Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Will Hyundai’s duty-free plan succeed?
Hyundai Development is planning to open a duty-free store, in an attempt to pick up the last slice of one of the very few flourishing industries in Korea. Company chairman Chung Mong-gyu announced Monday that the company would pour 100 billion won ($92.3 million) into building a shopping complex, including a duty-free store, in Yongsan, Seoul, next to the Yongsan I’Park Mall, which the company already runs. “We will reserve 40 percent of the space for products from Korean small to midisized comp
Jan. 15, 2015
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Starbucks’ ‘lucky bag’ sells out within hours
Starbucks Korea’s 2015 lucky bag (Starbucks Korea)Starbucks Korea’s “lucky bags,” which offer a random selection of goodies for less than they usually retail for, sold out within a few hours of sales launching Thursday, company officials said. Large crowds of people were seen lining up in front of Seoul’s Starbucks stores in the early morning to claim the coffee chain’s lucky bag worth up to 100,000 won ($92) for 49,000 won.This year, the coffee chain sold 15,000 bags, containing tumblers, mugs,
Jan. 15, 2015
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Uruguayan parliamentary leader vows to help S. Korean firms
The chief of Uruguay's lower house of parliament vowed Thursday to help South Korean businesses expand their presence in the South American nation, saying their investment will play a large role in the country's development.Anibal Pereyra, president of Uruguay's Chamber of Deputies, made the remarks in an interview with Yonhap News Agency at the National Assembly building in Seoul, stressing the Uruguayan parliament's efforts to boost bilateral trade."All international treaties are subject to ra
Jan. 15, 2015
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S. Korean refiners forecast to have suffered record loss in 2014
Major South Korean refiners are expected to have suffered their worst ever performance in 2014 due to relentless slides in oil prices, with their combined operating loss reaching over 2 trillion won ($1.84 billion), according to guidance reports Thursday.The combined operating loss of the four refiners -- SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oil Bank -- reached 1.2 trillion won in the first three quarters of last year, and they are expected to post an additional loss of over 1 trillion wo
Jan. 15, 2015
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Samsung, BlackBerry deny report of takeover talks
Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's top electronics firm, and Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry on Thursday denied an earlier media report about their takeover talks. "It is not true," a spokeswoman at Samsung Electronics said, adding that the company "does not respond to rumors." BlackBerry, in a press release on its website, also denied the report on the potential deal, saying it "has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer," declining to comment furthe
Jan. 15, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Has Shin Dong-bin won Lotte succession race?
Lotte Group Korea chairman Shin Dong-bin has virtually become the crown prince of Lotte’s 92 trillion won ($90 billion) empire, which stretches from Asia to the U.S.But even with Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho’s temporary favor, his older brother’s presence will likely push the 59-year-old chairman to prove his management aptitude in order to impress his 93-year-old father, who is known to mix business affairs with succession plans.On Tuesday, chairman Shin met with Korean reporters at Gimpo Interna
Jan. 14, 2015
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Korea’s jobless rate stands at 3.4% in December
South Korea’s jobless rate rose in December from a month earlier, but more jobs were created, with the labor market still grim for youths, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent last month, up from 3.1 percent in November.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate also inched up from 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent. Job creation remained strong. The number of employed people reached 25.38 million last month, up 422,000 from a
Jan. 14, 2015
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Hyundai Heavy to pull out of onshore plant business
Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, plans to integrate two onshore and offshore plant business units and begin voluntary redundancies to overcome its financial difficulties.But insiders said the merger of the two units is an apparent move to gradually withdraw from the money-losing onshore plant business “Top management ordered the business unit to stop activities to win new plant orders,” an industry source said. The company’s drastic measure came after it posted a record
Jan. 14, 2015
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Samsung Group likely to invest W50tr in 2015
Samsung Group, South Korea’s top family-run conglomerate, is expected to spend 50 trillion won ($46.3 billion) for facility and R&D investment this year, a company official said, a similar amount from last year, following a reshuffle with its chairman, Lee Kun-hee, still bedridden. Samsung is estimated to have invested between 49 trillion and 50 trillion won in 2014, according to market analysts, moderately increasing the expenditure every year from 42 trillion won in 2011. “It seems to be an am
Jan. 14, 2015
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Hyundai Asan opens second duty-free shop in Gaeseong
Hyundai Asan, a Hyundai Group affiliate, has opened its second duty-free shop in a joint industrial complex in the North’s border town of Gaeseong, the company said Wednesday.The South Korean operator of inter-Korean business projects held an opening event for the 130-square-meter duty-free shop in the Gaeseong industrial park, where the company has the exclusive right to run the factory complex.“The commodities at the shop will vary from high-quality goods to practical ones,” a Hyundai Asan off
Jan. 14, 2015
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Yuhan-Kimberly discloses safety policy for baby products
Yuhan-Kimberly, Korea’s leading hygiene product-maker, disclosed its safety policy for baby care products on Wednesday in an effort to build customer trust and penetrate developed markets. The disclosed information includes ingredients used for baby care products. “The first-of-its-kind move within the industry is aimed at keeping the promise to customers at home and abroad about the safety of our baby products,’’ a company spokesperson said. Through gaining the trust of customers, the company a
Jan. 14, 2015
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Daewoo Shipbuilding seeking stake sale in non-core unit
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world's second-biggest shipyard, said Wednesday it is pushing to sell its stakes in its wholly-owned unit FLC Ltd., a golf course operator.The stake sale is intended to streamline the shipbuilder's business by disposing of its non-core assets, the firm said in a regulatory filing."We are examining preliminary proposals for the stake sale, which we received from multiple potential buyers at the end of last year," the company said.However, it did
Jan. 14, 2015
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Hyundai Heavy restructures to combat financial crisis
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said Wednesday it will integrate its industrial plant business with its offshore engineering division and cut 1,500 jobs through a voluntary retirement program to tide over its financial crisis.The integration will help the company cut its costs through the bulk purchase of components and materials and raise efficiency in production, the shipbuilder said in an e-mailed statement. Under the move, the company will utilize the workforce
Jan. 14, 2015
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[Graphic News] Seoul among most expensive cities
Seoul has some of the highest prices for goods such as Starbucks coffee, Chilean wine, carbonated water, beef and imported fruits, according to data released by Consumers Korea on Monday.The organization examined the prices of 42 agricultural, livestock and processed products in June and October across 13 major cities in the world.Out of 42 products, Seoul turned out to have the highest prices for 35 items, earning the title of one of the top five most expensive cities.
Jan. 13, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Hyundai Motor family share sale plan fails
Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo and his son’s bid to sell some of their stakes in their business empire has failed. But this will not hinder the Chung family’s attempt to accelerate a father-to-son management transfer inside the world’s fifth-largest automaker, observers said. On Monday, Chung and his son Eui-sun, who is also the vice chairman of the nation’s top automaker, reportedly sent a notice to institutional investors that they plan to sell a combined 13.4 percent of the logistics f
Jan. 13, 2015
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AmorePacific mulls patent lawsuit against Lancome
Lancome’s “Miracle Cushion” (L’Oreal Paris)AmorePacific, South Korea’s top cosmetics firm, said Tuesday that it was considering legal action against French cosmetics house Lancome over a possible patent infringement of its signature air cushion compact. AmorePacific officials said it would decide whether to file a patent lawsuit against L’Oreal Korea, the Korean unit of L’Oreal Group, which is set to release the Miracle Cushion on Jan. 19.“We will analyze the product after the launch and then co
Jan. 13, 2015
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Thick-noodle ramen from Nongshim
Nongshim’s new spicy thick-noodle ramen, Wooyooktangmyeon. (Nongshim)Nongshim, Korea’s leading ramen maker, unveiled Tuesday a spicy thick-noodle ramen targeting the young generation, company officials said. Nongshim said it aims for Wooyooktangmyeon’s annual sales to reach 50 billion ($46.3 million) won and enter the top 10 best-selling ramen list by the end of the year.The new noodle is 3 millimeters thick, about twice that of average noodles sold in South Korea. “Wooyooktangmyeon is the resul
Jan. 13, 2015
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Korean builders eye $1.2b nuclear plant project in Ulsan
Fierce competition is expected among South Korean construction companies to win a 1.4 trillion won ($1.29 billion) mega project to build two units of a power plant.The order placed by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power for Shin-Kori power plant units 5 and 6 in Ulsan is considered to be the single largest public construction project of the year. “It is the most important public construction project of this year, not only because of its huge scale but also because of the construction achie
Jan. 13, 2015
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Caffe Bene seeks success in East Asia
South Korean coffee chain Caffe Bene is betting big on the Southeast Asian market as it aims to operate 140 stores in the region by 2017.Southeast Asia is the fourth region in which the company has opened outlets, starting with the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam, according to company officials. With two more shops having opened in Malaysia last month, Caffe Bene now has 17 cafes in Southeast Asia. “We’re striving to become a representative South Korean coffee brand that l
Jan. 13, 2015
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Daum Kakao launches taxi app for drivers
South Korea’s leading free messenger service operator Daum Kakao Corp. on Tuesday showcased a taxi application for drivers in its first step to start a full-fledged taxi service, adding the passengers’ version will also be released by the end of the first quarter.The release came a month after Daum Kakao signed a preliminary deal with the Seoul Taxi Association and Korea Smart Card Co. for the service that would link customers with the closest cab through a mobile app.Daum Kakao said all drivers
Jan. 13, 2015