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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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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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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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Samsung depends heavily on tech arm in operating profit
Samsung Group, South Korea's No. 1 conglomerate, is growing more dependent on its electronics arm for its operating profit, latest market data showed Tuesday.Samsung Electronics Co., the flagship unit of the business group, provided 92.3 percent of the combined operating profit by the conglomerates' 17 listed affiliates in 2013, according to market researcher FnGuide.Samsung Electronics accounted for around 60 percent of the group's yearly operating profit in 2007-10. The number spiked to 79 per
IndustryFeb. 4, 2014
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Banks' earnings estimated to have fallen 31 pct in 2013: data
South Korean banks' earnings are estimated to have declined 31 percent last year amid a long streak of low rates and higher loan-loss reserves, data showed Tuesday.KB Financial Group and three other rivals are projected to have logged a combined net profit of 4.98 trillion won ($4.49 billion) in 2013, compared with 7.21 trillion won the previous year, according to estimates provided by FnGuide.The 2013 data would mark the steepest fall since an 11 percent on-year decline in 2009 at the heel of a
Feb. 4, 2014
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SK Innovation's net plunges 36 pct in 2013
SK Innovation Co., which owns the country's top refiner SK Energy Co., said Tuesday its net profit tumbled 36 percent last year from a year ago due to decreased margin in the refining business.Net profit came to 757.03 billion won ($695.7 million) in 2013, compared with 1.18 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales fell 9.1 percent to 66.67 trillion won in the period, and operating profit dropped 18.7 percent to 1.38 trillion won.The figures reflected earnings f
IndustryFeb. 4, 2014
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Samsung fast catching up with Apple in tablets: data
South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is quickly catching up with Apple Inc. in the tablet PC market, data showed Tuesday, taking over markets previously dominated by its U.S. rival.The world's No. 1 smartphone maker emerged as the largest seller of tablet PCs in three regions in 2013 -- Latin America, Central-Eastern Europe and Africa-Middle East -- by taking up 22.8 percent, 25 percent and 18.3 percent of the markets, respectively, Strategy Analytics said.Apple, which held a compara
TechnologyFeb. 4, 2014
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S. Korea's consumer prices grow 1.1 pct on-year in January
South Korea's consumer price growth stayed in the 1-percent range in January thanks to the stabilization of farming product prices, a government report showed Tuesday.The country's consumer price index rose 1.1 percent in January from a year earlier, unchanged from the previous month's on-year gain of 1.1 percent, according to the report by Statistics Korea.This marked the third straight month that the growth has stayed in the 1-percent range.The core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and f
Feb. 4, 2014
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Number of firms on watchdog's list down in Feb.
The number of business group affiliates subject to restrictions on mutual investments and loan guarantees declined in February from a month earlier, the antitrust watchdog said Tuesday.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of corporate affiliates on the watch list stood at 1,694 as of Saturday, down 6 from the previous month.Over the past month, 24 affiliates were excluded following mergers and acquisitions and other reasons, such as stake sales. Meanwhile, 18 companies were newly added, the
Feb. 4, 2014
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[Newsmaker] LG Uplus rises on LTE leadership
LG Uplus was always the smallest and branded the worst telecommunication service provider that stood in the shadows of SK Telecom and KT.Feature phones carried by LG Uplus did not work especially in provincial areas, and its fiber optic broadband was weak compared to its rivals, leading many a consumer to shun its services.Just when it was struggling to find the next big thing that could help the company surpass the formidable No. 2 KT, if not SKT, LG Uplus headed by CEO Lee Sang-chul pounced on
TechnologyFeb. 3, 2014
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[Graphic News] Economically inactive graduates
Korea’s economically inactive population with a college degree or higher tallied 3.08 million people in 2013, up 3.2 percent from the previous year, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.As the number reached 2 million in 2004 and broke the 3 million mark last year, the data suggests that the economically inactive population grew by roughly 1 million in just nine years.The economically inactive population refers to those over age 15 who are not employed, unemployed or currently seeking
Feb. 3, 2014
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State firms put buildings on sale
This year may become a great year for office building buyers, as public organizations located in Seoul and its adjacent areas rush to sell their office buildings, pressed by the government’s demands to lower their debt levels. “Plans for selling off office buildings is one of the key measures that the 41 public organizations vowed to take to cut their debt and normalize their businesses,” said an official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, declining to be identified. At the request of th
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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Shares, currency lose ground on Fed stimulus cut
South Korean stocks dipped 1.09 percent on Monday following the U.S. Fed’s scaling back of its bond purchases, which roiled the global financial market last week, analysts said. The local currency plunged against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 21.19 points to 1,919.96. Trading volume was moderate at 2.26 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won ($3.59 billion) with losers outpacing gainers 516 to 302.The Seoul financial market had been closed since Thursday for
Feb. 3, 2014
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Data leaks involve more firms
Financial regulators have revealed a consumer data leak at a foreign-controlled insurance company, showing that more financial firms were involved in the scandal that has left the nation wracked with concerns over security breaches. Some employees of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea were found to have been engaged in leaking the personal information of up to 51 policyholders, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.“Prudential Life Korea was found to have allowed outsi
Feb. 3, 2014
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Data-leaking card firms face massive payouts
The three credit card companies involved in the latest data-leak scandal may have to pay over 170 billion won ($157 million) to customers involved in compensation suits, putting aside the additional expenses of reissuing cards and reinforcing their security systems.According to a regulatory report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service, KB Kookmin Card estimated that the total compensation amount may be as high as 86 billion won, assuming that 1 percent of the 43 million victims will par
Feb. 3, 2014
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Porsche to extend warranties for loyal customers
Porsche Korea announced Monday that it will host the 2014 Porsche Refresh Campaign, the company’s complimentary post-warranty service, for customers whose car warranty has expired.Any customer who purchased a vehicle or registered at the Porsche service centers before January 2010 will be eligible to participate in the free-of-charge inspection, the company said.The checkup will be available at any of Porsche Korea’s authorized service centers from Feb. 3 through Feb. 28 and will include a “thor
MobilityFeb. 3, 2014
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Schindler to boycott Hyundai Elevator’s paid-in capital increase
Schindler Holding AG, a leading global moving solutions provider, said Monday it would boycott Hyundai Elevator Co.’s decision to seek a paid-in capital increase that it says does nothing to improve the situation of the elevator company.The announcement follows Schindler’s compensation lawsuit last month against the South Korean company, claiming financial damages from Hyundai Elevator’s derivatives contract. Schindler claims that the contract was a calculated strategy to allow Hyundai Group’s c
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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Ssangyong Motor sales jump 9.5% in January
Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra, said Monday that its sales grew 9.5 percent on-year in January on the strength of consumer demand for its popular Korando family of cars.The carmaker’s total sales hit 11,634 units last month compared with 10,620 vehicles sold a year earlier. Domestic sales reached 5,445 units, a 34.9 percent surge from the same one-month period in 2013. Exports, including knockdown kits, were tallied at 6,189 vehicles
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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Renault Samsung sales jump 17.3% in January
January sales by Renault Samsung Motors Co. jumped 17.3 percent from a year earlier, helped by demand for popular models such as the SM3 compact sedans and QM5 crossover utility vehicle (CUV), the South Korean division of French automaker Renault SA said Monday.The country’s smallest car manufacturer by sales said it sold a total of 6,698 vehicles last month, compared with 5,709 units tallied in first month of 2013.The press release said domestic sales soared 16.9 percent on-year to 4,500 units,
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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Hyundai Motor’s sales dip 0.3% in January
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s No.1 automaker, said Monday that its January sales dipped 0.3 percent from a year earlier, citing fewer working days ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holidays as the main reason.The company said it sold 411,508 vehicles in January, down slightly from 412,894 units tallied for the year before.Its domestic sales, which had generally hurt overall numbers in the past, actually gained 2.6 percent to 51,525 vehicles, while overseas shipments contracted 0.7 percent t
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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GM Korea’s January sales plunge 20.2%
GM Korea Co., the local unit of General Motors Co. of the United States, said Monday that its sales for January plunged 20.2 percent from a year earlier as overseas demand turned sluggish.South Korea’s third-largest carmaker sold a total of 53,606 vehicles last month, down from 67,210 sold for the first month of 2013, the company said in a press release.Its domestic sales climbed 8.4 percent on-year to 10,873 units, on the back of demand for steady-selling models such as the Aveo subcompact, Cru
IndustryFeb. 3, 2014
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Hyundai’s new U.S. chief confident of Genesis sales
Hyundai Motor America’s new CEO Dave Zuchowski showed confidence in promoting and selling the revamped Hyundai Genesis sedan in the all-important U.S. market in his recent visit to Korea, Seoul officials said Monday. Zuchowski, the former sales chief of the carmaker’s U.S. unit who succeeded John Krafcik as CEO on Jan. 1, arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day visit with newly appointed executive vice president of sales Robert Pradzinski. According to the company, the U.S. management members
MobilityFeb. 3, 2014
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Korea’s crackdown on undocumented economy stokes angst
South Korean bar owner Jeong Young-soo doused his body with paint thinner and set himself aflame, his final protest against a government crackdown to collect more tax from his industry.The shock in front of Chuncheon city hall, northeast of Seoul, highlighted an underlying tension as President Park Geun-hye tries to squeeze an extra 27.2 trillion won ($25 billion) in revenue from the undocumented economy.Extra pressure on groups from bar owners to doctors to mom-and-pop retailers contrasts with
Feb. 3, 2014