Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Galaxy S4 promotion sparks marketing war with Apple
Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. have been engaging in a fierce marketing battle since the introduction of the Korean firm’s latest flagship Galaxy S4 in New York last week.Following a big-budget launch event Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall in the heart of New York, the world’s biggest handset maker posted a video on YouTube stressing the uniqueness of the new smartphone.As Samsung took the fight to Apple’s home turf, the Cupertino-based company did several media interviews just a day ahead
IndustryMarch 18, 2013
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Hyundai Motor replaces labor relations chief
Hyundai Motor said Monday that it has promoted its Ulsan plant head Yoon Gab-han to a president position who will oversee management and labor relations at the nation’s largest carmaker. His predecessor and vice chairman Kim Eok-jo was named as an adviser for the company, retiring from the managerial frontline after 37 years at the company since 1976. Kim, who took office as labor relations chief in January last year, had been pressured by growing tensions with the company’s union on issues such
IndustryMarch 18, 2013
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GS Caltex completes 4th heavy oil cracker
GS Caltex Co., South Korea’s second-largest oil refinery, said Sunday that it has started commercial operation of its fourth heavy oil processing plant. GS Caltex spent 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to build the plant in Yeosu, 455 kilometers south of Seoul, that converts heavy oil into transportation fuels like gasoline and diesel, the company said in a statement.The plant processes 53,000 barrels of heavy oil per day, boosting the company’s daily heavy oil processing capacity to 268,000 barr
March 18, 2013
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Non-bank lenders’ household loans surge
Household loans extended by non-bank financial institutions in South Korea have surged in the past few years as low-credit borrowers scurried to seek loans from such lenders that do less tight credit evaluations, data showed Monday.The outstanding amount of household loans extended by non-banking firms reached 192.4 trillion won ($173.3 billion) at the end of January, up 74 percent from 110.4 trillion won tallied in 2007, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. The tally is in stark contrast
March 18, 2013
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Shares down on global risks
South Korean stocks closed 0.92 percent lower on Monday as investors sat on the sidelines due to economic risks from the eurozone and the United States, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 18.32 points to 1968.18. Trading volume was low at 265.2 million shares worth 3.83 trillion won ($3.44 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 565 to 258.“The decline came as the financial crisis of Cyprus weighed down on inv
March 18, 2013
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POSCO to spearhead M&As
The nation’s top steelmaker POSCO has reorganized its merger and acquisition department in an apparent move to further push ahead with its aggressive M&A vision.POSCO recently integrated its strategic business department into the corporate strategy department 1, officials confirmed Monday.The former, initiated back in 2009 by chairman Chung Joon-yang, has been spearheading the company’s aggressive M&A projects over the years.The corporate strategy department 1 is one of POSCO’s key divisions, su
IndustryMarch 18, 2013
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Yen’s weakness to hit Korean auto industry hard
The Japanese yen’s continued depreciation will likely hit South Korea’s automobile, steel and textile industries hard by weakening their competitiveness against Japanese products in the global market, a report said Monday.The Japanese currency traded at 95.25 yen per dollar on Friday, down 21.5 percent from 78.38 yen quoted on Sept. 19, with its value against the Korean won tumbling 23.5 percent as of end-February from early June last year.“South Korea needs to step up efforts to diversify its k
March 18, 2013
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Uncertainties linger over Germany’s renewable energy transition
BERLIN ― The Fukushima nuclear disaster has affected the world’s nuclear energy policy for the past two years. Countries such as Germany have since undergone drastic changes in their nuclear energy policy in response to rising concerns over the safety of nuclear power plants. In May 2011, two months after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the German government immediately decided to shut down eight aged nuclear power plants. In July, Europe’s biggest economy announced that it would close its nine
IndustryMarch 18, 2013
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Should doctors listen to music while operating?
In last year’s smash hit TV series “Best Love,” the lead actor confirmed his love for a woman by recalling the melody he had heard during his surgery. A very romantic scene to watch, for sure. However, if it were your operation, would you allow your surgeon to enjoy listening to music while doing a very delicate operation?It’d be better to let them enjoy the music, as one recent study revealed that listening or humming to one’s favorite music helps doctors to work more effectively. The study, pu
TechnologyMarch 18, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.92 pct on global risks
South Korean stocks closed 0.92 percent lower on Monday as investors sat on the sidelines due to economic risks from the eurozone and the United States, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed18.32 points to 1968.18. Trading volume was low at 265.2 million shares worth 3.83 trillion won (US$3.44 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 565 to 258."The decline came as the financial crisis of Cyprus weighed do
March 18, 2013
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Top 10 chaebol fill one-third of new auditor spots with ex-officials
South Korea's top 10 conglomerates plan to fill one-third of their new auditor positions with former bureaucrats and law enforcement officials, data showed Monday, a move that critics claim is meant to take advantage of their personal connections for corporate benefits.A total of 66 companies affiliated with the country's family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol, have either selected or plan to select 81 new finance managers through an annual general meeting of shareholders, according t
BusinessMarch 18, 2013
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Music practice helps brain development
MONTREAL -- Musical training before the age of 7 has a significant effect on the parts of the brain involved with planning and motor abilities, Canadian researchers say.Virginia Penhune of Concordia University and her students Ph.D. candidates Christopher J. Steele and Jennifer A. Bailey, in collaboration with Robert J. Zatorre of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University tested 36 adult musicians on a movement task, and scanned their brains.The study, published in th
TechnologyMarch 18, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.44 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.44 percent lower late Monday morning due to losses in techs and logistics, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped8.76 points to 1,977.74 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips led the decline, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 2.43 percent and top flat panel manufacturer LG Display losing 0.16 percent. Leading plasma display panel maker Samsung SDI shed 0.71 percent.Logistics shares also traded lower, with Hyundai Glovis
BusinessMarch 18, 2013
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Doctors challenged by patient discussions
The U.S. doctor-patient conversation is tougher for physicians with today‘s more informed, more proactive and more in-control patients, researchers say.Al Topin, president of Topin & Associates, who conducted the study, said he found the age-old, doctor-patient relationship has been changing dramatically.“Specialists find themselves answering more questions, countering misleading information patients find online and even justifying their treatment recommendations,” Topin said in a statement.“The
TechnologyMarch 18, 2013
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S. Korea's producer price growth picks up in Feb.
South Korea's producer prices grew at a faster pace in February than the previous month as oil prices picked up and the local currency depreciated to the dollar, the central bank said Monday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, grew 0.7 percent in February from the previous month, after rising 0.2 percent on-month in January, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).The data marked the fastest gain since a 0.7 percent on-month gain in February 2012.Last month, prices o
March 18, 2013
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Sales of Hyundai cars in U.S. up 2 pct in Feb.
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. sold 52,000 vehicles in the United States in February, up 2 percent from a year ago, industry data showed Monday. The data showed that Hyundai's market share in the U.S. remained unchanged at 4.4 percent.Hyundai's smaller sister company, Kia Motors Corp., sold 41,500 units in the U.S., down 8 percent from a year ago. Its market share stood at 3.5 percent last month, down 0.44 percentage points from a year earlier.Hyundai and Kia ranked seventh in ter
IndustryMarch 18, 2013
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Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses
South Korean stocks got off to a weak start on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street in the previous trading session, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell12.17 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1974.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares lost ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 2.3 percent and top auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis moving down 0.82 percent. Leading steelmaker POSCO decreased 0.15 percent.U.S. stocks ended l
BusinessMarch 18, 2013
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[Graphic News] Korea’s labor supply to peak in 2021
The nation’s working-age population is expected to fall after peaking in 2021, a state-run think tank said on Sunday.The nation’s labor force participation rate, an indicator for the size of the working-age population of an economy, is forecast to hit a record high of 61.6 percent before falling steadily, the Korea Development Institute said. It added the rate was likely to fall to the 50 percent range in 2030, which means Korea will face a shortage of labor. An aging population and low birth ra
March 17, 2013
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[Photo News] Ballantine’s limited edition
IndustryMarch 17, 2013
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Shares may trade in tight range this week
The South Korean stock market may trade in a narrow range this week, affected by a U.S. rate decision and overseas economic data, but it is not likely to face steep falls on global recovery hopes, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 1,986.50 last week, down 0.97 percent from a week earlier.The KOSPI was weighed down this week by heightened geopolitical risks from North Korea’s nuclear threats and the yen’s weakness, decoupling from the bullish gain in the U.
March 17, 2013