Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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Korea launches mRNA vaccine consortium
South Korean biopharmaceutical companies have joined forces to co-develop and co-produce 100 million doses of a homegrown messenger RNA vaccine for COVID-19 next year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday. Dubbed the “K-mRNA vaccine consortium,” it will be led by three major firms -- Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GC Pharma and ST Pharm -- and backed by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association and the Korea Innovative Medicines Consortium, a gr
June 29, 2021
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[News Focus] Ruling against Netflix signals impact on digital content market
A high-profile ruling made against Netflix last week by a Seoul court is expected to have repercussions on the Korean market, affecting not only viewers but also domestic and foreign internet companies. The court’s decision confirmed that the streaming service has an obligation to negotiate with mobile carriers over the payment of network usage fees. The legal battle traces back to November 2019, when internet service provider SK Broadband filed a complaint with a local telecommunicatio
June 29, 2021
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BTS meets robots in new Hyundai Motor clip
South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor on Tuesday released a promotional video featuring K-pop supergroup BTS and robots, as part of efforts to reposition the company as a tech firm leading future technologies. Titled “Welcome to the Family with BTS,” the clip, which is around two and a half minutes long, was uploaded to the carmaker’s official YouTube channel. It seeks to make the field of robotics familiar to young people, by introducing Spot and Atlas of Boston Dy
June 29, 2021
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Hanmi announces positive phase 3 clinical trial results of its diabetes drug candidate
Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that efpeglenatide, its long-acting diabetes drug candidate, had significantly reduced the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events and kidney disease, quoting the results of phase 3 clinical trials. Sanofi, which has purchased the license for efpeglenatide from Hanmi, presented the results of the global, large-scale clinical trial at the American Diabetes Association’s 81st Scientific Sessions. The phase 3 clinical trial involved 4,076 patient
June 29, 2021
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Marvel Future Revolution signals Netmarble’s aggressive global expansion in second half
In an ambitious push for a global audience, South Korean game firm Netmarble on Tuesday showcased Marvel Future Revolution, an open world role-playing game featuring Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Captain America and other beloved characters from Marvel Comics. During a media showcase held at its headquarters in Guro-gu, western Seoul, Netmarble executives unveiled the details of the new title, set for a global launch in 240 countries and territories in the second half of the year. The event also
June 29, 2021
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Samsung Electro-Mechanics develops largest-storage MLCC for 5G phones
Samsung Electro-Mechanics said Tuesday the company has developed a multi-layer ceramic capacitor with the largest storage capacity for 5G smartphones. Known as MLCC, the component enables stable supply and control of electric charge within electronic devices. It is as thin as human hair. At least 1,000 capacitors are needed for today’s smartphones per unit. The Samsung unit said the latest MLCC is 1.0 millimeter by 0.5 millimeter and is capable of storing 27 microfarads of electric c
June 29, 2021
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Korea to offer 5G frequencies to non-telcos
South Korea will offer additional frequency bands for further 5G deployment and non-telecom companies are eligible to join the bid, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced Tuesday. The wireless spectrums to be provided are a 600 megahertz block of a 28 Gigahertz frequency band and another 100MHz block of 4.7GHz. According to the ministry plan, the government will divide the 28GHz band into 12 blocks, and the 4.7GHz band into 10 blocks for the frequency rollout and companies or institution
June 29, 2021
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Seoul stocks down for 2nd day amid spreading virus woes
South Korean stocks retreated for the second straight session Tuesday as concerns of new coronavirus variants weakened investors' appetite for risky assets. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 15.21 points, or 0.46 percent, to close at 3,286.68 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 14.2 trillion won (US$12.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 549 to 303. Foreigners sold a net 550 b
June 29, 2021
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LGES to source 50,000 tons of lithium from Australian mineral company
The world’s leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution on Tuesday signed a non-binding agreement with Australian mineral firm Infinity Lithium to source lithium hydroxide, a key material for high-nickel electric vehicle batteries. Under the agreement, LGES gains priority access to 10,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide each year from Infinity’s San Jose lithium project in Spain for an initial five years. LGES also has the option to offtake additional volumes for
June 29, 2021
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Korean Air named ‘2021 Airline of the Year’ by Air Transport World
South Korea’s national flag carrier Korean Air has been named the airline of the year by aviation publication Air Transport World, the company said Tuesday. The Seoul-based airline was chosen by an independent board of ATW and Aviation Week Networks editors and analysts for its leadership and ability to stay profitable throughout last year despite the industry’s unprecedented crisis during the pandemic, it said. A “remarkable” relationship with employees that allowed
June 29, 2021
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Expert says US likely to renegotiate terms if it rejoins CPTPP
The United States will not accept the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as it is and will try to renegotiate the terms of the trade pact if it decides to rejoin, an international trade expert told a forum in Seoul on Thursday. Simon Lester, associate director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Washington-based CATO Institute, said traditional supporters of the Democratic Party in the US are “generally opposed to trade liberalization,”
June 29, 2021
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South Korea unveils new W33tr COVID extra budget
South Korea plans to allocate 33 trillion won ($29.2 billion) for its second round of COVID-19 supplementary budget this year, the ruling party and the government said Tuesday, amid growing concerns over the nation’s fast-growing national debt. Since last year, the country has drawn up five rounds of COVID-19 extra budgets amounting to 82 trillion won with the latest and sixth addition pushing the number over the 100 trillion won-mark. Ultimately, the total second extra budge
June 29, 2021
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Gap between highest and lowest-priced apartments hits record high
Housing polarization is rapidly deepening in South Korea, with the gap between the highest- and lowest-priced apartments widening to its greatest level on record in June, data showed Tuesday. According to data from KB Kookmin Bank’s real estate services platform Liiv On, apartment prices in the top 20 percent range reached an average of 1.1 billion won ($978,000) this month, gaining nearly 200 million won on-year. This marked the highest number since the lender started to compile
June 29, 2021
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Kakao Pay’s Kospi debut likely to come in August: watchers
Kakao Pay, the payment services unit of mobile giant Kakao, could make its market debut in August, the same month its sister company KakaoBank goes public, industry watchers suggested Tuesday. The company received approval on its application for a preliminary qualification examination for listing from the Korea Exchange on Monday, also the same day KakaoBank, a banking arm of the messenger giant, made its August IPO official. After discussing the timeline with its lead underwriters Samsung Sec
June 29, 2021
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Hybe shares plunge almost 8% after a block deal
Shares of Hybe, the South Korean entertainment agency behind the hugely popular boy band BTS, plummeted more than 7 percent on Tuesday after a major investor, STIC Investment, unloaded its holdings via a block deal. Before closing down 7.37 percent to 289,000 won ($256), Hybe’s shares dropped by as much as 8.17 percent to 286,500 won on Tuesday. South Korea’s leading private equity fund STIC Investment sold 2.86 million shares, or 7.57 percent of the total shares in Hybe, a regu
June 29, 2021
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Banks' lending rates inch down in May
South Korean banks' lending rates edged down in May amid a slight decline in deposit rates, central bank data showed Tuesday. The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.72 percent in May, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK cut the key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent in May last year after delivering an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point in March to cushion the impact
June 29, 2021
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Self-employed's debts up 3.1% in 2019
The self-employed's debts grew 3.1 percent in 2019 from a year earlier as their income declined amid an economic slowdown, data showed Tuesday. Financial institutions' loans extended to the self-employed averaged 172 million won (US$151,800) as of end-2019, compared with 167 million won the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Self-employed people took out more loans to cover rising costs as they tackled a fall in sales amid an extended economic slowdown. Since last yea
June 29, 2021
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Samsung Heavy to lease drill ship to Italy's Saipem
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. has signed a deal to lease its drill ship to Italian oilfield services company Saipem for two years, the shipbuilder said Tuesday. The deal to be effective from November 2021 to August 2023 has an option for Saipem to purchase the leased drill ship, it added. But the company did not reveal the value of the deal. The drill ship is one of two drill ships that Swiss-based offshore driller Transocean Ltd. relinquished without specifying the reason in September 2019.
June 29, 2021
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LG's OLED TVs support Dolby Vision Gaming at 4K, 120Hz
LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday its OLED TVs now support an advanced video processing technology for gamers at 4K resolution with 120Hz refresh rate as the South Korean tech giant tries to beef up its presence in the gaming community. Through a software update, LG said its 2021 OLED TV models, including the G1 and C1, are compatible with Dolby Vision Gaming at 4K, 120Hz, becoming the industry's first TV products to support the solution in such picture settings. Previously, LG's TV supported
June 29, 2021
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S. Korea facing 216 trade barriers around globe: data
South Korea is currently facing 216 trade barriers from 28 countries, data showed Tuesday, amid the looming protectionism around the globe. The figure includes 11 additional trade barriers imposed against South Korea in the first half of 2021, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Of the additional regulations, anti-dumping tariffs accounted for eight and safeguard measures took up three. The steel and metal sectors were among major victims, taking up 1
June 29, 2021