Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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Sewol victims commemorated on tragedy's 10th anniversary
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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[Kim Seong-kon] Democracy and the future of South Korea
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Austrian firm to build $10m plant in Busan
Geislinger GmbH, Austria’s leading engine parts maker, will set up a manufacturing base in Busan to facilitate supplies to local shipbuilders, city officials said Wednesday.The Salzburg-based firm clinched an agreement with the Busan government to build a plant at the southern port city’s industrial complex and hire more than 100 workers by injecting $10 million, officials said. They did not give details on the time frame. The deal marks the largest project involving an international company sin
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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Medipost seeks to export stem cell arthritis drug
Medipost, a Korean biotech startup, is seeking to export its stem-cell based arthritis medicine Cartistem to other countries in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, company officials said Wednesday.Cartistem is the world’s first approved allogeneic stem cell drug. It is designed to regenerate knee cartilage using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. The Korea Food & Drug Administration gave approval for commercial sales of the new product last week. Dong-A Pharmaceutical, the count
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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LG Electronics wins fridge patent dispute with Whirlpool
LG Electronics Inc., South Korea’s leading consumer electronics maker, said Wednesday that it won a patent dispute with Whirlpool Corp. over technology used in refrigerators.In 2009, Whirlpool, a major American producer of home appliances, filed complaints against LG Electronics with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, claiming that it developed technology used to make a water and ice dispenser in refrigerators earlier than LG.The U.S. patent agency did not accept Whirlpool’s claim as it faile
TechnologyJan. 25, 2012
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Samsung to unveil anti-collusion steps
Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, said Wednesday it plans to draft measures to root out price rigging practices by next month amid growing public criticism against price collusion by big businesses.The group quoted Kim Soon-taek, head of the group’s revived team named the Samsung Corporate Strategy Office, as saying that price collusion is a clear act of harming a company.The group, which controls tech giant Samsung Electronics Co., said it plans to determine causes of why price
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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Hyundai Motor beats Toyota in Germany
Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. became the best-selling Asian car brand in the competitive German market last year, edging out Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp., industry data showed Wednesday.Hyundai Motor sold 86,866 vehicles in Germany in 2011, while Toyota sold 83,204 cars, according to the German international manufacturing group VDIK.The sale of Hyundai Motor jumped 16.9 percent last year from 74,287 vehicles a year ago to surpass Toyota for the first time since it made inroads into the Ge
MobilityJan. 25, 2012
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Daewoo Electronics expands overseas portfolio
Daewoo Electronics is working to expand its overseas business by establishing two additional branches in Indonesia and Colombia, company officials said Wednesday.The company, which manufactures home appliances, is aiming to expand into other foreign markets such as Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Cambodia this year.It entered other overseas markets including Singapore, the Philippines and Cuba last year as part of its global expansion efforts.“We must take the lead in newly emerging markets to maintai
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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Iranian oil cheapest of Korea’s imports
Iranian oil was the cheapest of all crude oil Korea imports from abroad, except for Colombia, Oman and the Saudi-Kuwait neutral zone from where only small volumes are bought. Korea imported 846.59 million barrels of crude oil in the 11 months leading up to November from 23 countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran and Oman, according to Petronet, an oil information provider run by the Korea National Oil Corporation. “Iran accounted for 9.76 percent of Korea’s crude oil imports and is
Jan. 25, 2012
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Citigroup Korea to strengthen wealth management
Citigroup Korea plans to resurrect an earlier project to set up a retail-based securities firm.It comes four years after financial regulators rejected an application from Citibank Korea for a brokerage business for individual customers in 2008.“In case a chance is given, we would like to establish a retail-based brokerage unit,” Ha Yung-ku, CEO of Citigroup Korea and Citibank Korea, said during a recent interview at his office in downtown Seoul.Citigroup Korea has been operating a wholesale-base
Jan. 25, 2012
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Ministry opposes introducing fat tax
Korea remains opposed to introducing the so-called fat tax, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday, saying that such a move is “not desirable” as it could ramp up food prices and aggravate overall inflation.“It is not desirable to introduce a new tax on foods given our own situations,” the ministry said in a report that analyzes policies of major countries in connection with obesity problems.Korea has a relatively low level of obesity among its citizens and an additional tax on foods could hurt low
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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Korean exports to Mexico surge in 50 years: report
Korea’s exports to Mexico have skyrocketed since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, thanks to a strong economic relationship, a report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the Korea International Trade Association, Korea’s shipments to Mexico came to $9.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2011, compared with a mere $55,000 in 1967.Korea and Mexico set up diplomatic relations in 1962, while Seoul began tracking bilateral trade five years later.Korea’s imports from Mexico surge
Jan. 25, 2012
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Businesses expect hard times in H2: report
Korean businesses are bracing for difficult times in the second half of this year, showed a report on the world’s high income, leading market economies on Tuesday.The business confidence index by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Korea’s numbers standing at 96.2, the fourth lowest among the 23 countries checked.An index reading below the benchmark 100 mark means pessimists outnumber optimists.The BSI tallied in December by the Paris-based organization also showed T
Jan. 25, 2012
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ADB backs Korean consortium building plant in Uzbekistan
The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday it will help a Korean consortium build the largest petrochemical plant in Uzbekistan that could meet the country’s commercial and industrial need for gas.A consortium composed of three Korean companies, Honam Petrochemical Corp., Korea Gas Corp. and STX Energy Co., established a joint venture company called Uz-Kor Gas Chemical LLC with Uzbekistan’s state-controlled oil and gas company National Holding Company Uzbekneftegaz. The ADB said it will provide a
IndustryJan. 25, 2012
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Shares up on foreign buying
Korean stocks finished 0.12 percent higher Wednesday as foreign investors snapped up tech and auto exporters, but gains were trimmed by institutional selling, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.After rising as much as 1.2 percent, the benchmark KOSPI gained 2.34 points to 1,952.23.Trading volume was moderate at 372 million shares worth 6.07 trillion won ($5.39 billion) with gainers leading losers 421 to 401. “Apple’s earnings surprise was a positive impact on the loca
Jan. 25, 2012
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Korea ranked 29th in globalization: report
Korea has been ranked the 29th most globalized country in the world, up four spots from last year, a study by consulting firm Ernst & Young said Wednesday.The latest ranking places Korea ahead of China (39th) and Japan (40th). Korea is now the fourth most globalized nation in Asia, after top-ranking Hong Kong, third-place Singapore and 12th-ranked Taiwan.“The process of globalization paused a little with the 2008 financial recession, but it is accelerating again with the sharing of technological
Jan. 25, 2012
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Ministry creates bureau on low birth rate, aging
The Finance Ministry created a new bureau tasked to tackle demographic challenges related to the aging population and low fertility rates, it said on Monday.Dubbed the Bureau of Future Strategy, the new team will be at Seoul’s central tower developing policy responses for the country’s long-term challenges threatening the sustainability of public finances.“Long-pending questions about the aging society and other demographic issues haven’t been getting proper attention. The new team will organize
Jan. 25, 2012
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Korean firms’ direct financing soars in 2011
Companies raise record 143 trillion won with stock and bond issuancesKorea’s direct financing surged last year as local firms rushed to secure extra capital in the face of the worsening eurozone fiscal crisis, data showed Wednesday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korean companies raised a record 143.39 trillion won ($126.31 billion) in 2011 through stock and bond issuances, up 16.3 percent from 123.26 trillion won tallied the previous year. The sharp increase came as Korean comp
Jan. 25, 2012
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Carriers race to grab LTE market
Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and other industry players are ramping up efforts to claim a bigger share of the fast growing long-term evolution market deemed a future money spinner, market watchers say.The LTE service, or the fourth-generation of wireless technology, enables smartphone users to access a stream of data faster than the current 3G network and download and watch movies more quickly.In a country where four out of 10 people use smartphones, SK Telecom and two other carrier
TechnologyJan. 25, 2012
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Samsung, Apple anxious over upcoming verdict in Germany
A win for the Korean tech giant in patent lawsuits could see iPhone sales banned in the European countryAttention is on a German court’s second ruling regarding Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.’s ongoing patent dispute, scheduled to be made this Friday.This comes shortly after Samsung lost a patent infringement suit against its American rival over third-generation wireless telecommunications standards at a Mannheim court in Germany last Friday. The ruling was the first in a series of patent ca
TechnologyJan. 25, 2012
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Euro breakup would cause global ‘meltdown, Soros warns
Billionaire George Soros said “the euro must survive because the alternative, a breakup, would cause a meltdown that Europe, the world, can’t afford,” Newsweek Magazine reported, citing an interview in New York ahead of his participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos. George Soros (Bloom
Jan. 25, 2012
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Fold-up car of the future unveiled at EU
BRUSSELS (AFP) - A tiny revolutionary fold-up car designed in Spain's Basque country as the answer to urban stress and pollution was unveiled Tuesday before hitting European cities in 2013.The "Hiriko", the Basque word for "urban", is an electric two-seater with no doors whose motor is located in th
MobilityJan. 25, 2012