Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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International passenger traffic hits fresh high in Q1
International passenger traffic in and out of Korea reached an all-time high in the first quarter as air travel demand picked up during national and school holidays, a government report showed Sunday. The number of passengers on overseas routes shot up 12.3 percent in the first three months to nearly 11.4 million, setting a fresh record, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. Domestic air passenger traffic also leapt 11.6 percent year-on-year to more than 4.9 million
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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SK Biopharm, Hanmi sign deal to sell epilepsy drug
SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. said Sunday it established a strategic partnership with Hanmi Pharm Co. to sell a nasal spray-type epilepsy drug in Korea and China.Hanmi and its Chinese arm will get the approval for sales and handle marketing in Korea and China, under the partnership. The diazepam nasal spray quickly transfers the diazepam substance to the brain through the mucous membranes inside the nasal cavity, allowing swift treatment, according to SK Biopharm.The pharmaceutical company expects t
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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LG chief pushes R&D recruitment drive
LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo added weight to the conglomerate’s search for top-notch research and development staff by attending a conference in San Francisco to which graduate students were invited. Eight affiliates of LG Group jointly hosted the LG Techno Conference on Saturday in which chief executives, chief technology officers and chief human resources officers gave presentations on their companies’ technological innovation and plans to foster R&D talent to about 300 students in master’s a
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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Hankook Tire mulls holding company
Hankook Tire is looking to spin off into a holding company and a tire business-focused entity, according to a regulatory filing and media reports.The holding company is likely to be a non-tire entity that will focus on venturing into new business areas, market watchers speculated.The listed Korean tire giant filed a disclosure on the Korea Exchange on Friday, saying that it was considering a spin-off, but that nothing had been decided. Its statement continued that the company will re-file a disc
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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Corporate hiring to slow this year: poll
South Korea’s corporate hiring is expected to grow at a slower pace in 2012 compared to the year before, mainly due to concerns of sluggish economic growth, a poll by a local business federation showed Sunday. The nationwide poll carried out on 508 companies by the Korea Employers Federation showed annual hiring is expected to rise 3.3 percent, down from a gain of 3.7 percent tallied for last year.It said large companies with over 1,000 employees plan to increase hiring by 3.7 percent this year,
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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Seoul stocks to track U.S. economic data, earnings
South Korean stocks are expected to mirror economic data and corporate earnings reports coming out of the United States this week and developments taking place in eurozone countries, local analysts said Saturday.The country’s key stock index, the KOSPI, closed at 1,974.65 on Friday, down 1.71 percent from a week earlier, mainly due to weaker than expected U.S. consumer sentiment and sluggish first quarter growth in China, South Korea’s largest export market.Uncertainties brought on by Spain’s de
April 22, 2012
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Korea’s debt may match GDP by 2030
South Korea’s government debt could surpass 100 percent of its gross domestic product in 2030, hit by a steady increase in welfare spending and rising debts of public companies, a report by the Bank of Korea warned Sunday. The nation’s public debt rose to a record high of 420.7 trillion won ($368 billion) as of the end of last year, with the ratio of national debt to GDP climbing to 34 percent from 33.4 percent a year ago. “The ratio of national debt to GDP is expected to remain low until 2015,
April 22, 2012
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Korea to contribute $15 billion to IMF
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea announced a plan Friday to provide $15 billion to the International Monetary Fund, which seeks to expand its lending capacity.The move comes as spring meetings of the IMF and G-20 are under way here. South Korea’s finance minister, Bahk Jae-wan, and the Bank of Korea chief, Kim Choong-soo, are attending the sessions.In a joint statement with Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, South Korea said the contribution is part of efforts to “increase the pr
April 22, 2012
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IMF warns Europe not to ease up in debt battle
WASHINGTON (AP) ― An infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars will give the International Monetary Fund a badly needed boost to tackle Europe’s prolonged debt crisis. But global finance officials sent a strong message Saturday that struggling governments must speed reforms or risk spooking jittery markets and raising the economic danger.The lending agency said in a statement after its weekend meetings that financially-strapped European countries must put in place bold changes to resolve their
April 22, 2012
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Loan shark crackdown gets massive response
The government received more than 5,600 complaints in the three days after it opened a call center last Wednesday to help victims of loan sharks, the nation’s top financial regulator said Sunday.The government last week announced plans to root out illegal private lenders that exploit low-income households with poor credit ratings. The reported cases involved illegal high-interest loans, mortgage fraud, coercive debt collection and voice phishing.The FSS has extended the reporting hours by three
April 22, 2012
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Korea still weak on resources: SERI
Korea’s resource developers should boost investment and productivity to ensure stable energy supplies and better cope with price swings, a think tank warned. Despite a recent upsurge in investment by state-run utilities and trading firms, their competitiveness remains weak compared to with their international peers due to a lack of technological knowhow and experience and passive risk taking, Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report released last week.“Korea is in urgent need of its
IndustryApril 22, 2012
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European car sales fall to 14-year low as economy stalls
European car sales fell to a 14- year low last month, with Fiat SpA, Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen posting the biggest drops, as the region’s sovereign- debt crisis caused economic growth to stall. Registrations in the 27-member European Union plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland fell 6.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.5 million vehicles, the lowest figure for March since 1998, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said today in a statement. First- quarter sale
MobilityApril 22, 2012
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U.S. regulators to examine electric-car battery safety
The U.S. auto-safety regulator said it will hold a forum on lithium-ion batteries in electric cars next month, almost a year after a General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt caught fire following crash-testing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a meeting May 18 in Washington to convene government officials and auto and battery-industry representatives to talk about “safety considerations” for cars powered by lithium-ion batteries. The meeting was announced in a posting on the
MobilityApril 22, 2012
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Renault Samsung looks to overseas markets
At home, automaker pinning hopes on electric vehicles to offset sluggish salesRenault Samsung Motors is seemingly prioritizing overseas markets over sales at home as consumption in Korea sags and the Chinese market enjoys rapid growth.During the first quarter of 2012, Renault Samsung posted exports of 27,505 units, 64 percent of its total sales of 42,939 units.Between 2000, when France’s Renault acquired the then Korean carmaker, and 2010, the carmaker’s yearly domestic sales exceeded exports.Th
MobilityApril 22, 2012
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Meat-eating contributed to human evolution: study
Recent study suggests that introduction of meat-eating worked as a key factor in the booming population growth of humankind and ultimately its domination, Science Daily reported Friday.A high-quality diet made possible by devouring meat caused prehistoric humankind to wean faster, allowing them to be more productive, according to a research by a group of scientists from Lund University in Sweden.“Eating meat enabled the breast-feeding period and thereby the time between births to be shortened,”
TechnologyApril 22, 2012
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Hen has chick without laying egg
A hen in Sri Lanka gave birth to a chick without an egg, veterinary officials said.(Photo courtesy of Manula Kumarage)Instead of being laid by the hen and incubated in the nest, the egg was incubated inside the hen for 21 days and then the chick hatched inside the mother.The chick is normally formed and healthy, veterinarians say, although the mother hen died.The government veterinary officer in t
TechnologyApril 22, 2012
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Twins charged with stock fraud
U.S. finance regulators said 21-year-old twins from Britain sold investors on a fraudulent computer program they said would make investment choices.The brothers Alexander and Thomas Hunter created a newsletter called Doubling Stocks and sold investors on a robot program called Marl, which made their investment decisions, The Financial Times reported Saturday.The Securities and Exchange Commission
April 22, 2012
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Africa said rich in underground water
The continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater in underground aquifers holding 100 times the amount found on the surface, scientists say.Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London have mapped the amount and potential yield of groundwater resources for the entire continent.While rivers and lakes are subject to seasonal changes that can limit
TechnologyApril 22, 2012
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Strict eating rules can up child obesity
A Swedish researcher warns parents against strict rules on what children may eat because such rules can result in less healthy eating.(MCT)Nutritionist Elisabeth Lind Melbye at the University of Stavanger in Sweden studied what worked and what didn't when parents sought to teach their offspring about healthy eating practices.The proportion of child obesity in the United States and Britain and sout
TechnologyApril 22, 2012
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Finance chief urges global efforts to curb oil prices
South Korea’s finance minister has called for greater international cooperation to control the surging price of crude oil, which can weigh down economic growth, the government said Friday.“The minister met with counterparts from China, India, Mexico and Canada, as well as the head of the World Bank, and exchanged views on what measures can be taken to deal with crude prices,” the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a press release in Seoul.Bahk Jae-wan is in Washington to take part in a two
April 20, 2012