Most Popular
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Seoul vows strong action against NK trash balloons
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Controversy ignites over regulation of online entertainment shows
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N. Korea sends some 720 more trash-carrying balloons to S. Korea, continues GPS jamming for 5 days
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Korea bets big on gas, oil prospects in East Sea
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Yoon OKs exploratory drilling for 'massive' oil, gas reserve in East Sea
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China lands on moon's far side in historic sample retrieval mission
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[Graphic news] S. Korea's children get taller
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S. Korea to fully suspend inter-Korean military pact after NK balloon barrage
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Korea, US, Japan to kick off 1st trilateral exercises this year
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BTS set to return in Hybe's hour of need
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Govt. recoups W709.1b of public funds in Q2
The South Korean government said Monday it recovered 709.1 billion won ($633 million) of bailout funds in the second quarter, mostly used to help financial institutions hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The retrieval of taxpayers' money mainly derived from dividends from stake investments, the sale of shares in Woori Bank, and interest income, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. The government has spent a total of 168.7 trillion won since November 1997 to purchase non-pe
Aug. 28, 2017
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Apartment management fees jump 24% over five years
Amid soaring apartment prices, data showed Monday that management fees for apartment residents in South Korea have risen roughly 24 percent over the past five years. According to data from the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea, the housing price index for apartment living increased to 108.68 in the second quarter, a 24.3 percent increase from 87.4 in 2012. The jump is about quadruple the 6.3 percent consumer price index inflation rate. By the end of July, housing management fees rose 3.8 perc
Aug. 28, 2017
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BOK to issue commemorative paper money for PyeongChang Olympics
The central bank said Monday it will issue 2,000 won ($1.77) denominated paper notes to commemorate South Korea's hosting of its first Winter Olympics.The Bank of Korea will issue 2.3 million notes of the bill on Nov. 17, according to officials. While big events have often been celebrated with commemorative coins, this is the first time that paper money will be issued. Officials said the PyeongChang Olympics organizing committee had requested paper bills. PyeongChang, a mountainous resort city e
Aug. 28, 2017
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[Monitor] Seoul‘s housing price lower than Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore
Seoul’s price to income ratio for housing this year was ranked 23rd among 267 major cities in the world, according to Numbeo, a global database of user contributed data on cities and countries. This was visibly lower than the figure in the Great China Region such as Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.The PIR value for South Korea’s capital was 19.17, which means that it would take an average citizen the corresponding number of years save up to purchase a house.The most expens
Aug. 27, 2017
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NK risk, jittery economic indicators to nudge BOK to freeze rates
Concerns over North Korean provocations and jittery economic indicators is expected nudge South Korea's central bank to freeze key rates for the foreseeable future, market watchers said Sunday.The predictions come as the Bank of Korea is set to convene a Monetary Policy Committee this week to deliberate the country's key rates.Initially, there was speculation that some members of the committee will express views of marking up rates in the future to reflect improvements in the overall economy fue
Aug. 27, 2017
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ILO chief to visit Korea next month for forum on job creation
Guy Ryder, director-general of the International Labor Organization, plans to visit South Korea next month to attend a forum on labor, the Seoul city government said Sunday.It said Ryder plans to deliver a keynote speech at the forum on job-creation strategy and labor policy to be hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sept. 5-6. The forum will bring together officials from 10 cities including New York and London and representatives from eight international organizations, it said.Ryder t
Aug. 27, 2017
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China's consumer goods market promising for Korean firms: report
South Korean companies should find business opportunities in China's fast-growing consumer goods market that so far has been tapped mostly by cosmetic firms, an economic think tank said Sunday.A report from the Hyundai Research Institute estimated China's high-end consumer goods imports market to grow to $37 billion by 2020 as the population surpasses 1.4 billion and the per capita gross domestic product hops over $20,000 by then. The market already ranked 10th globally last year with $26.6 bill
Aug. 27, 2017
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Regulator to begin inspection of securities firms aspiring to become IBs
The financial regulator will conduct inspections this week of five leading securities firms that want to start investment banking business, focusing on how well they can manage their electronic system for issuing promissory notes, officials said Sunday.The Financial Supervisory Service will look into the business plan, personnel structure and IT management of Mirae Asset Daewoo, NH Investment & Securities Co., KB Securities Co., Samsung Securities Co. and Korea Investment & Securities Co
Aug. 27, 2017
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Moody's Analytics expects BOK to hold policy rate steady in August
South Korea's central bank is likely to hold its key rates steady this month as soft economic growth and subdued inflation will allow it to sit on the sidelines, a leading provider of economic analysis said Sunday.The Bank of Korea is set to hold its rate-review session Thursday to decide whether to keep or adjust the all-time low rate of 1.25 percent."Further interest rate cuts are firmly off the cards despite below-potential growth," Moody's Analytics said in an economic preview, not
Aug. 27, 2017
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Employment rate of 30-something women hits record high in H1
The employment rate of South Korean women in their 30s hit a record high in the first half of this year, data showed Saturday, as the government has taken a series of measures to bring stay-at-home moms back to work.Statistics Korea said the employment rate of women in their 30s stood at 59.2 percent, the highest half-year figure since 1999 when the statistics office began compiling relevant data. The employment rate of women in their 30s has been on the rise in recent years as women delay marri
Aug. 27, 2017
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Consumer sentiment falls in August on N. Korea's nuclear crisis
South Korea's key consumer sentiment index fell slightly in August from a month earlier due mainly to heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States, a central bank survey showed Friday.The composite consumer sentiment index for August came to 109.9, down from 111.2 a month earlier, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists.Tensions have spiked on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea and the United States exchanged bellic
Aug. 25, 2017
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Anti-smoking campaign lacking results despite big budget spending
The government's anti-smoking campaign, funded partly by increased revenue from a cigarette price hike, has not been effective, officials said Friday.Monthly cigarette sales in January 2015, when the price of cigarettes was raised 80 percent from 2,500 won ($2.21) to 4,500 won, were 295 million packs. Currently, monthly sales are close to300 million packs, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Assembly Budget Office.Part of the revenue from the hike cigarette price was
Aug. 25, 2017
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Moon names head of new SME and Startups ministry
Cheong Wa Dae announced on Thursday that President Moon Jae-in has named Park Seong-jin as the head of the new Ministry of SME and Startups. Park is a professor of engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology and also serves as the CEO of Postech Holdings. The new minster nominee is scheduled to attend a confirmation hearing led by a parliamentary committee before his appointment becomes official. Parliamentary approval is not required for Park’s appointment. The new Mi
Aug. 24, 2017
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Parliamentary speaker calls KORUS FTA ‘bedrock’ of Korea-US ties
Amid ambiguity hovering over future negotiations on the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, Speaker of the Korean National Assembly Chung Sye-Kyun on Thursday defended the agreement as a win-win bedrock of Korea-US relations that must be negotiated wisely so as not to disrupt more than six decades of strong bilateral ties. During a general membership meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, or AmCham, at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Chung stressed the importance of continuing the strong polit
Aug. 24, 2017
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Outbound traveler numbers to be twice that of inbound visitors amid THAAD row
The number of South Koreans expected to travel abroad is set to be twice that of foreigners visiting the country this year amid a sharp drop in the arrival of Chinese nationals, a state-run tourism agency said Thursday.The January-July tally showed that some 7.76 million foreigners came to South Korea, down 20.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The number of outbound South Koreans stood at over 15 million during the same months. The last time t
Aug. 24, 2017
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Poland's Lodzkie Region calls for Korean investment
The governor of Poland's Lodzkie Region on Thursday called on South Korean electronics and automobile companies to invest in the province which is rich in skilled workers and is a major transportation hub in Europe. Gov. Witold Stepien is visiting Seoul along with business executives from nine Polish companies to promote the investment opportunities for the central region, which includes the country's third-largest city of Lodz. "The Lodzkie Region is located at the very center of Pol
Aug. 24, 2017
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Chinese firm asks Korean court to halt delisting procedure
China Ocean Resources Co., a Hong Kong-based deep-sea fisheries company listed on the local stock market, said Thursday it filed a court petition to halt the delisting procedures being undertaken by Korea Exchange.China Ocean Resources, which listed its stocks in South Korea in 2009, is on the verge of being kicked out of the Korean bourse as it has been accused of posting false public disclosures and using opaque accounting practices. In a regulatory filing, China Ocean Resources said the petit
Aug. 24, 2017
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Religious tax brawl disrupts Moon’s fiscal blueprint
President Moon Jae-in’s vision of improving economic equity may suffer some setbacks due to a group of Christian lawmakers’ resistance to an incoming taxation bill on religious leaders.While the administration and the parliamentary cluster remained at odds over the issue, a public poll showed a majority of the public consider religious taxation necessary.Civic groups, led by the Korea Taxpayers’ Association, on Thursday held a press conference in front of the National Assembly,
Aug. 24, 2017
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[Monitor] Koreans’ overseas card spending hits record high
South Koreans’ use of cards overseas hit a record high in the second quarter of this year amounting to $4.18 billion, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea on Thursday. It marked a 4 percent increase from the preceding quarter.Some 6.11 million South Koreans traveled abroad in the second quarter, according to government data, down from 6.51 million from January through March. In comparison, card spending by foreign visitors here reached $1.87 billion in the sa
Aug. 24, 2017
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Corporate loans rise slightly in Q2
Loans extended to local businesses rose slightly in the April-June period from a quarter earlier on increased operating expenses and facility investments, central bank data showed Thursday.Outstanding corporate loans came to 1,016 trillion won ($900 billion) in the second quarter, up 1.4 percent from the preceding three months, according to data from the Bank of Korea.Compared with a year earlier, the second quarter figure marked a 4.7 percent gain. In terms of where the money was spent, loans e
Aug. 24, 2017