Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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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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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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New head of doctors' association vows war in case of disadvantage to medical professors
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EU toughens safety rules for online retailer Shein
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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
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SK Hynix to supply Samsung as early as June
SK Hynix Semiconductor will be supplying Samsung Electronics with memory chips as early as June, industry sources said on Monday. The firm will supply enough to make up 20 percent of Samsung’s mobile business. The deal would mark the first time for SK Hynix to supply Samsung, and also would be a partnership to note as a deal between the world’s largest memory chipmakers, No. 1 Samsung and No. 2 SK Hynix. There already had been reports that Samsung wanted to diversify its mobile chip sources by l
TechnologyApril 29, 2013
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LG rolls out world's first curved OLED TV on home turf
Home appliance giant LG Electronics Inc. Monday released organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs with curved displays in South Korea for the first time in the world, staying ahead of a growing competition for the next-generation TV market. The revolutionary model with a 55-inch curved screen is seen to help LG widen a gap with its rival Samsung Electronics Co. and other global TV makers in the race for the burgeoning market, market watchers said. Usually, the images, when they are viewed on
TechnologyApril 29, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.36 pct late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.36 percent lower late Monday morning, led by losses in shippers an builders, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 7.04 points to 1,937.52 as of 11:20 a.m. Hanjin Shipping plunged nearly 8 percent, with logistics firm Hyundai Glovis falling 2.7 percent, as concerns over global economic recovery worsened on lower-than-expected first-quarter growth rate of the United States. No. 1 builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction l
April 29, 2013
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Seoul shares turn lower after strong start
South Korean stocks turned lower after opening higher, dented by widening losses in large-cap exporters and major banking groups, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.12 points, or 0.11 percent to 1,942.44 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics shed 0.4 percent, with blue-chip auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis slipping nearly 1.6 percent. Shares of major banking firms lost ground as they began to release quarterly earnings f
April 29, 2013
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S. Korea's 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 US$4.98 billion in March, up from $2.71 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). 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 surp
April 29, 2013
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Chaebol hoard earnings over economic slump
Ever since the global financial crisis, the country’s chaebol have been bent on hoarding their retained earnings instead of investing them.As a result, the combined retained earnings of listed firms under Korea’s 10 largest conglomerates has amounted to over 14 times their paid-in capital.The retained earnings-to-capital ratio of 69 companies that balanced their books in December reached a highest-ever 1,441.7 percent last year, up from 923.9 percent in late 2008, data from the Korea Exchange an
IndustryApril 28, 2013
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Firms’ spending at room salons tops W900b
Korean firms’ annual usage of company credit cards at entertainment establishments including room salons totaled at least 1.4 trillion won ($1.25 billion) on average, the Korea Institute of Public Finance said Sunday.According to the institute’s research report, the nation’s corporate sector paid 1.41 trillion won with their company cards at entertainment spots in 2011.Room salons (or hostess bars) topped the list in company card settlement records of 923.7 billion won, followed by karaoke rooms
April 28, 2013