Most Popular
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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Govt. asks hospitals to mitigate impact of medical professors' absence
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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S. Korea's working-age population to dip nearly 10m by 2044 amid low births
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Doggy patrol team on the move to protect their cities
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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Smaller firms' exports dip 4.5% in first half: data
Outbound shipments by the country's small and medium-sized enterprises sank 4.5 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier amid a protracted slowdown in the global economy, data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Small and Medium Business Administration, smaller firms' exports reached $90.55 billion in the January-June period, while outbound shipments by large companies dropped 12.9 percent to $150.8 billion over the cited period.Overall, local companies' exports
Aug. 23, 2016
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Duty-free sales hit record high in July: data
Sales at South Korea's duty-free stores reached an all-time high in July thanks to a rising influx of Chinese travelers and last year's low base in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, data showed Tuesday. Sales at duty-free stores nationwide reached $954 million last month, up 4.1 percent from the previous month's $869 million, according to the data compiled by the Korea Duty Free Association. July sales marked the highest since the association began compiling related data
Aug. 23, 2016
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Korean investors rush to safer bond funds
South Korean investors have been pouring a large amount of money into safer bond funds since July amid jitters over a possible US rate hike, with stock funds suffering a massive outflow, data showed Tuesday.According to the data by fund researcher Zeroin, local investors added a net 2.37 trillion won ($2.11 billion) into funds investing in domestic and overseas bonds between July 1 and last Friday.In contrast, a net 2.95 trillion won was withdrawn from investment funds reserved for local stocks
Aug. 23, 2016
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Hyundai Heavy resolves drilling rig dispute with Norwegian customer
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major South Korean shipbuilder, said Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with a Norwegian customer to end their dispute regarding the canceled order of an offshore drilling rig.Under the agreement, Hyundai Heavy will pay back US$176 million to Fred Olsen Energy ASA, in return for ownership of the Bollsta Dolphin semi-submersible drilling rig.The dispute dates back to May 2012 when Hyundai Heavy won a $620 million deal from Fred Olsen, which called for the shi
Aug. 23, 2016
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Korea, Ecuador to hold 3rd round of talks for trade deal
South Korea and Ecuador will hold the third round of talks to discuss ways to boost economic and investment exchanges, the trade ministry here said Tuesday.The negotiations on the strategic economic cooperation agreement, a type of free trade pact, will be held in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito starting Monday (local time) and run through Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Officials from the two countries will discuss various trade issues involving manufactured good
Aug. 23, 2016
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Korea's state-run oil company pulls out of Iraqi oil field
South Korea's state-run oil company said Monday that it has decided to pull out of its eight-year-old exploration project in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, costing Korea National Oil Corp. about $130 million.The company said its board of directors made the decision recently to withdraw from Sangaw South on the grounds that the project has no profitability.The KNOC said on its website that it had obtained operatorship of Sangaw South in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with a 60 percent stake by signi
Aug. 23, 2016
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[Graphic News] SKT, S-Oil pay highest average salaries
Workers at Korea’s top 100 companies received on average 6.04 million won ($5,362) per month in the first half of the year, while their CEOs were paid over 12 times more, data showed Monday. CEOs registered as boardroom directors received on average a monthly paycheck of 73.6 million won between January and June, according to the Korea 20000 Corporate Research Institute, a local market tracker. Employees of SK Telecom, the nation’s largest mobile carrier, earned the most, at 11.02 million won pe
Aug. 22, 2016
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[Photo News] The new Soul
Models pose with Kia Motors’ new compact SUV New Soul released Monday in Seoul. It comes with both gasoline and diesel engine options and is a revamped version of the second-generation Soul unveiled in 2013. (Kia Motors)
Aug. 22, 2016
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Heat wave boosts profits of coal-fired power plants
Five Korean coal-fired power plants operated by a state-run company have seen a sharp rise in their profitability amid the weeks-long heatwave, data showed Monday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service and power industry sources, the five coal-powered plants run by Korea Electronic Power Corp. recorded profit rates – operating profit as a proportion of total sales -- of about 15 percent to 22.5 percent from January to June this year. Korea East-West Power saw the highest increase to 22.
Aug. 22, 2016
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Demand diversifies for direct purchases from overseas
The proportion of Korean consumers who seek luxury fashion brands when buying directly from overseas sellers has dropped significantly over the past two years, according to a survey by the national consumer agency released Monday.The survey by the Korea Consumer Agency was conducted on 1,000 consumers who shopped directly from overseas sellers in the past year. It asked questions similar to a 2014 survey about consumers’ preferences and habits when buying products directly from abroad.In 2014, 4
Aug. 22, 2016
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Yuanta Securities to widen doorway to Chinese market
Yuanta Securities, a Seoul-based brokerage of Taiwan’s leading Yuanta financial group, is opening another door for domestic investors looking at China’s stock market. Yuanta Securities announced earlier this month that it will kick off selling a public offering fund to guide domestic investors to China’s stock market. The fund, or “Tongyang China AMC Long short investment trust H,” pours money into the Chinese market with a long-short strategy, through the fund run by Hong Kong-based asset manag
Aug. 22, 2016
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LF‘s Hazzys expands collaboration with Danish designer
Hazzys, an apparel and accessories brand under a leading fashion group LF, said Monday that it has expanded its collaboration with Danish designer Peter Jensen for its 2016 fall/winter collection. “Backed by vigorous support from customers for the spring/summer collection, we expanded Hazzys X Peter Jensen collaboration by introducing a wider range of items,” said Lee Ji-eun, the director of LF Hazzys Men, in a statement. Hazzys-Peter Jensen 2016 fall/winter collection (LF)Hazzys, a young casua
Aug. 22, 2016
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Korea Gas Corp. to place orders for two ships
State-run Korea Gas Corp. said Monday that it would place an order for two gas transport ships to local shipbuilders as part of the moves to support the ailing industry. The company said it moved up the order date from late next year to early next year for two LNG carriers, considering the circumstances of the Korean shipbuilding industry. Building the carriers with the size of 3,500 tons will each cost about 150 billion won ($133 million), the company said. Korea Gas Corp also vowed to ask for
Aug. 22, 2016
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Ottogi launches army stew instant noodles
Ottogi, a leading food company here, released an instant noodle product inspired by budae ijigae, or Korean army stew, earlier this month, the company said Monday.Budae jjigae is a popular Korean dish made with kimchi, processed meats and baked beans, among other ingredients. Ottogi’s latest instant noodle product, the Budae Jjigae Ramen. (Ottogi)Ottogi used beef leg bone broth as a soup base for its product to produce a deeper and spicier taste. It also used noodles that are extra chewy in tex
Aug. 22, 2016
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Increase in shipments to China helps food exports growing: report
South Korea's food exports to China are on the rise, helped by shipments of new products that recently found their way to Asia's largest economy, a report said Monday.In the first five months of the year, shipments of farm products to China gained 7 percent from the same period last year, while the country's overall food exports gained 2.9 percent on-year over the cited period, the agriculture ministry said earlier.Such an increase compares with a prolonged slump in the country's overall exports
Aug. 22, 2016
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More middle-aged South Koreans buying packaged meals
A growing number of middle-aged South Koreans are consuming packaged meals sold at local convenience stores, data showed Monday, due to convenience and to save money amid a long-running economic slump.According to the data by the No. 1 convenience store chain CU, South Koreans in their 40s and older bought 32.9 percent of all packaged meals sold at the nation's leading convenience store franchise in the first half of the year. The ratio was up from 31.1 percent in 2015 and 27 percent in 2014.The
Aug. 22, 2016
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Foreign, institutional investors place mixed bets on Samsung Electronics
Market players in South Korea have placed mixed bets on shares of Samsung Electronics Co. this month, with foreigners remaining a net seller of the stock while local institutional investors keep buying it. Shares of Samsung hit an all-time closing high of 1,675,000 won ($1,492) last Friday. The stock continued its rally early Monday and traded as high as 1,692,000 won. According to the Korea Exchange, local institutional investors had snapped up Samsung stocks worth 256.3 billion won for a ninth
Aug. 22, 2016
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Refiners show decent profitability in H1
South Korean refiners such as S-Oil Corp. have racked up decent profits in the first half of the year, driven by their better-than-expected sales and relatively high cracking margins, industry data showed on Monday.According to the data compiled by market researcher CEO Score, S-Oil, the country's third-largest oil refiner, posted the highest operating income to sales ratio of 14.9 percent among companies affiliated with the top 30 conglomerates in terms of sales.S-Oil logged an operating income
Aug. 22, 2016
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KOGAS to place orders to local shipyards
State-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), the world's largest LNG importer, will soon place shipbuilding and maintenance orders with local shipyards, as part of efforts to help them weather their worst-ever slump, its chief said Monday.KOGAS president Lee Seung-hoon said it will advance the schedule of placing orders for two new LNG carriers to the first half of next year and assign sizable maintenance work for its large LNG carriers to local shipyards."We are working to place an order for two LNG ship
Aug. 22, 2016
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Food franchises galvanize Korean M&A market
Several food and coffee franchises in South Korea have been put up for sale this year, giving the sluggish local mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market a shot in the arm, industry watchers said Monday.Early this year, South Korea's leading buyout fund VIG Partners sold the local chain of Burger King to a Hong Kong-based private equity fund, heralding the start of M&A activity in the local food franchise sector.In the latest case, Hollys F&B, which operates Hollys Coffee Co., is pushing to sell th
Aug. 22, 2016