Most Popular
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Controversy rekindled over when to name criminals, suspects
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Seoul transit pass for travelers to be available starting July
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Hybe-Ador CEO conflict gets messier
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Battery makers ramp up efforts to diversify graphite supply chain
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Prosecutors to summon pastor who allegedly gave Dior bag to first lady
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‘Monk’ DJ spreading Buddhism goes global
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[LLG] Unseen inheritance: Trauma of transnational adoption 'trickles down' to adoptees' children
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[KH Explains] Hyundai Motor’s plan for new landmark keeps hitting bumps
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Court's ruling set to shape path of medical school expansion
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Loans of self-employed swell 50% in four years
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Innovation, optimism on display in Detroit
The mood is exuberant at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. Automakers are flush with profits and the show gleams with performance cars, beefy trucks and exciting experiments, from plug-in hybrids to cars carved by a 3-D printer. Here are some key takeaways from the show, which opened to the public Saturday. Optimism The U.S. economy is rejuvenated. Interest rates are low and auto financing is readily available. Carmakers have lots of new offerings with cool
IndustryJan. 18, 2015
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Gov't targets 25 tln won in investment to boost tourism, increase competitiveness
The South Korean government said Sunday it will create a business environment to induce more than 25 trillion won ($23.2 billion) in investment by local companies to build up the country's tourism industry and corporate competitiveness.The plan, formulated jointly by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other government agencies, calls for the prompt spending of 16.8 trillion won already earmarke
IndustryJan. 18, 2015
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South Korea posts first surplus in cosmetics trade last year
South Korea's cosmetics exports last year jumped more than 50 percent to $1.92 billion, giving the country its first annual surplus in the sector, the customs office said Sunday.South Korea had been in the chronic red in the cosmetics trade because of customers' preference for already established import brands from countries like the United States, France and Japan. Records from the Korea Customs Service showed the trade deficit in the segment had ranged between $400 million-$600 million since 2
IndustryJan. 18, 2015
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Falling mortgage loan interest rate stokes debt worries
The interest rate for home-backed loans at South Korean lenders fell below the 3 percent threshold, industry data showed Sunday, raising concerns the trend will further stoke the country's already sizable household debt.The fixed interest rate for mortgage loans at Korea Exchange Bank, which are due to shift to a floating rate scheme three years later, sank to 2.85 percent as of Friday. The interest rate for loans due to shift five years later also dropped to 2.98 percent."Many customers can now
Jan. 18, 2015
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Hyundai-Kia's EU market shares shrink in 2014
South Korea's No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. both shed market share in Europe in 2014, despite having sold more cars on-year, official data showed Sunday.The two automakers' market shares in the region slipped 0.1 percentage point each for the whole of 2014, coming to 3.3 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, according to the data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.Their total number of cars sold in Europe, however, moved
MobilityJan. 18, 2015
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Korean Air suffers drop in domestic passengers following nut rage incident
The number of passengers using Korean Air Line Co., South Korea's top flag carrier, dropped in December apparently affected by the so-called "nut rage" that has tarnished its image among travelers, industry data showed Saturday.Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, resigned as a vice president for cabin service four days after a national uproar over her conduct aboard a Seoul-bound Korean Air flight from New York on Dec. 5.The plane had already been taxiing when sh
IndustryJan. 18, 2015
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Seoul shares likely to bounce back on ECB policy hopes
The South Korean stock market is likely to rebound next week on the back of rising hopes for an additional stimulus by the European Central Bank, analysts said Saturday.The country's key stock market index, the KOSPI, closed 1.9 percent lower on Friday than a week ago, on a continued slide in global oil prices that fell to their lowest levels in more than four years, and renewed concerns over Greece's potential exit from the eurozone economy. Analysts said South Korean shares are expected to c
Jan. 18, 2015
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[Weekender] The Korean Office
Why do we work? Or rather, why do we work so much? For Koreans who are supposedly some of the most overworked people among OECD countries, these are questions that we constantly ask ourselves.And although we spend the majority of our waking hours at work, few seem to have the answers. It is also ironic that when we are out of a job, we become most desperate to get one. But once we do, the whining begins. Such is the twisted relationship that most enjoy with their jobs. In Korea, where Confuciani
Jan. 16, 2015
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[Weekender] Simplicity key to Hyundai Card office culture
Modern society is fated to grow ever more complicated, and to keep hold of the things that truly matter, one must eliminate excessive formalities, according to a top official of Hyundai Card.“A meeting should be about discussing a specific issue and reaching a tangible conclusion, but people are too often distracted with the process itself,” Hwang Yoo-no, Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital’s executive vice president and corporate service division head, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.
Jan. 16, 2015
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LG chairman stresses action at CEO meeting
LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo has urged employees to execute plans and bring about concrete results amid heightened challenges in the fast-changing business environment. “In order to accelerate the group’s performance, what we’ve discussed should not just be thought of as ideas but as action plans,” Koo said during an executive workshop held Wednesday and Thursday. “I ask the top management to take the lead in the change.” LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo (first row) and other chief executives atte
IndustryJan. 16, 2015
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Hyundai Motor wins wage suit
A Seoul court on Friday ruled that Hyundai Motor did not have to include irregular bonuses in the calculation of base wages, after a two-year legal battle with the company’s hard-line labor union on its home turf.In March 2013, 23 members of Hyundai’s union filed a lawsuit demanding bonuses and other benefits be considered “ordinary pay,” which is used to calculate everything from overtime payments to annual raises.The Seoul Central District Court said Friday that bonuses paid to only two unioni
MobilityJan. 16, 2015
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Koreans consume more coffee than kimchi, rice
Koreans consumed coffee more often than locally produced white rice and the traditional side dish kimchi in 2013, according to a joint study by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. on Friday.People drank coffee 12.2 times on average per week, while eating kimchi 11.9 times and Korean white rice 6.9 times a week. That is, the average Korean drank coffee twice a day, but ate locally grown white rice only about once a day, the report
Jan. 16, 2015
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Seoul shares dive 1.36% on strong foreign selling
South Korean stocks ended 1.36 percent lower Friday as foreigners continued to offload local equities on global financial uncertainties and plunging oil prices, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index failed to recover to the 1,900 mark it surrendered in the morning session and closed at 1,888.13 after plummeting 26.01 points. Trading volume was low at 289 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won ($3.62 billion), with d
Jan. 16, 2015
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Chaebol succession strategies become company risks
When it comes to buying stocks in South Korea’s family-run conglomerates, reading numbers on balance sheets may not be enough to predict their performance. What the owner family does often matters more.As several of such business groups, called chaebol locally, are preparing for managerial transfers to the third generation of their founding families, signs of shifts in the families’ ownership structures or power struggles among potential heirs have played a greater role on the Seoul bourse in re
IndustryJan. 16, 2015
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Google’s self-driving car to be equipped with LG battery
LG Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will supply battery packs to the self-driving cars to be launched by Google, a move that will certainly help South Korea’s No. 2 tech giant tap deeper into the automobile industry.“We have been conducting various projects with Google as a strategic partner. Our automotive technology will now be applied to Google’s self-driving cars,” an LG official said. A battery pack is a set of any number of individual battery cells. Google said it will also partner with U
TechnologyJan. 16, 2015
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GS E&C wins $2.62b Venezuela plant deal
GS Engineering & Construction, one of South Korea’s leading builders, said Thursday it has clinched a $2.62 billion contract to build a gas plant in Venezuela. Under the deal with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. Gas, GS E&C will build the natural gas-processing plant in Pirital, 360 kilometers southeast of the South American country’s capital, the builder said. PDVSA Gas is a subsidiary of Venezuelan state-run oil and natural gas firm PDVSA. GS E&C said the project also includes the construction of
IndustryJan. 16, 2015
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Korea’s investment in China jumps 29.8% in 2014
Direct investment by South Korean companies into China jumped 29.8 percent from a year ago to $3.97 billion in 2014, China’s commerce ministry said Friday. The rapid growth in investment by South Korean firms in China marked a striking contrast to Japanese companies, whose direct investment in the world’s second-largest economy dropped 38.8 percent to $4.33 billion last year amid geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. Last year, total foreign direct investment into China rose 1.7 perce
Jan. 16, 2015
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Korean won 4th-best performer against dollar this year
The South Korean won has become one of the top four performers among major currencies against the U.S. dollar so far this year, data showed Friday, as a plunge in crude oil prices helped improve corporate earnings in the oil importing country.The South Korean currency has gone up 1.93 percent to 1,082.20 won against the greenback in two weeks since starting off the year at 1,103.50 won, according to market data. The won’s appreciation rate was the fourth largest among 26 currencies, while the Tu
Jan. 16, 2015
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Seoul shares dive 1.36 pct on strong foreign selling
South Korean stocks ended 1.36 percent lower Friday as foreigners continued to offload local equities on global financial uncertainties and plunging oil prices, analysts said. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) failed to recover to the 1,900 mark it surrendered in the morning session and closed at 1,888.13 after plummeting 26.01 points. Trading volume was low at 289 million shares worth 3.9 trillion won (US$3.62 billio
Jan. 16, 2015
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Coffee consumption beats kimchi, Korean white rice
Koreans consumed coffee more often than locally produced white rice and the traditional side dish kimchi in 2013, according to a joint study by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. on Friday.People drank coffee 12.2 times on average per week, while eating kimchi 11.9 times and Korean white rice 6.9 times a week. Coffee beans (Bloomberg)In other words, the average Korean drank coffee twice a day, but ate locally grown white rice o
Jan. 16, 2015