Most Popular
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Indonesia’s KF-21 fighter jet deal cut back -- what’s next?
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[KH Explains] Can tech firms' AI alliances take on Nvidia?
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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[Grace Kao, Meera Choi] Has money displaced romance on dates?
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Will China's self-sufficient dream in HBM come true?
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Man stabs woman and her son amid financial dispute, killing 1
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[Photo News] Polo new lineup
MobilityApril 23, 2013
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Seoul denies G20’s backing of cheap yen
The Finance Ministry on Tuesday dismissed some local market analysts’ view that the Group of 20 countries recently reached a consensus not to tackle the Japanese yen’s weak position.“The G20 communique (drawn up by finance ministers in Washington, D.C., over the weekend) does not involve any common consent that the members would tolerate the cheap yen,” Finance Ministry’s international finance policy director Choi Hee-nam told a news briefing.Concerning arguments that the G20 members did not cri
April 23, 2013
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Reactor stoppage causes power concerns
Unit 1 of the Shin Wolseong nuclear power plant in the nation’s southeastern region stopped operations on Tuesday due to a malfunction, according to the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.“The cause of the problem has yet to be identified, but the reactor is in stable condition without risk of a radiation leak,” a KHNP official said. The 1-million-kilowatt reactor, located near Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, began commercial operations in July 2012.With the temporary closure of the Shin Wols
April 23, 2013
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Divorce rate for seniors reaches record: data
The number of couples who divorced after living together for more than 20 years surpassed those with less than four years of marriage for the first time last year, Statistics Korea said Tuesday. The number of divorce cases filed by couples married for over 20 years reached 30,200 in 2012, compared with 28,200 of those married less than four years.This is up from 28,300 in 2011 for divorced couples with 20 years of marriage, but down from 30,700 for those married for less than four years.Couples
April 23, 2013
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KORES under audit over overseas mining
Korea Resources Corp., a state-run mineral resources explorer and developer, is under investigation by the nation’s top audit agency for wasting its budget in pursuit of overseas mining projects over the past five years, industry sources said. One of the target overseas mining projects under investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection is the Boleo copper-cobalt-zinc project in Mexico, the sources said. KORES secured a 10 percent stake in the project for $276 million in 2008, but it increa
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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KEB denies claim of hacker’s attack
Korea Exchange Bank, the nation’s fifth-largest lender, on Tuesday denied allegations that international hackers broke into its online security system to expose the personal details of bank customers. KEB made the statement after the list of what hackers claimed to be KEB customers’ confidential data was disclosed on their website, pastebin.com. “Our investigation results point to the fact that not a single piece of personal information or email address that was exposed by the hackers matches ou
April 23, 2013
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Shares fall on weak yen
South Korean stocks closed 0.4 percent lower Tuesday as foreigners became net sellers of local shares amid the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 7.68 points to finish at 1,918.63. Trading volume was low at 253 million shares worth 3.4 trillion won ($3.08 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 478 to 316.“The local stock market lost steam as the Japanese currency is anticipated to trade lower against
April 23, 2013
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Korea’s Q1 int’l air passenger traffic surges to new high
South Korea’s international air passenger traffic jumped to a new first-quarter high this year on a sharp increase in the number of visitors to and from other Asian countries, the government said Tuesday.In the three months ending on March 31, the number of air passengers to and from the country reached 12.51 million, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The number of passengers to and from China jumped 14.8 percent on
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Credit card spending growth slows in March
South Korea’s credit card spending grew at a slower pace in March than a year earlier as the economic slowdown dented consumer sentiment, a trade association said Tuesday.Purchases made with credit cards totaled 45.3 trillion won ($40.5 billion) last month, up 5.6 percent from the 42.9 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association.The number is far lower than the 14.5 percent on-year growth tallied in March 2012, the data showed. The figure
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Banks’ overseas earnings slip 11.8% in 2012
South Korean banks saw their combined net profit from overseas operations shrink 11.8 percent last year from a year earlier due mainly to a profit decrease in stocks and bonds investment, the financial regulator said Tuesday. Net income of 139 overseas units and branches managed by 11 local banks reached $636.2 million in the January-December period of 2012, compared with $721.6 million the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The weaker bottom line came as their net pr
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Seoul’s Myeong-dong becoming boon for cosmetics industry
According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, sales of three major department stores declined 4.1 percent from the previous year in January. South Korea’s economy is likely to grow at a pace of 2.8 percent in 2013. The nation’s consumer prices have risen at a slower pace and will reach 2.5 percent this year. Private consumption will continue to remain slow due to rising household debt. The growth of the country’s retail industry will be lower than the inflation rate due to the economic downtur
April 23, 2013
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Make banking personal again
How often do you visit a bank branch? Or speak to someone from your bank on the phone? Chances are, not very often. Banking is migrating to digital channels, which raises the question of what’s going to happen to the personal relationship between banks and their customers. In an increasingly digitized world, how do we keep the “personal” in personal banking?Arguably, banks have some catching up to do. At the heart of it all, banks need to think experiences, not channels. They need to become fund
April 23, 2013
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Prolonged Gaeseong complex suspension chokes SMEs
A prolonged suspension of the joint inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea has begun to hurt South Korean small companies that have factories in the communist country, officials said Tuesday.North Korea has shown no signs of lifting the entry ban to the complex in its western border city of Gaeseong amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The North pulled out all of its 53,000 workers from the complex earlier this month, bringing operations of the 123 South Korean factories there to a hal
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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Daewoo Int’l seeks to shift from trading to project development
In 1985, Daewoo International became the first Korean firm to open a branch office in Myanmar, which was then one of the poorest Southeast Asian countries with little to offer to investors.But it is here that the company now expects to harvest an average pre-tax profit of 300 billion won ($267 million) for the next 25 years, starting from the later half of this year.“Back in the old days, the key role of trading companies was to act as trade broker, connecting local firms to the global market,”
IndustryApril 23, 2013
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A victim’s story
On Jan. 12, I became a victim of sexual assault. At around 3:30 in the morning, while I was at home sleeping, a man I did not know came into my house and attempted to rape me.The police were able to identify him as my neighbor and arrest him with the help of a DNA match. Unlike many of the stories I had heard, the detectives at the police station in my district were nothing but kind, efficient and dedicated ― they apologized if the tests were taking too long and called often with updates.During
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Raped and alone in a foreign land
The names of some of the sources in this story have been changed to protect their privacy. ― Ed. “I was walking home from a lesson ... when someone came up from behind me, putting me into a chokehold with one arm and immediately shoving his other hand up my skirt ...”“I was seen walking outside with a guy ... and then the next thing I remember is being in some kind of elevator or car park and trying to get away, but him pulling me hard. Then being punched in the face and holding my arms up to tr
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Seoul shares fall 0.4 pct on weak yen
South Korean stocks closed 0.4 percent lower Tuesday as foreigners became net sellers of local shares amid the weak yen, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 7.68 points to finish at 1,918.63. Trading volume was low at 253 million shares worth 3.4 trillion won (US$3.08 billion) with gainers outnumbering decliners 478 to 316. "The local stock market lost steam as the Japanese currency is anticipated to tra
April 23, 2013
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Mars One starts recruiting aspiring Mars inhabitants
The nonprofit organization Mars One started recruiting potential Mars residents on Tuesday, news that thrilled sci-fi lovers around the world.After a year of attracting donations and coping with technical problems, the organization kicked off its first recruiting process aimed at seeking potential Mars inhabitants.“We are very excited about launching the selection program. This is an international mission and it is very important for the project that anyone anywhere can ask themselves: Do I want
TechnologyApril 23, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.65 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.65 percent lower late Tuesday morning, led by losses in techs and autos, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved down 12.49 points to 1,913.82 as of 11:20 a.m. Tech heavyweights lost ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics falling 1.06 percent, and top chipmaker SK hynix losing 0.69 percent. Leading flat panel manufacturer LG Display decreased 1.31 percent. Carmakers also traded lower, with Hyundai Motor falling 0.27
April 23, 2013
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Google's new eyewear may not function well in S. Korea
South Koreans may not be able to fully utilize Google Inc.'s new Internet-linked glasses mainly due to the country's tight regulations on map data, industry sources said Tuesday.The wearable Internet device, rumored to hit the market later this year, reportedly functions as a computer, and features a built-in camera, microphone and speaker technology and can link to the Internet through Wi-Fi connections. One of its key features, among others, is reportedly the ability to overlay information abo
TechnologyApril 23, 2013