Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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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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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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BOK likely to freeze rate this week
The market is eyeing whether the Bank of Korea will cut its key interest rate when it holds its monetary policy committee meeting Thursday, following Europe’s widely expected rate cut from 0.75 percent to a record low of 0.5 percent last week.Despite the government’s growing calls for a lower rate to further spur the economy, Korea’s central bank has kept its key base rate unchanged for the last six months, citing an expected recovery toward the latter half of this year.It seems BOK Governor Kim
May 5, 2013
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Top 600 firms' investment to rise 14 pct this year
The top 600 companies in South Korea are likely to increase investment by 13.9 percent this year from a year earlier despite the economic slowdown, a survey showed Sunday.South Korea's 600 biggest companies in terms of sales said their investments are expected to reach a combined 129.7 trillion won (US$118.4 billion) this year, compared with 113.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the poll made by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's top business lobby.The survey s
IndustryMay 5, 2013
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Creditors to inject 800 bln won into STX Group this year: source
Creditors of STX Group will likely pump at least 800 billion won (US$730 million) into the troubled shipbuilding conglomerate in a bid to keep it afloat, a source said Sunday. On Friday, STX Group's troubled holding company, STX Corp., and two affiliates requested main creditor Korea Development Bank supply liquidity in return for its voluntary debt-relief and restructuring efforts. "Creditor banks will discuss how much money will be extended to the group," said the source. "The figure is ex
IndustryMay 5, 2013
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S. Korea's STX Group mulls selling European shipyards
South Korea's troubled shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate STX Group is considering selling its European assets including its shipyards in France and Finland, a spokesman said Saturday.The group has seen its major affiliates reel under mounting debt as it was hit by a global downturn in the shipbuilding and shipping sectors."We are now in the process of rearranging the corporate structure to focus on domestic shipbuilding. In this context, we are considering the sale of overseas assets to rai
IndustryMay 4, 2013
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Seoul shares may rebound next week on ECB's rate cut
South Korea's stock market may rebound next week as the key rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) could prompt foreign investors to buy local shares, analysts said Saturday.The ECB cut its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 percent earlier this week, adding to hopes for an economic stimulus in Europe.European investors have gone on buying sprees on the Seoul bourse for two to three months in the past when the European Central Bank has lowered its benchmark rate.The benchma
May 4, 2013
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Samsung chief leaves for U.S. to accompany Park
Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest supplier of smartphones and memory chips, left for the United States on Saturday to accompany President Park Geun-hye during her trip to the U.S.Lee is one of a 52-member high-profile business delegation that will also accompany Park, who is scheduled to visit the U.S. from May 5-10 for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama.It is the first time for Lee to join an overseas trip by a South Korean president since 2004 when h
IndustryMay 4, 2013
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FTC in final stage of probe into Google
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s corporate watchdog is expected to soon announce the results of its deliberation into an antitrust case against Google Inc. for its alleged involvement in activities that hurt fair market competition, industry sources said Friday.Some sources also speculate that the Fair Trade Commission might be considering dropping the charges against the U.S. Internet search engine giant as it is in the final stage of its deliberation into the case.In 2011, NHN Corp. and Da
TechnologyMay 3, 2013
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Credit appraisers downgrade ratings on builders, shippers
South Korea’s credit appraisers slashed ratings on corporate bonds floated by local builders and shipping firms last year, data showed Friday, apparently due to the protracted slump in the industries.Among 22 firms which suffered credit downgrades in 2012 by the Korea Investors Service Inc., construction companies and shippers accounted for eight, or 36 percent of the total, industry data showed.The KIS slashed ratings on local builders including Samwhan Corp., Doosan Engineering & Construction
May 3, 2013
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Osong Beauty Expo kicks off
About 300 cosmetic firms will promote their products at the 2013 Osong Cosmetics and Beauty World Expo which kicked off Friday in the small North Chungcheong Province town.The 24-day international fair jointly organized by local governments and the Korea Food and Drug Administration, will run through May 26 under the theme “Healthy Life, Beautiful Life.” Visitors flocked to the exhibition halls Friday morning to take a glimpse of the makeup styles of historical beauties including Cleopatra and e
IndustryMay 3, 2013
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BOK warns against expansion of yen carry trade
South Korea’s central bank warned on Friday that the so-called yen carry trade might expand, citing prospects for the yen’s weakness and investors’ reduced bets on safer assets.The yen-funded carry trade refers to the borrowing of yen at low interest rates to invest in higher-yielding and riskier assets.Usually, the yen carry trade tends to increase when the yen goes through a period of prolonged weakness and the interest-rate gap among countries rises or global market jitters ease.The Bank of K
May 3, 2013
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Financial firms set W700b in Gaeseong relief fund
Financial companies will offer bailout funds worth 700 billion won ($636 million) to the 123 financially troubled South Korean companies operating in the suspended Gaeseong industrial complex in North Korea, financial regulators said Friday.Their emergency relief loans, aimed at preventing the firms from experiencing a liquidity crisis, were fostered after the North suspended operations of the complex by pulling out most of its 53,000 workers about a month ago in protest against a joint military
May 3, 2013
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Largest-ever business delegation to accompany Park to U.S.
A delegation of 52 business leaders, including chiefs of the nation’s five major business organizations, will accompany President Park Geun-hye on her U.S. visit next week.The largest-ever delegation will focus on quelling concerns sparked by the North Korean risks over the South Korean economy during the visit, the Federation of Korean Industries said.The delegation is scheduled to join Park in a dinner to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance in Washington and discuss bil
IndustryMay 3, 2013
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Hyundai Motor’s 110-story landmark project in jeopardy
Hyundai Motor Group’s ambitious plan to build a 110-story global business hub in eastern Seoul is in jeopardy as it has failed to gain support from the city government and residents. The project, tentatively named the “Global Business Center,” was launched in 2007 with the aim of completion by 2015.Hyundai created a task force for the project and completed due diligence on the 27,830-square-meter site in Seongsu-dong. But its talks with the city government have been stalled for years due to plan
IndustryMay 3, 2013
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4 STX units apply for creditors’ management
STX Group has applied for joint management of its four financially distressed subsidiaries by creditor banks, the state-run Korea Development Bank said Friday.The main creditor KDB also said STX Group is considering selling two units of STX Europe ― STX France and STX Finland ― as part of efforts to improve the group’s overall financial soundness.The shipbuilding conglomerate’s application for creditors’ comanagement is seen as a desperate effort to overcome the financial crisis facing STX Heavy
May 3, 2013
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Korean Air Q1 net loss sharply widens due to foreign exchange loss
Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's top air carrier, said Friday its net loss sharply widened in the first quarter of 2013 from a year earlier due to foreign exchange loss. Consolidated net loss reached 300.6 billion won ($285 million) in the January-March period, up from a 64.2 billion won loss a year earlier, the carrier said in a regulatory filing. The figures also represent a sharp decline from a profit of 140.1 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year. The carrier said its for
IndustryMay 3, 2013
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Seoul shares gain 0.44 pct on U.S. jobs data
South Korean stocks closed 0.44 percent higher Friday, as five-year low jobless data in the United States cheered investor sentiment over an improving economy, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 8.57 points to 1,965.78. Trading volume was light at 306.8 million shares worth 4.13 trillion won (US$3.75 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 499 to 299. "U.S. labor data give us a sense of where we ar
May 3, 2013
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Companies slow to tackle U.S. mobile phone thefts
U.S. authorities said mobile carriers and phone manufacturers should do more to resolve the rapidly growing smartphone thefts. In 2012, Washington D.C. alone witnessed a record 1,829 smartphone robberies and nearly half of all thefts in San Francisco involved mobile devices, according to the U.S. police. The underlying issue is that wireless carriers and smartphone producers are slow to tackle the problem.A national database tracking stolen devices and iPhone’s location-tracking function for mis
TechnologyMay 3, 2013
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[Photo News] Jessica Alba talks at Seoul Digital Forum
Jessica Alba, a Hollywood actress and CEO of an eco-friendly product label Honest Company, is having a talk with the topic “Widening Access to Healthy Living with ‘Honest’ Products and a Dream” at the Seoul Digital Forum.A mother of two girls, Alba created the company to distribute ethical, clean baby products. She was listed as one of Fortune’s 10 Most Powerful Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneur of the Year at the U.K. Glamour Women of the Year 2012 Awards.The Seoul Digital Forum is held from May
TechnologyMay 3, 2013
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FTC in final stage of deliberation on Google in antitrust case: sources
South Korea's corporate watchdog is expected to soon announce the results of its deliberation into an antitrust case against Google Inc. for its alleged involvement in activities that hurt fair market competition, industry sources said Friday.Some sources also speculate that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) might be considering dropping the charges against the U.S. Internet search engine giant as it is in the final stage of its deliberation into the case.In 2011, NHN Corp. and Daum Communications
IndustryMay 3, 2013
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Samsung Galaxy S4 wins security approval from Pentagon
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of smartphones, said Friday it has received security approval for its new Galaxy S4 smartphone from the U.S. Department of Defense, making it the first Korean smart device to earn such approval.The winning of security approval indicates that Samsung is allowed to make a foray into the market for security-concerned U.S. defense agencies, which has been largely dominated by BlackBerry."The Galaxy S4 has won security approval from the U.S. Department o
IndustryMay 3, 2013