Most Popular
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Jennie, Stray Kids's Met Gala attendance puts them on 'digital guillotine' blacklist
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Another suspect behind murder of Korean tourist in Pattaya arrested in Cambodia
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Is FTC's conglomerate listing a boon or bane for Hybe?
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NewJeans to headline palace show
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Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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CIO chief nominee to explain allegations at confirmation hearing
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Yoon vows to run country 'rightly' on Buddha's birthday
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Single household income drops for 3rd straight quarter: govt. data
South Korea's single household income fell for the third consecutive quarter in the April-June period this year due to a drop in temporary jobs for the elderly and young people amid a sluggish pace of economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The average monthly income of a single household shrank 2 percent to 1,642,540 won ($1,455) in the second quarter from 1,676,003 won a year earlier, according to the figures provided by Statistics Korea.The number represents about 45 percent of th
EconomySept. 13, 2017
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Regulator to loosen restrictions on financial firms
South Korea's top financial regulator said Wednesday it will swiftly map out plans to loosen restrictions on financial firms, allowing them to easily make inroads into new businesses.Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, made the remarks at a job fair for the financial industry. The official said the FSC will "fully review financial firms' business restrictions by sector and swiftly draw up measures for improvement." By revamping a system of granting licens
MarketSept. 13, 2017
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Korea's cosmetics exports to ASEAN jump 31.6% in 2016
Exports of South Korean beauty products to Southeast Asian countries soared 31.6 percent last year, amid surging demand for skin care and makeup items, a report showed Wednesday.The outbound shipments of Korean cosmetics products to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached $406 million in 2016, compared with $308 million tallied the previous year, according to the report by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Among the total, 76 percent were skin care products, rough
IndustrySept. 13, 2017
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Air Seoul adds routes to Osaka, Guam this week
Air Seoul Inc., one of South Korea's six low-cost carriers, said Wednesday it has added two new routes this week as part of its initial expansion strategy.Air Seoul, which started operations in October by offering flights to Takamatsu, began passenger services to Osaka and Guam on Tuesday, bringing the total number of routes it serves to 13, the company said in a statement. This photo, provided by Air Seoul, shows one of its A321 passenger jets. (Yonhap)It plans to add two additional routes to
IndustrySept. 13, 2017
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Apple unveils iPhone X with new display as rivals grow
Apple Inc. unveiled its most important new iPhone for years to take on growing competition from Samsung Electronics Co., Google and a host of Chinese smartphone makers.Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook showed off the iPhone X with an edge-to-edge screen during an event at the company’s new $5 billion headquarters in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday. Cook pronounced the name "ten," but it’s written as "X." The device, coming a decade after the original model, is Apple’s first major redesign since
TechnologySept. 13, 2017
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Seoul shares open tad lower despite Wall Street gains
South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday despite overnight Wall Street gains as both institutional and foreign investors offloaded local large caps, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 2.56 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,362.91 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday (local time), the major Wall Street indexes hit record highs, with the S&P 500 Index adding 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gaining 0.12 percent.Large-c
MarketSept. 13, 2017
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Top 500 firms‘ R&D spending gains 8% in H1
Major South Korean companies' spending on research and development rose nearly 8 percent on-year in the first half of the year, with tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. shelling out the most, a market tracker said Wednesday.The combined R&D expenditures by the top 500 companies by sales stood at 20.9 trillion won ($18.5 billion) in the January-June period, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The tally covers only 217 companies out of the total, which have disclosed their R
IndustrySept. 13, 2017
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Investment advisory firms see combined profit jump in fiscal Q1
The combined net profit of 165 investment advisory firms in South Korea more than tripled on-quarter in the fiscal first quarter of this year, thanks to a rise in commission fees as the stock market rallied, data showed Wednesday.The investment advisory firms reported a combined net profit of 28.4 billion won ($25.1 million) during the fiscal first quarter, which ended in June, compared to a profit of 8.6 billion won in the previous quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory S
MarketSept. 13, 2017
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Savings banks‘ household loans soar 21% over past year
South Korean savings banks' household loans have spiked 21 percent over the past year to hit a record high despite their high interest, data showed Wednesday.Savings banks' outstanding household lending came to 20.2 trillion won ($17.9 billion) as of end-July, up 20.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.It has surpassed the 20 trillion-won mark for the first time and represents the highest level since December 2007, when the central bank started to compile r
MarketSept. 13, 2017
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Korea's jobless rate remains steady at 3.6% in Aug.
South Korea's jobless rate stayed unchanged in August, but the number of newly employed people dropped to a 4 1/2-year low amid weak signs of economic recovery, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 3.6 percent last month, staying flat from the same month last year, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, it gained 0.1 percentage point.The number of employed people reached 26.7 million in August, up 212,000 from a year earlier, markin
EconomySept. 13, 2017
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Korea‘s export prices up 0.5% in August
South Korea's export prices rose slightly in August from a month earlier due to the hike in prices of coal and petrochemical products, the central bank said Wednesday.In local currency terms, overall export prices rose 0.5 percent month-on-month in August, according to preliminary data provided by the Bank of Korea.Year-on-year, export prices rose 10.7 percent last month, marking the 10th consecutive month of gains. It marked the highest since March 2009 when the corresponding figure was 17.4 pe
EconomySept. 13, 2017
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BOK chief to hold annual talks with Chinese, Japanese counterparts
The heads of the central banks of South Korea, China and Japan are set to begin an annual meeting later Wednesday, the Bank of Korea said, amid keen interest on a currency swap deal between Seoul and Beijing.Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol is scheduled to host a banquet for his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan and Japanese central banker Haruhiko Kuroda in Songdo, west of Seoul.The three "will exchange views on recent economic and financial developments in the three countries" during
EconomySept. 13, 2017
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Kumho Tire submits self-rescue plan to creditors
Kumho Asiana Group, South Korea's airline-to-construction conglomerate, said Tuesday it has submitted a self-rescue plan for its tire unit to creditors. The move comes as the creditors asked the group to prepare a self-help program for Kumho Tire Co. by 6:00 p.m. following the collapse of a deal to sell the tire company to China's Qingdao Doublestar. The Kumho Tire plant in Gwangju (Yonhap)Main creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) confirmed that the business group had forwarded a set of measure
IndustrySept. 12, 2017
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[News Focus] Tech firms accelerating automotive electronics business
LG Electronics, Google, Facebook, SAP and Qualcomm are slated to join the Frankfurt Motor Show that begins this week, in a move to capitalize on the growing trend of connected and electric cars. The IT firms’ aggressive entry into the automotive industry comes in contrast to automakers’ move to skip traditional auto shows to attend consumer electronics events, reflecting the blurring of the lines between the two industries in an age of rapid technological fusion.“This is a counterattack from IT
IndustrySept. 12, 2017
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Restrictions drive borrowers from mortgage to credit loans: data
In the wake of the Moon Jae-in government’s reinforced restrictions on housing loans, the increase in mortgage loans has slowed down while credit loans made a record leap in August, data showed Tuesday.According to the Bank of Korea’s monthly data on financial market trends, the balance for household loans stood at 744.2 trillion ($658.4 billion) as of the end of August, up 6.5 trillion won from the previous month.The on-month increase was down 200 billion won from that of July and d
EconomySept. 12, 2017
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Korea has no plan to raise ownership tax: finance minister
South Korea's top economic policymaker said Tuesday that he has no immediate plan to raise property ownership tax as a tool to cool down the speculative movement in the local real estate market.The government earlier announced a series of strong measures to curb price hikes in the capital city and its surrounding areas. It designated Seoul and other cities, including the administrative city of Sejong, as "overheated speculative districts" to tighten mortgage rules and restrict transact
EconomySept. 12, 2017
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Samsung SDI showcases EV batteries at Frankfurt Motor Show 2017
Samsung SDI introduced its multipurpose batteries at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2017 held in Germany, the company said Tuesday. The newly invented battery modules provide extended driving ranges for electric vehicles. (Samsung SDI)A premium electric vehicle with 20 modules can drive up to 700 kilometers, while an entry level electric vehicle with 10 to 12 modules can drive up to some 300 km, the company said. Automakers can change the number of modules to be installed in different car models. Sam
TechnologySept. 12, 2017
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Starbucks Coffee Korea forecast to post record-high operating profit
Starbucks Coffee Korea’s operating profit is expected to surpass 100 billion won ($88.6 million) this year if it keeps up its sales posted in the first half this year. The US coffee giant’s unit in Korea posted 52.8 billion won of operating profit and 593.5 billion won of sales in the first half of 2017, the company said.If this continues, the company’s operating profit is likely to surpass 100 billion won by the end of the year, as coffee shops usually perform better in the second half, due par
IndustrySept. 12, 2017
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Owner family leaves leadership of Mr. Pizza
The son of former MP Group Chairman Jung Woo-hyun will be stepping down from his post as a board member following his father’s resignation due to unfair business practices, according to the company Tuesday.According to MP Group, Vice Chairman Jung Sun-min’s resignation will be made official at a shareholders meeting to be held in late October.“It was decided long ago that Vice Chairman Jung would step down, but the official announcement was delayed to put together the shareholders meeting,” said
IndustrySept. 12, 2017
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[Monitor] South Korea’s family benefits spending still low
Although the South Korean government has poured in some 100 trillion won ($88.4 billion)88,449,000,000) over the past 10 years to solve the low birthrate issue, the country’s spending on family benefits still remained among the lowest of the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs said in a recent report that the country’s family benefits spending as a percentage of gross domestic product reached 1.13 perc
EconomySept. 12, 2017