Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Better consumer sentiment for third month in April
South Korea’s consumer confidence improved for the third consecutive month in April on gains in production and market demand, and waning inflationary pressure, the central bank said Wednesday.The consumer sentiment index, which gauges consumers’ overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending, stood at 104 for this month, compared with 101 tallied in March, according to a survey by the Bank of Korea. A CSI reading above the benchmark 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The
April 25, 2012
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ING Life Korea gets closer to customers
ING Life Korea is aiming to get close and personal with its existing and potential customers by further “opening its ears” to hear their needs in financial planning.The Korean subsidiary of the global life insurer is boosting in-house training not only for financial consultants but also for executives, in an effort to boost customer relations, its press release said.In addition to the 180-day consulting training, the company has sent its managers and executives to its nationwide centers to meet
April 25, 2012
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Amore opens first Innisfree store in Shanghai
Amore Pacific, the nation’s biggest beauty company, said Wednesday it opened the first flagship store of its low-cost cosmetics brand Innisfree in downtown Shanghai. With the new launch, the company said it will step up efforts to expand its presence in China where a new beauty trend based on natural ingredients has gained popularity in recent years. According to the company, some cosmetics products of Innisfree are made of natural ingredients grown on Jeju Island, the nation’s southernmost reso
IndustryApril 25, 2012
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Korea to auction stake in Woori
FSC chief Kim says local, foreign investors will be treated equallySouth Korea plans to seek bidders for its stake in Woori Finance Holdings Co. in a third attempt to sell the nation’s largest financial company by assets.The government will hold an international auction and announce details on the plan “soon,” Financial Services Commission chairman Kim Seok-dong said in Seoul on Wednesday. Local and foreign investors’ bids will be treated equally, he said.A rally in Asian equity markets this yea
April 25, 2012
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Nokia debt rating cut to junk at Fitch
Nokia Oyj’s rating was cut to junk for the first time by a debt rating company as the Finnish mobile-phone maker loses its grip on a market now dominated by Apple Inc. and Asian suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co. Fitch Ratings Tuesday lowered Nokia’s long-term debt ranking to BB+, one step below investment grade, citing a deterioration in the handset business in the first quarter and a “general lack of visibility.” Fitch said it may further cut the rating if Espoo, Finland-based Nokia’s r
TechnologyApril 25, 2012
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Local tech start-up aims high with location-sharing tool
CEO boasts app’s privacy settings better than Google, Apple servicesWhen she heard about the recent murder case in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, iSharing Soft CEO Reese Cho said she felt anger and frustration. A 28-year-old woman was found killed and butchered early this month. Despite her last-minute phone call for help, it took 13 hours for police officers to figure out her location. “I believe that she could have been rescued if her location had been confirmed earlier. As an owner of a locatio
TechnologyApril 25, 2012
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Ex-deputy chief of FSS to head financial training center
The Korea Banking Institute, an educational organization for financial professionals, has named Lee Jang-young, former deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, its new chief. After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in economics, Lee worked as a professor of economics at the State University of New York, researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, the Korea Institute of Public Finance and economist at the International Monetary Fund.He a
April 25, 2012
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Japanese nuclear plants sit atop ‘unstable region’: report
Two nuclear power plants in Japan are located right on top of a seismically unstable region, raising the possibility of an earthquake-induced disaster, according to a report on Wednesday.Tomari plant in Hokkaido and Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture sit on active faults, the Japanese media reported, citing a report by Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The fault under the Tsuruga plant is believed to have moved some 4,500 years ago, according to Kyodo news agency. The underground laye
TechnologyApril 25, 2012
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S. Korean economy unlikely to recover fast: think tank
The South Korean economy is not expected to make a quick recovery from its current slump due to external uncertainties and domestic problems, a local think tank said Wednesday."A stable and rapid rebound of the South Korean economy is not in the cards as the private sector remains vulnerable to economic shocks and lacks resilience," Samsung Economic Research Institute(SERI) said in a report.The r
April 25, 2012
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Traces of ancient virus found in human genome
Much of the human genome is yet to be understood. Only 1.5 percent of the genetic material in our cells is coded for human life. Half of the rest is “junk DNA” with no known function, while the other half consists of genes from viruses and other parasites.A recent study attempting to explore this so-called “dark matter” in our genome has revealed that ancient viruses from around 100 million years ago invaded the genomes of 38 mammals including humans, mice, rats, elephants and dolphins.The study
TechnologyApril 25, 2012
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Korea to auction Woori Finance stake in third sale attempt
South Korea plans to take bids for its stake in Woori Finance Holdings Co. in a third attempt to sell the nation’s largest financial company by assets.The government will hold an international auction and announce details on the plan soon, Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok Dong said in Seoul today. Local and foreign investors’ bids will be treated equally, he said.The sale is part of
April 25, 2012
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Swiss scientists demonstrate mind-controlled robot
Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot by thought alone, a step they hope will one day allow immobile people to interact with their surroundings through so-called avatars.Similar experiments have taken place in the United States and Germany, but they involved either able-bodied patients or invasive brain implants.On Tuesday, a team at Switzerland's
TechnologyApril 25, 2012
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New case of mad cow disease in California
Top beef exporter the United States revealed Tuesday it had discovered a case of mad cow disease in California, prompting a scramble to reassure consumers at home and abroad. (MCT)The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the country's fourth-ever case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), but stressed the outbreak was contained and no meat has entered the food chain.The infected dairy cow
April 25, 2012
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Budget to focus on welfare, job creation in 2013
South Korea’s budget for 2013 will focus heavily on welfare, job creation and education-related spending to meet growing demands for social security and achieve sustainable growth, the government said Tuesday.The budget plan, outlined by the finance ministry and approved by the Cabinet, emphasizes sustainable growth and restoring a balanced budget next year to ensure the country has the available resources to cope with its rapidly aging population, reunification and other unforeseen economic cri
April 24, 2012
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LG Display loss widens in 1st quarter
LG Display said Tuesday it posted 6.18 trillion won ($5.41 billion) in sales and 178.2 billion won in operating losses for the first quarter, recording a bigger loss due to decreased shipments stemming from low demand and new product development.In its quarterly regulatory filing, the company said its operating loss widened from 145 billion won in the final quarter of last year, while its quarterly net loss reached 129.2 billion won from January-March.The firm’s total sales figure also went down
IndustryApril 24, 2012
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Samsung Engineering Q1 net up 18.3%
Samsung Engineering Co., one of South Korea’s largest industrial plant builders, said Tuesday its net profit jumped 18.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, thanks to increased overseas sales.Net income came to 143.6 billion won ($125.9 million) in the January-March period, compared with 121.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales soared 46.2 percent on-year to 2.6 trillion won during the cited period, and operating profit reached 189.3 billion w
April 24, 2012
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POSCO to showcase green tech, environmental efforts at Expo
YEOSU, South Jeolla Province ― POSCO on Tuesday unveiled the first glimpse of its pavilion at the forthcoming Expo 2012 Yeosu that highlights the steelmaker’s efforts to spearhead green technology and shore up ecosystem dynamics. Under the theme “Living Ocean and Coast,” 106 countries and nine international organizations will showcase their diverse marine development and advancement of oceanic technology on the southern shore of the Korean Peninsula starting May 12.The world’s fourth-largest ste
IndustryApril 24, 2012
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LG labor union takes its social responsibility efforts abroad
LG Electronics said Tuesday that it hopes to lead global labor-management culture by emphasizing the social responsibility of labor unions. As part of its efforts, a group of union leaders at the company’s Indonesian branch visited Korea for six days, company officials said. Korea is a country where the labor-management relationship has long been hostile, sometimes resulting in physical conflicts. The labor union for LG was the first to claim “union social responsibility” in 2010, with the goal
IndustryApril 24, 2012
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Samsung chief hits back at siblings over inheritance suit
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee counterattacked his siblings who had described him as a greedy man ahead of a court duel over inheritance.Meeting reporters at the company’s office in southern Seoul on Tuesday, Lee said his older brother Lee Maeng-hee is a “figure that was ousted in our family.”The chief of the country’s largest conglomerate also said no one in his family considered Lee Maeng-hee to be the eldest son of the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull. As proof, Lee Maeng-hee ha
April 24, 2012
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FTC warns conglomerates against price-fixing
Korean companies fined over 2 trillion won for global cartelismKorea’s Fair Trade Commission said on Tuesday that cartelism among industry peers will bring nothing but harsh penalties for executives found guilty of price-fixing in global markets.An FTC official said that cartelism is illegal in any country, adding that even the temptation of price collusion to reap short-term profit is not worth it, as anybody participating in such activity will end up either with large fines or in prison in t
April 24, 2012