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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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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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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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Seoul bourse likely to move in tight range
South Korean stocks are likely to be locked in range-bound trading this week as investors step to the sidelines over a lack of momentum, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.55 percent from a week earlier to finish at 1,822.93 last week, with the market fluctuating most of the week.The main index slumped 27.05 points to 1,794.91 on Wednesday as investor sentiment soured over U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s bleak economic outlook. But it bounced back to the psycho
July 22, 2012
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Credit card installment purchases hit 15-year high
Credit card installment purchases rose to a 15-year high in the first quarter of this year as households tried to reduce their repayment burden in the face of mounting debt, a report showed Sunday.The Credit Finance Association of Korea report showed 17.4 percent of all card purchases made in the January-March period were installments, the highest reached since 19.2 percent tallied for the whole of 1997, when the country was rocked by the Asian financial crisis.Reflecting this, credit card firms
July 22, 2012
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Hana Financial buys U.S. bank holding company
Hana Financial Group said Sunday it signed an agreement to acquire a 71 percent stake of BNB Financial Services Corporation, a holding company of New York-based Broadway National Bank.The acquisition of the only Korean-American bank that has a national license provides a foothold for Hana to expand sales in North America, the financial group said in a press release.National banks have high consumer trust as they are chartered and supervised by the Office of Comptroller of Currency, an agency und
July 22, 2012
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Public sector debt rises nearly 10%
The debt of South Korea’s public sector rose nearly 10 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier due to increased spending on state projects and government efforts to curb public utility charges, data showed Sunday.The outstanding debt of the government and nonfinancial state-owned corporations came to 842.27 trillion won ($738.5 billion) as of the end of March, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the finance ministry and the Bank of Korea.The figure
July 22, 2012
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Bidding for Woori slated for Friday
Financial authorities are scheduled to accept preliminary bids for tax money injected Woori Financial Group this Friday.The sale plan for the state-controlled financial company is drawing attention in the market while a group of lawmakers are calling on the Financial Services Commission to postpone the M&A competition for the next administration.Three months ago, the FSC made an official notification of the sale procedure, announcing that it would select preliminary bidders for Woori Financial b
July 22, 2012
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Opening of foreigners-only duty-free shops faces delay
Exclusive shops for overseas visitors likely to debut next yearThe opening of foreigners-only duty-free shops across the nation is most likely to take place next year, deferred from the government’s plan to have them ready by this year.The Korea Customs Service said Sunday that the establishment of foreigners-only duty-free shops is being delayed due to conflicts occurring between commissioners responsible for making a public announcement involving the issue.“Confirming the basic scheme and acce
July 22, 2012
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No aid for Peugeot without concessions: French minister
PARIS ― France will not grant any public aid to Peugeot PSA without concessions from the carmaker, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said on Wednesday, as the government prepared to unveil its strategy to shore up the ailing automobile sector.Montebourg criticized Peugeot for deciding to shutter a major production site near Paris, promising to summon the Peugeot family ― a majority stakeholder ― to explain why the carmaker has continued to pay dividends despite its difficulties.A public aid pa
MobilityJuly 22, 2012
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Ford recalls 2013 Escapes; engines can catch fire
Ford Motor Co. is telling owners of one version of the brand-new Ford Escape not to drive the SUVs until dealers can fix fuel lines that can crack and spill gasoline, causing engine fires. The company issued the unusual warning on Thursday and said it is recalling 2013 Escapes equipped with 1.6-liter four-cylinder engines. Dealers will pick up the Escapes and drop off a loaner car that customers can use until the repairs are finished. The company is hoping to ship parts and get all the SUVs repa
MobilityJuly 22, 2012
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Renault-Nissan renews commitment to Korea
Investment plan lacks specific measures to boost Renault Samsung’s sagging salesIn his surprise visit to Korea last week, Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, expressed his commitment to reviving the ailing Korean unit Renault Samsung Motors. Ghosn, who is also chairman of Nissan Motor, unveiled a 170 billion won ($160 million) investment plan in the production of Nissan vehicles at Renault Samsung Motors’ Busan plant during a news conference held in Seoul on Friday. “W
MobilityJuly 22, 2012
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Gray hair may indicate good health
Graying hair is typically regarded as an indicator of senility, but new study suggested it may actually be a sign of health, according to a report on Livescience.com.Researchers from Museo Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Spain recently found that some wild boars with reddish furs tend to be more vulnerable to cell damage. Red fur points to abundant pheomelanin, a pigment that produces col
TechnologyJuly 22, 2012
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Sugary drinks can change muscles in month
Sugary drinks lead to alterations in muscles similar to those in people with obesity problems and type 2 diabetes, researchers in Britain said. Dr. Hans-Peter Kubis of Bangor University in England said the research showed regularly drinking soft drinks changed the way muscles use food as fuel, making them prefer to burn sugars over fats. "This study proved our concerns over sugary drinks have bee
TechnologyJuly 22, 2012
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Korea's high-speed wireless Internet penetration tops 100 percent
South Korea's high-speed wireless Internet penetration rate has topped the 100 percent mark for the first time among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report showed Sunday.The penetration rate of high-speed wireless Internet service in South Korea amounted to 100.6 percent as of the end of last year, the highest among the 34 members of the Paris-
TechnologyJuly 22, 2012
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LG Electronics to release limited edition ‘king-size’ smart TV
LG Electronics plans to release a limited edition of its new ultra-definition, 3-D light-emitting diode smart television from July 20 to Aug. 20.Korea’s second largest consumer electronics company said that it will introduce the 84-inch LED TV model named 84LM9600, which is slightly bigger than the standard 2-meter-long king mattress.Targeting the premium TV market, LG’s ultra-definition LED TV offers four times as high resolution as full high-definition 1,920 by 1,080-size TVs, the company said
TechnologyJuly 20, 2012
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Samsung asks to restrict Apple references to Jobs at patent trial
Samsung Electronics asked a federal judge to restrict references by Apple Inc.’s lawyers to the company’s late founder Steve Jobs at a jury trial scheduled for July 30 over mobile-device patents. Harold McElhinny, a lawyer for Apple, told U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, Wednesday that he plans to show jurors two slides of Jobs during opening statements in the case. The slides include one when Jobs announced the release of the iPhone in 2007 ― an “announcement that went arou
TechnologyJuly 20, 2012
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Shares close flat on mixed market signs
Korean stocks closed nearly flat on Friday as concerns over weak U.S. data slightly outweighed firm gains in technology shares, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. After a rangebound trading session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 0.03 points to 1,822.93. Trading volume was moderate at 405.6 million shares worth 3.6 trillion won ($3.2 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 404 to 381.“Basically, there was no strong market-driving factor
July 20, 2012
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LG Display, SNU join hands for next-generation displays
LG Display, Korea’s second-biggest display panel maker, has formed a partnership with Seoul National University for the research and development of next-generation display technology.The company said that the two sides will establish the LGD-SNU Cooperation Center within the university’s Research Institute of Advanced Materials to push forward in making Korea the “Mecca” of the world’s leading R&D in display.The corporate-academic center will house top engineers, researchers and professors from
TechnologyJuly 20, 2012
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FSS governor calls for stronger risk management
Korean brokerage houses and other financial investment companies should beef up risk management as uncertainties surrounding the eurozone crisis and the global economic slump are expected to last for some time, the top financial regulator said Friday. “Financial firms need to step up efforts to manage risks as their internal control stands vulnerable to external shocks,” said Kwon Hyouk-se, head of the Financial Supervisory Service.In a meeting with the chief executives of local financial firms,
July 20, 2012
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Woori Financial says will tighten its belt
Woori Financial Group announced on Friday it will tighten its belt and work toward “slim management” to increase profitability despite the unstable economic situation. Under the plan, the group will control large-scale group-level investments, make liquidity-increasing a priority and hold back unnecessary costs. Investment plans of more than a certain amount of money will be closely analyzed in terms of expected profits, said the group through a press release. CEOs of all affiliates of the group
July 20, 2012
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Renault-Nissan to invest $160 million in local unit
The Renault-Nissan Alliance said Friday it will pour $160 million (170 billion won) into the ailing Korean unit Renault Samsung Motors for the production of Nissan models at the carmaker’s factory in Busan from 2014. The new investment plan came as Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn, who is also chairman and CEO of the strategic partnership between French and Japanese auto giants Renault and Nissan, arrived in Korea four years after his previous visit. Under the plan, the Renault Samsung factory in t
IndustryJuly 20, 2012
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Rate-rigging may hurt confidence in Korea
International lawsuits likely to follow if collusion is foundConcerns about a possible fall in international confidence in Korea’s financial markets are rising after the government launched a probe into alleged collusion by banks and brokerages to rig rates on certificates of deposit earlier this week. Market observers said if allegations of the collusion are found to be true, it may lead foreigners to exit from the nation’s derivatives markets based on CD rates.They also raised the possibility
July 20, 2012