Most Popular
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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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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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[KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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New Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief vows full-fledged probe into first lady
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[Graphic News] UK tops global chart for child alcohol use
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[Newsmaker] STX chairman's fate hanging by a thread
Kang Duk-soo, 63, chairman and founder of the faltering STX Group, is likely to step down within this month due to conflict with creditors. Representing creditor banks, Korea Development Bank issued a statement on Tuesday calling on him to resign to save the group. The request was made based on the earlier agreement of Kang in April, a pre-condition for capital injection to ailing STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, a core affiliate of the group.Under the agreement, Kang promised not to raise objection
IndustrySept. 4, 2013
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Conglomerates step up sports marketing
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar da Silva, Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min have more in common than being outstanding soccer players: They either are sponsored by or have a contract with Korean companies. Sports sponsorship is not new. It has long been used by private firms to build a close bond with consumers and promote their brand images.Samsung and LG, which currently market themselves through sports including soccer, baseball, basketball and cricket, are ratcheting up their sports mark
IndustrySept. 4, 2013
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Pernod Ricard aims to seize rival Diageo’s ‘whiskey throne’
Pernod Ricard Korea is looking to overtake its main competitor Diageo Korea in Korea’s whiskey market with an all-new look for the French distilled beverage giant’s flagship “Imperial” brand.The Korean unit’s CEO Jean-Manuel Spriet said Wednesday that it has renewed Imperial’s design in a diamond-like shape with anti-forgery features embedded in its bottle caps with the aim of “closing the gap” with its rival in Korea. The key strategy to grab a bigger slice of the market, despite the whiskey do
IndustrySept. 4, 2013
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Three chaebol fined for violating disclosure rules
The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday imposed fines of 665 million won ($578,000) in total on three conglomerates for breaching the disclosure rules on intra-group deals.Between April 2010 and March 2013, 17 out of the 38 business units of Lotte, POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries engaged in the irregular intra-group trading, said the antitrust regulator.The FTC revealed 25 violations by the 17 companies. As the cases involve “not publicizing” or “delaying disclosure,” allegations could be rais
Sept. 4, 2013
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Hyundai Oilbank enters lubricant market
Hyundai Oilbank Co., South Korea’s fourth-largest refiner, said Wednesday that it has entered the lubricant market by launching new engine oil named XTeer.The refiner said it will produce some 180,000 barrels of engine oil by next year and sell them both at home and abroad. The local lubricant market is estimated at 2.5 trillion won ($2.3 billion), with local refiners such as S-Oil Corp. and GS Caltex Co. holding a combined market share of 45 percent. Hyundai Oilbank started work on the construc
Sept. 4, 2013
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KDB leads policy-funding to SMEs
The state-run Korea Development Bank said it has unveiled a road map to foster competitive small and mid-sized enterprises under its policy to support the Park Geun-hye administration’s vision of “creative economy.” As the first step, the flagship unit of the KDB Financial Group held a conference on “creative finance,” specializing in one-stop services, in collaboration with the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Seoul on Wednesday.While some 480 SMEs and venture start-ups particip
Sept. 4, 2013
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Logistics key bait for foreign investment
Strong logistics is the key advantage that differentiates Korea from neighboring emerging economies, chief executives of foreign-invested companies operating here said on Wednesday. The three classical incentives offered by host countries are tax reductions, site support and cash grants. Currently the Korean government charges no tax for the first 3-5 years, plus a 50 percent tax reduction for the following two years. It also provides land free of charge for 50 years and rent discounts, besides
Sept. 4, 2013
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ING Life fined for over-purchasing bonds
The Financial Supervisory Service said on Wednesday that it has slapped the Korean life insurance unit of Netherlands-based ING Group with fines of 452 million won ($393,000) for breaching an insurance business law.ING Life was found to have over-purchased bonds issued by four companies including Korean Air between October 2010 and February 2012, thereby violating the law banning an insurer from owning too many bonds issued by a particular company.The FSS said the company formerly held bonds abo
Sept. 4, 2013
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Fed likely to cut bond-buying stimulus: BOK head
South Korea’s top central banker said Wednesday that the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to start tapering its bond-buying program amid growing market expectations that the bank would take such action this month.Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said that talk of a bond-buying stimulus program cut has shifted from whether the Fed would begin tapering to when, with only unforeseen circumstances standing in the way of its implementation.He made the remarks before holding a quarterly meeting with
Sept. 4, 2013
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Samsung seeks evolution with new Silicon Valley base
The grandiose plans for constructing Samsung’s new headquarters in Silicon Valley’s heart of San Jose are underway, and designer Jonathan Ward spoke to The Korea Herald about the $300 million project and his client, Samsung. “The CEO (Samsung’s Lee Jay-yong) and all of San Jose’s Samsung executives have been very excited and supportive and are looking forward to seeing how this new building can evolve and transform their culture in the hotbed of Silicon Valley,” said Ward, who is a partner at gl
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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Korean newspapers move to introduce paid digital subscription model
A change in distributing online news might be afoot in South Korea where most of the news is currently available free of charge through dominant portals. Major newspapers are moving to charge for their premium content in the face of an industry-wide decline in newsprint advertising. The Maeil Business Newspaper, the biggest business newspaper in the country, became the first major news outlet to launch a paid online news service on Tuesday. Other dailies are also set to introduce similar paid su
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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Machine-to-machine market poised to expand
The machine-to-machine market, traditionally focusing on the industrial sectors, has been expanding into consumer markets with the rising use of smart devices. M2M refers to technologies allowing devices to communicate with each other without human intervention, and control surroundings by intelligently collecting and processing information. The typical M2M markets in Korea are the “Hi-pass” automated toll charging system, closed-circuit television, volume-rate garbage disposal system, and bus m
IndustrySept. 4, 2013
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ICT firms to get government help
Science, ICT and Future Planning Minister Choi Mun-kee on Wednesday said the government would do its best to defend and bolster local information communications and technology firms in the competition against foreign rivals. He also hinted that the administration may act to counter the practice of other countries, namely the U.S., that offer subtle support to their ICT firms, such as Cisco Systems.“This is done by offering financial support, such as through international aid, to countries where
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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Tiny rainforest frogs hear with their mouths
Some of the tiniest frogs on Earth have no middle ears or eardrums but can hear by using their mouths, scientists said.Gardiner’s frogs live in the rainforests of the Seychelles, a series of 115 small islands in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar. Most frogs have eardrums on the outsides of their heads. The eardrums vibrate when incoming sound waves hit, sending the vibrations to the inner ear, then the brain.But not the wee Gardiner’s frogs, which measure about a centimeter long or the size
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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Crop pests moving polewards through global warming
Crop-damaging insects, bacteria, fungus and viruses are moving poleward by nearly 3 kilometers each year, helped by global warming, a study said.A team at Britain’s University of Exeter trawled through two huge databases to chart the latitude and dates for the earliest record of 612 crop pests.Since 1960, these pests have been heading either northwards or southwards at a rate of around 2.7 kilometers yearly.They move into land that opens up for habitat because of higher temperature and its impac
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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[Photo News] Samsung opens markets
IndustrySept. 4, 2013
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Seoul shares close almost flat on Syria woes
South Korean stocks closed almost flat Wednesday as investors took a wait-and-see approach amid rising concerns that the United States may conduct a military strike on Syria, analysts said. The local currency closed higher against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 0.71 points, or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,933.03. Trading volume was low at 290.1 million shares worth 4.04 trillion won (US$3.68 billion) with gainers outpacing losers 384 to 381.Analysts s
Sept. 4, 2013
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Hunchback King Richard III infected with worms
Researchers who dug up King Richard III's skeleton say they appear to have discovered another problem the hunchback monarch had during his brief and violent reign: parasitic worms in his guts that grew up to a foot long. In those remains, dug up last year beneath a parking lot in Leicester, the researchers say they discovered numerous roundworm eggs in the soil around his pelvis, where his intestines would have been. They compared that to soil samples taken close to Richard's skull and surroundi
TechnologySept. 4, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.13 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.13 percent lower late Wednesday morning amid rising woes over possible military action by the United States in Syria, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 2.42 points to 1,931.32 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips continued to trade lower, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.6 percent and flat panel maker LG Display losing 1.89 percent. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a local industrial parts maker, shed 0.61 percent.Retailers also traded
Sept. 4, 2013
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S. Korea's GDP growth ranks 117th: CIA report
South Korea ranked 117th in terms of economic growth last year, data showed Wednesday, apparently as the protracted slump in the global economy dealt a harsh blow to the export-reliant country.South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2 percent in 2012, with its ranking falling 60 notches from two years earlier, according to the World Fact Book released by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 6.3 percent to rank 57th among 189 countries in 2010, but
Sept. 4, 2013