Most Popular
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Today’s K-pop] BTS pop-up event to come to Seoul
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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[Graphic News] World-leading products per country
1. China - 1,485 products2. Germany - 703 3. U.S. - 6034. Japan - 2315. Italy - 2286. U.K. - 817. South Korea - 64
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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Porsche eyes growth in Korea
Porsche Korea has vowed to expand its local reach by at least 10 percent this year by spreading what managing director Kim Geun-tak called the “Porsche Virus.” “With the value added from Korea’s innovative management, we hope to better address our consumers in Korea,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. It was the first press conference Porsche Korea has held since its official establishment at the start of this year, becoming Porsche AG’s 17th subsidiary globally and fourth in Asia after
MobilityJan. 23, 2014
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Korea records 0.9% growth in 4th quarter
South Korea’s economic growth matched analysts’ estimates in the fourth quarter, as the central bank kept the benchmark interest rate at the lowest level since 2010.Gross domestic product gained 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, when the increase was 1.1 percent, the Bank of Korea said today in a statement in Seoul. That matched the median 0.9 percent estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. From a year earlier, growth was 3.9 percent.The Bank of Korea is projecting 3.8 percent
Jan. 23, 2014
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KAI confident of winning U.S. deal
Ha Sung-yong, CEO of Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer, expressed his confidence in winning the upcoming U.S. Air Force T-X project that involves replacing outdated trainers. “The project will be one of the key overseas orders that KAI has set its sights on. I am confident about winning the deal if the competition is launched, as KAI’s T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer is the model most similar to the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 and F-35 fighters,’’ Ha said. Durin
BusinessJan. 23, 2014
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Activists protest LG’s New Jersey headquarters
The feud between LG Electronics and environmentalists over the firm’s construction plan for its U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, is far from over as more activists are joining the opposition side. According to The New York Times, environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Natural Resources Defense Council and a local conservation group said they would raise the ante in the ongoing legal battle against the Korean firm to halt the construction of its headquarters atop the
TechnologyJan. 23, 2014
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SK Telecom to launch new user-friendly platform
South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Thursday it plans to use a new platform for smartphones starting next month that aims to improve users’ convenience and block spam calls.The new system, named “T-phone,” will allow users to find numbers easily on its database of 1 million listings, making it faster than searching through the Internet, the company said.Based on SK’s positioning system, T-phone will provide the closest number depending on users’ location, along with related We
TechnologyJan. 23, 2014
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Tong Yang’s future placed in further jeopardy
The future of embattled Tong Yang Group appears to have become even bleaker after its brokerage recorded a net loss.The group is currently hoping to sell its securities arm to secure capital.Shares in Tong Yang Securities plummeted Thursday, closing down nearly 9 percent at 2,355 won, reflecting the sell-off streak that emerged after the company said its total net losses for 2013 exceeded 300 billion won ($279 million).The securities firm said overall sales slipped more than 40 percent to 1.07 t
Jan. 23, 2014
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Users to be allowed to delete default apps
South Korea’s smartphone users will be allowed to prune unwanted preinstalled mobile applications, a measure that will give them more data storage, the country’s communications ministry said Thursday.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it will apply new guidelines on preinstalled apps to local industry players starting in April.“The move aims to normalize an abnormal practice that causes inconvenience to smartphone users and causes unfair competition among industry players,” th
TechnologyJan. 23, 2014
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Hanjin chairman talks of reform
Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho on Thursday stressed restructuring efforts, saying that the company must achieve profit this year.One way to fulfill the goal would be branch out of Korea and avidly develop overseas markets, he stressed.“Our employees who are stationed abroad must become experts on their local markets in order to satisfy our overseas customers,” the chairman said at an executive-level seminar that brought together 116 executives at Hyatt Regency Hotel in Incheon City.He also ca
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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Samsung SDI to build battery facility in China
South Korea’s Samsung SDI Co., a leading hybrid car battery maker, said Thursday it plans to tap into China’s battery market by establishing a production facility in cooperation with its counterparts there.Samsung SDI signed a memorandum of understanding with Anqing Ring New Group and Shanxi province in northern China to open a joint-venture by April. Their combined investments will total $600 million over the next five years.The firm, however, did not disclose details on stakes among the three
TechnologyJan. 23, 2014
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SK C&C increases inroads into China
SK C&C president Chung Chul-khil has visited China to highlight the company’s moves to expand its global business, SK C&C said on Thursday. Chung was in Beijing and Shenzhen, China, from Jan. 21 to 23 to discuss new business plans and market trends with the regional branch members. “SK C&C will reinforce its competitiveness and have achieve tangible outcomes through localization and partnership in China,” Chung said. “The company should share its structural reform outcomes and best practices wit
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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LG Display Q4 net down 77.9%
South Korean panel giant LG Display Co. said Thursday its fourth-quarter net plunged 77.9 percent from a year earlier amid the falling prices of TV panels in the global market.Net profit reached 70.8 billion won ($65.9 million) in the October-December period, compared with a profit of 319.7 billion won a year earlier, LG Display said in a regulatory filing.Sales dropped 19 percent on-year to 7.07 trillion won in the fourth quarter, while the company posted an operating profit of 256.9 billion wo
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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STX Heavy Industries told to repay its Chinese unit’s debts
STX Heavy Industries Co., a troubled South Korean shipbuilder, said Thursday it would seek countermeasures to an order by China’s arbitration commission to repay 60.9 billion won ($56.8 million) in debts held by its unit.The shipbuilder issued a loan guarantee in October 2010 on a loan by its Chinese heavy machinery maker, STX Dalian Heavy Industries Co., from China’s Bank of Communications.Last August, the Chinese bank filed a petition with the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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Korea’s trade terms reach 4-month high in December
South Korea’s terms of trade improved to a four-month high in December as import prices fell at a faster pace than export costs, the central bank said Thursday.The country’s net terms-of-trade index for goods ― a gauge of trade terms ― came in at 89.9 in December, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the highest since 90.4, tallied for August last year. The index is calculated by dividing the export price index by the import price index. The base year is
Jan. 23, 2014
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Budget carriers’ passenger traffic jumps 20 percent
The number of international and domestic passengers using South Korea’s low-cost carriers grew significantly from a year earlier in 2013 with the combined market share of the budget carriers on domestic routes surging to a record high, the government said Thursday.The total number of passengers using flights by the country’s five low-cost carriers came to over 15.69 million last year, up 20 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Internati
IndustryJan. 23, 2014
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Regulator to unveil comprehensive plans for data protection
South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday it would announce next month comprehensive measures aimed at protecting personal data handled by financial firms, as the latest data breach has fueled concerns over their poor management of client information.On Wednesday, the Financial Services Commission vowed stern punishments over any data leak at financial firms, warning of heavy penalty and suspension or dismissals of top executives. “The measures unveiled yesterday are a kind of guideline, a
Jan. 23, 2014
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S. Korea's economic growth hits 2-year high in 2013
South Korea's economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter from three months earlier but logged the fastest expansion in two years in 2013 on exports, the central bank said Thursday.Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew 0.9 percent in the October-December period from three months earlier, compared with a 1.1 percent on-quarter gain in the third quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The fourth-quarter growth was the slowest since a 0.8 pe
Jan. 23, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Chinese display makers catching up fast
Dominance is shifting in the global display market as Chinese companies are fast emerging to challenge Korea’s giants in advanced technology.Korea’s liquid crystal display panels in terms of global output and shipment saw their market share slide from 48.9 percent in 2010 to 48.8 percent in 2013.The share taken up by the Chinese players, meanwhile, jumped from 4.7 percent to 12.5 percent during the same period, according to DisplaySearch, a global display market researcher.This impact from the C
TechnologyJan. 22, 2014
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[Graphic News] Global market share of Korean firms in 2013
Korean firms placed within the top 10 in terms of sales revenues up to the third quarter of last year for nine of 26 industry categories, according to data compiled by CEO Score.Samsung Electronics was the industry leader in information technology and Hyundai Heavy led the shipbuilding industry, which on the list also included five other domestic companies.Meanwhile, other Korean firms ranked second in industries such as steel, semiconductors and mobile phones, the data showed.
IndustryJan. 22, 2014
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[Uniquely Korean] Property market changing course
Korea’s real estate sector has grown along with its economy. During this time, the market has also dramatically changed. The country, which used to house clusters of shacks in major cities such as Seoul and Busan in the aftermath of the Korean War, is now filled with high-rise apartments and skyscrapers.The economic development boom in the 1970s paved the way for the country to alter its real estate landscape by rapidly building standard four-bedroom apartments that could accommodate large famil
Jan. 22, 2014