring programs sufficiently in advance.