Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Korea loses top spot in wireless Internet penetration
South Korea is no longer the most wired country in the world, an OECD report showed Sunday. Finland overtook Korea in terms of wireless broadband penetration as of 2012, with Korea’s ranking falling to the fourth out of 34 OECD members.This is the first time that Korea lost the top spot since the OECD started collecting relevant data in 2009.According to the OECD statistics, the number of wireless broadband subscriptions was 103.4 per 100 people in Korea last year.Finland took the top spot with
July 21, 2013
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Court approves Toyota acceleration case settlement
Toyota Motor Corp. won final approval of a settlement, valued at as much as $1.63 billion by plaintiff lawyers, with U.S. consumers who claimed that recalls related to sudden, unintended acceleration caused their vehicles to lose value. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna, who gave the accord preliminary approval in December, signed off on it at a hearing Thursday in Santa Ana, California. The judge in June had delayed a decision until he received further documentation how the money would be dist
July 21, 2013
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Honda overhauls Fit hatchback after enlisting supercar designers
Tensions already ran high at Honda Motor Co. in October 2011, two months after Consumer Reports ridiculed the onetime favorite Civic as a substandard car, when President Takanobu Ito saw drawings of the next Fit. He ripped up the plans and summoned his top two designers. “The design had no character and looked very much like its predecessor,” said Yoshinori Asahi, who co-designed Honda’s top-of-the line NSX supercar. “That made us worried about the future of the car.” Almost two years later, Tok
July 21, 2013
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Competition ‘red-hot’ for jobs at Porsche
Competition to grab a job at the Korean unit of Porsche appears to be reaching fever-pitch. Kim Geun-tak, who is to lead Porsche Korea when it opens later this year, is currently recruiting staff to create a solid base to start from, according to industry sources. “Except for those who are working for one of the German big three brands (BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi), the jobs seem to be quite attractive,” said one source, requesting anonymity. It is common for import carmakers to rehire most of t
July 21, 2013
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Aluminum business hopes for auto boom
Carmakers are focusing considerable resources on meeting new fuel efficiency regulations to be implemented by governments in the coming years. And they know more efficient engines and electric powertrains cannot carry the whole load, turning their eyes to new alternative materials to make lighter auto platforms. “Aluminum is a rational choice,” said Shashi Maudgal, president of Novelis Asia, in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “It is more fuel efficient and three times lighter than stee
July 21, 2013
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China sales of Kia’s K3 compact top 100,000 units
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Sunday cumulative sales of its K3 compact car in China surpassed the 100,000-unit mark last week thanks to its marketability and beefed-up marketing activity.Kia Motors achieved the landmark in eight months and three weeks, the shortest period of time among the company’s passenger car models unveiled in the world’s biggest auto market.Sales of the K3 compact sedan in China had been hovering above 10,000 units per month since November
July 14, 2013
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Peugeot proposes early retirement plan in France
SA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-largest carmaker, plans to offer French workers incentives to take early retirement to trim costs and return to profit, according to a union official. In talks with unions Friday, Peugeot proposed a bonus equivalent to 1.5 months salary to employees that either retire early of work part-time for lower pay, Franck Don, the leader of the CFTC union at the Paris-based company, said by phone. The plan would be available to French workers at least 57 years old, whi
July 14, 2013
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Hyundai U.S. chief: company on track to meet target
Hyundai Motor Co. is “on track” to see sales rise 4.4 percent to 734,000 vehicles in the U.S. this year, even as factory capacity constraints have limited the automaker’s sales growth to just 1.2 percent in the first half, the carmaker’s U.S. chief said. “Our year is going well if you measure it by, ‘Are you selling everything you can build?’” John Krafcik, chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America, said Friday at a briefing in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the automaker’s 2014 Equus sedan. “It’
July 14, 2013
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Best or nothing in Korea: Mercedes-Benz CEO
Orders are pouring in. Mercedes-Benz Korea has sold more than 1,000 of the new E-Class in the first two weeks since its launch here last month. Facelift models usually don’t go too far out on a limb, but the new E-Class is barely recognizable from the original. It’s still the classy car it was, but with a bold new flavor of pizzazz to attract a new generation of car buffs. The woman behind this success is Britta Seeger, the chief executive who is aiming to sell 7,000 of these crimped new models
July 14, 2013
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Great Wall aims to be next Hyundai Motor
Wang Jiangwei recalls spending last summer sweating through a month of military drills conducted by Chinese People’s Liberation Army instructors. Wang isn’t a soldier; he’s a researcher at Great Wall Motor Co. His Baoding, China-based employer is so profitable, it generates a fatter margin than any listed carmaker in the world. Behind the success is chairman Wei Jianjun, who has built China’s biggest SUV maker with a leadership style that stands out for its emphasis on discipline and frugality.
July 7, 2013
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Hyundai joins race to cut prices
Hyundai Motor on Sunday announced additional price cuts to its top-selling vehicles, including its Grandeur flagship sedan, as part of efforts to maintain its market dominance amid the increased presence of import brands here. In its latest round of price cuts, Hyundai plans to reduce the price tag of the Grandeur by 1 million won ($875) from Monday, with reductions for three others ― the i40, i40 Saloon and Veloster ― to be 300,000 won each, the carmaker said. The move comes after Hyundai’s mo
July 7, 2013
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Grand Cherokee gives new class to SUVs
I dislike SUVs. That’s something I’ve realized test-driving a string of cars these past few months. First of all, they are physically challenging. I have to literally clamber up behind the wheel. Another reason I don’t like them is because I feel I’m about to scrape off the hood whenever I drive into an underground car park. Third and not least, because they are usually diesels, the loud purr of their engines really gets to me.But I must say, the Grand Cherokee from Jeep was a gamechanger. They
July 7, 2013
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Ferrari-fueled Maserati lures bored BMW buyers
Maserati, the Italian maker of exotic cars driven by the likes of U2 frontman Bono and designer Ralph Lauren, is shifting its focus from the elite to the merely wealthy with a mid-sized sedan called the Ghibli. The new car, which will start at $65,600 when it hits U.S. showrooms in September, represents a direct challenge to mainstay German models like the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6. The Fiat SpA unit is betting the car can offer something the Germans can’t: Italian sex appe
June 30, 2013
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BMW 530d, perfect for Korea
Munich, Germany ― It was through countless quintessential German villages that I maneuvered the BMW’s new 5 Series ― the 530d Sedan and the 535i Grand Turismo. Making my way on the indefinitely winding roads to a golf course near Aschheim where BMW runs its test track, I realized why the 5 Series stands as one of the most successful lineups in the world, especially the sedans: All you had to do was slip your foot on the accelerator, and off she went. The roar of the engine ― a straight four-cyli
June 30, 2013
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‘I never regretted joining Hyundai’
MUNICH, Germany ― “Hyundai Kia chairman Chung Mong-koo had a vision: how to raise the level of Korean car companies,” said Peter Schreyer, Hyundai and Kia’s chief design executive, comparing one of Korea’s top business tycoons with visionary CEOs and artists such as Steve Jobs, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis. Chung Mong-koo is the chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, which encompasses the Kia brand. In a rare interview, Schreyer spoke about his life at Hyundai and in Korea in a documentary aired recen
June 30, 2013
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Merkel says she blocked car carbon curbs to shield auto jobs
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she blocked a draft European Union law aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions from cars over concerns the measure would cost jobs in the auto industry. A coalition of EU states led by Germany prevented approval of the measure at a meeting of diplomats in Brussels earlier this week. Merkel said that she moved to delay the proposal ― which would cap average carbon discharges by passenger vehicles in the bloc at 95 grams a kilometer in 2020 ― to defend
June 30, 2013
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BMW’s ‘ultimate driving center’ in Korea
BMW Group’s first driving center in Asia is expected to house not only a series of driving tracks and training service centers, but also an eco-friendly sports park as well as family-friendly and children-oriented cultural arenas, according to BMW Group Korea. Scheduled to open in Incheon by mid-2014, the new driving center will take up space equal to 33 soccer fields.The leading German carmaker’s gigantic multipurpose driving center in Korea will be one of only three in the world ― the other tw
June 28, 2013
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Lexus LS tops J.D. Power quality study
Lexus’ flagship LS sedan topped the 2013 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study for the sixth year in a row, the high-end brand of Toyota said Wednesday. The LS received the best score, 59 problems per 100 vehicles, among all 33 car models that were surveyed for the J.D. Power study, the industry’s benchmark for new-vehicle quality. The 2013 version, in particular, is considered the most technologically advanced vehicle in the Lexus lineup, the Japanese carmaker said, as it offers diver
June 23, 2013
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BMW, Mercedes step up used cars push to combat slump
With fewer and fewer Germans buying new cars, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG are trying the next-best thing: pushing second-hand models. Counting on the cachet of their brands, German automakers are stepping up efforts to cash in on the growing used market as new-car demand withers. The push, which includes leasing offers and fast-track loans, helps attract new buyers for models beyond the reach of many consumers, increasing competition for mass-market nameplates. For
June 23, 2013
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Fiat said able to triple Chrysler payout after funding
Fiat SpA stands to earn three times as much from a Chrysler Group LLC dividend this year after the U.S. carmaker refinanced debt and changed the terms attached to the funding, people familiar with the matter said. The new debt covenants place lower restrictions on the size of the dividend Fiat can collect from Chrysler, which the Italian company controls with a 58.5 percent stake, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details have not been announced. Fiat for 2013 may colle
June 23, 2013