Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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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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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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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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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Korea seeks to balance books by 2017
South Korea will try to balance its books in 2017, the country’s top economic policymaker said Thursday, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy runs a budget deficit for an economic recovery.The National Assembly passed a 17.3 trillion won ($15.8 billion) extra budget earlier this month to revitalize the economy amid lackluster exports and weak domestic demand.In March, the government slashed its growth outlook for this year to 2.3 percent from the 3 percent predicted in December.“We plan to balance t
IndustryMay 23, 2013
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Banks’ foreign exchange turnover hits 4-year high
Foreign exchange turnover by banks in South Korea grew by the most since the 2008 global financial crisis in the first quarter on foreigners’ bond investment and exporters’ sale of FX forward deals, the central bank said Thursday.The daily foreign exchange turnover averaged $49.2 billion in the January-March period, up 14.7 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.The first-quarter data marked the largest volume since $50.6 billion in the third quarter of 2008.The BOK sa
IndustryMay 23, 2013
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Household credit dips most in 4 years in Q1
South Korea’s household credit declined by the largest amount in four years in the first quarter as card spending remained sluggish amid the economic slowdown, the central bank said Thursday.Household credit totaled 961.6 trillion won ($856.5 billion) as of the end of March, down 2.2 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.In the fourth quarter, household credit rose 23.1 trillion won on-quarter to a record high 963.8 trillion won. The on-year growth of household c
IndustryMay 23, 2013
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4 plant suppliers fined $1m for cartel
Korea’s antitrust regulator announced Thursday that it imposed $1 million (1.15 billion won) in fines on foreign plant engineering firms and their bid brokers over price-fixing to win bids.According to the Fair Trade Commission, two foreign plant engineering firms and two bidding brokers breached competition laws to win overseas deals from a large Korean construction company.The four players are Pall Korea Ltd of U.S.-based Pall Corporation, Germany-based Dahlman Industrial Group, IPEG ENG Ltd.
May 23, 2013
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Korea’s economy to grow 2.6% this year: KDI
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s economy is expected to grow 2.6 percent this year, a state-run think tank forecast Thursday, revising down its growth outlook amid increasing uncertainty facing the country at home and abroad.The growth estimate by the Korea Development Institute is lower than the 3 percent it predicted in November. The think tank also expected the country’s economy will grow 3.6 percent next year.“The economy will make a steady improvement in 2013 and log a relatively low 2.
May 23, 2013
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Samsung C&T makes strides in new areas
Samsung C&T, a global construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said Wednesday its growth engines, including power plants, health care and mining, have been making progress.For the past three years, the company has invested in securing high-caliber human resources and technologies as well as innovating management and pushing aggressive global marketing strategies. As of May 2013, the company has already won $7 billion worth of contracts, which is 65 percent of this year’s sales target. In M
May 23, 2013
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BMW Korea chief promoted to group’s senior vice president
BMW Korea chief Kim Hyo-joon, who is also concurrently senior executive of the German carmaker group, will be promoted to senior vice president, company officials said on Wednesday.BMW is currently led by 350 senior executives in the world and only 50 of them are appointed as senior vice president. According to the company, a senior vice president is the highest position after the executive board members in BMW. Company officials said BMW has highly regarded Kim’s contribution to sales boost in
IndustryMay 23, 2013
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Woori names its banking unit head as new group chief
Woori Finance Holdings Co. said Thursday it has named Lee Soon-woo, the incumbent head of its banking unit, as the new chief to spearhead South Korea's top banking group.Woori Finance said that it has nominated the 63-year-old Lee, president of Woori Bank, as the group's new chief to replace Chairman Lee Pal-seung who offered to step down on April 12.Lee's nomination needs to receive approval from the group's board members and shareholders. Lee will also continue to serve as the head of the bank
May 23, 2013
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Seoul shares dip 1.24 pct on Bernanke remarks, weak Chinese data
South Korean stocks plunged 1.24 percent Thursday as hawkish remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and weaker-than-expected data from China sapped investor sentiment here, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 24.64 points to finish at 1,969.19. Trading volume was low at 337.4 million shares worth 4.54 trillion won ($4.05 billion) with losers far outstripping gainers 599 to 235."Invest
May 23, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.67 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.67 percent lower late Thursday morning due to losses in techs and logistics, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 13.39 points to 1,980.44 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares traded bearish, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics losing 0.93 percent and its smaller rival LG Electronics falling 0.84 percent. Samsung SDI, the leading maker of plasma display panels, shed 0.39 percent.Logistics firms also lost ground, with Hyundai Gl
May 23, 2013
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S. Korea's trade deficit with Japan jumps in April
South Korea's trade deficit with Japan soared in April from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, as the weak Japanese currency dented local exports.Asia's fourth-largest economy saw its trade deficit with Japan reach 248.2 billion yen ($2.39 billion) in April, up 45.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Japan's finance ministry.It marked the fourth shortfall South Korea has registered with Japan this year since January, when the deficit came to 88.8 billion yen.By cou
May 23, 2013
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Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses
South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street sparked by concerns over a possible reduction in the United States' quantitative easing moves, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,989.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares traded bearish across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.73 percent and leading builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction losing 99 percen
May 23, 2013
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Trade commission recommends extension of anti-dumping duties on choline chloride
The country's trade commission said Thursday that it has recommended yet another extension of punitive duties on choline chloride imports from four countries, including the United States and China.The country has been imposing anti-dumping duties of between 22.19 percent and 27.32 percent since October 2004 on shipments of choline chloride from the U.S., Canada, China and India.Choline chloride is an organic compound often used as an additive in feed for animals.The Korea Trade Commission said i
May 23, 2013
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245 Koreans have paper firms in tax havens: journalists’ group
More than 200 Koreans, including corporate executives and conglomerate owners, are expected to come under scrutiny by state tax auditors after being exposed as holding offshore accounts and assets in tax havens.The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, a non-profit, independent news agency, said Wednesday that 245 Koreans currently owned paper companies, or ghost assets, in the OECD-designated tax havens, including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.It disclosed in its first
May 22, 2013
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[Graphic News] Samsung’s brand value soars
Samsung was named one of the 100 most valuable global brands for 2013, a survey has shown. According to the list of the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands for 2013 released by Millward Brown, a global research company, Samsung ranked 30th this year, at $21.4 billion, an increase of 51 percent from the value of $14.1 billion in 2012. The Korean tech giant ranked 55th last year.Apple gained the honor of the most valuable global brand with a value of $185 billion while Google came in second, worth
May 22, 2013
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[Newsmaker] CJ slush fund probe zeroes in on chairman
CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun and his siblings are at the heart of the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into slush fund allegations against the food and entertainment conglomerate.The nation’s 14th-largest business group is suspected of amassing tens of billions of won in offshore slush funds by evading taxes through transactions with overseas affiliates, adding to a series of similar allegations raised over the past few years. The prosecution on Tuesday searched CJ offices and the residence
IndustryMay 22, 2013
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More Koreans book early for summer travel
More and more vacation-goers seem to be preparing earlier for their summer holidays. The number of early reservations for summer holiday packages has significantly increased compared to that of last year, said travel industry officials. According to Interpark Tour, an online travel agency, the number of early reservations made in May for summer trips has shown a 23 percent increase from last year. “Many people are showing interest in our special summer holiday promotions. I think this is because
May 22, 2013
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FSC targets chaebol-owned financial firms
Financial subsidiaries of major business groups are likely to face stern regulatory inquiries over their governance structure, financial authorities said.The chaebol-based financial sectors mostly involve credit cards, insurance and securities, while laws on the commercial banking sector strictly ban the industrial (or non-financial) capital from becoming majority shareholders of banks.Aside from the banking regulations, the Financial Services Commission is poised to bolster shareholder-eligibil
May 22, 2013
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Chaebol wary probe could target more conglomerates
As the prosecution delves deeper into slush fund allegations against CJ Group involving chairman Lee Jay-hyun, the nation’s major conglomerates are nervous they might be next.Rumors that three more business groups are under the prosecution’s scrutiny are adding weight to the view that CJ is the just the beginning of a major clampdown on chaebol under the Park Geun-hye administration’s strong pitch for “economic democratization.”With the heads of SK Group and Hanwha Group having been sentenced to
IndustryMay 22, 2013
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Ministry drives deregulation to attract service firms
The government will push deregulation to attract more service firms to the nation’s free economic zones, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry’s foreign direct investment policy had previously focused on luring manufacturing companies.“The service industries that FEZs will target for attraction include medical services, education, conferences and exhibitions, R&D and professional services, and business-support services,” MOTIE Vice Minister Kim Jae-hong said in a
IndustryMay 22, 2013