Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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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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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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S. Korea to issue travel ban on Haiti amid intensifying gang violence
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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S. Korea to invest 420 bln won in smart device industry
South Korea will invest 420 billion won ($357 million) to foster the so-called smart device industry over the next four years amid slowing growth in the traditional smartphones and PC industries around the globe, the government said Tuesday. The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning said it is shifting focus as the country's traditional tech industries have been slowing down throughout 2015. This raises the need to find new growth engines in other areas such as wearables and Internet-of
Sept. 22, 2015
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Shinsegae joins race for duty-free shop in Seoul
Shinsegae Co., a leading South Korean retail conglomerate, said Tuesday it will bid for a new duty-free store in downtown Seoul and relocate the current shop in the southern port city of Busan to defend the license set to expire this year. Shinsegae said it will apply for the highly competitive bid as three duty-free operating licenses are set to expire within the year. The deadline is set for Friday and the Korea Customs Service will announce the result in November. (Yonhap)Currently, Lotte
Sept. 22, 2015
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S. Korean firms' Q2 profitability gains despite weaker sales
Sales of large South Korean companies plunged nearly 6 percent on-year in the second quarter of this year amid a continued downturn in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday. Sales of large companies dropped 5.7 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, while those of domestically-focused small and medium enterprise gained 2 percent, according to the quarterly data by the Bank of Korea. Overall corporate sales dropped 4.3 percent in the three-month period. The drop in large fi
Sept. 22, 2015
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Hyundai Motor to complete payment for controversial property deal this week
Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest auto giant, will complete its controversial property purchase this week by making the final payment for the site where it plans to build its new headquarters, industry sources said Tuesday. In September last year, the parent group of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. purchased the 79,345-square-meter plot that previously housed the headquarters of state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. in Seoul's wealthy Gangnam district for around 10.55 trillio
Sept. 22, 2015
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Major biz groups expand employment plan
Major business groups have expanded their employment plan for this year despite economic uncertainties as part of efforts to join the government-led drive to tackle the high youth unemployment, a report showed Tuesday. South Korea's 13 largest conglomerates by assets plan to hire 103,000 people this year, 10 percent up from an earlier plan, according to the data compiled by the Federation of Korean Industries. Seven groups, including Samsung and SK, decided to increase the number of new emplo
Sept. 22, 2015
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[Photo news] Growing bigger via merger
GROWING BIGGER VIA MERGER -- Ronnie Leten, CEO and chairman of Swedish industrial company Atlas Copco, unveils long-term investment plans and strategies in the Korean market at a news conference in Seoul on Monday. With 1,112 people under Atlas Copco’s payroll in Korea, the company said it expects to post 1 trillion won in sales here by 2020. Atlas Copco
Sept. 22, 2015
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Hyundai Heavy union to sabotage Chung’s FIFA campaign
Unionized workers of Hyundai Heavy Industries are planning to stage a protest in Switzerland next month when the company’s largest shareholder Chung Mong-joon attends the FIFA presidential election as a candidate. The union said it will appoint three union executives on Monday to be dispatched to Zurich from Oct. 18 to 24 to throw a wrench in Chung’s election campaign. The protest is seen as a pressure tactic by the union pushing for its demand of 127,560 won ($108.77) increase in the monthly ba
Sept. 22, 2015
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Iranian firm files claims against Korea over failed deal
An Iranian firm has filed an investor-state dispute claim against the South Korean government for not refunding its down payment on the takeover of a local electronics firm, claiming that Seoul violated a bilateral investment guarantee agreement, a government source said Monday.In April 2010, the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO), the state-run company dealing with non-performing loans, picked Iran's Entekhab Industrial Group as the preferred bidder for acquiring a controlling stake in Daewoo
Sept. 21, 2015
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Caffe Bene faces uphill battle in China
The homegrown coffee chain Caffe Bene’s aggressive expansion plans in China face an uphill battle due to operational woes and losses as its domestic business struggles with mounting debt. The coffee chain, which rolled out its plan to launch 1,000 cafes across China by the end of 2015, suspended its expansion after the company’s delayed payment to Chinese workers sparked controversies. It has some 580 stores in China, falling far short of its initial plan. “We are currently working with our part
Sept. 21, 2015
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KFS drums up exports of forest products
The Korea Forest Service has established an in-house division to deal with forestry trade in an effort to cope with the fast-changing market and take advantage of the Korea-China free trade agreement.“We plan to promote export of forest products, and will foster them as our new growth engine to properly respond to strengthened global nontariff barriers,” said Kim Yong-kwan, director general of International Affairs Bureau at KFS in an interview to The Korea Herald.The bureau head introduced thre
Sept. 21, 2015
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State institutions under fire for fabricated spending reports
The Finance Ministry on Monday vowed to strengthen its crackdown on state-run institutions that provide fabricated spending reports. Starting next year, the ministry decided to implement “microscopic investigations” to root out the inaccurate spending reports on a variety of areas, including investment, income statements and balance sheets. According to the ministry, a total of 124 public institutions, or 4 out of 10 public institutions, have cooked their financial reports. The Finance Ministr
Sept. 21, 2015
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KFS eyes China’s growing premium forest product market
Visitors flock to the Korean forest product section at a global food convention in Indonesia in April. (KFS)The Korea Forest Service is seeking to expand the nation’s export of premium-quality forest products to China, catching on the growing demand for food safety in the world’s No. 2 economy. The KFS on Monday said it is in the last stage of meeting this year’s export goal of $500 million for forest products, thanks to the stable construction of export-intensive frameworks, including the Korea
Sept. 21, 2015
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Korea, C. America launch FTA talks
South Korea and six Central American countries led by El Salvador began their first round of negotiations to seal a free trade agreement in Seoul on Monday. The talks will continue through Friday. Cheong Seung-il, director general for FTA Policy at Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is representing Korea while El Salvador’s Vice Minister of Energy Luz Estrella Rodriguez de Zuniga is leading the talks on behalf of the six countries. Cheong Seung-il (second from right), Korea’s chief
Sept. 21, 2015
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Jeju Air unveils new brand identity before planned IPO
Jeju Air Co., South Korea's largest low cost carrier, said Monday that it will change its brand identity in time for a planned initial public offering it aims to complete by the end of this year. Jeju Air, owned by Aekyung Industrial Co., said in a press release that the new brand identity is intended to conjure up images of Jeju by symbolizing "stones" and "wind," which are closely related to the image of the southern resort island. It also utilizes the color orange in the overall design to
Sept. 21, 2015
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[Newsmaker] Park to regain control of Kumho Asiana Group
Kumho Asiana Group chairman’s long-awaited dream to bring back his business empire under his control is likely to be realized, with his reacquisition of Kumho Industrial, the de facto holding firm of the group, getting close. Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo makes a welcoming speech during the “2015 Korea-Japan Festival in Seoul,’’ held at the Coex, southern Seoul, on Sunday. He is in charge of the Korean organizing committee for the festival. (Kumho Asiana)Creditors of Kumho Industrial
Sept. 20, 2015
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[Photo news] Bye-bye bulbs
BYE-BYE BULBS -- Philips Korea runs its “Goodbye Light Bulb” campaign during the Namsan Million-Person Walking Festival on Sunday, in which they asked citizens to bring in expired light bulbs and exchanged them for new LED lamps, which have higher energy efficiency. Korea stopped producing and selling incandescent light bulbs in 2014. Philips Korea
Sept. 20, 2015
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Kumho Tire labor union holds off strike to elect new leadership
Unionized workers at Kumho Tire Co., South Korea's second-biggest tire maker, said Sunday it has suspended a strike so that it can elect a new union leader, getting ready to return to the workplace after more than a month. Unionized workers began an all-out strike on Aug. 17 after failing to agree with the management on adopting a wage peak system that would allow them to extend their retirement age in exchange for a capped salary. As the walkout prolonged for weeks, the company shut down produc
Sept. 20, 2015
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[Weekender] Korea on the go
Diverse factors are considered when people choose a home. Not just house prices but also schools, hospitals and big supermarkets near the neighborhood. And then, there is another crucial factor in Korea -- a McDonald’s outlet. Workers sort out parcels at a warehouse in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, Friday, ahead of Chuseok next week. YonhapThe U.S. hamburger chain started a home delivery service here in 2007 -- when McDelivery was still in its infancy worldwide. Currently, some 320 out of its almost
Sept. 18, 2015
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[Weekender] Korean delivery industry goes wide and deep
Thanks to the unique “Ppalli Ppalli (hurry, hurry)” culture and one of the best logistics networks in the world, Korea’s delivery industry is thriving, with its range widening and services getting even more specific. From garments and books to groceries and even breast milk, nearly everything can be delivered for a bargain, and the time has reduced to nearly the blink of an eye, offering real-time services. Anything you wantThe most iconic item in the delivery market is food. Whether you call fo
Sept. 18, 2015
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[Weekender] Korea dreams of drone delivery
Drones are widely expected to become a game-changer in the future delivery market. Tech firms like Amazon, Google and Alibaba have announced their intentions to use drones for delivery in recent years, and are working on pilot programs. German logistics giant DHL was the first to start a regular drone delivery service, under the project name Parcelcopter 2.0, operating since September last year. Even though drones are all the rage globally, Korea -- the second nation to develop its own unmanned
Sept. 18, 2015