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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Seoul shares open higher on U.S. data, Italy
South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Tuesday, as upbeat U.S. housing data and the new Italian government eased jitters over the global economy, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared 13.86 points, or 0.71 percent, to 1,954.56 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most shares gathered ground, with LG Uplus, the country's smallest mobile carrier, and electronic parts maker LG Innotek rising more than 2 percent. U.S. markets finished up Monday on a fore
April 30, 2013
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S. Korea's industrial output drops for 3 straight months in March
South Korea's industrial output shrank for the third straight month in March amid worries that its economy is losing steam in the face of toughened market conditions at home and abroad, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 2.6 percent last month from a month earlier, the sharpest contraction in 12 months.This also marked the third on-month contraction following a 1.2 percent
IndustryApril 30, 2013
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Samsung maintains top slot in U.S. TV market for 60 months
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest flat-panel TV maker, maintained its status as the top flat-panel TV seller in the U.S. for 60 consecutive months, data showed on Tuesday.Samsung Electronics retained the top spot in March with a 29.4 percent market share in terms of revenue, according to the data compiled by global market research firm NPD Group. The figure was 3 percentage points higher than in February, the data showed.Samsung has kept its top position since April 2008 in terms of m
IndustryApril 30, 2013
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[Graphic News] Turkey becomes Korea’s 9th FTA partner
The Korea-Turkey Free Trade Agreement, which comes into effect on Wednesday, is to be Korea’s ninth FTA, as well as the first to take effect under the new Park Geun-hye administration.Under the FTA, all tariffs on industrial goods, including automobiles, plastic and home appliances, will be eliminated within seven years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association.As of last year, Turkey was Korea’s 25th-largest trading partner with $4.55
IndustryApril 29, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Business success story close to bankruptcy
Kang Duck-soo, 63, chairman and founder of STX Group, the nation’s 13th-largest conglomerate by assets, is facing his biggest-ever crisis as some of the company’s major affiliates are suffering from financial crunches. Cornered by liquidity problems, Kang has handed over his controlling stakes in STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, a core affiliate of STX Group, to creditors. “His decision came amid creditors’ due diligence on the group’s money-losing shipbuilding unit before the creditors decide wheth
IndustryApril 29, 2013
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Galaxy S4 emits least radiation among new smartphones
Samsung Electronics’ new smartphone Galaxy S4 showed the lowest radiation emission levels among the latest handsets in the local market, a recent government study showed Monday. According to the National Radio Research Agency, Galaxy S4’s SAR, or its Specific Absorption Rate, was 0.55 watt per kilogram for an SK Telecom model, 0.438 for KT and 0.353 for LG Uplus. The SAR is a measure of the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using the handset. The LG Uplus model of LG Ele
IndustryApril 29, 2013
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KB Financial chief not to seek 2nd term
KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae said Monday that he would not seek a second term after his tenure expires in July.Euh, however, expressed his willingness to finish out the remainder of his first term until July 12 during a news briefing at KB Financial headquarters in downtown Seoul.Euh, who has held the post since July 2010, has been under continued pressure to step down under the Park Geun-hye administration. Along with Woori Financial Group chairman Lee Pal-seung, Euh was regarded as
April 29, 2013
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Korea, China agree on basic guidelines for FTA
Korea and China have agreed on basic guidelines concerning product origin marking and customs clearance in their latest round of free trade agreement negotiations that ended on Sunday, Seoul officials said Monday.The two sides, however, have differed over the classification of sensitive items, which require an alleviated level of tariff cuts.During the three-day meeting which was held over the weekend in Harbin, the two countries once again confirmed their mutual commitment to effectuating the b
April 29, 2013
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Hyundai to invest $1 billion in automotive material development
Hyundai Motor Group on Monday announced a new investment plan worth 1.12 trillion won ($1 billion) as part of its efforts to elevate its competitiveness in next-generation automotive material development. The Korean auto giant, which owns the Hyundai and Kia brands, said it would build two factories that produce specialty steel and high-quality iron powder ― the two key materials used in vehicle engines and transmissions. The latest investment plan, the carmaker said, comes as a growing number o
IndustryApril 29, 2013
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BASF to set up R&D center for electronic materials in Korea
BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, said Monday it would build a regional research and development center for electronic materials in Korea, a month after announcing it would move its Asia-Pacific headquarters for electronic materials business to Seoul.“The regional R&D center will be BASF’s first electronic materials R&D center in Korea and will serve the Asian region,” Shin Woo-sung, managing director of BASF Korea, said in a press conference.“When it comes to where to invest, there ar
IndustryApril 29, 2013
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Shinhan Financial reports weak first-quarter earnings
Shinhan Financial Group announced a 483.3 billion won ($436.6 million) net profit during the first quarter of this year. It was a 41.8 percent drop from a year earlier and a 54.8 percent increase from a quarter earlier.The quarterly operating profit fell 10.1 percent from the previous quarter due to the increase in loan losses, Shinhan said. The overall weak quarterly performance occurred among Shinhan’s bank sectors, which almost halved to 341.5 billion won from a year ago, with the group holdi
April 29, 2013
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Seniors seeking part-time jobs surge in 2012
The number of job seekers aged 50 and above surged in 2012 from five years earlier, data showed Monday, as more baby boomers apparently seek new career opportunities after retirement.According to the data compiled by Alba.co.kr, a Seoul-based online job portal, the number of members aged 50 and above came to 20,831 in 2012, rising nearly eight-fold from 2,730 tallied in 2007.The number of members in their 20s and 30s advanced two-fold and four-fold over the cited period, respectively, the compan
TechnologyApril 29, 2013
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Savings banks’ seized properties put up for auction
Expensive and rare goods once owned by South Korean savings banks were put up for a public auction on Monday as part of a liquidation process after they underwent a whirl of bankruptcies two years ago. The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. put up some 600 high-value items for auction that were seized from 26 savings banks that became insolvent between 2011-2012, according to the debt clearer.Such assets include real estate, expensive golf club memberships and foreign luxury cars whose appr
April 29, 2013
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Woori offers new overseas stock trading service
Woori Investment & Securities Co. has launched its “Octo Global Installment-type Service,” which it touts as the fastest and easiest trading overseas stock service of its kind. The securities house has introduced the automatic trading service amid rising domestic popularity of trading overseas stocks and overseas exchange-traded funds.Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are a security that tracks an index, commodity or asset vehicles like an index fund, while trading on stock exchanges like a stock.
April 29, 2013
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Current account surplus hits 4-month high in March
South Korea’s current account surplus widened to a four-month high in March as exports gained ground despite the yen’s weakness and the service account improved, the central bank said Monday.The current account surplus reached $4.98 billion in March, up from $2.71 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The March reading was the largest since November last year, marking the 14th straight month of a surplus run.
April 29, 2013
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NPS eyeing overseas assets for higher returns
The National Pension Service, the country’s pension fund operator, is gearing up to boost its overseas portfolio by increasing its investments in the global capital markets and alternative assets.Its move to further expand its overseas holdings comes as it seeks higher returns through diversification amid an increasing number of pension earners as Korea’s population rapidly ages.Its investments in stocks and bonds not only in advanced markets but also in emerging markets will be able to help the
April 29, 2013
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FTC launches probe into Mercedes-Benz Korea dealer
South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has launched a probe into the largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, one of the major foreign car importers in South Korea, an industry official said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission carried out a written inquiry of Hansung Motor on whether the largest dealer and the second-largest shareholder of Mercedes-Benz Korea took unfair profits and disadvantaged other dealers of Mercedes-Benz Korea, the official said.Hansung Motor’s competitors have complained that they h
April 29, 2013
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Law firms, foreign financial firms may face external audits
The Financial Services Commission is considering widening the scope of its accounting oversight targets under the Park Geun-hye administration’s drive to raise tax revenue.The new targets may include law firms, accounting firms, religious groups, donation fund operators, some local units of foreign financial firms and luxury brands operating here, FSC officials said.The cited sectors have not been subject to external audits, while financial statements of a greater portion of businesses have been
April 29, 2013
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LGE begins sale of curved OLED TVs, first in the world
LG Electronics said on Monday that it will begin accepting pre-orders for its 55-inch curved OLED TVs in Korea to once again show that it intends to stay ahead of Samsung Electronics in terms of OLED technology. The announcement marks the first time that a Korean company, including Samsung, has commercialized both flat screen and curved OLED TVs. The flat screen OLED TVs have started to ship to local customers in February.Over 1,400 LG retail stores here have started to take orders on this day,
TechnologyApril 29, 2013
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Seoul shares inch down on foreign selloff
South Korean stocks slid 0.2 percent Monday on foreign selling spurred by worse-than-expected quarterly growth in the United States, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 3.86 points to close at 1,940.70. Trading volume was light at 260.8 million shares worth 3.59 trillion won (US$3.23 billion) with losers outstripping gainers 426 to 374. "Investors stayed on the sidelines as there were no leads to drive u
April 29, 2013