Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Kia global sales to top 30 million mark in May, 52 years after launch of first vehicle
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 automaker, said Monday that its global sales will top the 30 million mark this month, 52 years after it launched its first vehicle. The carmaker, now under the wing of Hyundai Motor Group since 2000, said as of late April, accumulated sales stood at just under 29.93 million units. "Since Kia has sold an average 260,000 vehicles per month in 2014, it is almost certain that the 30 million figure will be reached," the company said in a press release.The carm
IndustryMay 19, 2014
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Banks under scrutiny for loans to ferry owner
Banks that were key financial sources for Yoo Byeong-eon, the owner of the sunken ferry Sewol, may be held accountable for their lax loan management.Of the 374.7 billion won ($366 million) that Yoo’s affiliated companies borrowed from financial companies, 90 percent was received from banks, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The list of lenders includes 13 commercial banks, 11 credit unions, two credit finance providers and one savings bank, among which Woori Bank lent the most ― 92.
May 18, 2014
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Korea in the information society
MSIP director general Min Won-kiOn May 17, the world celebrated World Telecommunications and Information Society Day. The United Nations established the day to recognize the ever-increasing impact of information and communications technologies in our daily lives. The theme of this year’s WTISD was “Broadband for Sustainable Development.”In recognition of Korea’s contribution to broadband, the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union recognized President Park Geun-hye as a laureate
TechnologyMay 18, 2014
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Samsung boss to be moved to general ward
Samsung Medical Center said Sunday that it was considering moving Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee to a general ward from an intensive care unit as his health appeared to be improving. The hospital also said in a statement that the cardiac procedure for Lee went very well, and that he is currently stable. A hallway in the VIP ward on the 20th floor at Samsung Medical Center. (Kim Young-won) The statement came after rumors went viral last Friday that the chairman had passed away after an online medi
BusinessMay 18, 2014
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4 in 10 households to own tablet this year
Four in 10 Korean households are expected to have a tablet PC this year, according to Strategy Analytics.The global research firm said that Korea’s tablet penetration rate per household is forecast to stand at around 44 percent in 2014.The rate lags behind other advanced high-tech economies. North America’s penetration rate is forecast to reach 54.1 percent this year, and 39.8 percent in the eurozone. Samsung Galaxy tablet devices sit on display at Samsung Electronics’ pavilion at the Mobile Wor
TechnologyMay 18, 2014
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Lotte Shopping to sell 7 stores to KB Asset
Lotte Shopping, the country’s largest retailer, on Friday withdrew its plan to sell 18 retail properties to foreign investors. Instead, it will sell seven of them to KB Asset Management for 600 billion won ($586 million). According to industry insiders, Lotte and KB signed an optional contract on May 16 regarding the sales of Lotte department stores in Ilsan and Sangin-dong, Daegu; and Lotte Mart discount stores in Bupyeong, Pyeongtaek and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province as well as Gumi in North Gye
IndustryMay 18, 2014
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Seoul shares expected to continue upward trend
After failing to show a significantly improved performance over the past five months, Seoul stocks were expected to continue their climb, at least for the next week, on foreign buying. Analysts, however, cautioned that some of the gains may be dwarfed by profit-taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 2,013.44 points on Friday, up 2.9 percent from a week earlier.The main index, buoyed by foreign buying, continued to rise throughout the week to reach its highest level o
May 18, 2014
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Investors take more loans to buy stocks: data
South Korean investors are borrowing more money to buy stocks as the local stock market is nearing an all-time high for the year, data showed Sunday.The so-called margin debt, or the amount of money borrowed to buy stocks, reached 4.94 trillion won ($4.82 billion) as of Wednesday, the highest since June 7, 2013, when the comparable figure was 4.99 trillion won, according to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.The margin debt for the main bourse rose to 2.57 trillion w
May 18, 2014
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POSCO cuts 2014 capital spending by more than 10%
POSCO, South Korea’s top steelmaker, has trimmed its facility investment for the year by more than 10 percent from its initial plan in order to improve its financial footing, industry sources said Sunday.According to the sources, the steelmaker has lowered its capital spending for this year to 5.7 trillion won ($5.56 billion) from the original 6.5 trillion won. The figure includes investments by its affiliates. POSCO alone plans to spend some 3 trillion won this year, also lower than its earlier
IndustryMay 18, 2014
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Foreign banks pay big dividends, consulting fees to parent firms
Foreign banks operating in South Korea have transferred a large sum of dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms, industry data showed Sunday, triggering a controversy over a massive capital outflow and the local units’ financial soundness.According to the data, two foreign banks ― Citibank Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea ― have paid a total of 3.25 trillion won ($3.18 billion) in dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms over the past 10 years, which is equivalent to
May 18, 2014
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Offering more than luxury
Gone are the days when wealthy Koreans would ogle at a Mercedes-Benz or BMW.High-end customers with dough are now turning their eyes to supercars worth more than 200 million won ($195,000).For Italian sports car maker Ferrari, the growth rate in Korea is faster than in Japan, its CEO Luca di Montezemolo told Korean reporters during the Geneva Motor Show in March. In Japan, one of the top-selling markets in the world for supercars, Ferrari sales increased almost 20 percent last year. Even though
MobilityMay 18, 2014
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GM recalls record 11.2 million cars in U.S. this year
General Motors Co., recalling an additional 2.7 million vehicles for potentially faulty brake lights and other issues, pushed its total number of cars and trucks called back for repairs in the U.S. this year to 11.2 million, the most ever for the automaker.The 2014 total through mid-May is more than GM recalled during the previous six years combined, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records. The Detroit-based company’s previous peak year for recalls in the U.S. was 10.
MobilityMay 18, 2014
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Hyundai, Kia see 10% rise in China sales through April
Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. posted a 10 percent rise in their sales in China in the first four months of the year, driven by rising demand for their small passenger cars and sport utility vehicles, industry data showed Sunday.The two automakers sold a combined 582,890 units in the neighboring country in the January-April period, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.Their market share also rose 0.2 percentage poi
MobilityMay 18, 2014
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Cuba’s mobile email experiment causes chaos
HAVANA (AP) ― On an island where most people have no Internet access, the arrival of mobile phone email service was embraced with joy.Tens of thousands of Cubans began emailing like crazy in March ― for days, until the service started to fail, taking much of Cuba’s already shaky voice and text-messaging mobile service down with it.The island’s aging cellphone towers became swamped by the new flood of email traffic, creating havoc for anyone trying to use the system. Users had to make eight or ni
TechnologyMay 18, 2014
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Rio official: Water pollution targets won’t be met
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Rio de Janeiro’s environment secretary has acknowledged that pledges to drastically reduce the amount of pollution that flows into Guanabara Bay before the 2016 Olympics will not be met.In a letter obtained Saturday by the Associated Press, Carlos Francisco Portinho said the construction of two new sewage treatment facilities would lead to a 50 percent reduction in the levels of pollution flowing into the bay.Olympic sailing events are to be held in the Guanabara Bay, and o
TechnologyMay 18, 2014
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Foreign banks pay big dividends, consulting fees to parent firms
Foreign banks operating in South Korea have transferred a large sum of dividends and consulting fees to their parents firms, industry data showed Sunday, triggering a controversy over a massive capital outflow and the local units' financial soundness.According to the data, two foreign banks -- Citibank Korea Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank Korea -- have paid a total of 3.25 trillion won ($3.18 billion) in dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms over the past 10 years, which is equiv
May 18, 2014
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Seoul shares to continue upward move next week: analysts
The South Korean stock market is expected to continue its climb next week on the back of a continued foreign buying, although its gains may be capped due to profit-taking, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished at 2,013.44 points on Friday, up 2.9 percent from a week earlier. The main index, backed by massive foreign buying, continued to gather ground through the week, reaching this year's all-time high on Friday. Analysts said a series of
May 17, 2014
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Korea will have bridge role in global trade
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Friday. (Energy Ministry)South Korea has been making a great contribution to the world’s economy, and yet Asia’s fourth-largest economy could play a bigger role in improving global trade negotiations by bridging developed and developing nations in creating a multilateral trade system, according to the World Trade Organization’s top official.Roberto Azevedo, the WTO’s director-general, said Friday that the country p
May 16, 2014
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Big firms vie for LIG Insurance
Underwriter Goldman Sachs is scheduled to accept bids for LIG Insurance next Monday to pick the preferred bidder among six contenders, including KB Financial Group, Lotte Group and the Tong Yang Life-Vogo Fund alliance.The other three potential bidders that have submitted preliminary proposals are MBK Partners, China-based Fosun Group and the Middle East-based Jabez Partners.LIG Group plans to dispose of its 20 percent stake, worth 370 billion won ($350 million), in LIG Insurance to raise funds
IndustryMay 16, 2014
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Central bank keeps eye on foreign exchange market
South Korea’s top central banker said Friday that the Bank of Korea is closely watching the foreign exchange market amid growing currency volatility.In a meeting with commercial bank heads, Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the central bank was keeping tabs on the market for any herd behavior.Lee’s remark is the latest in a series of comments by South Korean financial officials who voiced firm will to act against speculative forces and sharp volatility in the foreign exchange market.Earlier this week, Vice
May 16, 2014