Asia Pacific

Park Geun-hye took office as South Korea’s first female president on Monday promising to provide a fairer distribution of wealth for the people whose “blood, toil and sweat” formed the foundation of the nation’s prosperity, the Financial Times reported. Speaking before about 70,000 people outside parliament, the daughter of former military dictator Park Chung-hee said she would “open a new era of hope” to allow all citizens “to enjoy the benefits of economic development”.

Debtholders of Australian and New Zealand print and logistics provider Geon Group — KKR & Co. and Australia’s Allegro Funds — have placed the company into administration and subsequently made an offer to buy the business out of receivership, according to an internal memorandum seen by Deal Journal Australia. In a note to all Geon staff, Chief Executive Graham Morgan said offers for the business will be taken by receiver McGrathNicol. “I have been advised that KKR and Allegro, collectively known as KKRM, have already submitted an offer for the business,” Mr. Morgan said in the memo.

Korean total household debt rose to a record 937.5 trillion won in the third quarter, undermining Park Geun Hye’s election promise to expand the middle class after she takes over the presidency next week. The debt reached 164 percent of disposable income in 2011, compared with 138 percent in the U.S. at the start of the housing crisis, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Bloomberg reported.

There is a "material and rising risk" that Cyprus will default on its sovereign debt, especially if the euro zone and International Monetary Fund do not come up with aid, rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Sherry Sheng, a 29-year-old Shanghai policewoman, bought herself a 4,000 yuan ($642) black fur jacket, splurging for the last time before she starts paying off the mortgage on her first home. Sheng is part of a generation of middle class that Chinese media has dubbed “fang nu,” or housing slaves, a reference to the lifetime of work needed to pay off their debts, Bloomberg reported. They’re taking on mortgages even as the government maintains property curbs to damp prices that have almost tripled since China embarked in 1998 on a drive to increase private home ownership.

For a second day in a row, the European Union's top financial official sought Tuesday to quash speculation that private bank depositors in Cyprus might be forced to take losses as part of a bailout deal - a suggestion that's fueled fears of large-scale withdrawals from the country's troubled banks, Bloomberg reported. The new head of the euro area's 17 finance ministers stoked concerns Monday about the security of uninsured private deposits in Cyprus when he declined to rule out such a step following repeated questions from reporters.

The uncertain global economy isn’t the only hurdle for SsangYong Motor to clear this year. South Korean politicians are putting up another, The Wall Street Journal Korea Real Time blog reported. Some lawmakers from opposition parties want the National Assembly to look into a possible accounting fraud by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., or SAIC, the previous owner of Ssangyong, which is South Korea’s fourth-biggest car maker by output.

German do-it-yourself chain Praktiker AG is closing its stores in Turkey and withdrawing from the country after failing to sell the nine stores its operates there, Reuters reported. The company, which is battling to return to profit, said on Monday its Turkish subsidiary filed for managed insolvency proceedings with an Istanbul court earlier in the day. "We cannot afford a persistent loss-maker like Turkey.

When the eurozone financial crisis was still unfolding in early 2011, a senior German official speculated on the most worrying problem ahead, the Financial Times reported. “Cyprus,” he said, rather surprisingly. Some people might think it was too small to endanger the stability of the eurozone. But “its banking sector is overblown and it’s heavily exposed to the crisis in Greece. It could be a nightmare to resolve.” The divided island, half-in and half-out of the EU, is still on the German radar. But now the nightmare is a reality.

The Serious Fraud Office trial of three men associated with the collapsed firm Dominion Finance is due to begin in Auckland this morning, The New Zealand Herald reported. Dominion Finance Group and North South Finance were operating subsidiaries of the NZX-listed Dominion Finance Holdings. Both offered property and commercial loans. DFG went into receivership in September 2008, and NSF went into receivership in July 2010. DFH entered voluntary administration in October 2008 and was placed in liquidation in February 2009. It is estimated the group owes creditors $400 million.