Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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New home permits soar 35% in March
New home permits in South Korea jumped nearly 35 percent in March from a year ago despite the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Thursday. Construction permits issued for new homes stood at 45,354 units last month, down 34.8 percent from a year ago, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Construction permits spiked 44.9 percent from a year ago to 6,691 in the South Korean capital of Seoul in March. New home permits issued in the capital area, which includes th
April 29, 2021
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Samsung suffers more than W300b loss due to monthlong Texas chip shutdown
Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that a monthlong shutdown at its US semiconductor plant cost it more than 300 billion won ($270 million) in losses, although the facility is now fully normalized. "There was a wafer production disruption due to the stopping and recovering of the fab," Han Seung-hoon, a senior vice president at Samsung's foundry business, said in a conference call. "About 71,000 wafers were affected, and this corresponds to around 300 to 400 billion won in dam
April 29, 2021
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Trade terms up for 12th straight month in March
South Korea's terms of trade rose for the 12th consecutive month in March, as exports have shown signs of a strong recovery, central bank data showed Thursday. The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods -- a gauge of trade terms -- increased 3.6 percent last month from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the 12th straight month of an on-year rise since April last year, when the trade terms logged the first on-year hike in over two years on
April 29, 2021
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7 more firms subject to tougher filing regulation: watchdog
South Korea's corporate watchdog said Thursday seven more major firms are required to disclose detailed information on their management and business activities. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) unveiled its new updated list of large business groups with assets of 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) or more to face tougher filing regulations. The number of such firms stood at 71, with e-commerce giant Coupang, Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, and s
April 29, 2021
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Hyundai Ioniq 5 buyers face lack of subsidies
The buyers of Hyundai Motor Co.'s Ioniq 5 all-electric car could face lack of state subsidies for EV purchases as a global chip shortage affects the model's production, industry sources said Thursday. Hyundai began the delivery of the Ioniq 5 on Thursday but still lacks traction motors essential to manufacture the new model. The company has received about 40,000 preorders for the Ioniq 5 since Feb. 25 and was planning to produce 10,000 units in April to meet demand. But it cut the output targe
April 29, 2021
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Kia, SK Innovation team up for recycling of used EV batteries
South Korean automaker Kia Corp. and its battery supplier SK Innovation Co. will work together for the recycling of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries to secure valuable metals and reduce waste, the companies said Thursday. SK Innovation supplies lithium-ion batteries for Kia's EV6 and other EV models, and they have been working together to make use of spent batteries after forging a partnership in March 2020. The two companies said they will work together to process and reuse spent EV batte
April 29, 2021
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SK IE Technology set to draw record-high IPO subscriptions
SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), a battery materials subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., is set to draw a record-breaking subscription rate from retail investors for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Seoul bourse, the company's IPO managers said Thursday. SKIET, which makes lithium-ion battery separators used in electric vehicles, has allowed individual investors to subscribe to up to 5.34 million new common shares to be sold under the IPO on the main KOSPI market on May 11. The battery mater
April 29, 2021
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Naver Q1 net skyrockets to W15.3tr due to accounting profits
South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Thursday its net profit jumped 11,252.5 percent on-year during the first quarter due to accounting profits. Net profit reached 15.31 trillion won ($13.8 billion) during the January-April period, compared with 134.9 billion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The record profit in the first quarter is due to accounting profits reflected from the business integration of its messaging firm Line Corp. in Ja
April 29, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on Fed's comments, earnings
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, backed by the US Federal Reserve's reiteration to keep its asset-buying schemes and earnings surprises from major companies that increased investors' appetite for risky assets. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 14.32 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,195.79 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The stock index came to a strong start as the US Federal Reserve said Wednesday (local time) it would not roll back its asset-buying progr
April 29, 2021
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Restaurants' business confidence rebounds in Q1
South Korean restaurants' business sentiment rebounded in the first quarter of the year on eased social distancing rules, but it was still below pre-pandemic levels, a state food distribution firm said Thursday. The business survey index (BSI) for the country's restaurant industry stood at a post-pandemic high of 67.26 for the January-March period, up 7.5 points from a year earlier, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. The first-quarter reading was also 7.93 points high
April 29, 2021
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SK Telecom to support ESG startups with Microsoft, SAP
SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Thursday it has launched an alliance with global tech giants, including Microsoft Corp. and SAP, to support local startups in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) sectors. The alliance, named ESG Korea 2021, will offer information and communication technology-based solutions for startups that seek to solve social problems and help them measure their progress in the field, according to a statement from SK Telecom. It aims to s
April 29, 2021
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7 firms to recall nearly 14,000 vehicles over faulty parts
Mercedes-Benz Korea, BMW Korea and five other companies will voluntarily recall nearly 14,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Thursday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The seven companies -- which include Honda Korea Co., Tesla Korea, MAN Truck & Bus Korea Ltd. and Hanbul Motors, which imports vehicles of France's PSA Group -- are recalling a combine
April 29, 2021
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Manufacturers' biz sentiment increases for 4th month for May
South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment rose for the fourth straight month for May, despite lingering concerns about sluggish consumption amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 98 for May, up from 91 for April, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' outlook on business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber o
April 29, 2021
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Samsung sees chip recovery in Q2 after forecast-beating Q1 results
Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday expected its semiconductor business to rebound in the current quarter following mediocre performance, although its mobile unit is projected to suffer a profit decline after spearheading its strong first-quarter earnings. Samsung's net profit stood at 7.14 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the January-March period, up 46.2 percent from a year earlier, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit jumped 4
April 29, 2021
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Samsung family says no disagreement over estate
The bereaved family of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee is not at odds over who should get what from the late tycoon’s Samsung company shares, worth 19 trillion won ($17.06 billion) in total, officials at Samsung Electronics, the flagship unit of the conglomerate, said Wednesday. The late Lee’s equity holdings have immense implications for the group’s ownership structure, influencing the Lee family’s continued grip over the colossal corporate empire, which alone acco
April 28, 2021
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SK Broadband present new family plan in time for May, the ‘Family Month’
In time for Parents’ Day on May 8, SK Broadband is presenting a new family plan targeting adults living separately from their aging parents and looking out for them in this coronavirus pandemic. The plan, called “B tv Family,” is a package of services tailored for senior citizens who cannot go out as often as they used to and cannot meet up with their grandchildren and other loved ones. On top of the typical combination of high-speed internet, home Wi-Fi, IPTV and a TV set
April 28, 2021
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Samsung inheritance, a record unlikely to be broken
Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee died Oct. 25, 2020, as South Korea’s richest man, leaving behind a massive fortune that local reports have put at 30 trillion won ($27 billion) in total value. Nearly six months later, on Wednesday, his heirs -- wife Hong Ra-hee, son Lee Jae-yong, and daughters Lee Bu-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, reported an inheritance of nearly 20 trillion won to the tax authorities. The rest -- including Lee’s massive art collection, which some local reports say could be wo
April 28, 2021
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Samsung family to pay W12tr in inheritance tax
The heirs of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee on Wednesday announced what will become of the late tycoon’s assets, which amount to over 30 trillion won ($27 billion), in the country’s biggest inheritance in recent history. According to a statement released by Samsung Electronics on behalf of the family, they plan to return much of that wealth to society. The unparalleled donation will include artworks and antiques worth nearly 10 trillion won, and 1 trillion won is to
April 28, 2021
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S&P affirms S. Korea rating at AA with stable outlook
S&P Global Ratings affirmed South Korea’s credit rating at AA with a stable outlook, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s long-term sovereign credit rating has remained at AA -- the third-highest level on the agency’s rating scale -- since August 2016. “While the Korean economy contracted for the first time since 1998, growth is back on track, and the decline was less than that of most other high-income economies
April 28, 2021
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LS Group spearheads smart technologies for environment, solar industry
As the world transitions to renewable energy, demand for cables are growing as well, and LS Group is at the center of the transition. LS Group is a South Korean conglomerate in the metal and cable business that was spun off from LG Group in 2003. In his New Year’s message, LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol laid out top priorities the group should pursue in the post-pandemic era -- cash generation, greater foothold overseas, digital transition, acceleration of eco-friendly initiatives and
April 28, 2021