Most Popular
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Yoon sorry for shortcomings but insists policies were right
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S. Korea ‘strongly’ protests Japan’s claim over Dokdo in diplomatic bluebook
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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Korean won weakens amid heightened uncertainty
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Sewol victims commemorated on tragedy's 10th anniversary
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Seoul says will cut power to porn festival planned on Han River
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Chanel, Louis Vuitton see muted growth in Korea
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Conservative bloc divided over Han’s role in election defeat
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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Review of studies casts doubt on benefits of omega-3 supplements
LOS ANGELES ― Is there something fishy going on with omega-3 fatty acids?For years, major health and medical organizations have recommended fish oil supplements rich in omega-3s to reduce the threat of heart disease. In Europe, where support is particularly enthusiastic, a doctor’s failure to recommend the supplements is viewed by some as bordering on malpractice.But several recent studies have raised questions about the benefits of fish oil, sparking no small amount of confusion. A report being
TechnologySept. 13, 2012
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Reaching for a box of tissues? Tips for runny noses in autumn
For people with allergic problems, the arrival of cool, breezy autumn days is not so pleasant. Temperature fluctuations and low humidity during fall months often cause sneezing, itchy and runny nose, and lots of discomfort, just like in springtime. Pollen from trees, grass and weeds that floats around in the air trigger allergic reactions, along with mold and dust mites. “Allergic rhinitis, often mistaken for a cold, goes untreated for a long time,” said Choi Seung-yong, a doctor at Hamsoa Child
TechnologySept. 13, 2012
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Hyundai Heavy wins $620m drill ship order
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., South Korea’s leading shipbuilder, said Thursday that it has clinched a $620 million order to build a drill ship.Under the deal with the U.S.-based Rowan, Hyundai Heavy will deliver the vessel by the end of the first quarter of 2015, the company said. The contract includes an option to build an additional drill ship.In June last year, Hyundai Heavy won a $1.12 billion deal from Rowan to build two drill ships.A drill ship is a maritime vessel with drilling apparatus
Sept. 13, 2012
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Biz lobby opposes toughening rules on chaebol
A lobby group of Korea’s large businesses on Thursday expressed its objection to a proposed bill on strengthening rules to ensure manufacturing and financial companies will not exert too much control over each other.The opposition came hours after a group of ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers committed to so-called “economic democratization” announced a plan to submit the bill to the National Assembly next week at the latest.The bill, among other things, is meant to limit voting rights of financial
Sept. 13, 2012
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NPS invests $640m in troubled eurozone nations
South Korea’s state-run pension fund has invested some $640 million in debt-stricken European countries, a report showed Thursday, sparking concern over losses due to the persistent eurozone sovereign crisis.The National Pension Service had $639.8 million of exposure to Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Portugal as of June, according to the NPS report. Equity investment reached $339.8 million, with bond holdings making up the remainder.By country, investment in Italy was the largest at $310 mill
Sept. 13, 2012
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Shares end little changed ahead of U.S. announcement
South Korean stocks finished little changed on Thursday as investors turned cautious before the U.S. central bank’s decision on another round of monetary stimulus to boost the economy, analysts said. The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.Swinging between gains and losses, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 0.66 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,950.69. Trading volume was heavy at 956.4 million shares worth 5.97 trillion won ($5.29 billion), with gainers slightly out
Sept. 13, 2012
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Vogo Fund to acquire Burger King unit from SRS Korea for $88m
South Korean private equity fund Vogo Fund will take over the local chain of Burger King from franchise restaurant operator SRS Korea Co. for about 100 billion won ($88.7 million) this year, industry sources said Thursday. According to the sources, the local fund has completed negotiations to buy the chain of global fast food restaurant Burger King in South Korea with Doosan Group that has SRS Korea under its wing and will sign a preliminary deal for the acquisition some time soon. The deal is e
Sept. 13, 2012
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‘Korea best example for FTA success’
Chilean trade chief visits Seoul to share ‘flavors of Chile’Chile was the first country with which Korea signed a free trade pact, back in 2003. Amid a 4.5-fold growth in trade volume between the two countries, the Chile FTA has paved the way for Korea to seek new deals with other countries in recent years. For Chile, Korea, especially its agricultural sector, is still one of the hardest markets to enter, said Felix de Vicente, chairman of Chile’s Export Promotion Bureau. “We make jokes that if
IndustrySept. 13, 2012
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FSS to probe firms that have frequent customer complaints
Financial companies which drew a relatively high number of complaints from customers will be subject to full-fledged investigations by regulators.The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it has decided to conduct a large-scale probe into the overall sector including banks, brokerages, credit card firms, insurance firms and savings banks.This will mark the first time that the FSS will probe the overall financial sector simultaneously in terms of customer complaints over each company,
Sept. 13, 2012
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BOK freezes key rate at 3%
Central bank wants room to maneuver in case economic conditions worsen, analysts sayThe South Korean central bank unexpectedly froze the key interest rate for two consecutive months, dashing market expectations that it would cut the rate to boost sagging domestic demand and exports. The Bank of Korea announced on Thursday that it will keep the rate at 3 percent for September. The decision came as a surprise as many expected that the bank would cut the rate as an additional measure to bolster the
Sept. 13, 2012
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New iPhone lacks ‘wow’ factor: investors
HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone unveiled Wednesday is lacking the so-called “wow” factor, as most of the new features introduced have already been expected, foreign investors said Thursday.Apple introduced the iPhone 5, of which new features include a faster network, a more efficient processor, a thinner design and a bigger 4-inch screen. The product will hit nine countries on Sept. 21 and 100 countries by the end of 2012.“In our view, the key difference against other recent
TechnologySept. 13, 2012
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Local players confident of beating iPhone 5 with high-tech features
New iPhone meets chip plant in Xian industry expectations but lacks new conceptsLocal handset makers have expressed their delight to join the LTE handset race with the new iPhone 5 as the new gadget has failed to offer knockout features to the awaiting crowd.Apple presented its new iPhone 5 to the world early Thursday with the LTE-enabled handset to go head-to-head with contenders such as the already-released Galaxy S3 of Samsung Electronics.The latest iPhone will also have to battle with Samsun
IndustrySept. 13, 2012
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Crisis looms large in Korea’s housing sector
Lee Ji-sun managed to sell off her small apartment in southern Seoul last month amid rising concern that a prolonged economic slowdown could send home prices into a downward spiral down the road.The price of the 73-square-meter apartment rose to its record high of 600 million won ($530,000) in late 2009, but it tumbled to 450 million won in August, a steep decline that analysts blamed on a litany of economic woes.“I sold my apartment out of fear that its price could drop further,” the 40-year-ol
Sept. 13, 2012
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Samsung ready to strike back at Apple with LTE patent suit
Apple to roll out iPhone 5 LTE through SKT, KTWith Apple publicly unveiling its plan to launch the iPhone 5 LTE worldwide, Samsung Electronics is on the verge of pushing the battlefront against the U.S. firm further to include LTE patents.Apple announced at its iPhone 5 event in San Francisco early Thursday, Korean time, that it will roll out the new gadget here through the top two mobile carriers SK Telecom and KT.Although it did not specify the release date for Korea, the Cupertino-based tech
IndustrySept. 13, 2012
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Samsung launches construction for chip plant in Xian
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, started work on a semiconductor plant in central China on Wednesday as part of its move to diversify production lines and meet growing demand for chips.The company said earlier it will initially inject $2.3 billion to build the plant in Xian, China. The spending on the construction will reach up to $7.0 billion in the coming years, making the project Samsung’s single largest overseas investment for a chipmaking plant, according to th
Sept. 13, 2012
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Malaysian children celebrate graduation in Korean style
Kuala Lumpur invites Booyoung to graduation ceremony to thank Korean builder for donationsPUTRAJAYA, Malaysia ― Rows of Malaysian primary school students dressed in pink and light blue traditional costumes sing the Korean song “Spring of My Hometown” in the Korean language.They sing to the music played from digital pianos donated by Korea’s Booyoung Housing Co. Ltd. to celebrate their friends’ graduation on Thursday in the Southeast Asian country’s administrative center. Visually impaired studen
IndustrySept. 13, 2012
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Report points to rising income inequality
GENEVA (UPI) -- Income inequality, based on trends in the past three decades, has been increasing both within countries and between them, says a U.N. report.The report by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said the share of wages in total income fell in most developed and in many developing countries in the past 30 years, such as 5 percentage points or more in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States and by 10 percentage points or more in France, Germany and Ireland.“In seve
Sept. 13, 2012
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Samsung’s legal move in focus after iPhone 5 unpack
Following the launch of Apple Inc.’s first long-term evolution (LTE) phone, eyes are focused on whether Samsung Electronics Co. will take legal action to bring the two top smartphone makers‘ global patent war to a new stage, market watchers said Thursday.Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 at a long-awaited launch event in San Fransisco on Wednesday, pitting its latest iPhone against Samsung’s extensive LTE line-up amid ongoing patent tussles between the two companies.Samsung and Apple have been locked
TechnologySept. 13, 2012
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Omega 3 supplements may not help heart
IOANNINA (UPI) -- Taking omega-3 supplements was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause death, cardiac death, sudden death, heart attack or stroke, Greek researchers say.Dr. Evangelos C. Rizos of the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece and colleagues performed systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the association between omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and major cardiovascular outcomes.Twenty studies were identified, which involved 68,680 randomized patients and 7,044
TechnologySept. 13, 2012
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Study suggests dark energy does exist
(123rf)Dark energy, a mysterious substance thought to be responsible for accelerating the expansion of the Universe, is real, European astronomers say.Writing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers at the University of Portsmouth and LMU University Munich say their two-year study puts the possibility of the existence of dark energy at 99.996 percent."Dark energy is o
TechnologySept. 13, 2012