Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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Korean, Spanish construction firms join hands for expansion
[THE INVESTOR] Korean and Spanish construction companies are working together in efforts to expand trade and gain a foothold in new markets. Korea’s trade promotion agency KOTRA held a forum in Madrid, Spain, with Association of National Field Construction Companies in Spain (SEOPAN) on June 22 (local time). A total of 13 companies participated in the forum, including Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Daechang Corporation, and Spain’s Groupo ACS, the world’s leading construction fir
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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Credit card spending jumps 22.3% in May
[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s credit card spending rose more than 22 percent from a year earlier in May, data from the Credit Finance Association showed on June 23.Overall credit card purchases came to 63.2 trillion won (US$54.8 billion) last month, up 22.3 percent from the same month last year. The on-year rise marks a significant acceleration from a 7.1 percent on-year gain posted in May 2015.Such an increase was partly attributed to a surge in the amount of tax payments made with credit cards,
June 23, 2016
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NongHyup Bank to set aside more loan-loss funds
[THE INVESTOR] NongHyup Bank, Korea’s second-largest bank by assets, will set aside loan-loss provisions of up to 1.7 trillion won (US$1.47 billion) this year to address its heavy exposure to debt-laden shipping and shipbuilding companies, the company said on June 22.The lender said it would make a ”big bath“ provision to improve its asset quality as loans that the bank extended to troubled companies, including Dewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, may turn sour. Big bath provision indicates
June 22, 2016
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Assembly of Hyundai commercial cars in Algeria to begin in July
[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor announced on June 22 that a commercial vehicle assembly line in Algeria, and that the facility will being production next month. The facility was built by Global Motors, Hyundai’s commercial vehicle vendor in Algeria.The US$63 million facility will assemble knockdown kits of Hyundai’s commercial vehicles including Mighty and Trago. The facility’s annual production capacity is 15,000 units. Mighty.The facility was built to bypass tougher regulations on imported vehicl
MobilityJune 22, 2016
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Kolmar Korea to build second Chinese plant
[THE INVESTOR] Kolmar Korea announced on June 22 that it has signed an agreement to build its second plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The new plant will boost Kolmar Korea’s production capacity in China to 520 million cosmetics products per year. The company currently operates a plant in the Beijing area. According to the agreement, signed with the government of Wuxi New District, Kolmar Korea will invest US$30 million to build a new plant. The new plant will be designed to have an annual produc
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Seaspan chairman demands liquidity injection from Hanjin
[THE INVESTOR] The world’s largest container ship operator Seaspan has demanded Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho to dip into his private coffers to normalize Hanjin Shipping.“Hanjin Shipping without a liquidity injection from controlling shareholder, the Cho family and the Korea Development Bank will have a very challenging road ahead,” Seaspan CEO Gerry Wang told Splash 24/7 in an interview on June 21. “It is a well run company which hit liquidity snags due to market conditions.” Splash 24/7 i
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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[Graphic News] Lotte most active in M&A
Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group topped the ranking for making mergers and acquisitions deals over the past six years, data showed Tuesday. According to corporate tracker CEO Score, Lotte took over a total of 21 companies through M&A deals from 2010 to 2015. The size of the deals amounted to $6.5 billion, accounting for 20 percent of total M&A deals made by the top 30 conglomerates. Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin has aggressively pushed for the deals since 2004, completing 36 such deals so f
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Graphic warnings to appear on all cigarette packs from Dec. 23
Most cigarette packs sold in South Korea will carry graphic health warning labels on them starting on Dec. 23, in a move to promote people's health, the government said Wednesday.The government has recently passed a law to introduce a total of 10 graphic health warnings to be placed on the upper part of both sides of a cigarette packet. The photos are required to cover more than 30 percent of both sides of a packet, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. (Ministry of Health and Welfar
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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[Monitor] Households' share of insurance, pension assets hits record
Korea’s households saw their insurance and pension assets reach a new high in 2015, as they increased such assets to better prepare for old age amid low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Finance minister vows "sufficient" fiscal expansion
Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will do "sufficient" fiscal reinforcement in the second half to prop up Asia's fourth-largest economy, reiterating his earlier hints that the government is considering drawing up an extra budget."We are in grave danger as the economic conditions will likely be worse in the second half. The government has to move more aggressively to deal with it," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in an economy-related ministers' meeting in Seoul."The gov
June 22, 2016
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[DECODED] Probe casts suspicions on decades of Lotte actions
[THE INVESTOR] The probe into Lotte Group has churned up suspicions old and new. The main suspicions surround the Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul. The group had failed to receive government approval for the plans from the early 1990s to the late 2000s due to resistance from the military over safety concerns about Seongnam Airbase, a military installation south of Seoul.During the Lee Myung-bak administration, however, the project was given the green light, with Lotte Group footing the bill t
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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IP5 bolster cooperation to deal with new technologies
The world’s five biggest intellectual property offices have agreed to increase cooperation in response to the rapid change in the IP environment brought on by new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.The heads of the “Intellectual Property 5” also reached an accord on their joint efforts to improve the patent application process.The representatives produced those and other agreements at the end of the ninth IP5 Heads Meeting from May 31 to June 2 in Tokyo, Japa
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Blueberry prices drop in Korea
Blueberry prices are going down in Korea due to increased supply on constant demand, according to reports made by the agriculture-heavy South Jeolla Province on Wednesday. The fruit was once a high-yield crop due to its nutritional benefits to the eyes. (123RF)However, with more farmers joining the bandwagon and free trade agreements propelling blueberry imports, the increasing supply against steady demand is pushing down the produce price overall. Park Gwang-sun, a blueberry farmer by 10 years
June 22, 2016
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Pantech returns with low-cost smartphone
Korean smartphone maker Pantech on Wednesday unveiled a new model – the first in 20 months -- targeting mid-tier customers with upgraded audio, display and battery-charging features.Named “Sky IM-100,” the new smartphone sports a 5.1-inch display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 processor and the Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system, the company said. Two promotion supporters show Sky IM-100 at a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)The product is the first that the company has rel
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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LG eyeing STX Namsan Tower
[THE INVESTOR] LG Group is in talks with KORAMCO REITs Management and Trust over purchasing STX Namsan Tower near Seoul Station. According to industry sources, KORAMCO is negotiating the sale of the 23-story building to LG Group. Details about the negotiations remain unknown, but the property is estimated to fetch about 300 billion won (US$260 million) for KORAMCO. KORAMCO had selected Korea Investment Management as the preferred bidder in September, but the deal fell through when the latter fai
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Korea’s top firms blocking economic recovery: study
[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s economic recovery is being delayed as local companies are fast losing vitality, a study conducted by LG Economic Research Institute showed. Korea’s equity market that is in the doldrums reflects the downtick in business activities here, Lee Han-deuk, senior researcher at the think tank said in his report published on June 20. The study notes that the compound annual growth rate of Korean firms’ market capitalization slowed to 3.2 percent between 2011 and 2015, compared to
June 22, 2016
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Hanjin family draws millions in dividends despite massive losses
[THE INVESTOR] The Cho family of Hanjin Group received about 1.1 billion won ($954,000) in dividends from Hanjin Kal although the company posted 205.2 billion won net loss in 2015.Hanjin Kal is the holdings company of Hanjin Group that counts Korean Air among its subsidiaries. The company posted a large deficit for 2015, but paying out total of 4.01 billion won in dividends was approved at the general shareholders meeting in March.Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho and his three children, includi
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Exports to increase in H2: report
[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s exports will show small improvement in the second half of the year, the Institute for International Trade projected in a report released on June 22. In the report, IIT projected that Korea’s exports will come in at US$260.5 billion in the second half of the year, up 0.9 percent from the same period last year. The IIT cited developed nations’ economic recovery, rising oil prices and improving demand from emerging economies for the projection. The IIT forecast that crude oil
June 22, 2016
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Life insurers pressured to pay suicide benefits
Korea’s life insurers are torn over how to deal with a mistake in their insurance contracts regarding suicide coverage, which would amount to 246.5 billion won ($213.8 million) in additional payouts to policyholders. While five small and medium-sized players have surrendered under increasing pressure from financial authorities and the public to pay according to the contracts, eight are refusing to do so, arguing the statutes of limitation have already expired in most cases. In this photo taken o
June 22, 2016
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[Newsmaker] GM union plagued by corruption charges
General Motors Korea has been hit by another setback after the prosecution found some dubious cash flow in the automaker’s recruiting process. Investigators are looking into allegations that some executives and members of the labor union were bribed in exchange for hiring subcontract workers to full-time regular workers. The new revelation came amid ongoing investigations into other corruption charges involved with its suppliers. The Incheon Prosecutor’s Office said earlier this week that it is
MobilityJune 22, 2016