Most Popular
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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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What is Hybe’s next move?
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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[Herald Interview] Mom’s Touch seeks to replicate success in Japan
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'Queen of Tears' finale sets record viewership ratings as tvN's most-watched series ending
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Police to open alleged stalking probe over pastor over Dior bag scandal
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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[News Focus] Lee tells Yoon that he has governed without political dialogue
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
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Beauty in the East: What it takes to be a female
“Crooked chin. Elf shape. Pimple spots.” These are the words imprinted on Jessica’s job application photo. The 28-year-old South Korean hopeful, who asked to be identified only by her first name, returned for her second stage in an intensive job application process for a popular Japanese airline. It is Jessica’s dream to become a flight attendant, but she understands the competitive nature of the industry and is realistic about her chances. It is not easy to become a female flight attendant in A
April 5, 2012
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Hyundai Oilbank, Shell launch base oil JV
Hyundai Oilbank Co., and Shell officially launched a base oil lubricant joint venture Wednesday in a bid to help both companies expand their market presence in Asia.The new Hyundai and Shell Base Oil. Co., is expected to begin commercial production in the second half of 2014, with daily input to reach around 20,000 barrels.Hyundai Oilbank, one of South Korea’s leading refiners, owns a 60 percent stake in the company while Shell, a global oil and gas company controls the remaining 40 percent.“A p
April 4, 2012
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Undersea CO2 storage site found in East Sea
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Marine Affairs said Wednesday a site to permanently store about 5.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide was found in the continental shelf southwest of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea.Based on Korea’s target to reduce 32 million tons of CO2 annually by 2030 through CO2 capture and storage, the site will be able to store CO2 for more than 150 years.The ministry confirmed the existence of the geological structure appropriate for CO2 storage in the sedimentary layer
April 4, 2012
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Trade surplus in parts, materials gains 5.2%
South Korea’s trade surplus in industrial components and materials rose 5.2 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2012, mainly due to a drop in imports, a government report showed Wednesday.The trade surplus reached $20.8 billion in the January-March period, compared with $19.8 billion a year earlier, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.Imports of industrial components and materials contracted 2.9 percent on-year to $39.9 billion in the three-month period, while export
April 4, 2012
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Korea’s farm, food exports jump in Q1
South Korea’s food and agriculture exports rose more than 11 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2012 on solid demand in the United States, Japan and China, the government said Tuesday.In the January-March period, South Korea shipped $1.82 billion worth of farm products, up 11.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.The growth was largely led by an increase in shipments of fresh produce and fishery products, which rose
April 3, 2012
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Builders’ overseas orders rise 6 percent in March
Overseas construction orders won by South Korean companies rose 6 percent in March from a year earlier, helped by large building contracts secured in the Middle East and South Asia, data showed Tuesday.The data by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs showed local builders signed deals totaling $5.5 billion last month, compared with $5.2 billion a year earlier.Last month’s gain comes after orders dropped sharply in January and February of this year, which raised alarm bells in the
April 3, 2012
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Samsung Electronics to build semiconductor plant in central China
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker, announced Monday it will build a semiconductor plant in central China as part of its move to diversify production.The company said it will initially inject US$2.3 billion to build the plant in Xian, China. It added that up to $7.0 billion could be poured into the project in the coming years, making the plant Samsung's single largest ov
April 2, 2012
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Europe-Korea Foundation supports youth education
The Europe-Korea Foundation, the charity arm of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Korea, has given nine scholarships to talented young students here who are unable to further their academic careers due to financial instability. The scholarship program first started in 2003 and ran until 2008, when the global financial crisis cut into companies’ social responsibility. “For this year, the EKF has selected nine college students who are still living in social welfare centers in Seoul or on their own aft
April 2, 2012
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TUV Rheinland aims to help companies grow into global players
For TUV Rheinland, the next step is to progress from being an international company to being a global one.TUV Rheinland is a leading provider of technical services. They advise, develop, promote, test, inspect and certify products that want to enter into major international markets.“For us, we connect Korean products with the European and United States markets, South African market. But it’s all about standards,” said chief international officer Stephan Schmitt during a recent visit to Korea.Bec
April 2, 2012
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Han named new head of Invest Korea
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency named financial expert Han Ki-won on Monday, commissioner of Invest Korea, the agency’s foreign investment promotion arm. The 53-year-old is highly experienced in the investment field, and is proficient in Korean, English and Japanese, KOTRA said. “We rarely get a candidate who suits the post better than he does,” a KOTRA spokesperson said. “He had a 10-year investment banking career in Japan and another 15 years in Europe and Asia. Han is a top-notch
April 2, 2012
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S. Korean households' debt service burden jumps in 2011
The debt service burden of South Korean households rose sharply last year, as their debt payments increased amid high inflation, the country's central bank said Monday.The so-called household debt service ratio (DSR), an estimate of the ratio of debt payments to disposable personal income, stood at 12.9 percent last year, compared with 11.4 percent a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (B
April 2, 2012
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Moody's raises S. Korea's rating outlook to 'positive'
Moody's Investors Service upgraded its outlook Monday on South Korea's sovereign credit rating to "positive" from "stable," citing the country's improving fiscal status and solid economic growth, the finance ministry said.The move came after the credit rating agency raised the government bond rating of South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, from A2 "stable" to A1 "stable" in April 2010."The c
April 2, 2012
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March’s trade volume marks first fall since late 2009
South Korea’s exports and imports fell for the first time in two and a half years in March, due mainly to weak overseas demand for Korean ships and commodities, a government report showed Sunday.Despite the first negative trade growth since October 2009, the country’s trade balance remained in the black to the tune of $2.33 billion, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The country’s exports reached $47.36 billion in March, down 1.4 percent on-year, with imports contractin
April 1, 2012
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Samsung Electronics to issue first U.S. dollar-dominated bonds since 2004
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips, plans to issue its first U.S. dollar-denominated bonds since 2004 to expand production of processors used in mobile devices including Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The company has sent requests for proposals to banks to borrow as much as $1 billion to expand production capacity at its factory in Austin, Texas, James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for Samsung, said.Samsung Electronics sold $100 million of floating-rate three-year
April 1, 2012
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Trade rules with ASEAN to be simplified: Finance Ministry
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Sunday the certificate of origin documentation for trade between Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would be simplified. “Despite the increase in trade volume with ASEAN, Korean firms have been underutilizing the FTA due to the complicated procedures concerning the certificate of origin,” the ministry said in a statement. “The government has agreed to revise the related rules in a recent negotiation with ASEAN partners.”Current rules st
April 1, 2012
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Korean exports fall 1.4% on weakness in global demand
South Korea’s exports were less than analysts forecast in March, sliding 1.4 percent from a year earlier on weakness in global demand.Imports fell 1.2 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $2.3 billion, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in an e-mailed statement today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists was for a 1.3 percent gain in exports.Signs that Europe’s debt c
April 1, 2012
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Korean economy grows 3.6% in 2011
The South Korean economy grew 3.6 percent in 2011, slowing from a 6.3 percent gain in 2010, due to weak private spending and facility investment, the central bank said Friday.The country's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, matched an earlier estimate by the
March 30, 2012
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Manufacturers expect better business conditions in 2nd quarter
Korean companies expect market conditions to perk up in the manufacturing sector over the next three months after a nine-month slump, data showed Thursday.According to a survey of 508 local firms conducted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the rosy outlook is based on signs of economic recovery in the U.S. and high expectations for the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. Manufacturers’ earnings in the first three months of this year dip
March 29, 2012
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Korea to slap duties on PET film imports
South Korea’s trade commission said Thursday it has decided to extend anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese and Indian wrapping film for three more years to protect local manufacturers.The decision by the Korea Trade Commission calls for anti-dumping duties of 5.87-25.32 percent to be levied on polyethylene-terephthalate film made by the two Asian countries.The latest move comes after Seoul imposed anti-dumping duties of 5.67-25.32 percent on PET films from the same countries since October 2008.“The l
March 29, 2012
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Business sentiment turns negative in April
South Korea’s business sentiment for April fell from a month earlier due to unfavorable overseas trade conditions and concerns over high domestic household debt, a poll showed Thursday.The monthly business survey index for the upcoming month came in at 98.4, down from 106.1 tallied for March, according to the Federation of Korean Industries, the lobbying group of the country’s large businesses.A BSI reading below the break-even 100 mark means pessimists outnumber optimists. The poll surveyed the
March 29, 2012