Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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Financial firms tighten belts in economic slump
Korean financial firms, hit by the economic slowdown, are tightening their belts through job cuts and asset sales to shore up their falling profitability and put their balance sheets in better shape, market watchers said Thursday.Local brokerage houses are leading the way in reducing workforces and streamlining businesses.The total number of employees at 63 local brokerage firms reached 42,388 at end-March this year, down 0.7 percent from three months earlier, the first decrease since the second
Aug. 9, 2012
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Revolving credit plagues 1m cardholders
Financial authorities seek to curb card debt rolled over past due dateAbout 1 million credit cardholders with low credit are facing further credit downgrades due to potential defaults on their revolving credit, prompting financial authorities to revise related rules.The revolving credit system allows cardholders to pay only between 5 and 10 percent of their monthly credit card bills and have the rest rolled over to the following month until it is fully paid off. Credit card firms charge consumer
Aug. 9, 2012
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KOGAS finds more reserves below Mozambique waters
The Korea Gas Corp.’s efforts to find natural gas off the coast of Mozambique have made progress, raising hopes for new reserves of overseas natural resources for the nation.The state-run energy corporation has actively participated in the deepwater projects in the African country since 2007. Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, has sought to reduce its heavy reliance on resource imports.The latest discovery of a natural gas field in the African nation came on Aug. 1. Korea’s Ministry of Knowle
IndustryAug. 9, 2012
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Yeosu Declaration to build on momentum of Rio+20 Conference
Oceans are the quintessential sustainable development issue, essential to all three pillars of sustainable development ― economic development, social development and environmental protection. Oceans provide critical social, economic and nutritional benefits, providing billions of people with nutrition and livelihood, and underpin the global economy. Just as one cannot do without a healthy heart, the world cannot do without a healthy ocean.This is an important year for oceans. The momentous Rio+2
Aug. 9, 2012
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Yeosu Expo to complete three-month run Sunday
Expo site to be turned into ocean resort complexThe Expo 2012 Yeosu will wrap up its three-month run on Sunday, with the number of visitors expected to reach 8 million as targeted by the organizing committee. Dubbed the first-ever world fair held on water, the Yeosu Expo opened on May 12 in the southern coastal town of Yeosu, about 455 kilometers south of Seoul. It was the second international fair hosted by Korea, after the Daejeon Expo in 1993. As of Thursday, the accumulated number of visito
IndustryAug. 9, 2012
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Cholesterol levels of U.S. children down significantly
WASHINGTON ― Against the drumbeat of bad news on obesity and diabetes among children, researchers have uncovered a cause for cautious optimism: a steady and significant improvement in the cholesterol profiles of American kids over the last 20 years.The proportion of young people ages 6 to 19 with high total cholesterol dropped 28 percent between the two time periods sampled in the report, from 11.3 percent in 1988-94 down to 8.1 percent in 2007-10, the new study found.At the same time, the avera
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Healthy blood vessels for a longer life
Blood vessels are literally the vessels through which our blood flows. There are essential substances such as nutrients and oxygen in the blood, and the vessels function as a carrier of these substances throughout the body. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the blood has to flow smoothly for a healthy life. Blood vessels can be narrowed or obstructed due to many reasons including aging, disease, diet and smoking. If so, the body sends an SOS signal and in severe cases, the person’s life i
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Gender test is Olympic hurdle
Of all the obstacles athletes have had to overcome to compete in the Olympics, perhaps the most controversial has been the gender test.Originally designed to prevent men from competing in women’s events, it is based on the premise that competitors can be sorted into two categories via established scientific rules. But the biological boundaries of gender aren’t always clear.Consider the Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino. A gender test revealed that she had a Y chromosome, which normally
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Drug combination lifts breast cancer survival rates, study says
SEATTLE ― Women with metastatic breast cancer treated with a combination of two estrogen-blocking drugs survived more than six months longer than those treated with just one of the drugs or one followed by the other, according to a study involving nearly 700 women.It’s the first time such improvement in overall survival has been seen in trials of first-line hormonal therapy for hormone-receptive metastatic breast cancer, the study authors said.“We’re finding a lot of other ways of treating these
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Heat wave threatens public health
The prolonged scorching weather is putting people at risk of not only heat-related illnesses but waterborne diseases as well. Seoul City has been gripped by a weeks-long heat wave, with the mercury often soaring above 35 degrees Celsius and nighttime highs staying above 25 C, resulting in 13 consecutive tropical nights since July 27.A total of 89 people have been taken to the hospital for heat-related illnesses such as heatstroke and dehydration since June, whereas 27 people suffered from such i
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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BOK freezes key rate at 3 percent
Benchmark interest rate unchanged as central bank assesses impact of last month’s cutThe Bank of Korea on Thursday kept the key interest rate unchanged at 3 percent, as widely predicted, in a bid to size up the after-effects of its surprise rate cut in July.The central bank cut the benchmark seven-day repo rate by 0.25 percentage point a month ago after freezing it at 3.25 percent for 13 months since June last year. It was the first time the BOK lowered the key interest rate since February 2009.
Aug. 9, 2012
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Men prefer heavier women when stressed: study
A new study indicates that putting men under stress can lead them to find overweight women more attractive.The new study, led by researchers Viren Swami of the University of Westminster and Martin Tovee of Newcastle University, alleges that men who are put under stress have a higher preference toward overweight women than men who are relaxed.Swami and Tovee randomly selected a group of men and asked them to take part in a mock interview designed to elevate their stress levels. The control group,
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Seoul shares jump 1.96 percent on foreign buying
South Korean stocks closed 1.96 percent higher Thursday on strong foreign buying fed by optimism over a global economic recovery, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shot up 37.33 points to 1,907.13. Trading volume was moderate at 483.1 million shares worth 6.32 trillion won ($5.60 billion) with advancers outstrippi
Aug. 9, 2012
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BOK freezes key rate following July's rate cut
South Korea's central bank froze the key interest rate on Thursday in a bid to gauge the impact of its surprise rate cut in July on the local economy amid the protracted eurozone debt crisis.As widely expected, Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his fellow policymakers held the benchmark 7-day repo rate steady at 3 percent for August. The move followed the BOK's quarter-percentage point r
Aug. 9, 2012
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Fossil find shows other human cousins
Fossils show two additional species of our genus Homo lived alongside our direct ancestral species in Africa almost 2 million years ago, scientists say.The discovery near Lake Turkana in Kenya confirms that a fossil skull found 40 years ago was a different species of early Homo living alongside Homo erectus during the Pleistocene epoch.That skull, dubbed KNM-ER 1470, missing the teeth and lower jaw but distinguished by a large brain size and long flat face, started a longstanding debate about j
TechnologyAug. 9, 2012
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Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains
South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 10.75 points, or 0.56 percent to 1,913.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Blue chips pushed up shares, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics rising 0.23 percent and No. 4 lender Shinhan Financial climbing more than 2 percent.U.S. mark
Aug. 9, 2012
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Samsung to investigate alleged child labor abuse at its Chinese supplier
Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it will inspect a Chinese supplier alleged of exploiting child labor.New York-based labor rights group China Labor Watch released a 31-page report Tuesday on HEG Electronics Co., a partner of the South Korean electronics behemoth, saying the Chinese firm employs children under the age of 16. "Samsung Electronics has conducted two separate on-site inspections
IndustryAug. 8, 2012
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S-Oil invites children to ecology camp
S-Oil has invited 100 children from low-income families to Togomi Village in the Demilitarized Zone in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, for a tour that started Tuesday. The children will learn about local ecology and explore habitats of natural treasures such as the otter and “orumachi,” or cyprinid fish, until Aug. 9, company officials said.S-Oil also provides activities such as picking corn, pounding boiled rice for rice cakes and making handkerchiefs with grass leaves. The children will experience
Aug. 8, 2012
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Asiana links up with Chinese schools for underprivileged
This is the first in a series of articles featuring companies’ social contribution activities at home and abroad. ―Ed. Asiana Airlines, the Korean air carrier with the most routes to China, has started a social contribution program this year supporting underdeveloped schools in the country’s suburban areas. On July 10, a team consisting of Asiana officials and members of the Korea International Cooperation Agency arrived at a small school in the city of Dalian Wafangdian in Liaoning Province, no
IndustryAug. 8, 2012
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Heat waves push up vegetable prices
More than 830,000 farm animals die since July 20 amid scorching heatPrices of green-leaf vegetables shot up as unusually high temperatures continued for the third week, killing acres of crops and hundreds of thousands of livestock.The supply of vegetables normally rises during summer, but harvests are slow this year as green-leaf veggies increasingly shrivel up with temperatures hovering over 35 degrees Celsius. “Prices of leafy vegetables are rising sharply as many of them withered to death in
Aug. 8, 2012