Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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South Korea to launch space security center under spy agency
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More med professors to take day off each week while govt. urges them to stay
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Hybe refutes Ador CEO Min's denial of breach of trust
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Household finance squeezed with growing debt: report
A government report showed Friday a steep deterioration in household finances, citing a much faster rate of debt growth than asset increases.A joint report by the Statistics Korea, the Bank of Korea, and the Financial Supervisory Services said the average household debt expanded 12.7 percent to 52.05 million won ($46,143) for a year ending March, outgrowing the 7.5 percent expansion of total assets to 297.65 million won per household on average.People with mortgages saw a particularly tight sque
Nov. 11, 2011
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Seoul shares up 2.77% on European optimism
South Korean stocks finished 2.77 percent higher on Friday as investor sentiment was boosted by eased Italian debt woes, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 50.2 points to 1,863.45, rebounding from a massive 94-point fall on the previous session. Trading volume was light at 291.7 million shares worth 5.15 trillion won ($4.57 billion) with gainers leading losers 682 to 170.“The European Central Bank bought Italian b
Nov. 11, 2011
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Ex-KDB chief, execs probed over takeover
Prosecutors said Friday they have opened an investigation into several executives of the state-run Korea Development Bank, including former chairman Min Euoo-sung, on suspicion of incurring massive losses to the bank in a 2009 acquisition of a life insurance firm.Min and several other incumbent and former KDB executives are under suspicion of taking over Kumho Life Insurance Co. for an above-market price, inflicting losses to the bank run with taxpayers’ money, the financial sector bureau of the
Nov. 11, 2011
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SK Telecom named as preferred bidder for Hynix
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. shareholders on Friday named SK Telecom Co. as the preferred bidder, a day after the mobile carrier submitted a final bid for a controlling stake in the chipmaker.The stake in Hynix on the block is estimated at around 3 trillion won ($2.64 billion).Hynix shareholders had extended the bidding deadline twice to attract more bidders with STX Group pulling out of the race that resulted in a solo bid by SK Telecom. The stake sale contract will be signed on Nov. 14 after Hynix
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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Insurer loan surges, boosting default rate
Insurance firms saw their loans grow at the fastest pace in two years as a result of the authorities’ tight control on bank loans, data showed on Friday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea’s insurers lent a combined 95.5 trillion won ($84.2 billion) to companies and households as of the end of the third quarter, up 4.1 trillion won, or 4.45 percent from the previous quarter. The rapid growth marked the highest level since September 2009, when the figure reached 4.75 percent. T
Nov. 11, 2011
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Probe targets chaebol heiresses’ bakery businesses
The Fair Trade Commission has launched a probe into allegations that some bakery businesses run by heiresses of conglomerate families have received preferential treatment from those business groups’ affiliates.Industry sources said Friday that antitrust authorities raided the head office of Bliss, owned by Jang Sun-yoon, daughter of Lotte Shopping president Shin Yong-ja, on Oct. 16 and probed transaction details. The Korean license of the French gourmet food company Fauchon has opened 12 shops a
IndustryNov. 11, 2011
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BOK holds rate steady for 5th month
Gov. Kim rules out immediate rate cut; emphasis on inflation softenedThe Bank of Korea held benchmark rates steady, as expected, for the fifth straight month on Friday, amid heightened fears about the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis that is spreading from Greece to Italy. Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow Monetary Policy Committee policymakers unanimously decided to freeze the rate at 3.25 percent, a decision partly affected by the inflation falling last month. “As long as current economic sit
Nov. 11, 2011
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Gov't to raise state-run companies wages by 3 pct in 2012
South Korea's government said Friday that it will raise wages of state-run companies by a maximum 3 percent in 2012 to reflect the general rise in living expenses. The finance ministry said a committee governing public sector management passed the increase motion after reviewing demands
Nov. 11, 2011
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Gov't bans humidifier sterilizers for causing mysterious lung disease
The government on Friday banned the sale of six types of sterilizers used in household humidifiers because they may have caused the mysterious hardening of lung tissue that killed nine people this year. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said detaile
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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BOK freezes key rate at 3.25 percent for 5th month
South Korea's central bank left the key interest rate unchanged on Friday for the fifth straight month in the face of the deepening eurozone debt crisis and moderated inflation growth.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers froze the benchmark seven-day repo rate at 3.25
Nov. 11, 2011
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EEG scan helped contact patients in vegetative state
Electro-encephalography (EEG) helped doctors realize that several patients diagnosed as being in a permanently vegetative state were in fact aware, according to a study published on Thursday in The Lancet.The technique could be developed as a portable, cheaper way of helping doctors make more accura
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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NASA readies launch of 'dream machine' to Mars
The US space agency is getting ready to launch later this month the biggest, most expensive robotic vehicle ever built to explore Mars for signs of previous life there, NASA said Thursday.The Curiosity rover, known formally as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is a $2.5 billion state-of-the-a
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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Apple launches iPhone 4S in S. Korea to fanfare
SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S was released in South Korea on Friday with great fanfare as the country's two largest mobile carriers heated up their competition to lure customers.SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile operator, and the runner-up KT Corp. invited fans to cele
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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Scientists identify new cell to lower risk of hardening of arteries
A group of scientists, including one of the two recipients of this year's Nobel prize in medicine, the late Ralph M. Steinman, has identified a new cell that helps reduce risks of the hardening of the arteries, South Korea's science ministry said Friday.The research, published Thursday (U.S. time) o
TechnologyNov. 11, 2011
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Insurer loan default rate goes up in Q3
The default rate on loans extended by South Korean insurance companies inched up in the third quarter from three months earlier, due mainly to a rise in overdue corporate loans, the financial watchdog said Friday.The average ratio of overdue loans came to 1.18 percent of total lending by local life
Nov. 11, 2011
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KOSPI tumbles on Italian woes
Seoul shares lost 4.94 percent to 1,813.25 Thursday on deepening woes over Europe’s debt crisis as soaring borrowing costs in Italy renewed fears that the region’s currency union may be breaking up. The benchmark KOSPI opened sharply lower, with losses led by bank and oil refiners, tracking worsening performance of market indices across Asia and the U.S. The local currency lost 1.5 percent to close at 1,134.2 won against the U.S. dollar. “It wasn’t a surprise that investors cut their holdings, e
Nov. 10, 2011
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SKT becomes sole bidder for Hynix
SK Telecom, the nation’s top mobile carrier, submitted its final bid on Thursday to take over Hynix Semiconductor, becoming a sole bidder, creditors said.Credit Suisse, one of the co-sale brokers for the deal, received SKT’s bid to acquire a 15 percent stake in the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker, said officials at Korea Exchange Bank, the main creditor.The creditors plan to select a preferred bidder on Friday and conduct price negotiations with the selected company. SKT tendered the last-minute
IndustryNov. 10, 2011
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Household loans grow by most in 4 months
South Korean banks’ household loans grew by the most in four months in October on a rise in mortgage lending, the central bank said Thursday, complicating the government’s efforts to curb growing household debt.Local banks’ household loans, including home-backed and credit loans, reached 451.8 trillion won ($398 billion) as of the end of October, up 3.2 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The October monthly growth marked the largest expansion since such loans in
Nov. 10, 2011
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Alert issued against arterial embolism
The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on Thursday issued a warning over arterial embolisms, which have increased 34 percent in the past five years. The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines an arterial embolism as a sudden interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to a clot (embolus). The clots often occur in the legs and feet. Some may occur in the brain, causing a stroke, or in the heart, causing a heart attack. Less common sites include the kidneys, intestines,
TechnologyNov. 10, 2011
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KCDC warns of humidifier-sterilizers again
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once again advised people to refrain from using humidifier-sterilizers. The advice was issued after a civic group claimed that 18 people died of a lung disease believed to have been caused by disinfectants in the machines. The authorities asked supermarkets and retailers to recall the products in August, and is issuing the warning again to raise public awareness of the health threat. More information on the relationship between humidifier disi
TechnologyNov. 10, 2011