Most Popular
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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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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Credit card transactions hit record high
Credit card transactions by Koreans traveling abroad hit a record high of nearly $10 billion in 2012.The Bank of Korea said Thursday that more than 20 million Koreans settled their bills overseas via credit card last year, up about 17 percent from 17.4 million the year before.Credit card payments overseas amounted to $9.4 billion, up about 9 percent from $8.6 billion in the same period.Although credit transactions reached an all-time high, payments per person stood at just $464 on average, down
Feb. 28, 2013
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Hyundai, Daishin, IBK brokerages post deficits
The securities industry recorded worse-than-expected earnings during the October-December 2012 period amid a sharp drop in stock brokerage fees collected in the ongoing economic slowdown.Further, some major brokerage firms saw their performance fall into “deficit,” industry and Financial Supervisory Service data showed Thursday. Among them are Hyundai Securities, Daishin Securities and IBK Investment & Securities.Hyundai Securities, a subsidiary of Hyundai Group, is noted as one of the nation’s
Feb. 28, 2013
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Industrial output drops 1.5% on-month in Jan.
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s industrial output shrank for the first time in five months in January amid worries that industrial activities might be slowing amid toughened economic conditions, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 1.5 percent last month from a month earlier. It is the first on-month output contraction since August.The output still expanded 7.3 percent
TechnologyFeb. 28, 2013
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Sales of Hyundai’s Avante top 1m units in China
South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday that cumulative sales of its Avante compact have surpassed 1 million units in China about five years after its debut there.The milestone comes after Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., a 50-50 joint-venture between Hyundai and Beijing Automotive Group, unveiled the Avante HD, called the Yuedong, in the world’s largest auto market in April 2008.Hyundai has said it invested 65 billion won ($60 million) in developing the Yuedong by reflecting Chine
TechnologyFeb. 28, 2013
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Korea may cut tax exemptions to fund welfare
Following is the second in a series of stories featuring economic issues facing the Park Geun-hye government which was inaugurated on Feb. 25. ― Ed.With President Park Geun-hye sworn in as the country’s 18th chief executive Monday, her administration’s first economic task as important as the North Korean nuclear issue in diplomacy is restructuring the tax system to secure a budget to finance welfare.As pledged during her campaign as well as during her inauguration speech where she said she aims
Feb. 28, 2013
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[Photo News] Nostalgia discount
IndustryFeb. 28, 2013
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Government to focus on stabilizing costs of daily life
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― The government will work hard to maintain the current stabilizing trend of inflation in a bid to help the livelihoods of ordinary working people struggling with the rising cost of daily life, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.Thanks to the government’s efforts to keep inflation under control, the country’s consumer prices have stayed in the 2 percent range but the costs of daily life for low and middle income earners remain relatively high, the ministry said in a report a
Feb. 28, 2013
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Automakers, steelmakers hit by weaker yen
South Korean automakers, steelmakers and others are expected to see their profitability decline as they lose their foothold in overseas markets due mainly to the weakening Japanese yen, a report said Thursday.According to the report compiled by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Japanese carmakers saw their combined sales in the U.S. soar 16 percent last month as the yen extended its loss against the U.S. dollar.The South Korean steelmakers are also expected to face a decline in their
Feb. 28, 2013
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Tablet PC shipments in Korea to soar 49% this year: report
Tablet PC shipments in South Korea are expected to spike this year on a variety of product line-ups and growing use of mobile devices, a report showed on Thursday.According to the data by market researcher IDC Korea, shipments of tablet PCs in the country are estimated to reach 1.87 million this year, up 49 percent from last year.In 2012, the local tablet PC market contracted 10.1 percent on-year to 1.25 million as demand for smartphones dwarfed that for tablet PCs, the research firm said.IDC Ko
Feb. 28, 2013
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Cosmetic prices drop on industry woes
The price of cosmetics is experiencing a downward trend on the back of a slowing industry and free trade agreements designed to ease the tariffs on such products.On Thursday, Shiseido of Japan said it would be lowering the prices of three top-selling sunscreen products from its Anessa line by 5,000 won ($4.60), starting next month. Stila, a U.S.-based cosmetics brand, has slashed prices on 120 products since last week, with discounts of up to 10 percent. Stila’s One Step Correct, which cost 62,0
IndustryFeb. 28, 2013
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IP Boutique charms tourists with unique service
With a burgeoning demand from foreign tourists whose number topped 10 million last year, self-proclaimed boutique hotels are expected to spring up in Seoul.But not all of them will be worthy of the name “boutique,” said Thomas Ji, general manager of IP Boutique Hotel in Itaewon.“I believe the city needs more small and medium-sized hotels, but a boutique hotel will be a boutique hotel only when it offers unique service in addition to stylish hardware,” Ji said in an interview with The Korea Heral
Feb. 28, 2013
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Seoul shares up 1.12 pct on U.S. stimulus
South Korean stocks closed 1.12 percent higher on Thursday, spurred by the U.S. Fed's confirmation of its plan to maintain stimulus measures, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged22.45 points to 2,026.49. Trading volume was moderate at 414.3 million shares worth 4.09 trillion won (US$3.77 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 565 to 235."The anticipated automatic spending cuts by the United States had only
Feb. 28, 2013
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Apple CEO: 'Great stuff' to come
Apple CEO Tim Cook sought to reassure shareholders worried about the company's sagging stock price that the iPhone and iPad maker is on the verge of inventing more breakthrough products that will prove it hasn't lost its creative edge. ``The company is working as hard as ever, and we have some great stuff coming,'' Cook told shareholders Wednesday before taking their questions during Apple's annual meeting at its Cupertino, California, headquarters. True to Apple's secretive nature, Cook didn't
TechnologyFeb. 28, 2013
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Food allergies affect children’s growth
Food allergies in children -- especially if multiple foods are involved -- may affect growth, U.S. researchers say. Study author Dr. Brian Vickery, a pediatric allergist and immunologist in Durham, N.C., and colleagues at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reviewed the charts of children ages 1 month to 11 years who had visited outpatient clinics from 2007 to 2011. From the chart reviews, 245 food allergic children were identified. Height, weight and body mass index percentiles of t
TechnologyFeb. 28, 2013
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Seoul shares up 0.81 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.81 percent higher late Thursday morning fueled by gains in blue chip exporters, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 16.28 points to 2,020.32 as of 11:20 a.m.Blue chip exporters led the gain, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics advancing 1.31 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix adding 1.52 percent.Carmakers also gathered ground, with No. 1 player Hyundai Motor increasing 0.7 percent and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors cli
Feb. 28, 2013
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Dying stars may have planets with life
Dying stars may have planets with life, U.S. astronomers say, and it might even be easier to detect such planets than around a sun-like star.Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics say a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars suggests we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf’s planet much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star.“In the quest for extraterrestrial biological signatures, the first sta
TechnologyFeb. 28, 2013
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S. Korea's industrial output drops 1.5 pct on-month in Jan.
South Korea's industrial output shrank for the first time in five months in January amid worries that industrial activities might be slowing amid toughened economic conditions, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries dropped 1.5 percent last month from a month earlier. It is the first on-month output contraction since August.The output still expanded 7.3 percent compared with a year e
Feb. 28, 2013
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Seoul shares open higher on U.S. gains
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains spurred by the U.S.Fed's confirmation of its plan to maintain stimulus measures, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 14.59 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,018.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Shares gathered ground across the board, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics adding 1.05 percent and top steelmaker POSCO gaining 0.28 percent. No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor mo
Feb. 28, 2013
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Park promises to give more support to SMEs
Following is the first in a series of stories featuring economic issues facing the Park Geun-hye government which was inaugurated on Feb. 25. ― Ed.When President Park Geun-hye visited the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business last month, the fact that she went there before paying a call on the group representing the nation’s largest conglomerates seemed to highlight her commitment to supporting small firms.“Shared growth” between large and small companies has been a key policy goal of th
IndustryFeb. 27, 2013
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[Graphic News] Foreign stock ownership hits record high
The total value of foreigner-owned Korean stocks hit a record high last week, riding on the optimism of a global economic recovery, the Korea Exchange said on Wednesday. Breaking the 420 trillion won ($387 billion) mark for the first time, the total sum of foreigner-owned Korean stocks ― including those listed on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market ― surpassed 420.4 trillion won on Feb. 20. Analysts said the increase stemmed from the country’s strong economic fundamentals despite the global economic sl
Feb. 27, 2013