Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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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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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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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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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Trademark for ‘Pengsoo’ still available to EBS
The Korean Intellectual Property Office on Tuesday released a statement to dispel the latest concerns that the trademark for “Pengsoo,” a YouTube celebrity penguin character, may be acquired by an irrelevant third party.“An increasing number of third parties have been submitting trademark applications (ahead of the original content creators), seeking to make profits,” the IP office said.“Following news reports related to the Pengsoo trademark issue, we felt the need
Jan. 7, 2020
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Moon’s shareholder engagement push to empower pension funds
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday called for the swift revision of laws to allow institutional investors to ramp up shareholder engagement in the domestic market. This, he stressed, would prevent abuses of power in the business world. In his New Year’s speech, Moon urged the government to amend the Capital Markets Act and the Commercial Act, saying the proposed changes were critical to ensure fairness in the domestic market.“Fairness is the backbone of innovation and incl
Jan. 7, 2020
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Korean stock market hit by US-Iran conflict
The Korean stock market was impacted by the intensifying geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, with negative repercussions expected to continue, according to analysts Monday.Seoul’s benchmark bourse Kospi opened sharply low -- down 21.49 points, or 0.99 percent, from the previous session. The weak start continued through the day and it closed at 2,155.07. The tech-heavy Kosdaq also slipped 14.62 points, or 2.18 percent, to 655.31.Most large caps in the local market were in negativ
Jan. 6, 2020
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How to allure Parisians? Marketing startup Ppanam has an answer
France, a beauty and fashion powerhouse, has been a hard nut to crack for many Korean cosmetics companies. Although local South Korean brands have spent a huge amount on marketing since the 1980s to gain traction there, they have seen little success. Making matters worse, social media has rapidly transformed marketing trends, meaning traditional marketing through TV commercials and offline stores are not as effective as before.Korean influencer marketing startup Ppanam’s CEO Ham Dong-hyuk
Jan. 6, 2020
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[News Focus] ESG drive of Korean banks in spotlight
Bringing both financial sustainability and transparency have been the focus of South Korean banks amid growing calls around the world for good corporate governance practices and increased predictability in the market.Companies here -- both financial and nonfinancial -- floated an almost combined $13 billion worth of environmental, social and corporate governance-linked bonds in 2019 alone, nearly double from the previous year’s corresponding figure of $7 billion, according to data provided
Jan. 6, 2020
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Korea's FX reserves hit record high in Dec.
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves climbed to a record high in December on the back of the weakening of the US greenback, which pushed up the dollar value of other foreign currencies held by the country, central bank data showed Monday.The country's foreign exchange reserves came to $408.82 billion as of the end of last month, up $1.36 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.The amount marks the world's ninth largest.The increase "mainly stems from an
Jan. 6, 2020
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[News Focus] Who’s going to be fintech star in 2020?
An inflow of new players is likely to intensify the heated digitalization race in South Korea’s financial industry this year, along with the industry-wide efforts to expand the scope of business and accelerate innovation. Taking a bold step in a heavily regulated country in terms of customer information protection and security, traditional banks and financial institutions late last year started what is called an open banking service.Offering new business opportunities to small-sized financ
Jan. 5, 2020
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Politics-themed stocks to rally ahead of April general elections
Ahead of the April parliamentary elections, politics-themed stocks are already experiencing a roller-coaster ride. While Seoul’s benchmark Kospi has stayed in a box pattern, stocks related to political figures are expected to show more volatility as elections approach.Related stocks could either surge or dip depending on the candidates’ political moves or performance. Since stock price manipulators take advantage of such stocks, financial authorities have vowed to monitor them closel
Jan. 5, 2020
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Gold prices rise on Middle East tensions
Escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran have caused gold prices to rise in South Korea and led to a surge in trade of the precious metal, according to the local exchange on Sunday.According to the Korea Exchange, a gram of gold changed hands at 57,850 won ($49.50) on Friday, up 1.74 percent from a day earlier. The bourse operator also said the value of daily gold trading jumped 60.1 percent on-day to 3.64 billion won on Friday. In contrast, the benchmark Korea C
Jan. 5, 2020
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Major banks up ante for W2tr Prudential Life bid
Major banking groups in South Korea are revealing their appetite for what could become the largest acquisition deal in the nation’s financial industry this year: a 100 percent stake in Prudential Life Insurance of Korea valued at some 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion).The latest to express an interest was Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung on Friday. He told reporters at a New Year gathering event of financial circles in Korea that he is “willing to do an M&A” of Pru
Jan. 5, 2020
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Smartphones beat personal computers in stock trading for 1st time
Smartphones overtook personal computers as the top stock-trading platform in South Korea last year, data showed Sunday. Stock trading via smartphones accounted for an average 40.66 percent of daily trading on the main KOSPI market last year, according to the data by the nation's bourse operator. In comparison, stock trading via personal computers accounted for 38.89 percent of daily trading on the KOSPI market last year. It was the first time that more stock trading took place on smartphon
Jan. 5, 2020
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Kakao Bank to push for IPO in second half of this year
Kakao Bank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, is pushing for a listing on the country's stock market by the end of this year, a top executive said Friday.Lee Yong-woo, co-CEO at Kakao Bank, gave the time frame for an initial public offering (IPO) during a meeting with reporters at a Seoul hotel. It marked the first time that a top bank executive mentioned a specific time frame.Still, another Kakao Bank official said Lee's comments mean that the bank will make preparations in the second h
Jan. 3, 2020
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Wonik QnC embraces Momentive’s quartz operation for $266m
South Korea’s fabricated quartz maker Wonik QnC said Friday it had completed an acquisition of quartz and ceramics business units owned by New York-based company Momentive Performance Materials for $266 million, in a bid to achieve a vertical integration of its supply chain.Wonik QnC based in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, makes components for semiconductors, displays and other products using quartz. The cross-border deal will allow the company to wholly own the world’s leading fus
Jan. 3, 2020
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Top-down appointed IBK CEO turned away amid union resistance
The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea on Friday faced a dispute over the appointment of its new chief, as its labor union protests what it called the government’s “abuse of authority.” On Friday, newly appointed CEO Yoon Jong-won, 59, a former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, failed to enter the bank’s headquarters in central Seoul amid protests by union members, who barricaded all entrances to the building starting early in the morning. The previ
Jan. 3, 2020
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Seoul shares open sharply higher on Wall Street gains
South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 26.35 points, or 1.21 percent, to 2,201.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading. US stocks rose to fresh highs on the first trading day of the new year following the news that China's central bank opted to stimulate the economy by adding more liquidity in the financial market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9 percent to 28,868.80, while t
Jan. 3, 2020
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NPS chief offers to resign, hopes to run in general elections
National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo has offered to resign so that he can run in the general elections in April, according to news reports citing political sources Thursday.Kim has reportedly tendered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in, who appointed him as head of the state-run pension fund two years ago. He has a year left in his three-year term as chairman. Before assuming his current post in 2017, the former lawmaker served as a member of a National Assembly health and welfar
Jan. 2, 2020
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Brokerages looking ahead to new growth engines, global markets
Amid a sluggish market and harsher business conditions in 2020, South Korea’s brokerages on Thursday stressed the need to seek new growth engines and market opportunities overseas.Choi Hyun-man, executive vice chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset Daewoo, urged the company’s staff to focus on strengthening global networks, saying globalization was not just about the physical expansion of portfolios but also about striking a solid balance in asset management.“Clients can manage their
Jan. 2, 2020
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Time is ticking for KDB to sell life insurance arm
Shareholders of Seoul-based KDB Life Insurance are under intensifying pressure to find a new owner, potentially facing a host of new complex regulations next month when a 10-year grace period expires. State-run policy lender Korea Development Bank has yet to find a preferred bidder for the life insurance unit, although Chairman Lee Dong-gull anticipated finding one through an open tender by end-2019.The uncertainty casts doubt on the bank’s sell-off by February, which would otherwise resu
Jan. 2, 2020
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Banking groups vow to regain customers’ trust in 2020
With a new year stretching ahead, the chiefs of Korea’s top-tier banking groups underlined the urgent need to restore customers’ trust, defining the latest market situation as a “crisis.”While pointing to external factors such as slow economic growth and low interest rates, they also referred to disputed sales of derivatives-linked funds that led to extensive customer damages last year.“Shinhan should look beyond market ranking and aim for first class in the true se
Jan. 2, 2020
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[News Focus] Will S. Korea’s stock market recover vitality in 2020?
Bucking the trend of major global stock markets which saw some of their best gains in decades, South Korea’s main bourse Kospi remained flat on the last trading day of 2019, unable to pierce the 2,200 points mark. For a decade now, many market watchers expected Kospi to surpass the 3,000 mark, after it topped 2,000 in 2009. Now as we enter a new year, all eyes are on whether it will gain new growth momentum. According to experts, the main bourse is expected to gain vitality this year backe
Jan. 1, 2020