Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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[Robert J. Fouser] Social attitudes toward language proficiency
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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Korea's tax burden rate likely to hit record high in 2017
South Korea's ratio of tax burden to its gross domestic product will likely reach fresh record highs this year and next on a potential tax hike and rapidly rising government spending, government data showed Wednesday.According to the finance ministry, the government is expected to collect more than 250 trillion won ($223 billion) in national taxes by the end of 2017, up from an earlier target of 242.3 trillion won.Through May, tax revenue reached 123.8 trillion won, up 11.2 trillion won from a y
EconomyJuly 26, 2017
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Daewoo Engineering's Q2 net soars on demand rise
Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. said Wednesday its second-quarter net profit nearly tripled from a year earlier as it won more housing and plant projects.Net profit for the three months that ended June 30 soared to 148.1 billion won ($132 million) from 53.7 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. "We posted high profits in housing, social infrastructure and overseas plant projects we received," Daewoo E&C said in a statement. (Yonhap)The builder expected its n
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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Samsung's share in Chinese smartphone market estimated at 3%
Samsung Electronics Co.'s share of the Chinese smartphone market for the second quarter is estimated at 3 percent, data showed Wednesday, remaining in doldrums as Chinese rivals continued to roll out price-competitive models.According to the data compiled by Counterpoint Research, Chinese smartphone makers took up 87 percent of their home market in the April-June period. The top four brands -- Huawei Technologies Co., OPPO Electronics, Vivo Mobile Communications Co., and Xiaomi Inc. -- took up 6
TechnologyJuly 26, 2017
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Aging population likely to cut Korea‘s overseas equities investment
South Korea's rapidly aging population is likely to reduce the nation's overseas equities investment as seniors will likely move to sell assets due to falling living standards, researchers at the Bank of Korea said Wednesday. As the global financial markets become more interconnected, older people will have a bigger impact on the nation's foreign currency market, Lim Jin-soo and Kim Young-rae said in a report. If South Korea's overseas equities investment declines rapidly, it could affect
EconomyJuly 26, 2017
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LG Display considering various options to raise fund for investment
LG Display Co. said Wednesday it is considering various options, including loans, to fund its major investment plan announced earlier this week aimed at beefing up its competitiveness in the organic light-emitting diode panels."While funds for investment, in principle, should be raised from businesses, they should also come in a timely manner," the company said during a conference call with investors.The remark came after LG Display said it will invest 7.8 trillion won ($6.9 billion) to build fa
CompaniesJuly 26, 2017
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Industrial chemical emission tops 53,700 tons in 2015: govt.
The amount of chemical substances discharged from business establishments in South Korea recorded 53,732 tons in 2015, slightly down from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday. The figure decreased by 529 tons, or 0.97 percent, from 54,261 tons recorded in 2014, according to the data by the Ministry of Environment. The emission rate also edged down to 0.0312 percent from 0.0332 percent. A total of 3,634 workplaces in the country emitted some 215 different kinds of pollutants in 2015,
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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Korea to remove regulations in service sector
The South Korean government said Wednesday that it will remove legal and administrative regulations in the local service sector as part of its efforts to promote fair market competition and boost growth.The Fair Trade Commission, the country's antitrust watchdog, said it checked 39 restrictions that restricted competition in the sectors of food, leisure and public services.Related government ministries and agencies have already agreed to get rid of eight of them, with a detailed deregulation sch
EconomyJuly 26, 2017
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Doosan Heavy buys US gas turbine service provider
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South Korea's top power equipment maker, said Wednesday that it has taken over a US gas turbine service provider in a bid to boost its presence in the US market.In June, Doosan Heavy said it signed a preliminary deal to buy ACT Independent Turbo Services, a Houston-based gas and steam turbine repair service provider, for an undisclosed amount.With the acquisition Doosan Heavy will be able to secure a foothold in the US' 16GW gas turbine market.Doosan C
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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Korean stocks down late Wednesday morning
South Korean stocks traded lower late Wednesday morning, as declines in tech shares weighed on the market. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.02 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,436.88 as of 11:20 a.m.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.36 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, declined 4.26 percent.Korea Electric Power Corp. dropped 0.77 percent.No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor, meanwhile, rose 1.03 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors also moved up 1.63 percen
MarketJuly 26, 2017
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Samsung Group funds rate of return tops 30 on solid earnings: sources
The rate of return for equity funds of Samsung Electronics Co. and other Samsung Group-related firms exceeded 30 percent this year amid the bullish market backed by solid corporate earnings and the global economic recovery, industry data showed Wednesday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.40 percent to 2,439.90 Tuesday from 2,026.46 as of the end of last year. The stock prices of 16 companies affiliated with Samsung Group jumped 32.42 percent during the same time span. The y
MarketJuly 26, 2017
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Korea to lower maximum legal lending rate to 24% next year
South Korea will lower the maximum legal lending rate to 24 percent from next year and strengthen supervision of private lenders, in a move to help ease financial burdens for desperate borrowers, the nation's top financial regulator said Wednesday. Choi Jong-ku, the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said he will encourage banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small and medium-sized firms, instead of households and the property sector. By law, private lende
EconomyJuly 26, 2017
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S-Oil's Q2 net drops on low oil prices
S-Oil Corp., the No. 3 oil refiner in South Korea, said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit dropped 85 percent from a year earlier, as low oil prices drove up inventory losses.Net profit reached 66.9 billion won ($59.8 million) in the April-June period, compared with 444 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Operating income dropped 82 percent on-year to reach 117 billion won over the cited period, while sales rose 11.1 percent on-year to reach 4.67 trillion wo
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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Auto recalls to set record high this year
South Korea has ordered carmakers, domestic and multinational, to recall more than 1.3 million vehicles so far this year, with the figure expected to set a record high in 2017, the transport ministry said Wednesday. A total of 1,308,758 vehicles have been ordered to be recalled this year through Wednesday in 172 cases, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation.In the next one to two weeks, the number of cars subject to recalls is expected to exceed the country's record
MobilityJuly 26, 2017
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Soju sales rises amid protracted economic slump: sources
Sales of traditional Korean distilled liquor "soju" has soared steadily in recent years as more people sought the relatively cheap alcoholic beverage over more expensive offerings amid the protracted economic slump, industry sources said Wednesday.Sales of Hite Jinro's Chamisul soju exceeded the 1 trillion won ($894 million) mark last year for the first time since its debut in 1998, with a total of 1.7 billion bottles of 360 milliliter soju sold, the sources said.It is the first time any South K
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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Stocks open higher tracking US gains
South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 3.88 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,443.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics, however, dropped 1.32 percent, and SK hynix was 2.7 percent down.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, rose 0.34 percent, and AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, gained 2.78 percent.LG Chem, the country's top chemicals firm
MarketJuly 26, 2017
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Kia Stonic proves to be competitive, fuel-saving entry-level crossover
NAMYANGJU -- A 150-kilometer, two-and-a-half hour drive proved that Kia Motors Corp.'s Stonic subcompact sport utility vehicle is perfect for people wanting an entry-level fuel-efficient crossover that is responsive to drive.In a mix of urban and expressway driving that took place from western Seoul to Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province, the Stonic subcompact SUV achieved unrivaled mileage numbers while proving to be an excellent performer, well-suited to wooing customers in their 20s and 30s.After
MobilityJuly 26, 2017
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Online sales of smartphones sluggish in Korea: data
Sales of smartphones through online platforms in South Korea remain sluggish compared with other countries, data showed Wednesday, due mainly to strong dominance of mobile carriers in the mobile phone market.According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, the sales of smartphones through online platforms in the country are expected to take up 17.2 percent, or 3.8 million units of the total sales estimated at 22.1 million units in South Korea this year.Of the amount, the sales of smartphone
TechnologyJuly 26, 2017
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Foreign banks in Korea advised to take anti-money-laundering
South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it has advised some foreign banks here to take steps to guard against money laundering activities. After an inspection of 37 branches of foreign banks in the country, the Financial Supervisory Service concluded that some small-scale branches showed a lack of awareness of money laundering. The FSS said, however, most branches had anti-money-laundering safeguards in place. It did not identify the vulnerable branches by name.The vulnerable branches d
EconomyJuly 26, 2017
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Korea's air traffic rises 4.9% in H1
Air traffic in South Korea rose 4.9 percent in the first half from a year earlier helped by increased demand on non-Chinese routes, government data showed Wednesday. The number of airplanes which flew on domestic and international routes to and from South Korean airports rose to 373,690 in the January-June period from 358,195 a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said in a statement. "An increase in travel demand on routes to Japan and Southeast Asian countries
IndustryJuly 26, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Death of ‘coffee chain king’ rattles Korean franchise industry
A businessman who had once beaten Starbucks in the coffee franchise race in South Korea some years ago has been found dead, police said Tuesday. Kang Hoon, CEO of the local dessert cafe franchise MangoSix was discovered in a bathroom at his residence in Seocho-dong by an employee on Monday afternoon, according to investigators. He was 49.Kang was a pioneer in the local coffee franchise industry, as he brought domestic coffee brands to huge success and attempted market entries to other Asian mark
IndustryJuly 25, 2017