Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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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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Yoon offers first one-on-one meeting with opposition leader next week
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France rejects opening Paris flight routes to T'way Air, deals blow to Korean Air merger
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Chinese man behind drug scam targeting teens nabbed in Cambodia
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[Graphic News] French bulldog most popular breed in US, Maltese most popular in Korea
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Iran fires air defense batteries in provinces as sound of explosions heard near Isfahan
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BOK unexpectedly cuts key rate to 3 percent
South Korea's central bank unexpectedly cut the key interest rate on Thursday, underscoring its urgency to cushion the bitter impact of the eurozone debt crisis on the local economy.Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his six fellow policymakers lowered the benchmark 7-day repo rate by a quarter percentage point to 3 percent for July. It marked the first rate cut since February 2009.The decision
July 12, 2012
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‘Sound' of Higgs boson created
(123rf)"Sonified" data from experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland makes it possible to "hear" the newly discovered Higgs boson, researchers say.The result, they said, is a melody that resembles the syncopated rhythm of the habanera, a Cuban dance popular in Spain in the early 19th century."As soon as the [Higgs discovery] announcement was made, we begun working on the sonificatio
TechnologyJuly 12, 2012
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1950s flying car for sale
(YouTube)A U.S. flying car built in the 1950s -- and yes, it works! -- is up for sale for $1.25 million, the Smithsonian's Paleofuture blog reports.Aircraft collector Gregg Herrick of Minneapolis, who is selling his 1954 Taylor Aerocar, said he bought the flying car in the early 1990s in Idaho because he was drawn to the design just as many people in the latter half of the 20th century were."I was
TechnologyJuly 12, 2012
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Seoul shares open higher on foreign buying
South Korean stocks started a tad higher on Thursday on foreign buying, analysts said.After opening 0.08 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 0.34 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,826.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 0.36 percent and its smaller electronics rival LG Electronics rose 1 percent.Leading carmaker
July 12, 2012
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U.S. trade deficit grows after FTA with Korea
The U.S. deficit in trade with South Korea has continued to jump since their free trade agreement went into effect in March, according to U.S. government data released Wednesday.The U.S. imported $5.4 billion in goods from South Korea in May, a 5.2-percent increase from the same period last year, the Commerce Department said.Exports to South Korea totaled $3.4 billion, down 6.4 percent from the pr
July 12, 2012
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Seoul cautious about resuming whaling
The government may reconsider its plan to resume whaling if there are other means to study marine mammals in Korean waters, officials said on Wednesday.Amid mounting criticism from conservationists, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that it will decide whether to push for the project after consulting with members of the International Whaling Commission.While the Fisheries Ministry had sought to tender a plan on whaling to the IWC scientific subcommittee this No
IndustryJuly 11, 2012
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Banks care for the disabled
Many banks in South Korea are making the disabled a priority in efforts to give back to society. Woori Bank hired 16 disabled people last month with the aim to develop a culture where the disabled and non-disabled can work together. After the three-week training program which started this week, the new employees will be working in various divisions including the call center and loan service center. Employees who will be working with the new colleagues are also receiving training from Korea Emplo
July 11, 2012
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Samsung, POSCO to team up for home appliance materials
Samsung Electronics and POSCO ― the nation’s two leading players in the electronic and steel sectors, respectively ― will team up to develop new materials specially designed to be used for electronic home appliances, company officials said Wednesday. Yoon Boo-keun, Samsung Electronics’ president of TVs and appliances, and POSCO vice president Kwon Oh-joon are scheduled to attend the signing event of a memorandum of understanding held at Samsung’s headquarters in southern Seoul on Friday. A POSCO
IndustryJuly 11, 2012
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Korea seeks leadership in shale gas development
Korea plans to introduce measures to help establish a new industry dealing with so-called shale gas that will also help ensure the country’s leadership in the global market for the energy resource, the government said Wednesday.A market for the previously inaccessible fossil fuel is currently almost non-existent globally as shale gas, or natural gas deposited in shale, had been considered uneconomical due to the lack of technologies to extract it.“We must all be aware that the world stands at th
July 11, 2012
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Banks’ household loan growth slower in June
Korean banks’ household loans grew at a slower pace in June than the previous month due mainly to an absence of a one-off seasonal factor, the central bank said Wednesday.Local banks’ household loans, including home-backed and credit loans, amounted to 457.1 trillion won ($399.1 billion) as of the end of June, up 1.3 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The June growth eased from a 2.2 trillion won expansion in May when people took more loans to cover spending for
July 11, 2012
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Samsung SNS wins top place for IT network, system construction
Samsung Network Services and Solutions said Wednesday that it won the top position for information and telecommunications construction capabilities, such as building Long Term Evolution and home networks, for the 11th consecutive year.In an evaluation performed by the Korea Information and Communication Contractors’ Association, an affiliate of state telecom regulator Korea Communications Commission, Samsung SNS scored the highest amount ― 278.1 billion won in total ― among 7,023 firms.The assoc
IndustryJuly 11, 2012
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Samsung to pardon employees’ past wrongdoings
Samsung Group said Wednesday it plans to pardon the wrongdoings its employees committed on the job to mark Samsung Electronics’ chairman Lee Kun-hee’s 25th year in office in December.According to the group officials, the country’s biggest conglomerate is putting moves forward to erase the records involving professional negligence of its employees, including executives, later this year.“It has yet to be confirmed but it is true that it has been picked as an option to be considered,” said a Samsun
IndustryJuly 11, 2012
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LG Display to develop 60-inch flexible OLED
LG Display has been chosen by the government to lead a project to develop transparent and flexible organic light-emitting diode displays.Korea’s second-largest display-panel maker said that it will develop proprietary technology for ultra high-definition, 60-inch flexible OLED displays by 2017 as part of the government’s “Future Flagship Program” to promote next-generation technologies.The company will lead a consortium, which includes Avaco, an equipment maker for display production, for the de
TechnologyJuly 11, 2012
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Kia Motors, SK Innovation tie up on electric car development
Kia Motors and SK Innovation will join hands to carry out research and promotional activities together on all-electric vehicle in a bid to advance the nation’s adoption of the eco-friendly cars, company officials said Wednesday. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for a business partnership at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday, with Kia Motors CEO Lee Sam-woong and SK Innovation CEO Koo Ja-young in attendance. SK Innovation, a flagship unit of SK Group, has provided car batteries to
IndustryJuly 11, 2012
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Shares drop on slowdown woes
South Korean stocks edged down 0.17 percent on Wednesday as investors remained jittery over a global economic slowdown, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.06 points to finish at 1,826.39. Trading volume was light at 329.9 million shares worth 3.24 trillion won ($2.84 billion), with losers just outpacing gainers 393 to 388.“The latest decisions made by European political leaders failed to stimulate the market,” said analys
July 11, 2012
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Over 20tr won losses from currency stabilization fund
The government registered more than 20 trillion won ($17.5 billion) in cumulative losses last year from operating its foreign currency stabilization fund, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The government runs the fund, aimed at helping protect the local financial market from external shocks, by issuing state bonds and overseeing the raised money partly by investing in safe assets such as U.S. Treasuries. According to the ministry, the fund’s cumulative losses stood at 22.19 trillion won as of
July 11, 2012
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Korea’s jobless rate rises to 3.2% in June
Korea’s jobless rate inched up in June from a month earlier amid worries that businesses are holding back hiring due to lingering market uncertainty caused by the eurozone debt problems, a report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate stood at 3.2 percent last month, up from 3.1 percent in May, according to the report by Statistics Korea. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 3.2 percent from a month earlier.Job creation decelerated, with employers adding 365,000 more jobs on-year
July 11, 2012
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Ministry to develop Pangyo into ‘Korean Silicon Valley’
The government unveiled a plan on Wednesday to develop the Pangyo area in Gyeonggi Province into a “Korean Silicon Valley.”The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the Pangyo Semicon Cluster will be the nation’s base for the information technology and semiconductor industry.Government officials, businessmen and scholars, about 300 in total, gathered in Pangyo to celebrate the “Pangyo Semicon Cluster Vision Declaration Ceremony” that was hosted by the Knowledge Economy Ministry.Pangyo is a planned
July 11, 2012
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aT, InterContinental to globalize Korean food
Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. said Wednesday that it will sign a contract with the InterContinental Hotels Group in October to cooperate in globalizing Korean food.The corporation, or aT, plans to launch promotional events in InterContinental hotels in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong following conclusion of the contract. The company said the event includes publicizing Korean foods through the local media and providing culinary lessons. aT will also financially support the cooks’ fli
July 11, 2012
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Korea’s money supply grows 5.5% in May
Korea’s money supply grew at the 5-percent range for the fourth straight month in May, the central bank said Wednesday, underscoring concerns about inflation risks.South Korea’s M2, a narrow measure of the money supply, amounted to 1,784.2 trillion won ($1.6 trillion) in May, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. In April, the M2 grew an identical 5.5 percent from the year before and the growth of the M2 stayed within the 5-percent range for the fourth straight mont
July 11, 2012