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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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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LG Chem to start U.S. battery plant in July
LG Chem’s U.S.-based battery plant will start operations this July, marking the end of a long hiatus, the Seoul-based company said on Monday.The plant will start supplying batteries for the Chevrolet Volt hybrid electric car as early as September. “We plan on starting production in July following pilot production and consumer approvals in order to secure high yield and quality,” the company said in statement.The company is focusing on improving the productivity of the plant to eventually expand
IndustryMay 6, 2013
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SK Telecom’s daily data traffic tops 1 petabyte
SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s leading mobile carrier, said Monday that its daily data transfer topped 1 petabyte in line with the growing use of smartphones and tablet computers in the country. According to SK Telecom, data transfer on its mobile network topped the milestone on April 26, becoming the country’s first mobile operator to set such a record. A petabyte is a measure of data, and one petabyte is a million gigabytes. The figure includes data traffic on the third-generation network, WiFi
TechnologyMay 6, 2013
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Korea’s foreign reserves hit 3-month high in April
South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves hit a three-month high in April as a weaker U.S. dollar raised the conversion value of non-dollar assets and investment profit rose, the central bank said Monday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $328.8 billion as of end-April, up $1.39 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea .It marked the highest level since the FX reserves hit a record $328.91 billion in January.Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated
IndustryMay 6, 2013
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Korea to ease debts for troubled mortgage holders
South Korea’s financial regulator said Monday it will start a debt relief program from next month for troubled homeowners as part of its key policy plan to ease the record-high household debt amid a faltering property market.The Financial Services Commission, the country’s top financial watchdog, said it will impose the initial loan-to-value ratio to a mortgage even if the price of the house fell due to the sluggish real estate market. The LTV refers to a tool used by banks to restrict the maxim
IndustryMay 6, 2013
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Hyundai Heavy wins $700m container ship order
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the nation’s largest shipbuilder, won a $700 million order to build five container ships from China Shipping Container Lines, the company said in a press release on Monday. Under the deal, Hyundai Heavy will deliver the ships starting in latter part of 2014. Each container ship will be 18,400-TEU, the worlds’ largest size, loading 18,400 containers. TEU stands for 20-foot equivalent unit. When it comes to container ship orders this year, the company sealed a $600 millio
IndustryMay 6, 2013
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STX creditors likely to agree on rescue plan
Creditors of STX Group tentatively reached a consensus that they will give their “qualified” consent to bailing out ailing units of the shipbuilding giant, the state-run Korea Development Bank said Monday.The main creditor KDB and others held a meeting to discuss whether to accept the proposal from the business group over joint management of several units by creditor banks.Their qualified consent means that the creditors are seeking to inject emergency relief funds into the debt-saddled STX Grou
May 6, 2013
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Could the depreciation of the yen really reduce FDI?
With the continued depreciation of the yen, concerns about Japanese investment into Korea have been rising. The rapidly weakening yen was devalued by more than 20 percent against the dollar between October 2012 and March 2013 from 79.03 yen to 94.93 yen per dollar. This is due to Japan’s quantitative easing policy, which has been actively carried out since the Liberal Democratic Party took power and which aims for an inflation rate of 2 percent.In the short term, there is no need to worry about
BusinessMay 6, 2013
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French yogurt brand growing fast in Korean market
It has been four years since French food product maker Danone entered Korea and its Activia, the world’s best-selling yogurt brand, is already the second-best-selling drinking yogurt in local hypermarkets after Namyang’s Bulgaris.Last year, Danone joined hands with Korean fresh food maker Pulmuone and is aggressively expanding distribution channels here where home delivery accounts for 40 percent of the yogurt market.“We plan to gain a firm foothold for Activia in the Korean market this year in
May 6, 2013
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College students face risk of heart diseases due to binge drinking
Students on college campuses do not fear pulling all-nighters at parties and drinking a large amount of alcohol, assuming that their youth may protect them from the destructive effects of their lifestyle. However, according to a study by researchers from the University of Illinois, people in their 20s are not immune to heart disease caused by binge drinking.“Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data supports that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults,” said professor S
TechnologyMay 6, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.22 pct despite ECB rate cut
South Korean stocks closed 0.22 percent lower Monday despite the European Central Bank's (ECB) stimulus measure as investors were at odds over its impact on the global economy down the road, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 4.23 points to finish at 1,961.48. Trading volume was low at 291.7 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won (US$3.56 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 447 to 356. "Seoul s
May 6, 2013
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Seoul shares up 0.34 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.34 percent higher late Monday morning on gains in builders and logistics companies, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 6.7 points to 1,972.41 as of 11:20 a.m. Builders led the market gain, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction adding 3.34 percent and Daewoo Engineering & Construction climbing 1.74 percent. GS Engineering & Construction moved up 2.57 percent. Logistics firms also gathered ground, with CJ Korea Expres
May 6, 2013
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Authorities to probe price swings on stock markets
South Korea's financial authorities will increase surveillance on speculative movements in local shares this week, market sources said Monday. A team of officials from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the Korea Exchange and prosecutors will launch a probe into price-rigging activities, according to sources.The local stock market has been suffering from price-rigging deals involving several so-called "celebrity shares," which are usually related to
May 6, 2013
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Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains
South Korean stocks opened higher on Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street in the previous trading session, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 14.28 points, or 0.73 percent, to 1,979.99 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor rising 0.5 percent and top steelmaker POSCO adding 0.95 percent. Leading chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.02 percent.U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday on the coun
May 6, 2013
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Top 10 conglomerates' market cap declines in May
Affiliates of South Korea's top 10 business groups saw their presence on the main bourse decline in May from end-2012 amid the protracted economic slowdown, data showed Monday.The market capitalization of the top 10 conglomerates' listed firms came at 713.1 trillion won ($651 billion) on Thursday, down 2.27 percent from 729.7 trillion won tallied in end-2012, the Korea Exchange (KRX) data showed.The number accounts for 56.62 percent of the combined market cap of the companies listed on the main
May 6, 2013
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Samsung, LG bolster presences in N. American smartphone market in Q1
South Korea's top two smartphone makers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- saw their presences in the North American smartphone market rise, helped by robust sales of their flagship line-up and product mix, data showed on Monday.Samsung Electronics, the world's top smartphone maker, held a 29 percent share in the region's smartphone market in the first quarter, up from the 27.7 percent the previous quarter, according to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics.LG Electronics ga
IndustryMay 6, 2013
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Poor financing shutting Korea out of nuclear deals: ministry
As neighboring Japan celebrates its recent success in winning a $22 billion bid to build a nuclear reactor in Turkey, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has pledged to build up Korea’s competitiveness in project financing for overseas deals. “Japan’s financial package was clearly favorable,” Kim Jun-dong, director of the ministry’s energy and resource office, told the local press. “Korea, on the other hand, is relatively weak in the field of project financing, especially when it comes to
May 5, 2013
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[Graphic News] Hyundai-Kia making U.S. comeback in 2013 sales
Hyundai Motor and its sister automaker Kia Motors have revved up their presence in the U.S. market since early this year, recovering from last year’s lackluster sales dwarfed by Japanese carmakers.Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 110,871 units, gaining a combined market share of 8.6 percent as of last month, up from 7.3 percent in December.Although their combine market share is still short of the 9-plus percent achieved in April last year, the Korean auto giants are gradually recovering due to in
IndustryMay 5, 2013
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Apple slammed for child, environmental exploitation
The rivalry between Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. was brought to the fore again after an international organization slammed both tech giants for using suppliers that employ child labor and may harm the environment. According to Friends of the Earth, an international environmental group, Apple has remained silent on the issue of using tin mined from Indonesia, whereas Samsung has responded by saying it will address the issue as soon as it can.“Apple has refused to answer its own customers’ q
TechnologyMay 5, 2013
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Foreign investors increase net sales of Seoul stocks
Foreign investors expanded net sales of South Korean stocks this year on heightened geopolitical risks and concerns that a weaker yen would hurt Korean exporters, data showed Sunday.Foreign investors unloaded a net $5.16 billion worth of Seoul shares from January to April, according to data by the Korea Center for International Finance.Foreigners bought more shares than they sold in five Asian countries including Taiwan and India, purchasing a net $10.56 billion worth of stocks from seven Asian
May 5, 2013
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Seoul considers linking cigarette prices to inflation
South Korea may consider linking cigarette price hikes to the growth of consumer inflation in an effort to reduce the country’s smoking rate and secure more revenue, officials said Sunday.Tobacco prices have been frozen at the current 2,500 won ($2.28) per pack for more than eight years. The health ministry earlier said that average cigarette prices need to be raised to 7,000 won per pack to reduce the country’s smoking rate to what it called a desirable level.The finance ministry said it has re
IndustryMay 5, 2013