Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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S. Korea troubled by US, EU talks of carbon border tax
Businesses and experts in export-reliant South Korea on Monday expressed concerns over the European Union and the United States’ moves to levy a carbon emissions tax on imported goods. Jitters came as the EU last month put forward plans for the world’s first carbon border tax, which would be levied on imports of goods from economies with laxer climate rules from 2026. US lawmakers then began floating plans of including the tariff as part of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bil
Aug. 2, 2021
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Korea Inc. losing dynamism: think tank
New business births and deaths have slowed markedly over the past years in a worrying sign of weakening economic dynamism, a local think tank said Monday. In a report, the Sustainable Growth Initiative, which is affiliated with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warned the ebbing dynamism could cut the country’s potential growth rate. Citing figures from Statistics Korea, the think tank said the rate of new company formation overall declined from 17.9 percent in 2007 to 15.3
Aug. 2, 2021
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KT&G expands social outreach in Indonesia
South Korea’s top tobacco maker KT&G is expanding its social outreach to Indonesia, offering vocational training and programs on Korean culture and language in the Southeast Asian country. The company said Monday that it’s accepting applications to join the second round of job training at KT&G’s vocational training center at the Universitas Kristen Cipta Wacana in Malang city. Since opening its first session in March, the center offers a three-month professional se
Aug. 2, 2021
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[Feature] Expensive tastes: Luxury labels create cafes in Korea
Kim Seon-young has never owned anything by Hermes or Dior. But, instead of bags or shoes, she has eaten food and drunk beverages from the luxury brands. Her first taste of luxury was at the Hermes cafe, which she found through Instagram. She then went to the Cafe Dior in February and had a scoop of ice cream and drank iced coffee with her boyfriend. Kim paid 70,000 won ($60) at Cafe Dior, but said it was definitely worth the price. “I wanted to experience something special a
Aug. 2, 2021
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Lotte Group’s rental unit looks to cement leadership with IPO
Lotte Rental, the South Korean car rental service unit under Lotte Group, said Monday that it is looking to take a leap forward to lead future mobility platforms through its market debut on the nation’s main board Kospi this month. “We have provided various rental services as the industry’s No. 1 company with the goal of creating better lives for our customers,” Kim Hyun-soo, CEO of Lotte Rental, told reporters during an online press briefing. “We’re looking
Aug. 2, 2021
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Korean Air’s cargo-only passenger flights operation hits 10,000 mark
Korean Air has operated 10,000 cargo-only passenger flights as of Sunday, the airline said on Monday, as it pivoted to the cargo business amid a decline in air travel demand during the pandemic. The airline first flew a passenger flight carrying only cargo on the Incheon-Ho Chi Minh route in March last year. Since then, it has operated such flights on 65 routes to North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, China and Japan, transporting 400,000 tons of cargo around the world. Some 40 tons of cargo
Aug. 2, 2021
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Kia starts sales of first all-electric EV6
Kia Corp. on Monday released its first all-electric sedan EV6 in the domestic market ahead of its global launch set for later this year. The model has logged 30,000 preorders since March, 21,016 of which were on the first day of the offer. It was the South Korean automaker’s best-ever presale record. EV6, built on the company’s new EV platform E-GMP, has also seen strong demand in Europe, where it will be released later this year, and the US is set for a 2022 release, the company
Aug. 2, 2021
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KAI sells two T-50 trainer jets worth $78m to Thailand
Korea Aerospace Industries said Monday it had won a $78 million deal from Thailand to supply two T-50TH advanced trainer jets and provide support for their operation. The contract period is until Jan. 30, 2023. The deal, which follows a 274.4 billion-won ($237.8 million) deal KAI signed with Indonesia last month to supply six T-50i jets, raises the total T-50 series exports so far to 72 units -- 14 to Thailand, 22 to Indonesia, 12 to the Philippines and 24 to Iraq. T-50TH are advanced trai
Aug. 2, 2021
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S. Korea recoups nearly 70% of bailout funds
South Korea has recouped 69.7 percent of the public funds it spent to bail out troubled financial firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Monday. The country retrieved 327.9 billion won ($284.3 million) in the second quarter out of the 168.7 trillion won in state funds spent to save firms from bankruptcy, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The recovery rate was up from 69.5 percent recorded at the end of March, it added. The government
Aug. 2, 2021
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Hyundai beats Toyota to top FCEV market in H1
Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. beat its Japanese rival Toyota to become the world's largest fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) maker in the first half of the year with the release of a facelifted model, industry data showed Monday. Hyundai Motor, the maker of the NEXO SUV, sold about 4,700 units in the January-June period, up 62.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by SNE Research. Hyundai slipped to second place in the FCEV market in the first quarter, but it regained the t
Aug. 2, 2021
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Samsung to expand overseas sales of wind-free air conditioner
Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will expand overseas sales of its wind-free air conditioner after the product posted robust sales in the first half of the year amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. The tech giant said its wind-free air conditioner sales outside South Korea jumped 75 percent in the first six months of 2021 from a year earlier. Samsung's wind-free air conditioner boasts a cooling technology that disperses cool air through a maximum of 270,000 micro air holes to en
Aug. 2, 2021
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S. Korea to release 80,000 tons of rice in Aug. to cope with supply shortages
South Korea said Monday it plans to release 80,000 tons of rice into the market this month in a bid to deal with supply shortages and stabilize prices. The move will raise the amount of reserved rice released into the market since January to 370,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry earlier said it will release up to 370,000 tons of rice into the market this year. The government said the August plan is aimed at coping with a potential spike i
Aug. 2, 2021
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S. Korean manufacturing activity hits 7-month low in July
South Korea's manufacturing activity reached a seven-month low in July amid the spread of the delta coronavirus variant here, a global market researcher said Monday. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) of the country's manufacturing industry came to 53 last month, down 0.9 point from the previous month, according to a survey by IHS Markit. It marks the lowest point since December, though July is the 10th straight month that the index has remained the 50-point mark that separates contraction f
Aug. 2, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on solid export data
South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, helped by strong economic data that fueled optimism for a quick economic rebound from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.44 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,216.76 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a bullish start as South Korea's July exports jumped 29.6 percent on-year to a record high amid high demand for chips and autos. Top cap Samsung Electronics added 1.02 percent, and No. 2 chi
Aug. 2, 2021
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Korea Aerospace wins $78m trainer jet deal from Thailand
Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Monday it has received a $78 million deal to supply trainer jets to Thailand. Under the deal, KAI will supply two T-50TH advanced trainer jets to the Thailand air force by November 2023, the company said in a regulatory filing. KAI has achieved $400 million worth of deals to supply 16 T-50 trainer jets to date. KAI has exported 156 trainer jets worth US$3.1 billion -- 72 T-50 advanced trainer jets worth $2.6
Aug. 2, 2021
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Samsung ranks No. 5 in Q2 Chromebook market: report
Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's fifth-largest vendor of Chromebooks in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Monday, as the South Korean tech giant aims to expand its presence in the portable PC market amid the pandemic. Samsung had a market share of 7 percent in the April-June period after shipping 900,000 Chromebooks that refer to laptops or tablets running on Google's Chrome operating system (OS), according to a report from market researcher International Data Corp. (IDC).
Aug. 2, 2021
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Beer imports hit 5-year low in H1
South Korean imports of beer touched a five-year low in the first half of the year amid a nationwide boycott of Japanese products, data showed Monday. The value of beer imports stood at US$106.5 million in the January-June period, down 5.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The amount represents the lowest first-half tally since the $79.4 million recorded in 2016. The Netherlands was the largest exporter of beer to South Korea, followed b
Aug. 2, 2021
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Bill aims to force game makers to compensate for ‘unfair’ rollbacks
A revision bill has been proposed to allow game players to withdraw from their contracts with game developers and get refunds when faced with unfair practices. “If game developers and publishers decide to roll back their games to a previous version as a result of their own mistakes, they must provide proper compensations to game players,” said Rep. Yang Jung-suk, an independent lawmaker, who authored the draft of the revision bill to the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic
Aug. 1, 2021
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Korea marks first trade surplus in pharmaceuticals in 2020
South Korea marked its first trade surplus in medicines in 2020, backed by gains in drug exports, the government said Sunday. According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country posted a surplus of 1.39 trillion won ($1.21 billion) in pharmaceutical trade in 2020, which grew 62.5 percent from the year earlier. The export of drugs jumped 92.3 percent to 7.93 trillion won, taking up 79.6 percent of all outbound shipments, the ministry explained. It was the first time th
Aug. 1, 2021
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Kakao Mobility buys into No. 1 on-call chauffeur service firm
Kakao Mobility is expanding into the on-call chauffeur service market by buying into the field’s No. 1 player, Korea Drive, the company said Sunday. According to Kakao Mobility, the mobility service affiliate of Kakao Group, its subsidiary CMNP has acquired an undisclosed amount of shares in Korea Drive. It has established a new company called K Drive to take over Korea Drive’s 1577 Chauffeur business. Kakao Mobility Chief Financial Officer Lee Chang-min will head K Drive. Whi
Aug. 1, 2021