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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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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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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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Major privatization projects in doldrums
Privatization of Incheon Airport, KDB Financial hangs in the air due to political resistance The Lee Myung-bak administration’s plans to privatize public institutions including the sale of a state-owned stake in Incheon International Airport have been put on hold due to opposition from politicians.Plans to privatize KDB Financial Group and find a private company to run the KTX bullet train from Suseo in southeastern Seoul also face delays or suspension.The government decided not to submit a rev
IndustryAug. 22, 2012
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Bluebird Soft aims to strengthen business fundamentals
Korea’s No. 1 industrial smartphone maker eyes IPO to boost global recognitionWhen Lee Jang-won set out to establish his first venture tech firm in 1995, he built a company named Bluebird Soft that developed messenger software for enterprises.But its early tech products were “far ahead of its time,” said Lee, the founder and CEO of Bluebird Soft.“We were, then, making communication software for VoIP, and mobile and PC messengers that can be seen as today’s Kakao Talk,” Lee said.“Soft” is part o
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Kakao Game Center an instant hit
Kakao, the creator of Korea’s most-used mobile messenger Kakao Talk, is seeing rapid growth in its mobile gaming platform business.Since the launch of Kakao Game Center on July 30, two games released via Kakao’s gaming platform have topped the charts on Google Play, an app market for Android-based smartphone users.“Anipang,” developed by Kakao’s strategic partner Sundaytoz, has become the top grossing game in Korea, edging over the popular “Rule the Sky” by JCE, part of Korea’s biggest gamer Nex
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Samsung, Apple anxiously await court verdict on patent battle
Seoul court’s ruling may be deferred after U.S. jurors come up with conclusion early SaturdayThe world’s two global IT giants ― Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. ― will face crucial court rulings this week to end their fierce patent fight as they came short of reaching an eleventh-hour compromise.The outcomes of their multibillion-dollar patent battles in the U.S. and Korea are scheduled to be released on Friday and Saturday.The two firms each completed their two-hour closing arguments at the c
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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S. Korean researchers find new way to watch 3-D movies
Researchers in South Korea have created a convenient way to watch 3-D movies without the glasses, according to news reports.Humans see the world in three dimensions because of the spacing between our eyes. The brain takes in the visual input from both eyes and is able to generate depth perception. The trick to achieving 3-D movies is to slightly offset the images for each eye. Therefore, in typical 3-D theaters, two different projectors display two images on the same screen. This is why the movi
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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The Face-Kini: A new way to avoid the sun’s rays
A new way to avoid the sun’s dangerous rays is by covering your head with a Face-Kini and your body with its matching body suit. The Face-Kini is like a thin balaclava, and covers the whole head, with holes for the eyes and mouth. This product is popular with beach-goers who want to protect their skin from the sun at the coast in China’s Shandong province, according to news reports.The Face-Kini is unisex and comes in a wide range of colors and patterns. Although this article of clothing was inv
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Cosmetics from jellyfish’s collagen?
The government unveiled on Wednesday an unusual plan to fight the threat of jellyfish to the country’s bathers: turning the sea creatures into cosmetics. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that it aims to eradicate the jellyfish by exploring ways to extract collagen from the creatures to produce commercial cosmetics.To that end, the ministry has asked the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute to conduct research to find a way to carry out the plan. If
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Obese may lose memory sooner
(123rf)People who are obese lose their memory and thinking ability faster than thinner people, British and French researchers say. Researchers at University College London said the study was based on data from 6,500 federal British civil servants, whose health was monitored from the ages of 50 to 60, The Daily Telegraph reported. The study participants were weighed, measured, blood pressure and ch
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Star Wars slowly becoming a reality?
The hoverbike made famous by the “Return of the Jedi” has been recreated and tested by California firm Aerofex, according to news sources. The vehicle is made from two ducted fans facing the ground. Pilots can move it by controlling the angle of these fans with two control sticks and can control the direction of flight by simply leaning in the desired direction.Initial plans to recreate the hoverbike were called off because of the complex control system. However, Aerofex was able to create a sys
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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New Ebola outbreak reported in DRC
Digital illustration of the ebola virus. (123rf)A new outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Africa, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 10 people are reported to have died of the disease in Orientale province in eastern Congo, CNN reported. Two cases of the disease have been confirmed and 13 are suspected. Orientale borders the area in Uganda where 16 deaths have bee
TechnologyAug. 22, 2012
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Samsung secures over 10 pct share of global semiconductor market
Samsung Electronics Co., the world‘s top memory chip maker, extended its share of the global semiconductor market to more than 10 percent in the second quarter of the year, a U.S. market researcher said Tuesday.According to market information provider iSupply, Samsung accounted for 10.1 percent of the global semiconductor market in the April-June period, or US$7.57 billion, to rank second among the world’s major chip makers.It marks the first time that Samsung‘s global market share has topped th
IndustryAug. 22, 2012
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Working-level talks held for Northeast Asia FTA
South Korea, China and Japan on Tuesday held their second round of working-level meetings in the Chinese city of Qingdao to discuss launching free trade talks within the year, Seoul's foreign ministry said. During the talks, trade officials from the three countries agreed to continue efforts for arrangements required for the launch of the trilateral free trade negotiations by the year-end, accordi
BusinessAug. 21, 2012
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Toyota strives to placate angry consumers
Consumers preparing to file class action suit over fuel efficiencyToyota Motor Corp.’s Korean unit is grappling to block a possible class action suit by a group of consumers arguing that the automaker fabricated the fuel-efficiency figures of some hybrid cars.This comes as some local owners of eco-friendly vehicles from Toyota and Lexus, the premium brand of the Japanese company, are inviting similar complaints on a website for a joint litigation.The angry consumers claim that the “high fuel-ef
IndustryAug. 21, 2012
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Production in Gaeseong park rises
Despite little progress in inter-Korean relations, production in North Korea’s Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which houses South Korean factories is increasing, data showed.According to a report released by the Unification Ministry in Seoul, production in the first half of this year in the GIC located in the border city of Gaeseong soared 23 percent from the same period last year.The number of North Korean workers in the industrial park, which amounted to 46,194 in January last year, rose to 51,31
Aug. 21, 2012
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Korea’s external debt hits record high in Q2
Korea’s external debt hit a fresh record high in the second quarter as its short-term foreign debt spiked due to increased overseas borrowing by local branches of foreign banks, the central bank said Tuesday.The country’s external debt totaled $418.6 billion as of the end of June, up $6.1 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.Korea’s foreign debt rose for the third straight quarter in the second quarter. The country’s foreign debt surpassed the $400 billion mark for t
Aug. 21, 2012
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Watchdog cracks down on food-product price fixing
The nation’s antitrust watchdog has launched a large-scale investigation into whether local food companies were involved in shady deals before recent price hikes of their key products. The Fair Trade Commission picked some processed food items such as instant noodles, canned tuna, beverages and pre-cooked rice, whose prices rose almost simultaneously in recent weeks. “The market dominance of top players is very powerful within the food industry. Considering their price hikes were carried out wit
IndustryAug. 21, 2012
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Chinese firms say technology level on par with Korea
About 40 percent of Chinese companies in Korea believe that Chinese technology has enhanced enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Korean technology, according to a survey released on Tuesday.The survey was conducted by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, which interviewed 502 Chinese companies doing business in Korea and 320 Korean companies doing business in China from July 19 to July 31.The majority, or about 66.6 percent, of Korean firms in China responded that Korean t
Aug. 21, 2012
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KT, Intel to test energy-efficient data center
CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province ― KT and Intel opened a test bed for an energy-efficient data center for the first time in Korea on Tuesday.The nation’s biggest fixed-line service provider said the two firms have worked together since late 2010 to operate a data center that runs at high temperatures to save energy and lower costs.“The data center in Cheonan is the first one to apply this energy-saving technology and the application will be expanded to other data centers operated by KT nation
IndustryAug. 21, 2012
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Home prices continue to tumble
Morgan Stanley says downswing will continue for six to 12 monthsApartment prices in the Seoul metropolitan area fell to 10 percent below what they were just before the global financial crisis in 2008, signaling a protracted housing market slump, according to government data.Prices of new apartments plunged some 30 percent in four years and housing transactions plummeted as fewer people moved home, said the report from the Land Ministry released on Tuesday.Despite an increase in the overall popul
Aug. 21, 2012
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China 10 years from now and Korea’s corporate response
As China speeds up industrial upgrading, Korea will face more competition in all sectorsThe world’s most populous country, China has set expanding domestic demand as a core engine for mid- to long-term economic growth. To facilitate higher consumption, the government is seeking to improve the distribution of wealth. Major initiatives include urbanization, higher worker wages and social welfare improvements. Urbanization and national land development planning are the main factors in the developme
Aug. 21, 2012