Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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Hotel Lotte likely to become holding firm
Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin / YonhapThe soon-to-be listed Hotel Lotte is likely to become a 20 trillion won ($19 billion) holding company for Lotte Group in Korea, going solo from its Japanese sister companies. The company is also likely to merge with Lotte’s flagship retail arms in order to reinforce the domestic governance structure, market watchers suggested Wednesday, a day after Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin announced the yet-unscheduled initial public offering of Hotel Lotte.“Once listed,
Aug. 12, 2015
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Luxury watches replace bags as No. 1 smuggled items
Luxury Switzerland-made Cartier watches replaced designer bags to become the most counterfeited items smuggled into Korea by price, according to data by the Korea Customs Service. About 26 billion won ($21.8 million) worth of fake Cartier watches were found to have been brought into Korea without being reported to the customs office in the January-June period, the agency said. Popular items that smugglers attempt to sneak through customs are regarded as an index of trending luxury brands in the
Aug. 12, 2015
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Celltrion steps up global expansion with biosimilar drug
Celltrion, a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, is making headway in a newly emerging category of medicine known as biosimilars -- lower-cost copies of brand-name biologic drugs that have lost patent protection, around the world. The Korean drugmaker on Monday said it has gained approval from Australia to begin selling Remsima -- its biosimilar replication of the world’s third best-selling rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug Remicade. U.S.-based global pharmaceutical firm Hospira, Celltrio
Aug. 12, 2015
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[Graphic News] Jobless rate down in July for third month
Korea’s unemployment rate decreased from 3.9 percent in June to 3.7 percent in July as more people were hired, data showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, the number of employed people reached slightly more than 26.30 million last month, with 326,000 new jobs being created on-year.July marked the third month in a row that more than 300,000 jobs have been created in the country.Officials said most of new jobs were created in the manufacturing and services sector as the government and the
Aug. 12, 2015
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Lotte Shopping jumps on hopes for better governance
Shares of Lotte Shopping, a key affiliate of retail-focused conglomerate Lotte Group, shot up Wednesday on hopes the unit would benefit from the group's plan to list its hotel arm Hotel Lotte. Lotte Shopping ended at 241,000 won ($202.3) on the main KOSPI, up 7.83 percent from the previous session and gaining for a second straight session. The KOSPI shed 0.56 percent. Shares of Lotte affiliates widely advanced on Wednesday following Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin's apology over an ongoing
Aug. 12, 2015
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Daum Kakao to launch high-end taxi service in Oct.
South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Daum Kakao Corp. said Wednesday its popular taxi application will be updated in October to allow users to hail high-end taxis. Daum Kakao's latest plan is in line with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's move to ease regulations on the operations of high-end taxis, which will provide improved services compared with the existing luxury taxis. Daum Kakao said it has signed memorandums of understanding with Seoul Taxi Association and High& Co. to speed
Aug. 12, 2015
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Lotte needs at least 2.5 tln won to unwind circular shareholding
Lotte Group, which is mired in a bitter family fight over control of its sprawling business empire, needs about 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion) to unwind its complex circular shareholding structure, a report estimated Wednesday. Lotte Group does business both in South Korea and Japan and has 416 cross shareholding arrangements that allow its founder and family members to wield a disproportionate amount of power over the group with a relatively small portion of shares. According to the report
Aug. 12, 2015
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Secret behind Lotte’s real estate riches
Blueprint of the Lotte World Tower and its surrounding “Lotte Shopping Town” in Jamsil, Seoul. Lotte GroupSEOUL/TOKYO -- When it comes to real estate, Lotte knows what it is talking about.The company has been rocking the nation with a fierce family feud and a possibly illegal corporate structure, but in terms of property investment, it’s been at the top of its game.In Korea, Lotte Group’s headquarters are nestled in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country -- Sogong-dong in central
Aug. 11, 2015
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Lotte pledges to list hotel, cut circular shareholding
Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin on Tuesday bowed to public pressure and announced a plan to reform the conglomerate’s complicated circular shareholding structure by this year to ensure transparency.Offering a public apology over his family’s feud over the succession of the 90 trillion-won business empire, chairman Shin also said he would push for the listing of Hotel Lotte, the controlling tower of 80 Lotte affiliates in Korea.The listing plan is seen by analysts as the chairman’s strategy to
Aug. 11, 2015
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Hyundai Motor to implement peak wage system
Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, said Tuesday it would implement the peak wage system across all its affiliates starting from 2016. Under this system pushed by the government and being picked up by an increasing number of companies, the retirement age has been extended to 60 from the current range of 53 to 58 and the paycheck for elderly workers slashed by about 10 percent over their last several years at work. The group plans to channel the saved funds into hirin
Aug. 11, 2015
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Lotte chief apologizes for family feud, vows governance reform
Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate, apologized Tuesday over the group's much-criticized succession feud and pledged to make the retail giant's murky governance structure more transparent. Lotte is embroiled in a bitter family fight over control of the sprawling business empire, which has reignited sentiment against family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol here, and prompted an all-out government probe into the group. "This crisis happened as we failed to put
Aug. 11, 2015
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Cabinet approves faster tax refund decree for foreign tourists
The government Tuesday approved a decree that would allow foreign tourists to claim a tax refund up to 50,000 won ($43) without visiting customs offices. Currently, foreigners must present products and receipts at the customs service when the refunded value added tax is more than 10,000 won. The decree approved at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn would enhance the convenience of foreign tourists and help them save time at airports. The ordinance is subject to a
Aug. 11, 2015
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S. Korea's ICT sector has highest value added among OECD nations: report
South Korea's information and communications technology sector has the largest portion of the value added against other segments among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, thanks to its strength in electronics and optical productions, a report showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy came first with the value added in its ICT industry standing at 10.7 percent of the country's total as of end-2013, according to the 2015 OECD Digital Economy Outlook, based on a
Aug. 11, 2015
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Savings banks swing to net profit in fiscal 2014
South Korea's savings banks turned to the black for the first time in seven years in fiscal 2014 from a year earlier as they set aside less bad loan reserves, the financial watchdog said Tuesday. The combined net profit of 79 savings banks came to 500.8 billion won ($432.6 million) from July last year to June this year, a turnaround from a net loss of 508.9 billion won in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The banks close their books in June. It is the first bla
Aug. 11, 2015
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Korea should target U.S., Europe to boost exports: report
Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate, apologized Tuesday over the group's much-criticized succession feud and pledged to make the retail giant's murky governance structure more transparent. Lotte is embroiled in a bitter family fight over control of the sprawling business empire, which has reignited sentiment against family-controlled conglomerates, known as chaebol here, and prompted an all-out government probe into the group."This crisis happened as we failed to put in
Aug. 11, 2015
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Lotte owner family holds 5.6 tln-won assets in S. Korea
The owner family of Lotte Group, currently under fire for its sibling rivalry over control of the conglomerate, holds assets of over 5 trillion won ($4.31 billion) in South Korea, data showed Tuesday. The combined assets owned by Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho, his third wife and his four children, amount to 5.63 trillion won, according to the data compiled by corporate tracker Chaebul.com. The assets include both listed and unlisted stocks, as well as real estate in South Korea. The second el
Aug. 11, 2015
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Lotte head to apologize for family squabble
Shin Dong-bin, the head of the country's No. 5 conglomerate Lotte Group, is set to offer an official apology over a succession feud that has drawn flak for its murky governance structure, the group said Monday. "(Dong-bin) will convey a message in which he, as the person in charge of management, will voice regret over the recent crisis and apologize to the people of Korea, the shareholders and company employees," a group official said. The message is also expected to include his will to swift
Aug. 10, 2015
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Lotte family feud shows no sign of easing
The Lotte founder’s nephew and Lotte Giants chief Shin Dong-in said Monday he would step down from his post in an apparent move to distance himself from a bitter dispute between the estranged siblings over the family-run conglomerate succession. “I will step down from my position by the end of August to bail out of disgrace and misunderstanding (caused by the public spat),” Shin was quoted as saying. Group officials and observers believed that the baseball team owner is siding with the founder
Aug. 10, 2015
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E-Mart faces tax probe: reports
Tax authorities are investigating allegations of a slush fund creation by E-Mart, the discount store chain of Shinsegae Group. According to reports, investigators at the Seoul Regional Tax Offices are probing whether a substantial portion of the company’s stock kept under an executive’s name actually belongs to Shinsegae chairwoman Lee Myung-hee, her son and Shinsegae vice chairman Chung Yong-jin and his younger sister Chung Yoo-kyung. The investigators are also looking into whether the vice cha
Aug. 10, 2015
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Firms willing to do business in N.K.
Eight out of 10 South Korean companies intend to do business in North Korea after unification, a recent survey found Monday, with resource development and infrastructure building cited as their key interests. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently conducted the survey on its 500 member companies. Of them, 87.2 percent responded they were willing to carry out North Korea-related projects when the two Koreas are unified. Gaeseong and Haeju, both located near Gyeonggi Province, were p
Aug. 10, 2015