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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Cuckoo introduces new water purifier
Consumer electronics goods maker Cuckoo released a new water purifier last week. The Cuckoo Natural Water Purifier adopts the reverse-osmotic pressurizing technique and facilitates a “natural filter” made of soot, ceramic balls and silver-coated active carbon. The filter removes heavy metal, microbes, pollutants and odor from water, Cuckoo said. The company will also provide a “comprehensive home care service,” where Cuckoo workers personally visit the customer’s home every four months following
BusinessFeb. 11, 2014
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Hanwha chief gets suspended prison term in retrial
A Seoul appellate court on Tuesday convicted Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for embezzlement and gave him a suspended prison term.In a retrial held four months after the nation's top court sent the case back, the Seoul High Court sentenced the 62-year-old disgraced tycoon to three years in prison with a five-year stay of execution.Kim was found guilty of using company money to pay back debts of other firms he was running under borrowed names, causing hundreds of billions of won in losses t
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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SK E&C inks MOU to build natural gas liquefaction plant in U.S.
SK Engineering and Construction Co. said Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to build anatural gas liquefaction plant in the United States, marking the first time for a South Korean company to enter the business sector.The memorandum of understanding reached with Australia's Magnolia LNG calls for building a 3.4-million-ton capacity liquefaction plant on the banks of Lake Charles in Louisiana. Liquefaction plants handle pretreatment, natural gas liquid recovery, a liquefaction process and storag
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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KT affiliate raided over alleged massive loan fraud
Police on Tuesday raided the offices of a KT Corp. affiliate as part of their investigation into allegations of large-scale loan fraud by employees.KT ENS Co., affiliated with KT Corp., the country's No. 2 mobile operator, is being probed over suspicion of illegally taking out some 280 billion won ($260 million) in loans from 16 local banks with forged documents.A team of officers of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency seized computer hard drives and related documents during the raid of six off
TechnologyFeb. 11, 2014
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Korea’s brand value ranks 16th globally
Korea’s brand value ranked 16th in 2013, up from 17th a year earlier, according to an annual report by Brand Finance, a London-based asset valuation consultancy firm. The value of Korea’s brand is estimated at $775 billion, a 7 percent rise from the year before. Korea held 16th place in brand value for two straight years, from 2010 to 2011, but slipped to 17th spot in 2012. Brand Finance annually ranks 100 countries around the globe according to their brand value, based on its Brand Strength I
Feb. 11, 2014
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Top 2 travel retailers' sales rise 10% in 2013
South Korea's two major travel retailers saw their sales grow around 10 percent last year on the back of remarkable spending by Chinese tourists, their records showed Tuesday.Lotte Duty Free, the country's largest duty-free shop by sales, said its annual sales came to 3.55 trillion won ($3.3 billion) last year, up more than 10 percent from 3.2 trillion won the previous year.Lotte's sales from Chinese shoppers soared 70 percent in 2013 on-year. It also reported strong performance in online sales,
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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Car imports up more than two-fold in five years: data
The number of imported cars on South Korean roads jumped more than two-fold in the last five years, reflecting the steady rise in demand for foreign brands among local consumers, industry data showed Tuesday.According to the numbers released by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the country had 19,400,864 registered vehicles as of late 2013, of which 4.7 percent or 904,314 were foreign-made.Last year alone, sales of foreign nameplates reached a record 156,497 units, up 19.6 percent
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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Department store sales grow 7.2% in Jan.: preliminary data
Sales at department stores in South Korea grew more than 7 percent in January from a year earlier, raising optimism that consumer spending might be picking up, preliminary government data showed Tuesday.Department store sales rose 7.2 percent in January from a year earlier, according to the data by the finance ministry. The on-year growth rate quickened from the 0.3 percent gain tallied in the previous month.The ministry attributed the growth to strong demand during the Lunar New Year holidays t
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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Top chaebol owners' dividend income rises slightly: data
Dividend payments to the owners of South Korea's top 10 conglomerates will rise some 1.9 percent this year despite their firms' sluggish earnings, data showed Tuesday.The combined amount of dividends for the business tycoons was tallied at 245 billion won ($228 million), compared with 240 billion won in 2013, according to the data by Chaebul.com, a corporate information provider on large businesses.Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Kun-hee, South Korea's richest man, topped the list with 108
IndustryFeb. 11, 2014
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Fewer tax investigations mulled despite state revenue shortage
The Finance Ministry said Monday that tax authorities were considering easing probes on conglomerates and other major enterprises to communicate the Park Geun-hye administration’s determination to spur the economy this year with their help. Such policy moves, however, are likely to pose a dilemma and even invite backlash among some lawmakers as the government is already operating at a deficit. According to data released by the Finance Ministry, central government tax revenue stood at 201.9 trill
Feb. 10, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Loan scandal slaps KT in the face
Incoming president Hwang Chang-gyu of the embattled telecom company KT Corp. faced his first test last week as chief executive after the discovery that a KT affiliate was involved in a loan scandal.KT ENS, a KT affiliate specializing in network integration, will be subject to an extensive probe this week on the allegation that one of its employees played a leading role in a large-scale loan fraud case involving hundreds of billions of won.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday arrested a
IndustryFeb. 10, 2014
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[Graphic News] Korea’s brand value ranks 16th globally
Korea’s brand value ranked 16th in 2013 to rise a notch higher than the previous year, according to an annual report by Brand Finance, an asset valuation consultancy based in London.Valued at $775 billion, which reflects a 7 percent increase from the year before, Korea reclaimed its place as the 16th-most valuable brand in the world. It had held the post for 2010 and 2011 before falling to 17th place in 2012.The United States, China and Germany have been ranked as the top three in brand value si
Feb. 10, 2014
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Small fine for small Google
[Reporter's Column] Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. This is what most tech-savvy Koreans think when Google comes to mind.It may be big overseas where it spends billions of dollars to invest in and acquire start-ups. But the global search giant is relatively a “small kid on the block” in Korea, the playground of Naver and Daum.This is why, for some observers, it seemed fair when Korea‘s communications regulator recently slapped Google with a fine of just 210 million won ($196,000).It m
TechnologyFeb. 10, 2014
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Seoul shares end nearly flat on weak investor sentiment
South Korean stocks closed slightly higher on Monday thanks to gains in blue chips, even though investors took to the sidelines on jitters over the U.S. economy.The South Korean won gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.04 percent, or 0.80 points, to 1923.30. Trading volume on the main market came to 205.33 million shares worth 3.15 trillion won ($2.9 billion), with advancers outnumbering decliners 456 to 356.The market started higher on last week’
Feb. 10, 2014
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Samsung to unveil ‘bent’ smartphones
Samsung Electronics, the nation’s largest handset maker, is set to unveil “bent” smartphones as a Galaxy variant this year based on the fresh investments its affiliate Samsung Display will be making in flexible panel production, industry sources said Monday. “The bent smartphones will be rolled out as a Galaxy variant with a few million units at the end of this year, initially taking aim at the niche market,” said Song Jong-ho, an analyst at Seoul-based KDB Daewoo Securities. Bent displays are a
IndustryFeb. 10, 2014
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[Photo News] The 1-liter car
MobilityFeb. 10, 2014
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KB, NH, Lotte card firms to see 40% fall in profits
Three major credit card businesses are expected to see a sharp drop in earnings this year due largely to a recent massive data breach that involved up to 20 million of their customers nationwide, according to market insiders.The net profit of the three involved credit card firms ― KB Kookmin, NH NongHyup and Lotte Card ― will be hurt “significantly” as they face a drop in customers as well as disciplinary actions from regulators, the sources said. Analysts now predict that the companies’ combine
Feb. 10, 2014
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Between inks investment deal with Japanese firm
VCNC, the operator of Between, a mobile messenger application for couples, said Monday it has successfully attracted investment from DeNA Co., a global leader in mobile Internet services. The Korean start-up said the investment is aimed at forming a business alliance to promote the mobile application and turn it into an open platform to improve its sales drive.“We are pleased to welcome DeNA as a strategic investor,” VCNC’s chief executive Park Jae-uk said in a press release. “We look forward to
TechnologyFeb. 10, 2014
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Gastech 2014 to feature LNG technology
Gastech, a major conference and exhibition on natural gas, plans to host a series of seminars in March to share technological innovations in the gas industry, the conference organizers said Monday. Natural gas liquefaction is expected to top the conference agenda. As the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas, Korea has paid much attention to the issue of gas liquefaction, including rising costs and other challenges. “Gastech is definitely an important date in our calendars and
IndustryFeb. 10, 2014
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Asiana Airlines’ new CEO declares second foundation
Six months after the deadly crash landing in San Francisco, Asiana Airlines on Monday declared its “second foundation,” with the company’s new chief executive Kim Soo-cheon pledging to prioritize safety and restore profits. “This year will be the year for our second foundation in many ways,” the new Asiana head said during his first press conference at a Seoul hotel. Kim took office on Jan. 1 to replace former CEO Yoon Young-doo. Kim first joined Asiana when it was set up in 1988 and led the su
IndustryFeb. 10, 2014