Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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New head of doctors' association vows war in case of disadvantage to medical professors
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Korea seeks river restoration tech exports
The government’s multi-billion-dollar efforts to revamp the country’s major river basins are about to bear some fruit as it nears a deal with foreign partners to transfer related technology.The Lee Myung-bak administration has been ratcheting up its ambitions to export its much-touted recipe for refurbishing waterways and wetlands as a means to offset simmering criticism over the feasibility of the costly project and its potential side effects on wildlife conservation.The government is expecting
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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Hyundai E&C devoted to co-prosperity with suppliers
Korea’s biggest builder expands low-interest loans and technology development for subcontractorsHyundai Engineering & Construction, Korea’s largest builder, is expanding its campaigns to prop up smaller partners and suppliers as it strives to build a level playing field in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.Co-prosperity has been a keyword for corporate management over the past year as the government pushes for fair trade and healthy competition between conglomerates and small and medium businesses.
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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KOGAS receives top award for development of human resources
Korea Gas Corporation received a presidential honor for human resource development at the annual Korea National Quality Award ceremony last week. Companies and persons who have greatly contributed toward improving quality, reducing costs and raising productivity in industry have been awarded at the ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Korean Standards Association each year since 1975. About 1,700 people including Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, chief of the parliamentary co
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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KT leads 14-member consortium to build undersea optical cable
KT Corp., the country’s biggest fixed-line service operator, signed a contract with 13 telecoms on Tuesday to form an international consortium that will build a high-speed underwater optical fiber cable that connects nine Asian countries.KT, together with overseas telecom firms including NTT Communications in Japan and Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, will construct 10,000 kilometer-long optical cable called the “Asia Pacific Gateway,” according to KT officials.The underwater communications cable, wh
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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Foreign firms unfazed by N.K. leader’s death
Business as usual seems to be the consensus from foreign businesses and chambers of commerce in South Korea over the announcement of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death on Monday.North Korea’s secretive leader died of a heart attack on Saturday sparking concerns both at home and abroad.“At the moment, the events and the way things are going to roll out will not affect business,” said Rob Edwards, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea.The American Chamber of Commerce expressed
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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Port security tightened in wake of Kim’s death
Airlines concerned about passenger cuts from China, JapanThe government tightened security in airports and seaports Tuesday, a day after the announcement of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, while the airline industry fears a possible drop in passengers. The Korea Customs Service ordered affiliate agencies to “thoroughly examine goods coming in from countries with a large terrorist presence including socialist nations and countries whose nationals have been caught for attempting to b
IndustryDec. 20, 2011
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Saudi prince invests $300 million in Twitter
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) _ Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company said Monday they are investing a combined $300 million into Twitter, increasing the microblogging site's cash cushion as its user base expands.Alwaleed's joint investment with his Kingdom Holdin
TechnologyDec. 20, 2011
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Kim death to have limited impact on financial markets: official
The sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will likely have a limited impact on South Korea's financial markets, a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday, citing relatively stable overnight offshore market situations.South Korea's stock and currency markets tumbled on Monday, sparked
Dec. 20, 2011
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Factories running as usual in Gaeseong industrial park
Inter-Korean cooperation expected to expand if Western-educated Kim’s son takes powerNews of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death had no immediate impact on the joint industrial park just north of the inter-Korean border Monday, but observers are wary of temporary setbacks in production during the official mourning period.Once Kim’s Swiss-educated heir Jong-un firms up his control over the government, however, inter-Korean trade and economic collaboration are expected to expand in the long te
Dec. 19, 2011
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Hyundai Heavy wins $900m Africa order
South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said Monday it has clinched a $900 million order to provide offshore platforms and other facilities off the coast of Africa.Under the deal with an oil major, Hyundai Heavy will build two offshore gas platforms and other facilities by the end of 2014, the company said.Hyundai Heavy gave no further specifics on the buyer or other details, but added the platforms will be built in the seas off Nigeria.With the contract, Hyundai Heavy has w
IndustryDec. 19, 2011
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Exports of petrochemicals to hit all-time high this year
Exports of Korea’s four major refiners have already reached an all-time high this year on the back of soaring global demand for their lighter, cleaner petrol products, industry figures showed Monday.Combined exports of SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank topped 76.1 trillion won ($64.5 billion) during the first ten months of the year, up more than 20 percent from 63.1 trillion won for the whole of 2010. That also reflects a sharp increase compared with the previous high of 68.1 t
IndustryDec. 19, 2011
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Chung Eui-sun becomes third-richest stockholder
The vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Co. Chung Eui-sun is now the third wealthiest stockholder in the country after Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and Chung Mong-koo, his father and chairman of Hyundai Motor, a report showed Monday.The heir apparent of the country’s biggest automotive group owns shares worth 2.85 trillion won, up 682.8 billion won from the 2.17 trillion won tallied in the first quarter of this year, according to chaebul.com, an online research firm providing information
Dec. 19, 2011
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Hyundai Motor chief puts priority on quality of high-speed train
Hyundai Motor Group promoted six top management personnel at major units on Monday as part of chairman Chung Mong-koo’s business policy to secure internal strength.Jung Soo-hyun, who worked as a CEO of Hyundai E&C, was promoted to president and CEO of Hyundai Group’s construction unit, taking the No. 1 position in the company.Hyundai Mobis CEO Jun Ho-suck will lead the auto parts producer as the president and CEO, taking over the role of the outgoing vice chairman.Previously, the two companies w
MobilityDec. 19, 2011
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Conglomerates plan to freeze or reduce investment
Of the 10 largest Korean conglomerates, only four plan to increase investment next year amid economic uncertainties stemming from the European debt crisis. Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Lotte and GS said they would expand investment next year.SK Group, which is expected to invest a lot due to its recent acquisition of Hynix Semiconductor, was yet to draft detailed plans for next year, with the ongoing prosecutorial investigation of its chairman Chey Tae-won. POSCO, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha
IndustryDec. 19, 2011
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Corporate failures hit 7-month high in Nov.
The number of South Korean corporate bankruptcies jumped to a seven-month high in November, the central bank said Monday, raising concerns at signs of an economic slowdown.The number of companies that went belly-up totaled 130 last month, up from 118 in October, according to the Bank of Korea.The figure is the highest since 134 bankruptcies registered in April. The BOK added that the number of newly set-up firms reached 5,432 in November, growing 358 from the previous month.The default rate of c
Dec. 19, 2011
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Korea to use tariff quota against supply instability
South Korea plans to actively use its tariff quota system to cope with supply-side instability that can fuel inflationary pressure in 2012, the finance minister said Monday.In a meeting with economic policymakers, Bahk Jae-wan said Seoul plans to use the flexible tariffs to stabilize prices of products that may experience supply shortfalls.“There may be supply problems with products such as rice, dried chili peppers, garlic and pork in the coming months that can affect consumer prices,” he said.
Dec. 19, 2011
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Korea seeks to create Asian financial safety net in 2012
South Korea is seeking to create an Asian financial safety next year as part of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization regime to better insulate the regional economies from a worldwide financial meltdown, the country’s senior economic policymaker said Monday.Speaking at the G20 global economic cooperation conference hosted by the Korea Development Institute, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said that there is support and sympathy for setting up a regional precautionary credit line. The plan
Dec. 19, 2011
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Real interest rate stays negative for 25th month: data
South Korea’s real interest rate remained in negative territory for the 25th straight month in November, data showed Monday, raising concerns the trend will continue into next year amid a possible global economic downturn.The real interest rate, or the benchmark interest rate minus the consumer inflation rate, stood at minus 1 percent in November, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.The November figure extended the minus real interest rate period to its longest streak since the B
Dec. 19, 2011
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Korea’s stock market volatility outpaces major countries
By Yang Sung-jinSouth Korea’s stock market has demonstrated the most volatility of any market worldwide this year, data showed on Monday.Even aside from the turbulence sparked by the news of Kim Jong-il’s death, the financial industry’s data suggests that Korean investors rode a roller coaster ride this year, thanks to greater external uncertainties.The eurozone sovereign debt crisis, the growing local derivatives market and heavy reliance of the Korean economy on trades added to volatility, bro
Dec. 19, 2011
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Kim Jong-il’s death rattles financial market in Seoul
By Cynthia J. KimThe death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sparked immediate concern in the market, pushing the won to a two-month low against the dollar and dropping Seoul stocks to a three-week low.The benchmark KOSPI lost 3.43 percent and closed at 1,776.93 after sliding as much as to 1,750.60 at around noon when North Korea announced that the communist leader died on Dec. 17. The local currency lost 1.4 percent to 1,174 won against the greenback after dipping as low as 1,179.95. The junio
Dec. 19, 2011