Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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Meritz Fire to raise W55.5b through rights offering
Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co., a South Korean nonlife insurer, said Thursday it plans to raise 55.5 billion won ($49.6 million) via a rights offering in a bid to improve its financial soundness. A total of 4.63 million new shares will be issued at 11,990 won each, of which 4.57 percent will be allotted to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, the company said in a regulatory filing. Meritz Fire had been pushing for issuing new shares in a bid to im
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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LGE asks Samsung to pay for patents
LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday accused Samsung Display Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. of illegally using its technology and demanded the two companies pay for the patents, the latest development in the Samsung-LG display feud.Samsung Display and LG Display Co., the world’s two biggest display makers, have been embroiled in a patent tussle over organic light-emitting diode and liquid crystal display technologies that later expanded to their TV-making affiliates Samsung Electronics and LG Electr
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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Shares down 0.44 percent on Q1 earnings woes
South Korean stocks closed 0.44 percent lower Thursday due the gloomy outlook over first-quarter corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 8.59 points to 1950.82. Trading volume was low at 258 million shares worth 3.52 trillion won ($3.16 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 493 to 295.“Local shares trade lower despite the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain stimulus measures due to t
March 21, 2013
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9 insurers fined for colluding to fix commission rates
SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it has fined nine life insurers a combined 20.14 billion won ($18.06 million) for colluding to fix commission rates.The nine are Samsung Life Insurance, Kyobo Life Insurance, Hanwha Life Insurance, Shinhan Life, MetLife, Prudential Life Insurance, ING Life Insurance, AIA and Allianz Life Insurance, according to the Fair Trade Commission.The watchdog found that they colluded to fix commission rates by setting the minimum a
March 21, 2013
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Korea’s FDI inflow lags behind global peers
Foreign direct investment in South Korea hovered below that of global peers last year, data showed Thursday, apparently due to the lack of positive leads in the local economy.South Korea’s FDI inflow came to $9 billion in 2012, down 11.9 percent from $10.2 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.The number lags behind $119.7 billion for China, which edged down 3.4 percent over the cited period. India and Malaysia sa
March 21, 2013
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SKT to offer limitless voice calls to smartphone users
SK Telecom, the nation’s largest mobile operator, announced Thursday a set of new price plans that promise unlimited voice calls among its subscribers and free text messaging for all smartphone users. The company also unveiled a monthly data scheme that allows its Long Term Evolution subscribers to share networks with up to two mobile devices free of charge. Until now, users had to pay 9,000 won monthly per device. The new plans came as the market No. 1 player pledged to put more emphasis on pro
IndustryMarch 21, 2013
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Hyundai Motor to create more jobs for underprivileged
Hyundai Motor Group on Thursday pledged a new investment plan worth 32 billion won ($28 million) over the next five years that would support “social enterprises” and create more jobs for young job-seekers and underprivileged people. As part of the plan, the Korean auto giant said it would create 750 jobs by 2017 through a venture start-up program that inspires young people to start a new business that benefits society as well as seeking profits. The carmaker, in cooperation with the Labor Minis
IndustryMarch 21, 2013
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Samsung preparing wristwatch as it races Apple for sales
Samsung Electronics is developing a wristwatch as Asia’s biggest technology company races against Apple Inc. to create a new industry of wearable devices that perform similar tasks as smartphones. “We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, said during an interview in Seoul. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” Lee had no co
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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Samsung C&T mulls giving up right to Yongsan project
Samsung C&T, the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group, said it is considering returning the right to build a landmark building in Yongsan to state-run rail operator KORAIL to join collective efforts to revive the faltering Yongsan property development project.“The company is in internal discussions on whether to give up the construction right worth 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion) as KORAIL requested, which will make it possible for the railroad operator to restructure the Yongsan projec
IndustryMarch 21, 2013
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KRX aims to become world’s No. 7 exchange-traded fund operator by 2020
The Korea Exchange is closely competing with bourses in major countries in the “exchange-traded fund” market.According to the nation’s main bourse operator, also called the KRX, Seoul ranked 10th in the world’s ETF market last year as the net asset value of the funds hovered around 14 trillion won ($12.8 billion).An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, refers to an investment fund traded on stock exchanges and represents a basket of stocks that reflect an index. It provides small and institutional inve
March 21, 2013
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Coffee guru teaches tasting skills to professionals
A man wearing a black apron savors the aroma of a cup of coffee, and then loudly slurps the liquid so it spreads to the back of his tongue. He is one of five active Q Grader instructors in the world, and visited Seoul this week to supervise a test to accredit professional coffee tasters, or Q Graders.With Korea consuming the most coffee per household in Asia, a Q Grader is an emerging career.“Worldwide, there are close to 2,000 Q Graders now and about 15 percent of them are in Korea,” Mane Alvez
IndustryMarch 21, 2013
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Seoul shares down 0.44 pct on earnings woe
South Korean stocks closed 0.44 percent lower Thursday due the gloomy outlook over first-quarter corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed8.59 points to 1950.82. Trading volume was low at 258 million shares worth 3.52 trillion won (US$3.16 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 493 to 295."Local shares trade lower despite the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stimulus measures
BusinessMarch 21, 2013
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Hands-free toothbrush developed
Two Canadians have developed a new type of toothbrush that works by the movement of the tongue.The gadget, named “T2T” (meaning “tongue to teeth”), was created by boilermaker Adel Elseri and his friend, Said Fayad, both aged 26.They claimed that users can brush their teeth with the gizmo mounted to their tongue and coated with toothpaste.The newly developed tool is more hygienic than existing toothbrushes, Elseri and Fayad claimed.A Facebook page and Twitter account have been made to promote the
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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Seoul shares up 0.14 pct in late-morning trade
South Korean stocks traded 0.14 percent higher late Thursday morning on gains in techs and shipbuilders, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.84 points to 1962.25 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech blue chips continued to gather ground, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.34 percent and top flat panel manufacturer LG Display adding 2.18 percent.Shipbuilders also traded higher, with No. 1 player Hyundai Heavy Industries moving up 1.45 percent and Samsung He
BusinessMarch 21, 2013
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Children who drink skim milk fatter
U.S. children ages 2-4 who drank skim milk or 1 percent milk had higher body mass index than those drinking whole milk, researchers say. Rebecca Scharf and Mark DeBoer, both of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and Ryan Demmer of Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University said the study involved 10,700 pre-school children. At age 2 the children body mass index was calculated and parents were asked what type of milk they gave their children. The children, a representative
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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New 3-D method developed for mobile phones
Mobile phone users may soon be able to enjoy 3-D pictures and videos on their devices.Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. said that they had developed a new way of putting glassless 3-D video onto mobile phones.Although Nintendo has already adopted 3-D technology for a handheld gaming console, users can enjoy 3-D displays only by centering their eyes on the screen.The newly developed technology portrays a 3-D object by creating 64 different points of view, allowing users to see its every angle on
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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Digital ‘talking head’ speaks for computer
A digital talking head named “Zoe” could be a first step toward a new era in human-computer interaction, British engineers say. The virtual “talking head” can express a full range of human emotions and could be used as a digital personal assistant or to replace texting with “face messaging,” the University of Cambridge reported Tuesday. Researchers at Toshiba‘s Cambridge Research Lab and the University of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering said the lifelike face can display emotions such as h
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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New iPhone lock screen bug surfaces
A new bug has popped up in Apple's iOS 6 operating system a day after it was updated to address an iPhone lock screen vulnerability, Arstechnica reported.While the security flaw is different from the passcode bug targeted by Tuesday's iOS 6.1.3 update, it results in the same risk -- that of giving unauthorized access to an iPhone's contact list and photos -- tech site said Wednesday.The process, demonstrated in a YouTube posting by user videosdebarraquito, involves ejecting the phone's SIM card
TechnologyMarch 21, 2013
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No deadline for S. Korea to decide on TPP talks: USTR chief
South Korea doesn't need to feel pressed for time in deciding whether to join the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a top U.S. trade official said Wednesday."There's no formal deadline," Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said at a press conference for foreign journalists in Washington. "The idea is that if economies aren't ready right now, that they'll be able to join once it's done and essentially accede to the TPP."Marantis said an envisioned TPP deal woul
March 21, 2013
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[Graphic News] Chinese tourists outnumber Japanese for first time
The number of Chinese travelers to Korea exceeded Japanese travelers for the first time in February, the Korea Tourism Organization said Wednesday.KTO data revealed that about 219,400 Chinese tourists flew to Korea in February, a steep 61 percent increase compared to 132,900 in February, 2012. This indicates that three out of every 10 foreign tourists to Korea are Chinese, the KTO said. The data showed that the number of Japanese tourists who entered the country by flight between January and Feb
March 20, 2013