Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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LG Electronics posts big jump in Q2 operating profit
LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter operating profit surged 139.5 percent from the same period last year. LG Electronics earned 584.6 billion won ($519.6 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 244 billion won for the same quarter last year. Second-quarter sales grew 0.5 percent on year to 14 trillion won, LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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KEPCO under tax probe after 8 years
State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. is currently under a tax investigation as part of the government’s regular probe, sources said Thursday. This is the first time in eight years that the agency is being probed by the National Tax Service. (Yonhap)The Seoul tax office regularly conducts tax probes into medium and large-size corporations worth over 50 billion won ($44 million). The authorities are investigating possible tax evasion when the firm placed construction orders. The probe, launched e
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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Sales of Hite-Jinro‘s plastic-bottled soju soar
Hite-Jinro said Thursday that its family-size plastic-bottled soju reached an all-time high of 10.5 percent in its total soju sales in the first half of this year.The nation’s largest beer and soju maker said the strong sales reflects the growing popularity of the family-size Chamiseul soju brand. 640ml family-size plastic-bottled Chamiseul soju (Hite Jinro)During the cited period, the company sold some 27.1 million boxes of soju, out of which plastic-bottled soju made up 10.5 percent, totaling
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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Korea expands tax breaks to spur jobs
(Yonhap)The South Korean government will expand through a legal revision its policy to provide more tax breaks for corporate research and development costs and employment as a means to develop the country’s next growth engines and boost job creation.The Finance Ministry announced Thursday it would have the high-income group and conglomerates pay more taxes while easing the tax burden on the low- and middle-income brackets and small businesses.“This is in line with efforts to run a reasonable and
July 28, 2016
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Samsung Electronics reaps W8tr profit in Q2
Samsung Electronics posted its best quarterly results in more than two years and it expects continued solid performance in the latter half of this year. The tech giant said Thursday it posted 8.1 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in operating profit in the second quarter, an 18 percent jump on-year. Revenue for the quarter rose 4.9 percent to 50 trillion won.The growth was mainly driven by its mobile business, which posted 4.3 trillion won in operating income. Its flagship smartphone Galaxy S7 series
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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Hyundai Heavy records ‘surprise’ profit, rivals likely to see losses
Hyundai Heavy Industries made a “surprise” operating profit in the second quarter of the year, but two other rival shipbuilders are projected to post losses, analysts said Thursday. Samsung Heavy Industries, which is scheduled to release its Q2 earnings Friday, is expected to post an operating loss, due mainly to the delay of two major projects.The company’s project to build Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facilities for multinational firm Shell has been delayed to April next year. The p
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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Mongolia's first E-mart opened on July 28
[THE INVESTOR] The first E-mart in Mongolia welcomed customers on July 28. The South Korean retail giant’s first discount chain opened in Ulaanbaatar, the first big box store in Mongolia. Instead of directly operating the outlet, E-mart has signed a contract with SKY Trading, a local distribution unit of Altai Group. It exports the brand, operation management manual and products for a royalty, a first for Korean enterprises. Taking over 7,590 square meters, the store almost exactly brings its Ko
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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Samsung SDI suffers operating loss in Q2
[THE INVESTOR] Samsung SDI, the battery arm of Samsung Group, posted operating loss of 54.2 billion won (US$48.13 million) in the second quarter, the company said in its quarterly earnings report on July 28. The company, however, narrowed its losses from 58.81 billion won a year earlier and 703.75 billion won from the previous quarter. Sales stood at 1.31 trillion won, up 11.95 percent on-year. In the April-June period, the net profit came to 955.8 billion won, reversing a loss of 310.3 billion
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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Samsung Engineering Q2 operating profit falls 82%
[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Engineering, South Korea’s largest builder of engineering projects, posted on July 28 an 82.6 percent fall in second-quarter operating profit, struggling to recover from last year’s slump even after clearing off massive losses led by reverses in the Middle East. The plant engineering unit of Samsung Group narrowly avoided losses in the April-June period by posting 3.5 billion won (US$3.10 million) in operating profit and 2.3 billion won in net profit, up 44 percent on-year
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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Loan rates drop to record low in June
[THE INVESTOR] The interest rate on residential property-backed loans dropped to a record low in June, Band of Korea data showed on July 28.According to the BOK, the average interest rate on residential property-backed loans dropped to 2.77 percent in June, lowest seen since the BOK began compiling related data in September 2001. The previous record low was 2.81 percent in April 2015. (123rf)The average interest rate on all household loans dropped 0.1 percentage point from May to come in at 3.0
July 28, 2016
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SMEs expect conditions to toughen in Aug.
[THE INVESTOR] South Korean SMEs are expecting a difficult August, survey showed on July 28.According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs, local SMEs projected a difficult August, putting the Small Business Health Index for August at 87.9 points. Small Business Health Index, or SBHI, of lower than 100 indicates that the surveyed companies expect conditions to worsen in the coming month.This is the third straight month in which the SBHI has dropped since June. By sector, manufac
IndustryJuly 28, 2016
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SK Telecom to increase capex this year
[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom said July 28 that it would increase its capital expenditure by 100 billion won (US$88.90 million) to 2.1 trillion won this year to upgrade its existing telecommunications infrastructure.The company announced the investment plan after announcing its second-quarter earnings on the day. The head office of SK Telecom in SeoulSome market watchers considered the latest decision an unexpected move as the nation’s telecom market has reached a near-saturation point.The mobile ne
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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Agricultural and fisheries ministries to request review of anti-graft law
[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s two ministries overlooking agriculture and fisheries on July 28 said they would request the Ministry of Government Legislation’s policy coordination committee to make adjustments to the anti-graft law that will be implemented in September.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced their decision shortly after the Constitutional Court ruled the refuted clauses of the law -- also known as the Kim Young-ran law
July 28, 2016
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[Herald Interview] Korea Post to invest more in foreign, alternative assets
Calling low growth and low interest rates “the new normal” for Korea, the head of Korea Post, Korea’s second-largest investor that manages 108 trillion won ($96 billion), said it will direct more money into overseas bonds and alternative assets, going forward. “Our main focus remains the same -- a big chunk of our holdings will continue to be in safe assets, such as government notes, which we will hold to their maturity,” Kim Kee-deok said in an interview last week with The Korea Herald. Kim Kee
July 28, 2016
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Despite profit surge, gloomy outlook for SK Telecom
[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom, the nation’s largest telecom carrier, on July 28 posted its second-quarter operating profit of 478.2 billion won (US$425 million), a 20.73 percent surge from a year ago. Revenue was also up 11.25 percent to 3.92 trillion won. But the upbeat results included huge cost cuts following an earlier retirement program during the cited period. Industry watchers estimate about 9.04 percent on-year decline in its operating profit. In a saturated telecom market, the company with
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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LG Electronics’ Q2 operating profit jumps 140%
[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics saw its operating income soar nearly 140 percent on-year to 584.6 billion won (US$519.7 million) in the April-June period on the back of strong sales of home appliances and air-conditioning systems, the company said in its earnings report on July 28.The company’s revenue came in at 14 trillion won, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier. LG Electronics’ R&D center in Seocho, Seoul / LG ElectronicsLG’s home appliance & air solution unit and home entertainment unit -- t
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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Naver to nurture ‘next LINE’
[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Internet giant Naver said it would try to increase its global presence with its mobile services, including the webtoon platform, Snow, a Snapchat-like app, and V-App, a video streaming service focused on Korean pop culture.“The webtoon, Snow and V-App services have made remarkable achievement so far in the global market,” said Kim Sang-hun, CEO of the Pangyo-based company, in the second-quarter conference call on July 28.“If the company pushes further together with i
TechnologyJuly 28, 2016
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Hyundai Mobis to invest W643b in Hyundai Motor’s new HQ
[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts unit of Hyundai Motor Group, will invest 643 billion won (US$571.53 million) to build the auto conglomerate’s new headquarters -- Hyundai Global Business Center -- in Southern Seoul, the company said in a regulatory filing on July 28. Hyundai Global Business Center to be built in Samseong-dong, Seoul. Hyundai Motor GroupHyundai Motor Group is planning to erect a 105-story skyscraper in Samseong-dong area of Seoul, on a plot purchased from state-run K
MobilityJuly 28, 2016
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Capital gains tax on stock sales to be widened from April 2018
[THE INVESTOR] The capital gains tax on profits reaped from sale of stocks will be levied on a wider range of shareholders as the government pushes to subject all stock sales to taxation. According to the tax revision announced on July 28, capital gains tax will be levied on individuals who hold 1.5 billion won (US$1.33 million) or more of an individual company’s shares from April 2018. Both Kospi- and Kosdaq-listed stocks will be subjected to the same limit. At present, only those who hold more
July 28, 2016
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Constitutional Court subjects journalists, private school faculty to new anti-graft law
[THE INVESTOR] The constitutional court of South Korea on July 28 ruled that a controversial anti-graft law set to be implemented later this year is “constitutional” to subject journalists and private school teachers to the legislation.The court also ruled that it was constitutional for the new law to place a limit on the goods and services that these individuals may be treated to. 123rfThe law currently stipulates a maximum penalty of three years or more in prison, or fines of five times the am
July 28, 2016