Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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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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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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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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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[Editorial] At the polls
Balloting starts at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday for the by-elections in three parliamentary districts, one gubernatorial district and several districts for municipal mayors. Though the electoral districts are small in number, the polls have good reason to draw more attention than they would normally deserve.First of all, public attention will focus on the vote in the Bundang B district in Seongnam, Gye
April 26, 2011
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[Editorial] Smartphone suits
A week after Apple Inc. filed a patent lawsuit with a California court against Samsung Electronics, the latter came up with countersuits against Apple at courts in Korea, Japan and Germany. While the battle between the two global giants will cost both sides huge legal, the suits could generate enough consumer interests in the products of both parties to more than compensate the costs of litigation
April 25, 2011
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[Editorial] Rain tops Time 100
Singer and actor Rain was chosen as the most influential person in the world in a Time magazine poll for the third time since 2006. Rain, 28, with the Korean name Jung Ji-hoon, took the top spot in the Time 100 reader poll for the third year, trouncing competitors from Barack Obama to Lady Gaga, the U.S. news magazine said. Calling him “the unstoppable South Korean superstar,” Time reviewed how Ra
April 25, 2011
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[Editorial] Localization of parts
Domestic companies are stepping up efforts to localize some of the parts and materials they import from Japan as their suppliers in the neighboring country are in trouble due to the March 11 earthquake.For instance, LG Electronics has decided to develop a microcontroller unit for its home appliances as Toshiba Corp., which accounts for 60 percent of the global MCU supply, has still not fully norma
April 24, 2011
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[Editorial] Card crisis deja vu
Korea suffered a severe credit card crisis in 2003 that not only disrupted the financial system but hit the real economy with a body blow. The crisis followed a massive credit card lending boom, which was fueled by the government’s misguided bid to boost consumption. As the government eased regulations on the credit card business, card issuers pulled out all the stops to recruit new cardholders. T
April 24, 2011
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[Editorial] Union demand
If a company is to prosper, one of the first things it must do is hire people with skills, knowledge, capacity and other qualifications that can be put to good use. It goes without saying that no restrictions should be placed on the process of selecting qualified persons from among job applicants.But Hyundai Motor Co.’s unionized workers demand their children be given favors when they apply for em
April 22, 2011
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[Editorial] Reform in jeopardy
Cronyism in the legal profession is set to be weakened, if not removed, with the National Assembly scheduled to act on a bill to restrict the practice of law by judge- and prosecutor-turned lawyers this month. Given a bipartisan accord, its passage is almost assured.If the bill is approved, lawyers will be banned for one year from serving as counsel on cases tried or investigated by the court or t
April 22, 2011
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[Editorial] Checks on reactors
Concerns about the safety of the nuclear reactors in Korea are growing as problems arise in succession at the reactors of the Gori nuclear power plant near Busan. The Gori-1 reactor, the oldest in Korea, which started operation in 1978, shut down on April 12 after a fire destroyed one of its circuit breakers. At first, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. said a defective power switch caused the power
April 21, 2011
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[Editorial] Defusing debt bomb
The Korean economy is sitting on a ticking time bomb ― household debt that has topped 800 trillion won. To figure out the risks that this huge debt bomb poses to the national economy, one has only to remember that one percentage point hike in interest rates would increase the interest payment burden on households by 8 trillion won a year. No wonder the Bank of Korea has been hesitant to raise the
April 21, 2011
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[Editorial] Bad bank
The proposed establishment of a bad bank is set in motion by the financial regulators, who are worried that soured project financing loans, if not dealt with appropriately, could cause a financial crisis. At the request from the regulators, creditor banks will sooner or later discuss the details, including how much of money each of them will chip in to set up a bad bank and how much of toxic loans
April 20, 2011
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[Editorial] Overeducating
The number of people who are highly educated but economically inactive has been increasing at an alarmingly high rate during the past decade ― surely an unwelcome reminder to parents that the costly efforts to send their children to university may not pay off.As opposed to the economically active population, those economically inactive are people who do not work and, at the same time, do not meet
April 20, 2011
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[Editorial] 6 parties, 6 dreams
The six-party talks for the denuclearization of North Korea may be resumed sometime this spring after a hiatus of more than two years. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed in Seoul last week that they would pursue direct inter-Korean talks as a prelude to reopening the six-way talks. This concurs with China’s recent proposal for a three-sta
April 19, 2011
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[Editorial] Return of artifacts
Yet another joint government-civic committee is about to be formed to take charge of identifying Korean cultural articles overseas and start working for their return home. President Lee gave the instruction upon the return of Joseon era books last week from France after they were plundered from a royal archive on Ganghwa Island during an attack a century and a half ago.Like the 296-volume Joseon “
April 18, 2011
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[Editorial] By-elections
The April 27 by-elections to pick National Assemblymen for three districts in Gyeonggi, South Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces, the governor of Gangwon Province and to fill vacancies at several local autonomous bodies are about a week away. Neither the ruling nor the opposition party sees a clear lead in any of the parliamentary and gubernatorial contests, and both consider these polls as a b
April 18, 2011
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[Editorial] On the mend
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, driven into chaos by four student suicides this year, now appears to be recovering from the initial shock and looking for solutions to stressful campus life. KAIST will do well to take time in determining what to do to avoid similar tragedies, as advised by its board of directors.Last week, the board of directors, after being briefed on remedial
April 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Judicial reform
When asked about judicial reform last week, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik was noncommittal. He apparently did not want to be drawn into a conflict over the thorny issue when he said, “There is no right answer to the question. I hope considerate debate (on the issue) will proceed in a way that will be of help in advancing the nation in the future.”But the administration will have to get itself activ
April 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Disregard for security
Many of the 30 million customers of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, suffered inconveniences for four days from Tuesday as the bank’s computer network broke down. It was the worst accident of its kind in Korea and fueled unease among the public over the security of online financial transactions as it came just several days after a serious hacking incident at Hyundai C
April 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Chain bankruptcies
Fears of chain bankruptcies are mounting among domestic construction companies following Sambu Construction Co.’s filing on Tuesday for a court-protected rehabilitation process. Holder of Korea’s first construction business license, Sambu placed 34th among the nation’s top 100 builders last year. It applied for court protection as financial companies refused to roll over the 427 billion won projec
April 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Revised target
The central bank was more realistic than before when it abandoned its policy goal of keeping this year’s inflation at 3.5 percent or lower, raising the target rate to 3.9 percent this week. Still, the bank took no action to convince the public that the new goal was attainable.In revising the targeted rate of inflation upward, the Bank of Korea maintained its earlier growth outlook for this year ―
April 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Jet exports
Indonesia has recently selected Korea Aerospace Industries as the preferred bidder for its trainer jet project ― a deal which is brightening the prospects for exporting Korean-made supersonic T-50 trainer jets. As the KAI chief executive officer says, it will take some time to conclude negotiations on a final contract regarding the price, the time of delivery, the provision of parts, assistance in
April 14, 2011