Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
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Hyundai E&C to issue non-fungible tokens for 75th anniversary
Major South Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. said Tuesday it will issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its foundation this year. To that end, Hyundai E&C recently signed a memorandum of understanding with local digital entertainment provider Sandbox Network on mutual exchange and cooperation in the NFT-metaverse sector. Hyundai E&C, the second-largest builder in Asia's fourth-largest economy, will become the first local industry player t
May 17, 2022
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Air Seoul to resume Incheon-Boracay route next month
Air Seoul Inc., a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it will resume the Incheon-Boracay route next month to meet pent-up travel demand amid eased virus curbs. Air Seoul will provide four flights a week on the Boracay route from June 17, the company said in a statement. On Saturday, the carrier resumed services on the Incheon-Guam route and will expand the number of flights from four to seven a week starting July 1, it said. With six A321-200 chartered planes, the carrier currently serve
May 17, 2022
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Seoul shares open higher amid persistent rate hike woes
South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday on institutional buying despite persistent worries over inflation and aggressive monetary tightening in major economies. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.51 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,613.09 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks ended mixed over the latest disappointing economic data from the US and China. Adding to investor anxiety is the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening to tackle inflation and the war in
May 17, 2022
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Nearly 4 in 10 listed firms cut workforce in 2021 amid pandemic
Apartment buildings in Seoul (Yonhap)Almost 4 in 10 South Korean listed companies trimmed their workforce in 2021 from a year earlier amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, a private think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said a survey of 1,874 firms listed on the country's main and minor bourses showed 43.1 percent slashing the number of their employees last year from 2020. Of the 696 businesses traded on the main KOSPI market, 294, or 42.2 percent, cut job
May 17, 2022
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Top 500 firms' sales surpass W700tr in Q1
The combined first-quarter sales of major firms in South Korea surpassed the 700 trillion-won ($545 billion) mark for the first time on strong performances by chips, electronics, petrochemicals and auto manufacturers, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The total top line of 344 out of South Korea's top 500 companies by sales came to 791.5 trillion won in the January-March period, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The 344 corporations cover those that have disclosed
May 17, 2022
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Wealth gap between richest and poorest in 20s and 30s widens
The wealth gap between the richest Koreans in their 20s and 30s and their poorest peers increased more in 2021 than the previous year, a lawmaker said, citing data compiled by Statistics Korea. In 2021, the top 20 percent of wealthy Koreans in their 20s and 30s held 981.85 million won ($764,442) on average, 35.27 times that of the 27.84 million won held by the bottom 20 percent in the same demographic. That was an incremental increase from the 35.2 times in 2020, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae
May 16, 2022
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Deduction range for gift tax may expand from W50m
SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering easing the burden of gift tax by raising the upper limit of tax-free capital transfers from the current 50 million won ($38,900), documents from relevant ministries showed Monday. Currently, the authority does not levy gift taxes as long as parents or grandparents conduct capital transfer to their children or grandchildren within the limit of 50 million won per child. If the transfer exceeds 50 million won, the parents and grandparents
May 16, 2022
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Audi, Volvo vie for No. 3 importer in Korea
Volvo is close to catching up to German automaker Audi, which kept its title as the third top selling foreign car brand in South Korea, data showed Monday. According to Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, Volvo Korea sold a total of 1,332 units in April overtaking Audi Korea which sold 1,051 units the same month. Compared to sales in March, Volvo Korea saw a 1.8 percent on-month sales increase in April while Audi Korea’s sales dropped by 9 percent. In April, Volvo
May 16, 2022
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[Newsmaker] Creator of Korean-made cryptos under siege after $37b wiped out
South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon was a rising star of the global digital asset market when his company Terraform Labs launched the cryptocurrencies UST and luna with the goal of achieving a decentralized economy three years ago. His stardom reached its peak as the price of luna skyrocketed to over $119 early last month, becoming the first Korean-developed cryptocurrency to crack the top 10 list of cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalization in the world. Some investors and i
May 16, 2022
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Meet SKT’s new mobile virtual assistant A.
South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, unveiled Monday an open beta version of a virtual assistant the company said is aimed at providing an “intimate” and “emotional” experience for Android mobile phone users. Named A., pronounced as “ay-dot,” the Korean-language virtual assistant takes on the appearance of a toddler in a raincoat. Powered by a natural language processing model, users will be able to initiate a conversation with the virtual
May 16, 2022
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Corporate Korea bracing for Biden’s state visit
More chaebol groups are expected to join a business roundtable meeting held on the sidelines of summit talks between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden later this week in reflection of the growing presence of Korean businesses spending big in the US recently. The US president is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Friday for his three-day state visit. His summit talks with Yoon are set to be held on Saturday. Even though full details of his itinerary still remain under wraps, expectations ar
May 16, 2022
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Women empowerment, net-zero: Hana Financial bolsters ESG efforts
South Korea‘s Hana Financial Group announced Monday its support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and said that it has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, as part of its efforts to bolster ESG value in its management. The WEPs is a joint initiative by UN Women and UN Global Compact to promote women’s empowerment in the workplace and community. Hana said it will expand gender equality in its workplace by providing additional promotion and education opportunities f
May 16, 2022
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BOK chief says ‘big-step’ rate hike still on the table
South Korea has yet to arrive at a stage where the option of a “big step” or half a percentage point rate hike can be completely ruled out, with the possibility of higher inflationary pressure looming over the economy, the nation’s central bank chief said Monday. Following his breakfast meeting with Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told reporters the uncertainties surrounding Korea’s inflation is keeping the central bank from taking the
May 16, 2022
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[Herald Interview] ‘BTS’ military service will have limited impact on KPOP ETF’
When Psy’s supercharged “Gangnam Style” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012, nobody expected it to spark K-pop’s long-running, global popularity. Exactly a decade later, an Oklahoma-based exchange-traded fund issuer has decided to bring the idea of investing in K-pop-related businesses to the US. “The K-pop movement is still growing here in the US, and we think it is well known enough now that US investors will find this intriguing,” J. Garrett
May 16, 2022
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Motorola phones back in Korea after 9-year hiatus
A South Korean budget mobile carrier said on Monday it will introduce two 5G Motorola smartphone models, nine years after the American brand pulled out the mobile business here. Bookings for the new phones, which will be released at the end of this month, can be made at the online mall of LG Hello Mobile. Motorola left the Korean mobile market in December 2012. The new models Edge 20 Lite 5G and Moto G50 5G are priced at 399,000 won and 349,000 won, respectively. The midrange smartphones sup
May 16, 2022
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Stock market's trading volume dips amid growing uncertainty
South Korea's main stock market saw its trading volume shrink more than 16 percent this month from a year earlier, data showed Monday, as investors remained on the sidelines amid inflation worries and other negatives. The daily trading volume of the country's main bourse averaged 940 million shares during 10 sessions between May 2 and Friday, down 16.4 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. In particular, the average daily trading volume of the top 10 caps, exclu
May 16, 2022
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Seoul shares open higher amid woes over sharp rate hikes
Seoul shares opened higher Monday amid woes over high inflation, rake hikes and an economic slowdown. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 13.52 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,617.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, Seoul shares bounced back to snap an eight-session losing streak, as investors scooped up large-cap stocks on bargain hunting. US stocks also closed higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the Fed was not "actively considering"
May 16, 2022
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Govt. to prioritize stabilization of rising product prices
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday the government will make it a top priority to stabilize rising product prices fueled by the Russia-Ukraine war and other external uncertainties. The government will set up measures for price stabilization through consultations with related ministries as quickly as possible, the finance minister said in a meeting in Seoul. “South Korea stands at a serious and urgent stage as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, major economies‘ monetary ti
May 15, 2022
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After 100 days, 7 out of 10 firms not yet ready for safety law
Even 100 days after South Korea’s new industrial safety law has come into effect, almost 7 out of 10 companies here say they still cannot fully understand the law and face difficulty complying with it, a survey showed Sunday. According to a survey on 930 local companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 68.7 percent said they still have a hard time coming up with countermeasures to respond to the new law aimed at better protecting workers from fatal industrial accidents. On
May 15, 2022
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Hyundai Motor unveils Korean ‘ondol’-inspired mobility concept
Hyundai Motor Group on Sunday unveiled its latest mobility concept inspired by the Korean traditional floor heating system “ondol” that allows passengers to take rest inside or even sleep with a specially designed multifunctional blanket. According to the carmaker, its new mobility concept, Mobility Ondol, has no driver’s seat, since it was designed based on the fully autonomous driving system. The seats are arranged to face each other, putting the communication of the
May 15, 2022