Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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Work stress increases number of bipolar patients
The number of bipolar disorder patients in South Korea has surged in recent years, a survey showed on Sunday. According to data released by the National Health Insurance Service, the number of patients who received hospital treatment for bipolar disorder grew by 26 percent, or 12,000, over five years. Some 46,000 patients were found to have the mental illness in 2007, whereas the number climbed to 58,000 in 2011. Medical expenses for bipolar disorder treatment also increased from 55 billion won
TechnologyJune 2, 2013
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M&As and Japanese investors the key to more FDI: Invest Korea chief
Invest Korea chief Han Ki-won has vowed to focus on merger and acquisitions to help the government attain its yearly goal of attracting $15 billion in foreign direct investment.“Korea needs to step up its game and deliver differentiated services to foreign investors in order to attract more investment from them,” Han said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “For instance, we can work on the M&A sector.“Another solution was to turn to Japanese investors. “A solid combination of these two
IndustryJune 2, 2013
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Korea's trade surplus hits nearly 3-year high in May
South Korea's trade surplus surged to a nearly three-year high in May, as an economic recovery of its two largest exporting partners fueled brisk outbound shipments, the government said Saturday.South Korea chalked up a trade surplus of US$6.03 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $2.39 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Exports gained 3.2 percent on-year to $48.37 billion, while imports fell 4.8 percent to $42.34 billion over the cited per
June 1, 2013
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Korea holds IR meeting in London
South Korea's finance minister held an investor relations meeting in London on Friday to explain the latest economic conditions of the country and the government's policy direction to foreign investors.The overseas IR meeting at Andaz Hotel drew keen interest from investors as it marked the first of its kind led by a minister-level policymaker in four years. It also represented the first such meeting since President Park Geun-hye took office in February. About 100 investors attended the gatherin
May 31, 2013
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Infrastructure budget cut a blow to builders
The government’s decision to cut its budget for infrastructure construction by 11.6 trillion won ($10.3 billion) for the next four years is prompting concerns that it would aggravate financial woes facing some builders and their creditor banks.Under the plan, the budget for road construction projects will drop the most, with a 4.5 trillion won ($4.billion) reduction, followed by railroads with a 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) cut. The cuts for infrastructure make up about 13.8 percent of the over
May 31, 2013
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Creditors may pump cash into STX shipbuilding unit
Creditor banks of troubled STX Group have almost reached an agreement to provide additional liquidity to the group’s shipbuilding unit in a bid to help it stay afloat, industry sources said Friday.Creditor banks of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. are moving to offer 300 billion won ($266.4 million) to the company, smaller than the 400 billion won requested by the shipbuilder, according to sources.Previously, the shipbuilder was injected with 600 billion won in liquidity from creditors.STX Group,
May 31, 2013
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FSS probes hundreds of suspect CJ accounts at Woori
The Financial Supervisory Service is set to launch a special inquiry into Woori Bank next week as it received from the prosecution a list of hundreds of Woori accounts that CJ Group held under borrowed names.The lender belongs to the state-invested Woori Financial Group, which was chided by the Board of Audit and Inspection on Thursday for its outgoing chairman’s abuse of authority, executives’ ethical lapses and lax management that led to low earnings.The FSS said it has no plans to look into o
IndustryMay 31, 2013
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Korea targets reduction of yearly working hours
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyon Oh-seok said the government would seek to reduce yearly work hours to around 1,900 hours.Hyun revealed the plan during a meeting with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria over Korea’s new employment policy aimed at achieving a 70 percent employment rate in Paris on Thursday. Commenting that Germany and the Netherlands achieved the 70 percent target in a short time through various employment categories, Hyun said the government will create various pa
May 31, 2013
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Korean food authorities strengthen inspection on U.S. wheat imports
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday it has intensified inspections and quarantines on U.S. wheat as some genetically modified wheat was recently found at a farm in Oregon. U.S. authorities said the genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon was of the type developed by Monsanto to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup. It added that the wheat was not harmful to public health, but was not approved for commercial use. “We are investigating into not only U.S. wheat imp
May 31, 2013
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Korea to raise W134tr to fund election pledges
The Finance Ministry on Friday announced a state-led fundraising plan between June 2013 and February 2018 to carry out the Park Geun-hye administration’s 140 major policies.The state fundraising plan is set at 134.8 trillion won ($122.5 billion) over the next five years, which will be poured into four major sectors ― vitalization of the economy, people’s happiness, cultural prosperity and readiness for Korean reunification.According to the ministry, policymakers aim to achieve the state financin
May 31, 2013
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Public offices required to slash electricity use by 20 percent
The government decided to reduce the electricity consumption of its offices and public organizations during peak hours by at least 20 percent.It also plans to control the use of electric power by such heavy consumers as conglomerates which use more than 5,000 kilowatts.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced these and others measures to reduce electricity consumption in the summer amid rising concerns of a power outage in the wake of the recent shutdown of two more nuclear reactors.
IndustryMay 31, 2013
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Users welcome Facebook’s new verified pages
As Facebook launched verified pages for celebrities starting from Wednesday, users welcomed the social network’s move.Facebook started to put a small blue circle with a white check mark to indicate that the page has been authenticated. The symbol is seemingly inspired by the icon used by Twitter. Pages of high-profile figures like Barak Obama that have already gone through the verification process have the blue icon right next to their names.Facebook users welcomed the company’s new measure that
TechnologyMay 31, 2013
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Seoul shares almost flat amid QE hopes
South Korean stocks closed almost flat on Friday, amid expectations that the U.S. may hold off squeezing the size of monetary expansion, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 0.95 points, or 0.05 percent, to finish at 2,001.05. Trading volume was moderate of 390.1 million shares worth 5.27 trillion won ($4.68 billion) but decliners outnumbered gainers 504 to 327. "Hopes that the Fed will delay winding down i
May 31, 2013
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Seoul shares open higher on QE hopes
South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday, buoyed by expectations that the U.S. will hold off withdrawing its quantitative easing (QE) due to dim economic data, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 12.91 points, or 0.65 percent to 2,013.01 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Blue-chip tech shares drove up the main index, with top-cap Samsung Electronics gaining 0.8 percent and No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor moving up 0.9 percent. U.S. markets ga
May 31, 2013
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S. Korea intensifies inspection of U.S. wheat for genetic modification
The government said Friday that it has strengthened its inspection of U.S. wheat imports following the discovery of unapproved genetically modified wheat in Oregon.Currently, the country inspects a 1-kilogram sample from each shipment of U.S. wheat, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Starting Friday, the government plans to test additional samples of 1 kilogram from each container of U.S. wheat, it said.The move comes one day after the U.S. Animal and Plant Health I
May 31, 2013
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Russians find mammoth carcass with liquid blood
A perfectly preserved woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood has been found on a remote Arctic island, fueling hopes of cloning the Ice Age animal, Russian scientists said Thursday.The carcass was in such good shape because its lower part was stuck in pure ice, said Semyon Grigoryev, the head of the Mammoth Museum, who led the expedition into the Lyakhovsky Islands off the Siberian coast.“The blood is very dark, it was found in ice cavities bellow the belly and when we broke these cavities wit
TechnologyMay 31, 2013
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Radiation on trip to Mars near lifetime limit
Astronauts who travel on future missions to Mars would likely be exposed to their lifetime limit of radiation during the trip, not to mention time spent on the Red Planet, scientists said Thursday.The measurements were made aboard the Mars Science Laboratory, an unmanned NASA rover and mobile lab that set off for Mars in 2011 before landing 253 days later in August 2012, said the report in the US journal Science."In terms of accumulated dose, it's like getting a whole-body CT scan once every fiv
TechnologyMay 31, 2013
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S. Korea's fiscal deficit widens in Q1
South Korea's fiscal deficit widened during the first quarter of this year amid the prolonged economic slowdown, the finance ministry said Friday.The consolidated fiscal account, which reflects the central government's total income and expenditure, posted 14.8 trillion won ($13.1 billion) in deficit during the January-March period, widening by 3.5 trillion won from a year earlier, the ministry said.The growing deficit stems in part from decreased tax revenues affected by the slowing growth. The
May 31, 2013
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University chief, actress, Samsung exec among tax haven account holders
Businessman Kim Seok-ki and his wife and actress Yoon Suk-hwa have been included on the list of those who established paper companies in tax havens, a local journalists’ group said Thursday.The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit organization also known as Newstapa, released five names ― three businessmen, a university president and an actress ― in its third announcement of the list of Koreans with offshore financial accounts allegedly to operate slush funds or evade taxes. Th
May 30, 2013
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[Photo News] Korea-Uganda summit
PoliticsMay 30, 2013