Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Ministries to cooperate on satellite project
The ministries of science, environment and oceans and the weather agency signed an agreement to jointly develop two geostationary satellites and utilize information and related space technologies.Through the 669.7 billion won ($578.4 million) project, the government plans to launch a satellite in 2017 to monitor weather conditions and natural disasters and another to observe oceanic pollution and resources and climate change the following year. The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Science
TechnologyJune 25, 2013
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Duty-free shops riding on hallyu into 10th year
Chinese tourists packing an elevator to the Lotte Duty Free Shop in downtown Seoul can’t take their eyes off a small screen that shows Girls’ Generation twirling around in doll-like garb.The beaming K-pop group no doubt adds to the shoppers’ delight as they are about to begin the highlight of their trip to Seoul.Hallyu stars are proving to be highly effective marketing icons for the nation’s largest duty-free shops as they enjoy an avalanche of Chinese and Southeast Asian customers. Lotte Duty F
IndustryJune 25, 2013
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Watchdog OKs resumption of Wolseong reactor 2
The state-run nuclear watchdog on Tuesday approved the resumption of a nuclear power plant which has been suspended since late April for maintenance.The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said the Wolseong No. 2 reactor met the performance standards for operation in its regular inspection that started on April 24. The 700-megawatt nuclear power plant located in Wolseong, some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is expected to provide some relief to the nation battling power shortages.South
IndustryJune 25, 2013
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Seoul stocks lose 120 points in five days
Korea’s stock market suffered major losses in the past week, hit by the credit tightening fears in China, which emerged as a fresh negative factor in addition to the U.S. policy to scale back stimulus.Affected by the two biggest economies’ simultaneous moves toward monetary tightening, the benchmark KOSPI lost for the fifth consecutive trading session to close at 1,780.63 on Tuesday. It dropped 18.38 points, or 1.02 percent, from a session earlier.Seoul shares dropped 119.99 points, or 6.3 perce
June 25, 2013
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Car manufacturers’ feelings mixed on aluminum models
British luxury carmaker Jaguar recently put a 2.0-liter gasoline engine into its flagship XJ limousine. Despite the smaller engine, the car’s agility is not seriously affected thanks to its all-aluminum body. In recent years, carmakers have been devoting considerable resources to developing lightweight vehicles. Reducing a car’s weight by 10 percent can improve fuel economy by 6-8 percent, industry watchers say. And one of the key alternative materials is aluminum. Experts say that aluminum perf
IndustryJune 25, 2013
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Intel envisions ‘re-creation of laptops’
As the concept between a laptop and a tablet PC is becoming increasingly blurred by the constant innovation in technology, Intel Korea on Tuesday revealed its renewed strategy, which it said would best correspond with its vision of the “re-creation of laptops.”By teaming up with the renowned Korean illusionist and magician Lee Eun-gyeol this year, the world’s No. 1 semiconductor chipmaker expects to fundamentally change the concept of future computing, the company said. “Just as magic evolves ov
TechnologyJune 25, 2013
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Samsung trumps Apple in Japan patent fight
TOKYO (Yonhap News) ― A Japanese court said Tuesday that Apple Inc.’s patent infringement claim against Samsung Electronics Co. is invalid, giving the upper hand to the South Korean tech giant in a series of legal battles over patents, a Japanese news agency reported.Upholding a lower court’s verdict, the Intellectual Property High Court ruled that Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, did not infringe upon Apple’s technology on transferring media content from computers to smartphones a
TechnologyJune 25, 2013
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FSS eyes easing rules for card firms: chief
The financial regulator will step up efforts to ease regulations for credit card companies to help them weather difficult business conditions amid the slowing economy, its chief said Tuesday.“We’ll look into loosening regulations for credit card firms so that they can innovate themselves and find new sources of profits,” Gov. Choi Soo-hyun of the Financial Supervisory Service told reporters ahead of a meeting with heads of major card companies. The regulator will consider allowing credit card co
June 25, 2013
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Daewoo Shipbuilding wins $570m drill ship order
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that it has clinched a $570 million order to build a drill ship for a U.S. firm.Under the deal with Atwood Oceanics, Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver the drill ship used to search for oil and gas wells in deep waters by the end of 2015, the company said in a regulatory filing.In January last year, Daewoo Shipbuilding received a similar deal from the same company to build a drill ship as well.A drill ship is a
IndustryJune 25, 2013
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21 firms to be listed on new venture-driven market
South Korea’s bourse operator said Tuesday it has selected 21 firms to be listed on the Korea New Exchange market, which is set to launch in July to assist the growth of small players.Earlier this month, 10 brokerage houses, which were selected as authorized supervisors by the Korea Exchange to evaluate and supervise firms to be listed on the envisioned market, handed in the list of 21 candidates.“The KRX finalized the list based on the firms’ growth potential as well as leadership of their mana
June 25, 2013
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6th round of Korea-China FTA talks set for July 2-4
South Korea and China will hold a fresh round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement early next month, the Seoul government said Tuesday.The sixth round of the FTA negotiations between Seoul and Beijing will be held July 2-4 in South Korea’s largest port city of Busan, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.“At the upcoming round of negotiations, the two sides will work to come up with a draft on the modality of their FTA negotiations, and also work to reach an agr
June 25, 2013
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KB Financial to study possible takeover of Woori
KB Financial Group Inc. plans to study whether to seek to buy South Korea’s top banking group Woori Finance Holdings Co. as part of efforts to boost the group’s competitiveness, its head nominee said Tuesday.The Financial Services Commission, the financial regulator, plans to unveil detailed plans to privatize the state-invested Woori Finance on Wednesday, including a possible separate sale of the group’s smaller bank units.Lim Young-rok, the chairman nominee of the KB Financial Group, said it i
June 25, 2013
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Top shipbuilder buoyed by offshore plant orders
ULSAN ― The offshore yard in Ulsan run by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s top shipbuilder, is a surprisingly interesting place to explore. The focus on offshore plants makes for a much more diverse range of construction than at conventional shipyards, and increased orders in recent years have the place buzzing.According to HHI, as of June, seven different offshore plants are being built in the world’s largest offshore yard, which covers 215 acres. Those include modules for the Barrow Isla
BusinessJune 25, 2013
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Autoelex leads global market for brooders
Autoelex has become the producer of the world’s largest number of small and medium-sized digital incubator models, the Korean manufacturer of poultry hatchers and brooders said. Launched in 1991, Autoelex rolled out its first digital hatcher and brooder “RCOM” in 2004. Currently the flagship RCOM series is exported to 40 countries including the U.S., Britain, Germany, Denmark and China, and distributed by about 70 local companies. The hatcher is exclusively distributed by major brooder companies
BusinessJune 25, 2013
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KRX looks to education to create ‘healthy investment culture’
Korea’s economic success story is a common subject of discussion, but the economy in terms of finance and investment has remained relatively removed from public attention.The Korea Exchange, the country’s main bourse operator, in response declared the nation’s “Great Awakening” in finance, aiming to raise people’s awareness of financial products. The KRX launched a national finance education project in 2003 in the form of a government-designated special training institution. The education projec
BusinessJune 25, 2013
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Procurement administrator in touch with SMEs
Ever since Min Hyung-jong took office as the administrator of Korea’s Public Procurement Service last March, he has tried to be out in the field instead of behind his desk, meeting small and medium enterprises or suppliers.His efforts to get close to SMEs, to listen to their concerns and thoughts on ways to improve the supplier industry, has gained him the reputation of “someone you can really talk to.”As a procurement specialist for over 30 years, Min said it was important for him to visit as m
June 25, 2013
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Korea lends hand to global anti-desertification efforts
Desertification, accelerated by global warming and environmental disruption, has risen to be one of the heaviest burdens for humanity over the past few decades.According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, an area 1.2 times the size of South Korea is turning into desert every year, causing some $42 billion in damage.The impact is especially conspicuous in developing countries, which are heavily reliant on primary industries such as agriculture and fisheries.Korea is one o
June 25, 2013
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‘Preventing deserts is more effective than restoring them’
Ryu Kwang-su, director general of the international affairs bureau at the Korea Forest Service, talked about the global community’s efforts for anti-desertification and Korea’s related activities during an interview with The Korea Herald this week. The government official stressed the importance of global efforts to prevent deserts, saying it is more effective than restoring them ex post facto.The following are questions and answers from the interview.Q: The 10th U.N. Convention to Combat Desert
June 25, 2013
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UNCCD selects anti-desertification champions
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has recently announced the winners of the 2013 Land for Life Awards to promote anti-desertification campaigns and organizations.The announcement was made on June 17, the 19th anniversary of the World Day to Combat Desertification which was created in 1994 to celebrate the adoption of the UNCCD.A total cash prize of $100,000 was distributed to development organizations from India, Mexico and Australia, for their contribution to sustainable
June 25, 2013
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Galaxy S4 twice as fast as iPhone 5: report
Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 is the fastest smartphone among the best-selling brands in the market, according to a test by U.K.’s watchdog released on Tuesday.The organization named ”Which?“ used a speed-testing system called Geekbench to evaluate the processing and memory speed of seven representative cell phone brands.Galaxy S4, ranked at the top, scored 3,188 points while Apple’s iPhone5 scored 1,664, ranking at the bottom with its score barely reaching half that of Samsung.“If a phone has
TechnologyJune 25, 2013