Most Popular
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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Ministry denies blame for Jamboree debacle
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Pianist Cho Seong-Jin named Berlin Philharmonic's artist-in-residence
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Hyundai Motor, Kia see Q1 net profit jump in triple digits on-year
Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. saw triple-digit gains in their first quarter net profit year-on-year, as key economies headed for recovery and global demands for high value-added models kept up. The two key affiliates of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group held their respective earnings announcement Thursday, revealing the final business figures for the January-March period this year. The group’s flagship unit and the nation’s top automaker Hyundai M
April 22, 2021
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Koreans favor fintech apps over those of banks: report
South Koreans used fintech company apps nearly nine times more than those operated by traditional banks every month last year, a report showed on Thursday, suggesting rapid growth of the digital finance market driven by its young and tech-savvy population. According to global mobile app analytics firm App Annie, mobile users of the nation’s top five fintech apps, such as payment solution Kakao Pay, Toss, and Kakao Bank, used the apps 225 times a month on average last year, tantamount to
April 22, 2021
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Porsche on a roll in Korea, posts biggest sales in 2020
German luxury car brand Porsche had its best year in Korea in 2020, selling a record number of vehicles, the company said Thursday. Porsche Korea’s 2020 sales surpassed 1 trillion won ($900 million) for the first time since it set up a business presence here in 2014. With 7,779 units sold, South Korea was the automaker’s fifth-largest market in terms of annual sales, following China, North America, Germany and the UK, the company said. “Last year was a milestone, as more
April 22, 2021
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S. Korea looks to Russia’s Sputnik V amid vaccine shortage
Faced with a COVID-19 vaccine shortage, South Korea is taking the first steps to consider Russia’s Sputnik V. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Thursday that it would collect clinical data on the Russian vaccine to study its efficacy and safety. The ministry has requested the help of the Foreign Ministry and its overseas missions for the collection of data from 12 countries where the vaccine has been rolled out, officials said. A Drug Ministry official, however, attempted to d
April 22, 2021
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GS Engineering & Construction one step ahead of ESG trends
ESG -- short for environmental, social and corporate governance -- is the buzzword in the corporate world now. At GS Engineering & Construction, EGS efforts had already begun long before industries began paying attention to the trends. GS E&C, which received an “A” rating for its ESG efforts from the Korea Corporate Governance Service last year, has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia/Pacific Index for 10 consecutive years. In 2014, GS E&C joined the Korea
April 22, 2021
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Dunamu’s Q1 profit likely to exceed market expectations on surging coin trades
Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest crypto exchange, has been enjoying its profit surging with transactions exceeding that of global competitor Coinbase, market data showed Thursday. For the first quarter of this year, Dunamu, which operates Upbit, Korea’s largest digital coin exchange by transaction volume, is expected to see revenue of 590 billion won ($528 million) with extreme profit rates. The company’s estimated operating profit is 544 billion won and net profit at
April 22, 2021
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Seoul stocks rebound on bargain hunting
South Korean stocks rebounded Thursday as investors sought oversold stocks after the benchmark index took a breather the previous session. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 5.86 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 3,177.52 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.7 billion shares worth some 14.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 467 to 383. Foreigners sold a net 147 billion won, and insti
April 22, 2021
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CU implements electric trucks for supply delivery
CU is implementing electric trucks for supply deliveries to its stores to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the convenience store chain said Thursday. BGF Retail, the operator behind the convenience store chain, said it is introducing Kia’s Bongo EV, the pure electric version of the automaker’s compact pickup truck. The trucks will be delivering products from BGF Logis Gwangju, its distribution center in Gyeonggi Province to midsized and large CU stores in Seoul’s Gangnam ar
April 22, 2021
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KAI to develop smart manufacturing system for KF-21 Boramae production
Korea Aerospace Industries said Thursday it will invest 98.5 billion won ($88.3 million) to develop a customized smart manufacturing system and apply it first to the production of KF-21 Boramae fighters. According to the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, it will develop the smart manufacturing system by 2023 and apply the system to all of its business sites. The system will be modeled after KAI’s most advanced A350 smart factory located at its headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeo
April 22, 2021
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SK’s battery material unit eyes W2.25tr mega IPO in May
SK ie technology, a wholly owned battery materials subsidiary under SK Innovation, said Thursday that it was looking to raise nearly 2.25 trillion won ($2.02 billion) in fresh funds via an initial public offering on South Korea’s main bourse next month. While it plans to float about 21.4 million shares on the Kospi market in a price band of 78,000-105,000 won, some 8.55 million new shares are set to be issued. SK Innovation will sell 12.83 million SKIET shares for the IPO. The exact sh
April 22, 2021
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Jeju Air to resume Incheon-Saipan flights next month after hiatus
Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said on Thursday it will resume the flights between Incheon and Saipan late next month. The decision to fly again to the western Pacific island from May 28 comes after a hiatus of over one year. Around March last year, airlines including Jeju Air suspended flights to multiple destinations across the world including Saipan as the number of coronavirus cases began to increase. Though the move will help Korean nationals living in Saipan as well as travelers, a mandatory
April 22, 2021
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Hyundai Motor Q1 net nearly triples amid pandemic
Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit nearly tripled compared to a year earlier on a base effect and an improved product mix. Net profit for the three months that ended in March jumped to 1.52 trillion won ($1.36 billion) from 552.68 billion won a year ago, the company said in a statement. The net result exceeded the median forecast of 1.32 trillion won by local brokerages. In the first quarter, Hyundai suspended some of its assembly lines in Korea due to shortages of p
April 22, 2021
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Hana sets W60tr goal for ESG plan by 2030
South Korea’s Hana Financial Group announced Thursday it has set a goal to pour 60 trillion won ($53.7 billion) into its long-term environmental, social and governance finance plan. Under its ESG financing blueprint, the group will issue relevant bonds worth 25 trillion won, loans worth 25 trillion won, fund management worth 2 trillion won and other related investments worth 10 trillion won by 2030. In line with its ESG financing goals, Hana aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its int
April 22, 2021
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LG Household & Health Care Q1 net up 10.5% on brisk sales
South Korean household goods and cosmetics maker LG Household & Health Care Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose more than 10 percent on robust sales despite the coronavirus pandemic. Net income came to 258.8 billion won ($231.9 million) in the January-March period, up 10.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Its operating profit expanded 11 percent on-year to 370.6 billion won. Sales climbed 7.4 percent to 2.04 trillion won. The operating
April 22, 2021
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Samsung to introduce BESPOKE HOME products globally next month
Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce its expanded lineup of customizable home appliances to global audiences next month as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Samsung sent media invitations on Wednesday for its BESPOKE HOME online event on May 11 to showcase its latest products and technologies that can enrich users' home experiences. BESPOKE is a brand promoted by Samsung that allows consumers to tailor their own configurations by mat
April 22, 2021
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Banks' loan delinquency rate edges up in February
The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans inched up in February from the previous month, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.33 percent at the end of February, up 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was up 0.1 percentage point. Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly bec
April 22, 2021
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Won-based export settlements edge down in 2020
The portion of South Korean exports settled using the country's currency inched down in 2020 from a year ago, data showed Thursday. The use of the won accounted for 2.5 percent of all export settlements last year, down 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The slight decline was attributed to Washington's economic sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program, which led to decreased use of the won in settling exports to the Middle East. Wo
April 22, 2021
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Women suffer greater employment shock than men amid pandemic: report
South Korean women have suffered employment strains more than men amid the pandemic as job posts in the in-person service segment, hard hit by the virus outbreak, sharply eroded, a report showed Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to married women in the labor force, compared with previous economic turmoil when married men suffered sharp job losses, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). The number of employed women aged between 25 and 54 declined
April 22, 2021
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Impact investing scene faces call for measurement tool
South Korea’s impact investing scene is facing a call for a standardized tool to measure the social impact a startup generates via its business, as the demand to address social challenges is on the rise and more young entrepreneurs are looking to take on the challenges. Such a tool is key to leveraging social ventures’ impact and sustaining their solution for international problems in the long run, in order to assure investors that their investment goes to the right social ventures,
April 22, 2021
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Shinhan Asset to shy away from domestic equities with low ESG scores
Seoul-based Shinhan Asset Management said Thursday it plans to implement an equity investing framework associated with the environmental, social and governance factors for its domestic large-cap equity funds. Starting in May, 16 publicly pooled domestic equity funds managed by the fifth-largest asset management firm in South Korea must have at least 70 percent exposure to stocks that received the integrated ESG ratings of “BB” or above. The same strategy has so far been exercised
April 22, 2021