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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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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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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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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Hyundai to launch Ioniq hybrid, EV in Europe in Q3
South Korea’s biggest carmaker, Hyundai Motor, plans to launch two major models of the Ioniq in Europe in the third quarter, a high-ranking company official said Wednesday.Hyundai Motor plans to start selling the hybrid and full-electric (EV) versions of the Ioniq during the third quarter, followed by the launch of its plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) version during the first half of next year. Hyundai Ioniq (Yonhap)The plans were unveiled by Thomas Schmid, a vice president of Hyundai Motor’s uni
March 2, 2016
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Samsung teams up with Amazon for IoT
Samsung Electronics will be teaming up with U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com to apply Internet-of-Things technology to its printers, the South Korean tech firm said Wednesday. Users of Samsung-made printers in the U.S. will be able to set their products to automatically order ink using a mobile app that connects to Amazon.com.Samsung has been working toward adopting IoT-related services for its products. IoT is a concept in which objects are connected to the Internet and can identify themselves
March 2, 2016
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Taiwan beats Korea in wafer production in December
Korea fell behind Taiwan in terms of wafer production in December last year, data showed Wednesday, reflecting a possible weakening in the production capabilities of local chipmakers.According to the industry tracker IC Insights, Taiwan took up 21.7 percent of global wafer production, hovering slightly above Korea's 20.5 percent in December. Wafer production (Yonhap)A wafer refers to a thin slice of semiconductor fabricated with integrated circuits that is used as the base material for memory ch
March 2, 2016
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More Korean medical institutions tap overseas in 2015
The number of Korean medical institutions operating outside the country has grown rapidly over the past five years on the back of the government-led drive to further nurture the rising demand for Korean medical services overseas, government data said Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the health ministry, 141 hospitals, oriental clinics and dental services are operating in 18 countries as of end-2015, up from 125 the previous year.The number has seen steep growth since 2010 when it mark
March 2, 2016
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Korean consortium inks $9.6 mln construction deal in Bolivia
A South Korean consortium clinched an urban development deal worth $9.6 million in Bolivia for exporting city planning services. Under the deal, the consortium of Sunjin Engineering & Architecture and Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants will join the project to build a new city in Bolivia covering 58 square kilometers near Santa Cruz, an area known as the economic capital of Bolivia.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Seoul said the consortium will be in charge of planning the cit
March 2, 2016
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Hotel Shilla to open duty-free shop in Thailand
Hotel Shilla, an affiliate of Samsung Group, said Tuesday it plans to open a duty-free shop in downtown Bangkok, speeding up efforts to expand its overseas presence.The company said the duty-free shop, which will open within this year, comes after Hotel Shilla first established a joint venture named GMS Duty Free with a Thai firm in 2013. The South Korean retailer holds a 25-percent stake in this venture. Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin (Yonhap)Hotel Shilla said the opening date for the new shop ha
March 2, 2016
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Soul EV sells more than 10,000 units globally
South Korea's Kia Motors said Tuesday that it has sold more than 10,000 units of the Soul electric vehicle in less than two years since its launch.Solid demand from the European market helped boost sales figures, the carmaker added.Soul EV (Yonhap)The Soul EV, the electric vehicle variant of the Soul crossover vehicle, posted combined sales of 10,210 units through January of this year, with the overseas market taking up 8,630 units.Of the amount sold abroad, Europe accounted for 6,770 units, fol
March 2, 2016
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[Super Rich] New breed of CEOs sharing wealth
The number of company founders and CEOs who share their wealth with employees is on the rise at home and abroad. Hanmi Pharmaceutical chairman Lim Sung-ki made headlines last year as he shared corporate success with loyal employees by paying them hefty bonuses.The average amount given per employee was 45 million won ($36,400), about the same as an average citizen’s annual salary. In addition to the amount of bonuses given, the 75-year-old chairman continued to surprise the Korean public by donat
March 1, 2016
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[Super Rich] Hyun Jeong-eun’s struggles continue
Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eunYonhapHyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun has made headlines for the past couple of months with her struggles to keep the country’s 29th-largest business conglomerate running.On Feb. 23, she spent 30 billion won ($24.4 million) from her own pocket to acquire 4 million shares in Hyundai Merchant Marine’s new stock issue, which was planned as part of the group’s efforts to ease a liquidity crisis. To secure more liquidity, she is trying to sell Hyundai Se
March 1, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Coupang to log record loss for 2015
South Korea’s top e-commerce operator Coupang is expected to have logged a record-high loss in 2015, according to Coupang and industry analysts, fueling partial concerns over its aggressive spending.A recent report by Hana Investment Securities forecast that Coupang would log an operating loss of about 400 billion won ($320 million) for 2015, up by 299 percent from a loss of 121.5 billion in 2014.Though its sales are expected to have hiked by more than 400 percent last year from 348.5 billion wo
March 1, 2016
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Korean consortium wins $9.6 mln construction deal in Bolivia
A South Korean consortium clinched a $9.6 million urban development deal in Bolivia, the country’s Land Ministry said Tuesday, paving the way for the export of city planning services in the Latin American market.Under the deal, the consortium of Sunjin Engineering & Architecture and Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants will join the project to build a new city in Bolivia covering 58 square kilometers near Santa Cruz, which is known as the economic capital of Bolivia.Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrast
March 1, 2016
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Hotel Shilla to open duty-free shop in Thailand
Hotel Shilla Co., an affiliate of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, said Tuesday it plans to open a duty-free shop in downtown Bangkok, speeding up efforts to expand its overseas presence.The company said the duty-free shop, which will open within this year, comes after Hotel Shilla first established a joint venture named GMS Duty Free with a Thai firm in 2013, where the South Korean retailer holds a 25-percent stake.Hotel Shilla said it has not decided on the opening date for the ne
March 1, 2016
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Lotte, E-Mart deny bidding for Kim’s Club
Lotte Shopping and E-Mart, two of Korea’s major retail giants, on Monday denied making a bid for smaller hypermarket chain Kim’s Club. “We hereby officially deny media reports that our company is among the bidders shortlisted for the takeover of Kim’s Club,” E-Mart said in a regulatory filing. In a separate filing on the day, Lotte Shopping also denied any bid. (Yonhap)Rumors have been brewing as to which of the country’s retailers is among the three bidders shortlisted for the acquisition of th
Feb. 29, 2016
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KEPCO to pay record high of W2tr in dividends
The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. said Monday it will hand out a record high of some 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion) in cash dividends to its shareholders for the year 2015, in its largest allotment to date. “We plan to pay 1.99 trillion won for dividends out of a net profit of 13.41 trillion won posted in 2015,” the nation’s largest utility firm said in a regulatory filing. KEPCO`s new headquarters in Naju, South Jeolla Province (Yonhap) “The decision is scheduled for discussion at the bo
Feb. 29, 2016
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Drug imports fall on rise of generics
South Korea’s inbound shipments in the pharmaceutical sector, which had been increasing annually until 2014, declined by around 5 percent last year due in part to a rise in the use of domestic generic drugs, according to recent data by the Korea Pharmaceutical Traders Association. Imports of raw materials used in pharmaceutical production and of finished pharmaceutical products together declined by 5.37 percent on-year to $4.8 billion in 2015, according to the KPTA. By category, imports of star
Feb. 29, 2016
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Falling prices fuel debate over housing oversupply
Apartment prices are now turning down after having remained unchanged for weeks, adding fuel to the debate over whether the housing market is at an increasing risk of oversupply.The average weekly transaction price for apartments was down 0.01 percent across the country last week, according to data from the Korea Appraisal Board. It marked the first price decrease since the third week of June 2014.Lower prices in Seoul led to the decline. In particular, house prices in some posh districts in sou
Feb. 29, 2016
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Customers set to sue imported auto brands over tax refunds
Korean drivers are expected to file a class-action lawsuit against some foreign auto brands, such as Volkswagen, over their decisions not to offer any tax refunds, industry sources said Monday.Last week, the automakers, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz, decided not to offer any tax refunds to their customers, claiming that the government's tax cut had already been reflected in their ramped-up sales promotions and automobiles' price tags. Volkswagen dealership in Seoul (Yonhap)The government ended
Feb. 29, 2016
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Number of firms on antitrust list dips in Febuary
The number of Korean business groups' affiliates subject to restrictions on mutual investments and loan guarantees dipped in February from the previous month, the antitrust watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the number of firms on its monthly watch list came in at 1,658 on Monday, down by two tallied on Feb. 1. Fair Trade Commission in Sejong City (Yonhap)Such affiliates are owned by the country's 61 largest business groups.A total of seven business groups, including Samsu
Feb. 29, 2016
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Lotte goes for name change after takeover
Lotte Group said Monday that it changed the name of a chemical unit that it took over from Samsung Group.Samsung Fine Chemicals was renamed Lotte Fine Chemicals, according to the group. (Yonhap)In 2015, retail and chemicals giant Lotte Group took over Samsung Fine Chemicals for 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) as part of an effort to further strengthen its chemicals business. The deal came around a year after Samsung sold four of its defense and chemical units to Hanwha Group in 2014 through a dea
Feb. 29, 2016
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Korea to inject W746b into space program
South Korea will spend a total of 746.4 billion won ($603 million) on its space program this year, as part of efforts to realize its long-cherished goal of reaching the moon. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said Sunday that it has also agreed with relevant ministries to allocate 200 billion won for the next three years to launch its first lunar exploration.Starting this year, the project will focus on developing a robotic orbiter designed to circle the moon and a ground station
Feb. 28, 2016