Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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[Robert J. Fouser] Social attitudes toward language proficiency
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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SK hynix's Q2 operating profit to fall: analyst
[THE INVESTOR] SK hynix’s second quarter operating profit is likely to decrease 20 percent on-year, according to analyst forecasts, with the target market price maintained at 37,000 won (US$32.15). The chipmaker’s revenue will amount to 3.89 trillion won while operating profit will be 4.6 billion won, a rise of 7 percent and decline of 19 percent over the previous year, respectively,” said Do Hyun-woo, analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. He noted that DRAM prices in the second quarter kept decre
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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Kia Motors ranks highest in U.S. quality test
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker, said Thursday it has ranked highest among nameplates in a U.S. quality test, beating Porsche and other premium brands."Kia ranks highest in initial quality with a score of 83 PP100, the first time in 27 years that a non-premium brand has topped the rankings," J.D. Power and Associates, a U.S.-based marketing information service company, said in the 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study, referring to problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100).The study
MobilityJune 23, 2016
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Global shipments of OLED panels top 90 mln in Q1: data
The global shipments of organic light-emitting diode panels surpassed 90 million units in the first quarter of the year, with Samsung Display Co., a South Korean panel maker, dominating the fast-growing market, data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by market researcher IHS, a total of 90.8 million OLED panels were sold in the January-March period, 96.2 percent of which, or 87.35 million, were for smartphones. The smartphone panels mark a 62.8 percent rise from a year earlier, the d
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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Seoul stocks open lower ahead of Brexit vote
South Korean shares opened lower Thursday due to lingering worries over Britain's possible withdrawal from the European Union.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.28 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,986.20 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The outcome of the Brexit vote is scheduled to be officially announced at around 3 p.m. Friday (Korean time) after the referendum ends at 6 a.m. on the same day. Two separate polls, conducted after the murder of a pro-EU lawmaker Jo Cox last we
June 23, 2016
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Korean biotech, pharma firms’ license deals top $500m in H1
[THE INVESTOR] Licensing deals struck by South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical firms surpassed the US$500 million mark in the first half of the year, according to industry sources on June 23. A total of six biotech and pharmaceutical firms including industry heavyweight Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical clinched a total of seven out-licensing deals with foreign companies in the January-June period, with the value of the six deals estimated at $525 million.The amount, however, was smaller than the
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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K-ITC Born2Global Center and its Members ③ NAMU
Health care startup NAMU announced Friday that it had released “Alex,” a wearable tracker designed to reduce turtleneck, or forward head posture. Until December this year, Alex will be undergoing clinical testing at two major hospitals in Korea, Asan Medical Center and Mok-Huri Neck & Back Hospital of Oriental Medicine, which specializes in the treatment of degenerative disc diseases. The results of these tests will be presented in academic journals in Korea and numerous other countries. As of J
TechnologyJune 23, 2016
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KB Financial eyes universal banking
KB Financial Group Inc., a major Korean banking group, said Thursday it will push for universal banking as part of efforts to boost profitability in an era of low growth and low interest rates.Universal banking combines commercial banking with investment services, thus allowing banks to provide a much wider variety of financial services."Modeled after Bank of America Merrill Lynch, KB Financial has decided to strengthen its banking and securities businesses," the financial group said.After acqui
June 23, 2016
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Hyundai Securities to sell stake in K Bank
[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Securities plans to sell its stake in K Bank, one of Korea’s first Internet-only banks, the firm said on June 23. The brokerage firm is the third-largest shareholder of K Bank, to be launched by No. 2 telecom operator KT, with 10 percent shares.It will seek a board approval for the transaction at a meeting on June 28. “We gained the consent from K Bank’s other shareholders regarding the share sell-off,” a Hyundai Securities official said. “We will begin the disposal proced
June 23, 2016
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46 of 256 Lotte offshore firms in suspected tax havens
[THE INVESTOR] Almost one out of five Lotte Group companies located overseas are based in suspected tax havens, a report showed on June 23. Lotte Group, headed by Shin Dong-bin, is currently under an expanding investigation on suspicion of widespread corruption. According to a research institute operated by Energy Economy News, 46 of Lotte Group’s 256 offshore companies are located in suspected tax havens. The institute’s analysis showed that Lotte Group has 26 companies in Hong Kong, nine in Si
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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Korean, Spanish construction firms join hands for expansion
[THE INVESTOR] Korean and Spanish construction companies are working together in efforts to expand trade and gain a foothold in new markets. Korea’s trade promotion agency KOTRA held a forum in Madrid, Spain, with Association of National Field Construction Companies in Spain (SEOPAN) on June 22 (local time). A total of 13 companies participated in the forum, including Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Daechang Corporation, and Spain’s Groupo ACS, the world’s leading construction fir
IndustryJune 23, 2016
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Credit card spending jumps 22.3% in May
[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s credit card spending rose more than 22 percent from a year earlier in May, data from the Credit Finance Association showed on June 23.Overall credit card purchases came to 63.2 trillion won (US$54.8 billion) last month, up 22.3 percent from the same month last year. The on-year rise marks a significant acceleration from a 7.1 percent on-year gain posted in May 2015.Such an increase was partly attributed to a surge in the amount of tax payments made with credit cards,
June 23, 2016
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NongHyup Bank to set aside more loan-loss funds
[THE INVESTOR] NongHyup Bank, Korea’s second-largest bank by assets, will set aside loan-loss provisions of up to 1.7 trillion won (US$1.47 billion) this year to address its heavy exposure to debt-laden shipping and shipbuilding companies, the company said on June 22.The lender said it would make a ”big bath“ provision to improve its asset quality as loans that the bank extended to troubled companies, including Dewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, may turn sour. Big bath provision indicates
June 22, 2016
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Assembly of Hyundai commercial cars in Algeria to begin in July
[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor announced on June 22 that a commercial vehicle assembly line in Algeria, and that the facility will being production next month. The facility was built by Global Motors, Hyundai’s commercial vehicle vendor in Algeria.The US$63 million facility will assemble knockdown kits of Hyundai’s commercial vehicles including Mighty and Trago. The facility’s annual production capacity is 15,000 units. Mighty.The facility was built to bypass tougher regulations on imported vehicl
MobilityJune 22, 2016
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Kolmar Korea to build second Chinese plant
[THE INVESTOR] Kolmar Korea announced on June 22 that it has signed an agreement to build its second plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The new plant will boost Kolmar Korea’s production capacity in China to 520 million cosmetics products per year. The company currently operates a plant in the Beijing area. According to the agreement, signed with the government of Wuxi New District, Kolmar Korea will invest US$30 million to build a new plant. The new plant will be designed to have an annual produc
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Seaspan chairman demands liquidity injection from Hanjin
[THE INVESTOR] The world’s largest container ship operator Seaspan has demanded Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho to dip into his private coffers to normalize Hanjin Shipping.“Hanjin Shipping without a liquidity injection from controlling shareholder, the Cho family and the Korea Development Bank will have a very challenging road ahead,” Seaspan CEO Gerry Wang told Splash 24/7 in an interview on June 21. “It is a well run company which hit liquidity snags due to market conditions.” Splash 24/7 i
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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[Graphic News] Lotte most active in M&A
Korea’s retail giant Lotte Group topped the ranking for making mergers and acquisitions deals over the past six years, data showed Tuesday. According to corporate tracker CEO Score, Lotte took over a total of 21 companies through M&A deals from 2010 to 2015. The size of the deals amounted to $6.5 billion, accounting for 20 percent of total M&A deals made by the top 30 conglomerates. Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin has aggressively pushed for the deals since 2004, completing 36 such deals so f
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Graphic warnings to appear on all cigarette packs from Dec. 23
Most cigarette packs sold in South Korea will carry graphic health warning labels on them starting on Dec. 23, in a move to promote people's health, the government said Wednesday.The government has recently passed a law to introduce a total of 10 graphic health warnings to be placed on the upper part of both sides of a cigarette packet. The photos are required to cover more than 30 percent of both sides of a packet, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. (Ministry of Health and Welfar
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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[Monitor] Households' share of insurance, pension assets hits record
Korea’s households saw their insurance and pension assets reach a new high in 2015, as they increased such assets to better prepare for old age amid low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.
IndustryJune 22, 2016
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Finance minister vows "sufficient" fiscal expansion
Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that the government will do "sufficient" fiscal reinforcement in the second half to prop up Asia's fourth-largest economy, reiterating his earlier hints that the government is considering drawing up an extra budget."We are in grave danger as the economic conditions will likely be worse in the second half. The government has to move more aggressively to deal with it," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in an economy-related ministers' meeting in Seoul."The gov
June 22, 2016
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[DECODED] Probe casts suspicions on decades of Lotte actions
[THE INVESTOR] The probe into Lotte Group has churned up suspicions old and new. The main suspicions surround the Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul. The group had failed to receive government approval for the plans from the early 1990s to the late 2000s due to resistance from the military over safety concerns about Seongnam Airbase, a military installation south of Seoul.During the Lee Myung-bak administration, however, the project was given the green light, with Lotte Group footing the bill t
IndustryJune 22, 2016