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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Kakao Talk collecting MAC address stirs controversy
Kakao Talk, the nation’s top mobile messenger, is generating controversy over its PC version, which collects the MAC addresses of users’ devices, according to IT sources on Tuesday.The beta version of the Kakao PC platform was released on June 20 and users can download and install the program on their desktops after going through a sign-up and authentication process. MAC, or media access control, is an alpha-numeric address assigned to each PC connected to the Internet. Collecting MAC address co
TechnologyJune 25, 2013
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Seoul shares hit yearly-low on China woes
South Korean stocks declined to the lowest point in the year on Tuesday, as increasing fears on China's step to squeeze money added to fresh worries about the local economy on top of a possible end of the U.S. monetary easing, analysts said. The local currency inched up against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 18.38 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 1,780.63. Trading volume was moderate at 326.3 million shares worth 4.40 trillion won ($3.78 billion
June 25, 2013
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Tokyo high court upholds Samsung win against Apple
A Tokyo high court has upheld a lower court's ruling that Samsung did not infringe on Apple's patent for synchronizing music and data across devices.Apple asked for 100 million yen ($ 1 million) in damages, but the Tokyo District Court ruled in Samsung's favor last August. The Intellectual Property High Court in Tokyo upheld that decision Tuesday.This appeal case is one of many legal battles between the technology giants. The court decision comes after Apple won a separate patent infringement ca
TechnologyJune 25, 2013
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Seoul shares up 0.4 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.4 percent higher late Tuesday morning, as large-cap exporters reverted to gains from earlier losses, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.19 points to 1,806.20 as of 11:20 a.m.No. 1 steelmaker POSCO shot up 1.5 percent, with auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis jumping more than 4 percent. But shares of financial companies moved downward. KB Financial Group, the second-largest banking firm, edged down 0.2 percent, with Samsung Fire
June 25, 2013
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Finance minister calls for biz community to expand investment and employment
South Korea's finance minister Tuesday called for businesses to expand investment and employment in order to help break the cycle of a prolonged low growth trend confronting the country's economy."I expect today's meeting will serve as a chance to have sincere and productive discussions that could lead to preemptive investment and expanded employment, eventually cutting the low growth trend," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told heads of the country's major business lobby groups. The meeting held
June 25, 2013
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Seoul shares open lower on China woes
South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Tuesday on worries that the Chinese economy is rapidly slowing down, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 6.12 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,792.89 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Large-cap exporters led the decline, with tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics falling 0.7 percent and leading automaker Hyundai Motor dropping 0.5 percent. China's main Shanghai Index plunged more than 5 percent on Monday amid gr
June 25, 2013
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S. Korea's manufacturers downbeat on Q3 business
Most South Korean manufacturers forecast their business to get bearish in the third quarter of this year due to the global economic slowdown, a survey showed Tuesday. The survey of 2,500 companies conducted between late May and early June by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) showed the Business Survey Index (BSI) at 97 for the July-September period, slightly down from 99 for the second quarter. The index gauges the manufacturers' outlook on business conditions, and a reading bel
June 25, 2013
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S. Korea's consumer sentiment hits 13-month high in June
South Korean consumers' confidence rose to the highest level in 13 months in June as the government's fiscal stimulus and the central bank's latest rate cut raised hopes for economic recovery, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday.The consumer sentiment index (CSI) -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 105 for June, up from 104 tallied for the previous month, according to the BOK.It marked the highest level since the index hit 106 i
June 25, 2013
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Regulator looks at pay packets of financial CEOs
The Financial Supervisory Service has launched a full-fledged investigation into the so-called “propriety” of the income level for chief executives in the financial industry.The investigation comes as criticism is mounting that CEOs of financial companies were paid “excessively” high amounts despite their companies’ falling profitability.Regulatory officials said that “despite an overall drop in earnings of financial firms last year, some CEOs and other board members were found to have enjoyed h
June 24, 2013
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Foreigners’ stock selling continues on QE woes
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Monday that the government was ready to implement countermeasures against increased capital-flow volatility stemming from the so-called Bernanke Shock.In a meeting with the ruling Saenuri Party, Hyun added that Korea’s economic fundamentals were still intact with a continued current account surplus and few short-term foreign borrowings that limited its exposure to an exit from quantitative easing.Shin Je-yoon, chairman of the Financial
June 24, 2013
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[Graphic News] Per capita meat consumption
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on Sunday that Koreans consumed a total of 2.17 million tons of meat including beef, pork and chicken last year. This translates to meat consumption of 43.7 kg per person
June 24, 2013
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Seoul opens call center for utilization of FTAs
South Korea on Monday opened a call center to help local businesses better utilize the country’s free trade agreements.The FTA Call Center can be reached by dialing 1380, and will provide country or region-specific information on how local firms can benefit from the country’s FTAs, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.South Korea is already enforcing nine bilateral and multilateral FTAs with 46 countries, including the United States and members of the European Union.There are
IndustryJune 24, 2013
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Personal bailouts up 20% through May
South Koreans filing for a personal bailout program surged 20 percent through May this year, the state-run debt counseling agency said Monday, apparently due to the protracted slump in the economy.The number of people petitioning to get protection under the program came to 44,172 through May this year, compared to 36,846 tallied over the cited period last year, according to the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service.The government’s personal bailout program is designed to give people some leeway o
IndustryJune 24, 2013
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Korea, Saudi Arabia seek nuclear energy cooperation
South Korea and Saudi Arabia sought to boost their cooperation in nuclear energy Monday in a meeting attended by their energy ministers.“The nuclear technology advanced by South Korea will be of a great help to Saudi Arabia in its project to build nuclear power plants,” Seoul’s Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick said, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest supplier of petroleum, plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors by 2032 as a way of diversifyi
IndustryJune 24, 2013
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Korea, Japan agree on fishing quota in exclusive waters
South Korea and Japan have agreed to maintain the amount of fish they can each catch in each other’s exclusive waters over the next 12 months despite Japan’s earlier demand to cut the amount of South Korea’s catch of the popular cutlass fish, the Seoul government said Monday.Under the agreement reached Friday, both countries will be allowed to send 860 ships each into one another’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and catch up to 60,000 tons of fish, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisher
June 24, 2013
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Hyundai Card unveils portfolio makeover
Hyundai Card on Monday released a new brand portfolio of credit cards that are designed to provide customers with maximized simplicity and practical benefits.“We hereby conclude our successful decade of our Hyundai Card M, and begin the innovative Hyundai Card Chapter Two strategy,” Hyundai Card chief executive Ted Chung told a news conference at the financial firm’s headquarters in Seoul. Dubbed the nation’s best-selling credit card brand, the old M series has amassed about 8 million holders si
June 24, 2013
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Korea, Japan agree to end won-yen currency swap deal
The Bank of Korea said Monday that Korea and Japan have decided against extending their bilateral currency swap agreement.“Authorities of Korea and Japan have concluded to end the bilateral won-yen currency swap arrangement equivalent to $3 billion between the two central banks, which is due to expire on July 3, 2013,” said the BOK in a statement.This would end their financial cooperation in which Korea sought to further globalize its currency and use the yen, one of the G3 or top three global c
June 24, 2013
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Korea sets sights on regional oil hub
Korea completed the construction of the nation’s largest oil tank terminal in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Monday, as part of its goal to become a Northeast Asian oil hub.As part of the goal, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. has led oil tank terminal construction projects in Yeosu and Ulsan since 2008, both of which have leading petrochemical industrial complexes near the tank terminal sites. “The Yeosu tank terminal completed the construction in March this year of 36 tanks whose crude
IndustryJune 24, 2013
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Samsung, Daewoo vie for $5.6b Russian order
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries are fiercely vying for Russia’s mammoth project to build 16 LNG carriers, industry sources said on Monday.The nation’s major shipbuilders were selected as preferred bidders for Russia’s gas carrier project scaled at $5.6 billion, according to the sources.The Yamal project is led by Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer Novatek and France-based global oil and gas supplier Total.The Korean firms gained the upper hand
IndustryJune 24, 2013
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European firms need right mix of skills
Striking the right balance between foreigners and Koreans is the key to running a successful foreign branch in Korea, advises Christoph Heider, the newly minted secretary-general of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea. “It’s important that at least one of the top management is a Korean,” said Heider in an interview with The Korea Herald. This is because, in his view, “at least one of the management should know the Korean market by heart.”But it’s not only about nationality, Heider added, s
June 24, 2013