Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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S. Korea to issue travel ban on Haiti amid intensifying gang violence
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Around 50% of people with disabilities aged 65 or above: report
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Leaders of S. Korea, Angola agree to boost economic, trade cooperation
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ABS issuance surges 63.8 percent in Q1
The issuance of asset-backed securities in South Korea surged 63.8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, led mostly by state-run firms, the country’s financial regulator said Tuesday.ABS sales by local financial firms and mortgage agencies totaled 8.94 trillion won ($7.86 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 5.46 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The spike came as public firm Korea Land and Housing Corp. and Korea Housing Fi
May 8, 2012
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Korea to crack down on rip-offs at Yeosu Expo
A team of government agencies will monitor for exorbitant accommodation prices during the EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea, which kicks off its three-month run on Saturday. Eight governmental organizations, including the Fair Trade Commission, Yeosu City and the National Tax Service, formed an inspection team which checked on Wednesday and Friday accommodation throughout Yeosu City, announced The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affaires on Tuesday. The team examined the sanitary conditions of 50 l
IndustryMay 8, 2012
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Lotte, Shinsegae eye ET Land
Retail rivals mulling takeover of electronic goods chainLotte Shopping and E-mart revealed on Tuesday intentions to buy ET Land, an electronic goods retail chain. Lotte Shopping said that it is examining the takeover but nothing is decided yet, following Korea Exchange’s call to confirm the spreading market speculation. “Detailed decisions will be made public within a month regarding the buy,” said the company. Shinsegae Group, which was also rumored to be eying ET Land, answered that the story
IndustryMay 8, 2012
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Yahoo CEO apologizes for bogus degree
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is sorry for allowing an inaccuracy about his education to appear in his official biography, but not remorseful enough to heed calls for him to resign.Thompson apologized for the uproar caused by the misinformation in a memo sent Monday to the troubled Internet company’s employees. Yahoo Inc. provided a copy of the memo to the Associated Press.The memo didn’t offer any explanation why Thompson’s bio has periodically listed a bachelor’s degree in comp
IndustryMay 8, 2012
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Koo vows to revamp structure, foster creativity
LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo pledged to overhaul its corporate structure during his meeting with executives on Tuesday.“To take the initiative in the market, we need basic changes in our internal structure,” he told a monthly meeting of about 300 group executives.Koo also stressed the significance of creativity: “Bearing customer value in mind, we should build up differentiated competitiveness.”The LG chief has been leading the drive to nurture future growth projects by visiting LG Group units’
IndustryMay 8, 2012
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SAP to eye M&A opportunity, promote B2B software firms: CEO Hyoung
Korea has capacity to develop higher value-added mobile apps for exportSAP is always on the lookout for acquisitions that can help the world’s largest enterprise software company gain innovative technology and reinforce its business in mobile, in-memory and cloud computing.Korea would definitely be one of many potential markets where SAP, backed by “tons of cash,” would seek opportunities in mergers and acquisitions, said Hyoung Won-joon, CEO and president of SAP Korea.“It may be a cliche to say
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Apple’s iOS 5.1.1 update fixes bugs
Apple Inc. said it has released iOS 5.1.1 for iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone to fix bugs. Improvements include better reliability for the HDR option when accessing the camera app from the lock screen and a number of other fixes for bugs affecting AirPlay video playback.The new release has fixed a bug that blocked third-generation iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks. Also, the bug of “Unable to purchase” alert has been fixed.The iOS 5.1.1 also improved reliability for syncing Safari book
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Ancient crocodile may have dined on humans
An ancient crocodile big enough to swallow a human whole once thrived in East Africa, a University of Iowa researcher says."It's the largest known true crocodile," Christopher Brochu, a professor of geoscience, said. "It may have exceeded 27 feet in length. By comparison, the largest recorded Nile crocodile was less than 21 feet, and most are much smaller."Resembling its living cousin the Nile cr
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Black pepper fights formation of fat cells
Researchers in South Korea say they are unlocking the secret to why black pepper fights fat.Soo-Jong Um, Ji-Cheon Jeong and colleagues at Sejong University in Seoul said black pepper and the black pepper plant were used for centuries in traditional Eastern medicine to treat gastrointestinal distress, pain, inflammation and other health disorders.Despite the long medicinal history, scientists know
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Gassy dinos may have warmed the Earth: study
Giant dinosaurs that roamed the Earth millions of years ago may have warmed the planet with the gas they produced from eating leafy plants, British scientists said on Monday. (AFP-Yonhap News)Much like modern cows that emit a significant amount of methane in their digestive process, the 20,000 kilogram sauropods contributed the same way, and likely more, to the warming climate, said the study in t
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Reducing calories may preserve memory
Cutting back on calories is a good idea to protect the heart, and U.S. researchers say eating less also may reduce a person's risk of memory loss. Yonas Geda of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and colleagues looked at the association between eating and those with mild cognitive impairment.The researchers compared eating habits and diagnosis of memory loss in 1,000 participants, ages 70 and o
TechnologyMay 8, 2012
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Top business groups take 60% of stock market cap
Listed companies belonging to South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates account for nearly 60 percent of the local stock market’s total capitalization, a report showed Monday.The Korea Exchange report showed the aggregate market capitalization of the affiliates stood at 737.17 trillion won ($648.91 billion) as of end-April, up 14.72 percent from the end of 2011. The figure translates into 59.21 percent of the stock market capitalization, up 3.21 percentage points from the end of last year. Samsung Grou
May 7, 2012
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Korea’s IT exports drop 9.4% in April
South Korea’s exports of information technology products contracted 9.4 percent on-year in April due to slowdowns in the U.S. and Chinese economies and lingering eurozone woes, the government said Monday.The country shipped $12.04 billion worth of IT products last month, compared with $13.28 billion a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. However, the country posted a trade surplus of $5.72 billion as imports also fell 5.3 percent to $6.31 billion. April’s outbound shipme
May 7, 2012
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1st round of FTA talks with China delayed to May 14
Korea will hold its first round of negotiations with China on the bilateral free trade agreement on May 14 in Beijing instead of May 10 as earlier announced, Seoul’s Trade Ministry said Monday.The date was changed upon China’s request. The Korean delegation, led by the country’s chief FTA negotiator Choi Seok-young, will consist of officials from the ministries of finance, agriculture and knowledge economy.The Chinese negotiating team will be headed by Assistance Minister of Commerce Yu Jianhua.
May 7, 2012
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SK Group exports hit record in Q1
SK Group said Monday its seven manufacturing units’ combined exports set a record high of $14.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, thanks to robust sales of petrochemical products. With the share of exports in sales exceeding 70 percent for the first time, the group said it has successfully turned into an export-driven conglomerate after a decade of efforts. Sales of the seven affiliates ― SK Innovation, SK Energy, SK Global Chemical, SK Lubricants, SKC, SK Chemicals and SK Hynix ― neare
IndustryMay 7, 2012
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Exor proposes Lee as independent board director
Exor, an Italy-based investment holding company, has proposed Lee Jay-yong, president and chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics to be its board’s independent director. Lee is the only son of Lee Kun-hee, the owner of Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group. Exor, meanwhile, is controlled by the Agnelli Family. Exor, whose portfolio includes Fiat and Chrysler, said in a press release on May 4 that it has filed candidates, including Lee, for the board of directors to its shareholders f
IndustryMay 7, 2012
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No further bank runs after suspensions
FSS calls for depositors of under 50 million won not to withdraw money from savings banksNo massive deposit withdrawals have been spotted at the regional affiliates of the four suspended mutual savings banks, officials at the Financial Supervisory Service said on Monday. The suspended banks include Solomon, Korea, Mirae and Hanju. A total of 34.4 billion won ($10.3 million) was withdrawn as of 3 p.m. on Monday at Busan Solomon and Gwangju Solomon, subsidiaries of the Solomon Savings Bank, the na
May 7, 2012
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Banks’ bad debt ratio rises in Q1
The bad debt ratio of South Korean lenders rose in the first quarter from the three months earlier as new non-performing loans were reported in shipbuilding and real estate areas, the financial watchdog said Monday.Non-performing loans at 18 local banks totaled 20.9 trillion won ($18.3 billion), or 1.51 percent of their total lending, at the end of March, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure marks a 0.15-percentage point gain from the previous quarter.Compared with a year e
May 7, 2012
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Shares drop 1.64% on Europe elections
South Korean stocks fell 1.64 percent Monday as investors were spooked by election results in Europe and weaker than expected U.S. employment data last week, analysts said.The local currency declined against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI lost 32.71 points to 1,956.44, in its the third straight session of decline. Trading volume was moderate at 527 million shares worth 4.69 trillion won ($4.12 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 622 to 211.“The market retreated as investors felt uneasy
May 7, 2012
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Concerns rising over lack of Expo accommodation
Concerns are rising that visitors may suffer from a shortage of upper class accommodations in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, where the World Expo 2012 will kick off this Friday.According to a survey conduced by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local travel agencies expressed worries that the number of major hotels sits at four in the southern coastal city.The respondents said a large portion of local and foreign visitors will have to lodge at hotels in Gwangju and other neighboring cit
IndustryMay 7, 2012