Most Popular
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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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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Overseas direct purchases by S. Koreans reach new high in 2014
Overseas direct purchases made by South Koreans reached an all-time annual high of $1.54 billion in 2014, as consumers sought better bargains and a wider choice of products, the customs service said Friday.The total represents a 39 percent increase compared to $1.04 billion brought in from abroad in 2013, the Korea Customs Service said. It said the total number of items purchased last year reached 15,530 from 11,159 in 2013.Most direct purchases are made on overseas online shopping malls and mar
Jan. 23, 2015
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Search warrants on Daum Kakao user data grow fourfold in 2 years
Search warrants on user data of Daum Kakao Corp., South Korea's Internet portal and mobile messenger venture, grew fourfold in the last two years, the company said in its transparency report released Friday, amid heightening public concerns over privacy violations by authorities.Daum Kakao received 8,636 court orders to submit dialogues, sign-in logs and ID addresses in 2014, compared with 2,174 tallied in 2012.The disclosure comes after its rival Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea's No. 1
Jan. 23, 2015
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Hyundai Motor to tighten belt
Hyundai Motor, the nation’s largest automaker, said on Thursday that although the company had achieved growth in car sales and revenue last year, its profits dropped to a four-year low. The carmaker said it sold a total of 4.96 million vehicles last year, up 4.8 percent from 2013. It posted 89.3 trillion won ($82.2 billion) in sales, a 2.2 percent rise from the previous year. Despite higher sales, its operating profit fell 9.2 percent to 7.55 trillion won ($6.96 billion) in 2014 over 2013. This
Jan. 22, 2015
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Analysts upbeat on Jeju Air
A sanguine outlook is expected for Jeju Air, South Korea’s largest low-cost airline owned by Aekyung Industrial, ahead of its initial public offering set for the second half of the year.With a growing number of Korean passengers opting for no-frills airlines to cut costs, Jeju Air has been expanding its market share ― both in domestic and international flights ― as the country’s first budget carrier since it took to the skies in 2005. A passenger aircraft of Jeju Air. ( Jeju Air)Now the airline
Jan. 22, 2015
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GM Korea unveils latest Cruze model in local market
GM Korea Co. uncloaked on Thursday the latest edition of its Cruze compact car that comes with an upgraded design for the sedan first introduced in the local market in 2011. “The Amazing New Cruze 2015 is just the first step of much more to come,” said Sergio Rocha, head of GM Korea during a media event held in western Seoul. “This year, we’ll have 10 launch events in South Korea, starting today with the Cruze 2015.” Sergio Rocha, president and CEO of GM Korea, poses in front of the “Amazing New
Jan. 22, 2015
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Missha announces domestic downsizing, global expansion
Missha’s store in Ankara. (Able C&C)Missha, South Korea’s first successful budget cosmetics brand, has announced plans to downsize domestic operations and instead head to Europe.“The budget cosmetics market in Korea is overly competitive, and has hit the ceiling. We are going to open several stores in three European countries including Germany,” said Kim Hong-tae, PR official at Able C&C, the mother company of Missha, to The Korea Herald on Thursday. The first store in Germany will open in the c
Jan. 22, 2015
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POSCO ranks 36th in global 100 sustainable firm index
POSCO chairman Kwon Oh-joon (center), along with high-level government officials from Korea and India, attends the launching ceremony for the steelmaker’s cold rolling mill in Maharashtra, India, Thursday. (POSCO)POSCO, a leading South Korean steelmaker, ranked 36th on an index of the most sustainable companies in the world.The steel giant’s rank was the highest mark among four South Korean companies listed on the 2015 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index.POSCO, recognized
Jan. 22, 2015
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BISSELL targets W10b in Korean vacuum cleaner sales
BISSELL, a U.S. vacuum cleaner and floor care product manufacturer, said Thursday that it aimed to achieve 5 billion won to 10 billion won ($4.6 million-$9.2 million) in sales in its first year in Korea. The Michigan-based company is planning to enter the market by launching its latest model, the Symphony All-in-One, on TV homeshopping channels.“Korean consumers are peculiar when it comes to cleaning and choosing floor care products with high technology,” BISSELL Asia regional brand manager Evel
Jan. 22, 2015
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Stock slump cuts chaebol’s presence in NPS investment portfolio
South Korea’s national pension fund, the National Pension Service saw the portion of the country’s major business groups in its stock investment portfolio drop sharply last year due to the sluggish stock market, data showed Wednesday.The NPS’ holding of stocks in the affiliates of the nation’s top 30 conglomerates took up 62.1 percent of its local stock investment at the end of 2014, down 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by conglomerate tracker CEO Score.
Jan. 21, 2015
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Ssangyong Motor head offers to resign before March
Ssangyong Motor CEO Lee Yoo-il on Wednesday expressed his desire to resign before March, after leading Korea’s third largest carmaker for six years. “I have already told Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra that I won’t be able to serve another term. The talks have been underway for more than two years,” Lee told reporters at the media test-driving event for the company’s new SUV Tivoli in Yeouido, Seoul. Mahindra acquired Ssangyong in 2010 and the Indian automaker’s chairman visited Seoul ear
Jan. 21, 2015
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Rival firms oppose NongHyup’s parcel delivery service plan
South Korea’s parcel delivery service companies have expressed opposition to the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or NongHyup, over its plan to enter the delivery business.“If NongHyup launches a parcel delivery service, it would lead to mutual destruction in the much saturated industry,” Park Jae-euk, chairman of the Korea Integrated Logistics Association, said during a press conference on Tuesday. Representatives of domestic delivery companies such as CJ Korea Express, Hyundai Log
Jan. 21, 2015
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New firm establishment hits 5-year high in 2014
The number of newly established firms in South Korea soared to the highest level in five years last year as more people opted to start their own business after retirement, data showed Wednesday.A total of 84,697 companies were newly established in 2014, compared with 75,578 firms in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea and the Small and Medium Business Administration. The on-year gain of 9,119 companies marks the sharpest increase since the on-year rise of 15,102 in 2009.The gain ha
Jan. 21, 2015
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More Korean goods facing import regulations
The number of South Korean products facing import regulations in other countries rose 18.4 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, as emerging nations turned to trade barriers to protect their mainstay businesses. A total of 167 goods from South Korea faced import restrictions in 26 countries last year, up by 26 items compared to 2013, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. The figure includes regulations that are currently being imposed
Jan. 21, 2015
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Debt growth by small businesses hits 7-year high in 2014
Companies run by the self-employed had debts that ballooned at the fastest pace in seven years, data showed Wednesday, raising concerns about possible credit failures.Loans extended by lenders to such small businesses reached 209.3 trillion won ($192.2 billion) as of the end of 2014, increasing 18.8 trillion won from the previous year, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. The on-year growth marks the sharpest gain since 2007 when it rose 19.8 trillion won. It is also equivalent to roughly
Jan. 21, 2015
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POSCO’s $12b Indian steel project faces further delay
POSCO’s $12 billion steel plant construction project in India is facing another delay as the Indian state government recently announced an ordinance that will require all mining licenses for iron ore and other minerals to be awarded via auctions.The mines ordinance is likely to dash the steelmaker’s long-awaited hope of getting early preferential access to an iron ore mine near the site of its steel plant in the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, India.“The success of the Indian steel mill projec
Jan. 21, 2015
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Nongshim’s new potato chip sets snack sales record
Nongshim Co.’s Sumi Potato Chip Honey-Mustard set a new record for domestic snack sales with 3.6 million bags sold in the first month, the company announced Wednesday.According to the company, 3.6 million bags of the new snack, which was developed in response to Haitai Confectionery Co.’s Honey Butter Chip, have been sold since its launch on Dec. 17. With a retail price of 2,600 won ($2.40), the record-setting sales are estimated to be worth about 8.6 billion won. (Nongshim)The potato chips prod
Jan. 21, 2015
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Samsung likely to see earnings drop for 2 straight years
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top smartphone maker, is forecast to post a profit slide for the second consecutive year in 2015 as the company strives to keep grip amid a slump in handset sales.The South Korean tech powerhouse is expected to log a combined 20.8 trillion won ($1.91 billion) in net profit this year, down 6 percent from the 22.1 trillion won estimated for all of 2014, according to data compiled by market tracker FnGuide Inc., based on a median forecast from local brokerages.T
Jan. 21, 2015
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Leadership vacuum weighs on CJ Group’s investment plan
CJ Group, South Korea’s largest food and entertainment conglomerate, will stop short of announcing its 2015 investment and employment plans due to its leadership vacuum, industry sources said Tuesday. This move is expected to deal yet another blow to the conglomerate, which has been struggling for years to find new growth engines and promote mergers and acquisitions.About 20 percent of CJ’s investment deals fell through last year, leading its total investments to drop below the 1 trillion won ($
Jan. 20, 2015
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Korean Air hit by rise of budget carriers
The number of passengers flying Korean Air, South Korea’s top air carrier, decreased for the second consecutive year in 2014 as low-cost carriers grabbed a bigger share of the short- and medium-haul markets, according to data compiled from annual reports.“The drop in passengers seems to be influenced by the growing number of low budget airlines and foreign air carriers targeting the market aggressively,” a Korean Air official said. Some 16.6 million passengers used Korean Air’s international fli
Jan. 20, 2015
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Korean Air chairman to testify at daughter's 'nut rage' trial
The chairman of Korean Air Lines Co. will appear in court next week as a witness in the trial over his daughter's alleged obstruction of aviation safety in the 'nut rage' incident, company officials said Tuesday.Cho Yang-ho will take the witness' stand for his eldest daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, during a second court hearing scheduled for Jan. 30 at the Seoul Western District Court, they said.Chairman Cho is said to be complying with the court's request for his attendance because it is his "duty" to d
Jan. 20, 2015