Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Korean art gets spotlight at Venice Biennale 2024
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Police uncover illegal gambling website made by teens, for teens
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Yoon offers first one-on-one meeting with opposition leader next week
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Yoon's approval rating sinks to all-time low following election loss
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Banks cut spending on social contributions
Commercial banks slashed their spending on social contribution activities again this year.The combined spending on social contributions of the four major banks ― Woori, KB Kookmin, Hana and Korea Exchange ― for this year is projected to stay at 231.7 billion won ($210.6 million), compared with 555.4 billion won three years ago.KB Kookmin has posted a gradual decline in the figure: 131.7 billion won in 2009, 62.8 billion won in 2010, 85.8 billion won in 2011 and 85 billion won in 2012.Woori repor
Nov. 16, 2012
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KEPCO picks acting president as Kim quits
The Korea Power Electric Corp.selected its executive vice president Cho In-kook as acting president of the state-run power supplier, company officials said on Friday.The appointment was made one day after CEO and president Kim Joong-kyum left the company. Kim submitted his resignation earlier this month allegedly due to his conflicts with the government over energy policies.The company said it shifted into a crisis-management mode as the post of president remains vacant. Company officials said t
Nov. 16, 2012
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Korea moves to curb electricity demand
The government launched a full-scale campaign on Friday to secure sufficient electricity reserves, estimating that the nation’s electricity reserves would fall below an alarming level of 2 million kilowatts this winter.“The nation could face an electricity shortage as power demand is expected to soar in a colder winter this year,’’ Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said in a statement to the public. He said the government will shift into emergency mode in case the country’s power supply reserve drops
Nov. 16, 2012
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Toddler can’t stop laughing due to rare syndrome
A British boy has a bright smile on his face every day, but not by his will. The two-year-old Elliot Eland was born with Angelman’s syndrome -- a neuro-genetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental disability -– that makes him laugh.“When we feel down, Elliot’s laughter keeps us all going; you just have to look at him and his happiness takes over,” Elliot’s mother Gale said in an interview with British media. “The only problem is if Elliot and his big brother, Alex, are playin
TechnologyNov. 16, 2012
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Astronomers see distant ‘born-again’ star
Astronomers say evidence of a dying sun-like star coming briefly back to life after throwing off its gassy shells shows the possible fate our own solar system.The “born-again” star, Abell 30, was captured in a composite of visible images from NASA‘s Hubble Space Telescope and X-ray data from the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and NASA‘s Chandra space telescopes, a release from the Paris headquarters of the ESA said Thursday.Astronomers know stars like our sun swell into red giants toward the
TechnologyNov. 16, 2012
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Korean banks to cut spending on social responsibility activities in 2012
South Korean banks are likely to sharply cut their spending on social responsibility activities this year as their earnings are on the decline amid the economic slowdown, industry data showed Friday.Top lender Kookmin Bank and its three other rivals are estimated to spend a combined 232 billion won ($231 million) this year, sharply down by about 60 percent from three years ago, according to the data.A cut in their spending for public welfare came as local banks have suffered from falling earning
Nov. 16, 2012
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Household debt growth hits record low
Household debt growth hit a record low in August as household loans dropped due to the sluggish property market, data showed Thursday. A Bank of Korea report showed that the total household loans from local banks and non-bank institutions reached 649.8 trillion won ($597.2 billion) in August, up by only 4.1 percent year-on-year. It is the slowest growth since October in 2003 when the central bank started to compile related data. The average growth was 6 percent to 8 percent, and hit the highest
Nov. 15, 2012
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Galaxy Note 10.1 chosen to be in Royal Collection
Samsung Electronics confirmed Thursday that its latest Galaxy Note 10.1 was chosen to house Queen Elizabeth II of Britain’s “digital time capsule.”Although the company was not able to confirm the details on how its flagship tablet PC was selected to be included in the Royal Collection, foreign media outlets said it was picked over Apple’s iPad by the Royal Commonwealth Society charity.The Galaxy Note 10.1 is the most recent addition to Samsung’s tablet PC lineup and enables people to use an embe
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Hypertension and winter
Blood pressure tends to drop during the summer and increase again in October when the weather gets colder. When the atmospheric temperature decreases, we produce less sweat and our peripheral vessels constrict, increasing the resistance to blood flow. During the winter, the systolic blood pressure increases by 7mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure increases by 3mmHg on average. This change in blood pressure with different atmospheric temperature is more significant in people with hypertension t
TechnologyNov. 15, 2012
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One in three KOSDAQ firms loses money in Q3
About one-third of South Korean companies listed on the secondary stock market chalked up net losses in the third quarter due largely to a prolonged global economic downturn, data showed Thursday. A total of 260 companies listed on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market, or 33 percent of the 789 companies surveyed, lost money in the July-September period, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association.Currently, 882 companies are registered with the minor bourse.Thi
Nov. 15, 2012
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Hyundai E&C wins $2.06b order from Kuwait
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., South Korea’s leading builder, said Thursday that it has won a $2.06 billion deal to build a bridge in Kuwait with a local firm.Under the contract with Kuwait’s Minister of Public Works, Hyundai E&C will build a 36.14 kilometer-long bridge from Shuwaikh Port near Kuwait City to Subiyah in the central region, said the company in a filing.The South Korean builder will have a 78.5 percent stake in the $2.62-billion project, or $2.06 billion, while Kuwait’s Co
Nov. 15, 2012
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Eximbank raises $1b via global bond sale
The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Thursday it has raised $1 billion by issuing dollar-denominated bonds to help finance local exporters.The 3-year bonds were sold at a rate of 0.98 percentage point above three-year U.S. Treasuries, the policy lender said in a statement. Proceeds from the debt sale will be used to provide funds to local exporters competing with global counterparts in the Middle East, it said. The majority of the debts were sold to investors from the United States and
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Shares dip 1.23% on persistent uncertainties
South Korean stocks dropped 1.23 percent Thursday as investor sentiment was muted by widespread uncertainties over the stalled U.S. budget deal and European fiscal woes, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 23.32 points to close at 1,870.72. Trading volume was moderate at 446.2 million shares worth 4.14 trillion won ($3.8 billion) with decliners far outnumbering gainers 608 to 230.“Investors are worried about u
Nov. 15, 2012
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Target of ‘shared growth’ may include banks
Commercial banks are likely to be included in the government’s assessment list of firms paying attention to “shared growth” with subcontractors.Some officials of the Commission of Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies said the agency was considering expanding its yearly assessment target to the banking sector as early as 2013.Other sectors including medical institutions could also be placed on the authorities’ watch list, they added.In the commission’s first unveiling of the assessments of
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Samsung to top W200tr in sales this year
Samsung Electronics is expected to top 200 trillion won ($183.97 billion) in yearly sales for the first time this year thanks to its strong growth in worldwide smartphone shipments.According to financial information provider FnGuide on Thursday, the world’s top smartphone maker is also estimated to post about 28.6 trillion won in operating profit by the end of this year.The provided data showed that Samsung would take up 12.2 percent of 138 listed firms’ yearly sales figures and 24 percent of th
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Retail giants agree to avoid opening new stores in small cities
The nation’s top supermarket chains voluntarily agreed on Thursday that they will not open any new branches in cities with a population of less than 300,000 until 2015. Chains of super supermarkets, mid-sized grocery stores run by the nation’s leading retail business groups, also promised to rein in their pace of opening new branches in small cities with a population of less than 100,000 until 2015.Both supermarket chains and SSMs also agreed to close their shops at least two days per month. The
Nov. 15, 2012
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Firms brace for restructuring
About 15 percent of the nation’s 600 major enterprises said they plan to conduct corporate restructuring amid growing uncertainties at home and abroad next year, a poll showed Thursday.According to a survey on the 600 largest firms ― in terms of sales scale ― by the Federation of Korean Industries, 62 percent of the respondents said the business environment was projected to worsen next year.The FKI, a business lobby, said it has found that 15 percent of the respondents are mapping out plans for
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Hanwha E&C sets new milestone in overseas markets
Hanwha Engineering and Construction may be a latecomer in overseas construction markets. But it is Korea’s fastest growing builder, and has seen its accumulated orders exceed those of its Korean rivals this year. Hanwha E&C, a construction unit of Hanwha Group, said Wednesday that it has signed a $585 million deal to build an oil refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia. Under the deal with Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, Hanwha will build the terminal that can process 400,000 barre
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Gaps in prices of outdoor brands puzzle shoppers
South Korea’s outdoor sportswear market is growing explosively, and so is confusion about what is worth what. Brands in the nearly 5 trillion won ($4.6 billion) market are polarizing in terms of price; the high-end insists that the materials used in its products are inarguably the best, while the relatively low-end argues that its materials are not any less good. Consumers are lost and confused. “I was planning to buy matching mountain-climbing jackets for my parents, but gave up because I could
IndustryNov. 15, 2012
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Health expert suggests ‘license to smoke’
Health officials all around the world have introduced a variety of policies to reduce smoking rates: warning labels and graphic, almost grotesque images on cigarette packs, campaigns, and many countries including South Korea have banned or are pushing to ban smoking in public places.One researcher from Australia, however, has gone so far as to say people should carry a license if they want to buy cigarettes.Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, said it is possi
TechnologyNov. 15, 2012