Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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Sewol victims commemorated on tragedy's 10th anniversary
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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[Kim Seong-kon] Democracy and the future of South Korea
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Korea seeks economic normalization next year via tourism boosting, new tech
SEJONG -- South Korea has publicized its goals of attaining full-fledged normalization of the economy beyond the pandemic crisis in 2022, alongside taking the lead in global competition to occupy future businesses. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki highlighted these dual goals during the government’s unveiling of economic policy directions for next year at the Government Complex in Seoul on Monday. In a bid to maximize the economic normalization, the Ministry of Eco
Dec. 20, 2021
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LG chairman urges customer-centric innovation
LG Group chairman and Chief Executive Officer Koo Kwang-mo urged its staff and executives across the world to focus on creating a “valuable user experience” for customers in his New Year’s speech for 2022. Koo, who serves in the top post of South Korea’s fourth-largest family-owned conglomerate, stressed in the mission statement that its staff should think outside the box and explore what is beyond the quality of goods and services, provided by the group dedicated to el
Dec. 20, 2021
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From cryptocurrency to EVs, ‘green’ chips are all the rage
“Green” chips, or low-power semiconductors, have become bestsellers among both crypto miners and electric vehicle makers looking to increase their profitability and driving range. According to industry sources Monday, major chipmakers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics are producing advanced, low-power chips at full throttle, as miners of cryptocurrencies desperately search for chips that consume less electricity. “Conventional chips c
Dec. 20, 2021
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Hanwha Q Cells’ low-carbon panels go online in France
Hanwha Q Cells said Monday that its low-carbon solar panels began generating electricity at TotalEnergies’ 55-megawatt solar farm in Gien, France. According to the solar business unit of Hanwha Group, its 126,000 solar panels will produce up to 64 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year -- enough for 71,000 people -- at Total’s solar farm that spans 107 football fields. “Over the course of 30 years, the solar farm will curb carbon emissions worth 550,000 metric tons,”
Dec. 20, 2021
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Kakao Brain’s AI models ‘more practical’ than Naver, says CEO
Kim Il-du, CEO of Kakao Brain, the artificial intelligence technology research and development subsidiary of Kakao, said Monday its supergiant AI models are more practical than Naver’s, amid growing competition between the two tech giants over leadership in the AI business in Korea. “Although Kakao Brain’s Korean-language AI model KoGPT contains less parameters than Naver’s, it is just the size to give fast and real-time feedback to the users,” Kim said during an o
Dec. 20, 2021
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LG teases new UltraGear gaming laptop, eyes Korea release in Dec.
LG Electronics said Monday it is looking to release its newest LG UltraGear laptop for 2022 -- a high-performance model designed for gamers -- within December in Korea. The laptop features a 17.3-inch monitor with a 1080p display resolution, using an in-place switching panel of 300-hertz refresh rate, as well as DTS: X Ultra system for multidimensional sound, in order to deliver a more immersive gaming experience, according to the company. It is powered by Intel‘s 11th-generation Tiger
Dec. 20, 2021
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Hyundai Heavy to present next-generation shipping mobility at CES 2022
South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Group said Monday that it will showcase its latest and next-generation mobility technologies at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), making its debut at the major tech trade show. The tech fair, better known as CES, is set to run for four days from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and its affiliates will offer a glimpse into the future of shipping mobility, with focus on autonomous navigation. They will also
Dec. 20, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on US stock losses
South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Monday, tracking last week's fall on Wall Street stemming from virus concerns. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 29.65 points, or 0.98 percent, to 2,988.08 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded lower in Seoul. Top cap Samsung Electronics shed 0.9 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix decreased 0.41 percent. Internet portal operator Naver retreated 1.95 percent, leading chemical firm LG Chem fe
Dec. 20, 2021
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KEPCO decides to freeze electricity rate for Q1 of 2022
South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said Monday it will freeze the country's electricity rates in the first quarter of 2022 amid rising inflation. KEPCO said it has decided to set the adjusted unit fuel cost at zero won per kilowatt-hour for the January-March period of next year, the same as that three months earlier. Late last year, KEPCO adopted a flexible electricity rate system linked to global fuel prices in a move to improve its profitability. It previously
Dec. 20, 2021
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Bank holding firms' 2021 dividends expected to hit new high on bumper profits
Dividends by South Korea's four major financial holding firms are expected to hit an all-time high in 2021 as they have decided to return more of their bumper profits to shareholders, sources said Monday. The combined dividend payout of the four is likely to reach around 3.83 trillion won ($3.23 billion) this year, according to the sources and an estimate by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. It would represent the largest-ever dividend payout by the four holding com
Dec. 20, 2021
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IMM takes 41% stake in GS Power for W1.1tr
Local investment house IMM Investment has acquired a 41 percent stake in GS Power, a subsidiary owned by GS Energy, an energy arm of GS Group, for 1.1 trillion won ($926 million), officials said Friday. GS Energy will maintain a 51 percent majority, after selling 3,136 shares totaling 1.1 trillion won. Last year, GS Energy bought back the 50 percent stake it sold to a local consortium of banks in 2012. A GS Energy official said the sell-off is part of broader efforts to fund ESG projects, whic
Dec. 19, 2021
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Market winners and losers in 2021: Fintech soars while drugmakers suffer
In 2021, South Korea’s two biggest financial technology firms, Naver and Kakao, saw their market capitalization expand on-year, while drugmakers faced a dip in market value. As of last week, Naver, the country’s largest internet portal, had seen a 36 percent jump in its market cap at 63 trillion won ($53 billion), while the market value for Kakao, which runs the country’s largest messenger app for smartphones, almost tripled at 115 trillion won. The hike mainly came from Kaka
Dec. 19, 2021
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Korean food companies go vegan to target meat-alternative market
Plant will become the new beef on our dinner tables soon, with more Korean food companies coming up with their own versions of plant-based meat alternatives to cater to global vegan population of some 79 million and growing. CJ CheilJedang said Sunday its launching a vegan brand called PlantTable due to a growing interest in vegetarian food here in Korea and around the world. The food company said it will launch two types of vegan Bibigo Dumpling products in Singapore and Australia sometime
Dec. 19, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Demand for wine, Korean beef surge in 2021, says E-mart
Customer demand for wine and Korean beef has shown rapid increase this year, as an alternative to dining outside, said the local discount chain E-mart on Sunday. The discount retailer tracked the changes in the type of products sold from 2019 to November this year. According to the store’s data, wine leaped from 10th place in 2019 to sixth in 2021, with sales jumping by 32 percent from 2019. More Korean consumers have started venturing into higher-priced wines compared to the sta
Dec. 19, 2021
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Samsung’s new China team signals strategy reboot
Samsung Electronics has reportedly launched a new China team under the direct supervision of vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer Han Jong-hee, signaling a change in its strategy to reenter Asia’s largest market that is already dominated by homegrown manufacturers. According to media reports, Samsung Electronics has kicked off a new operation, loosely translated as the China Business Innovation Team. The unit is dedicated to businesses ranging from mobile handsets to semico
Dec. 19, 2021
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Competition heats up for used EV batteries
The competition to enter the used battery business for electric vehicles is heating up among domestic and global car and battery makers, amid market prospects that the market size would grow to hit 20 trillion won ($16.8 billion) in less than 10 years, data showed. According to data from SNE Research, a consulting firm based in Korea, the global market size of used EV batteries is anticipated to surge to 20.2 trillion won by 2030, up by 1,124.24 percent compared to two years ago. By 2050, it mi
Dec. 19, 2021
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Challenging big tech, banks enter delivery service market
South Korea’s commercial banks are rushing into the delivery service market, challenging the country’s big tech and retail companies that have blurred boundaries between finance and tech industries. According to Shinhan Bank, it will start its food delivery beta service Wednesday. The delivery app, dubbed “Ddaeng-gyoeyo,” is a separate app from the bank’s all-in-one mobile app “Shinhan SOL.” The service will also be operated through a third-party deli
Dec. 19, 2021
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Hankook Tire resumes operations at its plants in S. Korea after strike
Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said it resumed operations at its two plants in South Korea on Sunday, 26 days after a strike began over this year's wage deal. The deal reached Friday includes a 6 percent increase in basic monthly pay, 5 million won ($4,200) in performance-based pay and a bonus of 2 million won per worker. The agreement ended the strike that began Nov. 24. It marked the first strike since the foundation of the company's labor un
Dec. 19, 2021
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Hyundai, Kia say eco-friendly cars surpass 10% of their global sales
Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday that environment-friendly vehicles topped 10 percent of its global car sales for the first time this year amid growing demand for electric cars. The country's top automotive conglomerate said its two carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., sold a total of 656,479 eco-friendly vehicles globally in the January-November period, 10.7 percent of their entire sales of 6.12 million units. The growth marks a sharp increase from 2015, when the annual sales of such ca
Dec. 19, 2021
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[Photo News] Korean Air drones inspect airplanes
Korean Air said Thursday that it has developed drones for airplane inspection. At an airship hangar located in Gangseo-gu, eastern Seoul, Korean Air demonstrated a group of drones inspecting a Boeing 737 aircraft in front of officials from the Ministry of Land and Transportation. The drone used in the demonstration weighs only 5.5 kilograms and is relatively small in size, with the width and length both coming in at 1 meter. Four drones move in groups when they inspect an airplane, sharing
Dec. 18, 2021