Most Popular
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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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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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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[Newsmaker] Qualcomm wages long, hard legal battle against FTC
(The Investor)Qualcomm has waged a legal war against South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, filing a lawsuit in Seoul late Tuesday, unyielding to the antitrust agency’s order of a massive fine and corrective measure. The legal fight between the US mobile chipmaker and Korean government body is expected to be unprecedentedly fierce, as both sides have vowed to win by mobilizing all possible measures, legal sources say. “The battle could be longer than usual, considering it is a matter of pride for
TechnologyFeb. 22, 2017
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Diageo adds nutrition details to bottles of Windsor W Signature
Global premium spirits maker Diageo said Wednesday it will be providing consumers with alcohol content and nutritional information per serving on bottles of its W Signature by Windsor products.The information will follow the guidelines set out by the Diageo Consumer Information Standard, an “internal standard that has been in place within the company since the early 2000s, and is being put on labels for the first time in Korea,” according to a company spokesman. Nutritional information for W Sig
IndustryFeb. 22, 2017
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Korean Air requests postponement of Iran flight deadline
Korea’s largest air carrier sent a request to the Transport Ministry on Tuesday to postpone the start of its Iran flights.According to a spokesman for the airline, the major reason for the delay was the difficulty of beginning the service in the face of escalated tension between US and Iran, with Washington tightening sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. (Korean Air)“The restrictions on dollar transactions makes it difficult for us to set up a branch in Iran and sell tickets,” he said. Kore
IndustryFeb. 22, 2017
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Cut in infrastructure investment draws concern
Calls are rising to reconsider the government’s plan to cut back infrastructure investment, which experts say is based on misperception and goes against policy efforts to bolster the country’s faltering economy.Under a five-year fiscal management scheme, expenditure on social overhead capital is set to be reduced by an annual average of 6 percent from 26.1 trillion won ($22.9 billion) in 2015 to 18.5 trillion won in 2020. (123RF)Financial authorities say Korea has sufficient SOC stock and that t
Feb. 22, 2017
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Korea unveils roadmap to secure space technology
South Korea unveiled a long-term plan Wednesday to secure indigenous space technology with an aim to successfully emerge as a global power in the space sector by 2040, the science ministry said.Under the roadmap crafted by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the government will first analyze the current technology level and develop 200 core space technologies that are necessary for the development of its indigenous space program. (Yonhap)"The roadmap for developing space technology
TechnologyFeb. 22, 2017
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Celltrion’s Rituxan biosimilar wins European approval
South Korea’s Celltrion announced Wednesday that the European Medicines Agency has granted sales approval to Truxima, its biosimilar drug referencing Roche’s blockbuster lymphatic cancer drug Rituxan. Truxima is the first ever Rituxan (rituximab) biosimilar to be approved by the European drug regulator, as well as the first ever Europe-approved biosimilar monoclonal antibody used to target cancer.Biosimilars are cheaper, near replicas of living cell-based biologic drugs whose patents have expire
IndustryFeb. 22, 2017
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Official land prices rise 4.74% this year
South Korea's official average land prices for 2017 rose 4.74 percent from the previous year, marking the fastest annual gain since the 2008-09 global financial crisis, government data showed Wednesday. The rise in land prices came from growing demand as parts of government institutions and public firms moved out of Seoul and construction projects boomed on the southern resort island of Jeju and the port city of Busan, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (yonhap)On a
Feb. 22, 2017
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BMW preferred by car owners in their 20s and 30s in Korea
Car owners in their 20s and 30s preferr German luxury BMW, while the automaker’s archrival Mercedes-Benz was preferred by an older age group, industry data showed Wednesday.A total of 144,883 imported cars were newly registered by individual car owners last year, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.The KAIDA released data on the purchases of imported cars here by brand and the age of their owners for 2016.(123rf)BMW was the most-preferred foreign au
MobilityFeb. 22, 2017
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LG G6 praised by David Lewis Designers’ chief
Torsten Valeur, CEO of David Lewis Designers (LG Electronics)LG Electronics’ upcoming flagship smartphone G6 was praised by the head of Danish design studio David Lewis Designers, the Korean tech firm said Wednesday. Torsten Valeur, the CEO of David Lewis Designers, described his first impression of the G6 as a smartphone with an expansive screen and small, beautiful rounded corners, LG said citing its interview with the top designer.Valeur said, “(The G6 is) the ideal fusion of the beautiful sh
TechnologyFeb. 22, 2017
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Think tank calls for return to mandatory bid rule
Control premiums that firms pay to acquire listed companies cause losses for minority shareholders and only benefit the controlling stakeholders of the acquired firms, a research report said Wednesday.To protect minority shareholders, South Korea should revive the mandatory bid rule, the report by the Economic Reform Research Institute said. The mandatory bid rule obligates a company obtaining a controlling stake to extend the offer to all shareholders equally. Critics claim the rule prevents va
Feb. 22, 2017
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HSBC appoints Jung as Korean unit head
London-based UK bank HSBC said it has appointed HSBC Korea’s global banking head Jung Eun-young as CEO of the Korean unit.He will officially take office on April 3 after a regulatory approval, the bank said, and replace outgoing CEO Martin Tricaud, who will serve as CEO of HSBC Australia. Jung Eun-young (HSBC Korea)Jung, the first Korean CEO of HSBC Korea, will focus on supporting Korean companies to be globally competitive and foreign firms to be successful in the country, the bank said. He joi
Feb. 22, 2017
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Google to host second indie games festival in Korea
Google on Wednesday announced plans to host the second Google Play Indie Games Festival in South Korea, pledging efforts to support the growth of small-sized local game developers.Google Play, the official app store for Android-based smartphones, has opened up registration for Korea-based game developers looking to partake in its second indie games festival here. Registrations will end on April 2.Chang Hyun-se, head of Google Play’s business development at Google Korea (Googe Korea)The Google Pl
TechnologyFeb. 22, 2017
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BMW Korea launches new 5 Series
BMW Korea has officially launched the seventh generation of its most popular sedan, the 5 Series, which racked up more than 2,000 presale contracts in less than a month. First launched in 1972, the 5 series has since sold more than 7.9 million units worldwide, making it one the German automaker’s most popular models and one of the world’s best-selling premium business sedans. In 2016, BMW Korea’s annual sales reached 48,059 units, of which 17,200 units were the 5 series.BMW Korea President Kim
MobilityFeb. 22, 2017
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Korea's short-term debt up 0.8% in 2016
South Korea's short-term foreign debt rose 0.8 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, central bank data showed Wednesday.The country's short-term external debt, with a maturity of one year or less, totaled $105.2 billion as of the end of 2016, up $800 million from the end of 2015, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)The figure accounted for 27.6 percent of the country's total external debt, up 1.3 percentage point from the end of 2015, the data showed.The nation's total external li
Feb. 22, 2017
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Korea's childbirths drop to record low in 2016
Childbirths in South Korea dropped to a record low last year despite decade-long efforts to tackle the country's chronically low birthrate, a report showed Wednesday.The number of babies born in 2016 reached 406,300, down 7.3 percent, or 32,100, from a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)The figure marked the lowest number of newborns since 1970 when the statistics agency started to compile such data.The crude birth rate, referring to the number of live births per
Feb. 22, 2017
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Conglomerates pushing reform after graft scandal
South Korea's major conglomerates are ramping up efforts to run their sprawling business empires in a more transparent and law-abiding way following a high-profile corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, sources said Wednesday.Dozens of large companies, including top conglomerate Samsung Group, have been found to have donated tens of millions of dollars to two shady foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a detained long-time ally of President Park.In a move t
IndustryFeb. 22, 2017
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Seoul Motor Show to kick off next month
One of South Korea's annual automobile exhibitions is set to kick off late next month, heralding in a series of new hybrids and autonomous vehicles, its organizing committee said Wednesday. The Seoul Motor Show will take place for a ten-day event in Ilsan, north of Seoul, starting from March 31, under the theme of "Picture the future, Enjoy the present," the Seoul Motor Show Organizing Committee said in a press release. (Yonhap)"We will bring this opportunity to visitors not only to provide inf
MobilityFeb. 22, 2017
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Finance minister vows structural reform in face of 4th industrial revolution
The finance minister said Wednesday that his government will do its best to improve South Korea's economic and social systems to support its adaptation to the fourth industrial revolution in a timely manner."The government will go through a close review on our situation, strength and weakness before mapping out a strategy for the fourth industrial revolution," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a kick-off meeting of the government's fourth-revolution strategy committee on the outskirts of Seoul.
Feb. 22, 2017
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30-somethings biggest buyer of imported autos
A generation shift in the country's imported auto market continued last year with customers in their 30s being the largest buyer group with a portion of nearly 40 percent, industry data showed Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, a total of 144,883 foreign autos were sold to customers here last year. (Yonhap)Of the tallied, drivers in their 30s purchased a total of 55,356 foreign cars last year, accounting for 38.2 percent of the
MobilityFeb. 22, 2017
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Big firms suffer wide gap in domestic, foreign ratings
South Korean credit appraisers award far more favorable ratings to large domestic corporations than Moody's Investors Service and other global players, a market tracker said Wednesday.The country's three major ratings agencies -- NICE Investors Service, Korea Investors Service and Korea Ratings -- granted an average credit rating of AA+ to 51 local big businesses from 2014 to 2016, according to CEO Score. The logos of South Korea's top 30 companies (Yonhap)In contrast, Moody's Investors Service,
Feb. 22, 2017