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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Make banking personal again
How often do you visit a bank branch? Or speak to someone from your bank on the phone? Chances are, not very often. Banking is migrating to digital channels, which raises the question of what’s going to happen to the personal relationship between banks and their customers. In an increasingly digitized world, how do we keep the “personal” in personal banking?Arguably, banks have some catching up to do. At the heart of it all, banks need to think experiences, not channels. They need to become fund
April 23, 2013
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Prolonged Gaeseong complex suspension chokes SMEs
A prolonged suspension of the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea has begun to hurt South Korean small companies that have factories in the communist country, officials said Tuesday.North Korea has shown no signs of lifting the entry ban to the complex in its western border city of Gaeseong amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The North pulled out all of its 53,000 workers from the complex earlier this month, bringing operations of the 123 South Korean factories there to a hal
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Daewoo Int’l seeks to shift from trading to project development
In 1985, Daewoo International became the first Korean firm to open a branch office in Myanmar, which was then one of the poorest Southeast Asian countries with little to offer to investors.But it is here that the company now expects to harvest an average pre-tax profit of 300 billion won ($267 million) for the next 25 years, starting from the later half of this year.“Back in the old days, the key role of trading companies was to act as trade broker, connecting local firms to the global market,”
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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A victim’s story
On Jan. 12, I became a victim of sexual assault. At around 3:30 in the morning, while I was at home sleeping, a man I did not know came into my house and attempted to rape me.The police were able to identify him as my neighbor and arrest him with the help of a DNA match. Unlike many of the stories I had heard, the detectives at the police station in my district were nothing but kind, efficient and dedicated ― they apologized if the tests were taking too long and called often with updates.During
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Raped and alone in a foreign land
The names of some of the sources in this story have been changed to protect their privacy. ― Ed. “I was walking home from a lesson ... when someone came up from behind me, putting me into a chokehold with one arm and immediately shoving his other hand up my skirt ...”“I was seen walking outside with a guy ... and then the next thing I remember is being in some kind of elevator or car park and trying to get away, but him pulling me hard. Then being punched in the face and holding my arms up to tr
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Seoul shares fall 0.4 pct on weak yen
South Korean stocks closed 0.4 percent lower Tuesday as foreigners became net sellers of local shares amid the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 7.68 points to finish at 1,918.63. Trading volume was low at 253 million shares worth 3.4 trillion won (US$3.08 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 478 to 316. "The local stock market lost steam as the Japanese currency is anticipated to tra
April 23, 2013
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Mars One starts recruiting aspiring Mars inhabitants
The nonprofit organization Mars One started recruiting potential Mars residents on Tuesday, news that thrilled sci-fi lovers around the world.After a year of attracting donations and coping with technical problems, the organization kicked off its first recruiting process aimed at seeking potential Mars inhabitants.“We are very excited about launching the selection program. This is an international mission and it is very important for the project that anyone anywhere can ask themselves: Do I want
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.65 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.65 percent lower late Tuesday morning, led by losses in techs and autos, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 12.49 points to 1,913.82 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech heavyweights lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.06 percent, and top chipmaker SK hynix losing 0.69 percent. Leading flat panel manufacturer LG Display decreased 1.31 percent. Carmakers also traded lower, with Hyundai Motor falling 0.27
April 23, 2013
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Google's new eyewear may not function well in S. Korea
South Koreans may not be able to fully utilize Google Inc.'s new Internet-linked glasses mainly due to the country's tight regulations on map data, industry sources said Tuesday.The wearable Internet device, rumored to hit the market later this year, reportedly functions as a computer, and features a built-in camera, microphone and speaker technology and can link to the Internet through Wi-Fi connections. One of its key features, among others, is reportedly the ability to overlay information abo
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Seoul shares open lower on blue-chip losses
South Korean stocks opened lower on Tuesday due mainly to losses in large-cap shares of techs and builders, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.09 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1922.22 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips led the decline, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 0.73 percent and its smaller local rival LG Electronics losing 0.22 percent. Samsung Techwin, a defense machinery firm, shed 0.15 percent.Builders also traded
April 23, 2013
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Reactor at Shin Wolseong nuclear plant halts operations
A nuclear reactor at the country's Shin Wolseong power plant stopped operations early Tuesday with no immediate risk of radiation leak, plant operators said.The 1-million-kilowatt reactor stopped operating at 7:44 a.m., according to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. The problem has yet to be identified, but company officials said the reactor was in stable condition with no dangers of a radiation leak.The reactor, located some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, began commercial operation in J
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Parliament tentatively agrees to extend retirement age to 60
Consensus has been reached between ruling and opposition parties to extend the legal retirement age of South Korean workers to 60 beginning in 2016, parliamentary officials said Monday.Currently, no legal age limit is set for South Koreans to retire but all government offices and most private-sector businesses retire their workers at between 56 and 58.The consensus, reached between the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party, is no surprise, because it was their camp
April 23, 2013
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No 'sustained' human-to-human transmission of bird flu: WHO
SHANGHAI (AFP) -- A World Health Organisation official reiterated Monday there is still no evidence that a new strain of deadly bird flu is passing in a "sustained" fashion from person to person, despite fears some family members may have infected one another."Right now we do not see evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission", Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and environment, said at a press conference.He added, however, that officials "are always wo
TechnologyApril 22, 2013
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BOK to aggressively pursue market-stabilizing measures: Kim
South Korea's central bank said Monday it plans to aggressively map out measures to stabilize the financial markets as high currency volatility is feared to hurt the Korean economy."While closely monitoring the financial markets, if needed, we plan to pump liquidity into the financial system and flexibly manage the macro-prudential measures," Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo told lawmakers.The governor said that the central bank continues to keep tabs on possible outflow of foreign capital and
April 22, 2013
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NTS to expand investigations into offshore tax evaders
National Tax Service Commissioner Kim Duk-joong said Monday that the tax agency will expand its investigations into companies or the wealthy suspected of holding offshore accounts and purposefully not making disclosures for tax payments.Also, the tax agency will target those who have avoided regular filings of their gift and inheritance taxes after transferring their assets or operational ownerships to next of kin or business subsidiaries.The NTS will maximize the use of the financial regulators
April 22, 2013
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[Graphic News] Korea remains stable in food security
Korea ranked 21st for food security in a global survey of 105 countries, posting a score of 77.8 out of 100, according to the Korea Rural Economic Research Institute on Monday. The index was created by the U.K.-based Economist Intelligence Unit, using data on food affordability, availability, quality and safety of each country surveyed. The U.S. topped the index, securing a score of 89.5, followed by Denmark (88.1) and Norway (88.0). The survey, however, didn’t use food self-sufficiency data to
IndustryApril 22, 2013
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G20 approval of weaker yen to impact Korea
The tacit endorsement of Japan’s monetary easing by finance chiefs of the Group of 20 is expected to further make Japan’s exchange rates to the dollar competitively higher, while adversely affecting Korea’s won and exports, analysts said Monday.The G20 finance ministers did not directly criticize Japan’s easy-money policy that has recently boosted the pace of Japan’s yen depreciation through the central bank’s bond-buying scheme, in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to revive its econom
April 22, 2013
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Credit delinquents start to apply for rescue fund
Financial authorities on Monday started to take preliminary applications for the “National Happiness Fund” recently set up to rescue individual credit defaulters.While the preliminary application process will continue until April 30, the authorities will screen applicants between May and October, said the Financial Services Commission. Eligible applicants should be in arrears for at least 180 weekdays and their debt should not exceed 100 million won ($88,500).Debtors are allowed to submit applic
April 22, 2013
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Korean firms hoard W2tr in tax havens
Korean enterprises remitted about 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to tax havens such as Ireland, Luxembourg and Delaware state in the U.S. last year, data from the Bank of Korea showed Monday.A BOK official noted that the nation’s 30 major business groups including Samsung operate a combined 250 subsidiaries in tax havens.Several of the overseas units in such areas providing tax benefits are reportedly known as bogus firms with no business activities, allegedly established to raise offshore fundin
April 22, 2013
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[Photo News] Smart hospital
TechnologyApril 22, 2013