Most Popular
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Ship linked to NK arms shipments to Russia is moored in China: State Dept.
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FTC grants conditional approval for Korean Air-Asiana merger over monopoly concern
The South Korean antitrust regulator granted a conditional approval on Tuesday for a merger between South Korea’s two biggest air carriers to prevent monopoly in the country’s aviation industry. The Fair Trade Commission’s decision was made after concluding that Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana Airlines might limit competition. After the merger, the two air carriers would operate around 48.9 percent of international flights from South Korea and 62 percent of domestic
Feb. 22, 2022
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Amid digitalization drive, banks expand offline services for wealthy
South Korean banking groups are opening more offline asset management centers exclusively for the nation’s superrich, while closing regular branches and replacing them with mobile and artificial intelligence-based services. On Tuesday, Shinhan Financial Group said it upgraded and rebranded two of its wealth management centers in Seoul to focus on providing exclusive banking services for its clients with personal assets of over 10 billion won ($8.3 million). The wealth management centers
Feb. 22, 2022
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Dunamu’s funding for startups tops W100b
Dunamu & Partners, the investment arm of Korea’s blockchain firm Dunamu, said Tuesday it has invested a combined 100.3 billion won ($83.9 million) in a total of 46 startups over the past three years. Dunamu said artificial intelligence and data startups make up almost half of the beneficiaries it has funded, while others in the fields of gaming, fintech, blockchain and digital healthcare are key recipients. Many of the startups showed strong performance in elevating corporate valu
Feb. 22, 2022
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Market volatility escalates on Ukraine worries
Market volatility escalated Tuesday on news that Russia ordered troops into separatist-held eastern Ukraine, dragging down the nation’s stock indexes as well as virtual assets and sparking concerns that the geopolitical unrest is likely to expand short-term uncertainty in the financial market. The benchmark Kospi ended lower Tuesday as investors raced to dump risky assets, falling to 2,706.79, down 1.35 percent or 37.01 points from Monday’s closing. The Kospi, which has seen i
Feb. 22, 2022
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BOK to beef up monitoring of economic fallout from Ukraine crisis
South Korea's central bank said Tuesday that it will closely monitor the development of escalating tensions in Ukraine on concerns that the geopolitical risk could increase market volatility and negatively affect the domestic economy. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the deployment of troops to two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine after recognizing their independence, which raised the possibility of Russia invading Ukraine, dampening hopes for a diplomatic solution. Policym
Feb. 22, 2022
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SK ecoplant acquires Singaporean recycling tech firm for $1b
SK ecoplant said Tuesday it has acquired TES, a Singapore-based electronic waste recycling company, for $1 billion as part of efforts to expand its presence in the burgeoning waste management market. The construction arm of SK Group said it signed a deal to buy a 100 percent stake in TES from Navis Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in Singapore on Monday. TES supplies waste management solutions for electronic devices and components to major IT equipment manufacturers. Its services inc
Feb. 22, 2022
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LG, Google launch Expert AI Alliance
LG Group said Monday it has formed an alliance with Google to create a global artificial intelligence ecosystem. According to the South Korean conglomerate, the partnership named Expert AI Alliance, will utilize LG AI Research’s hyperscale AI “Exaone” to create a new customer experience. Google will provide its cloud to accelerate the learning process of Exaone. Thirteen founding members are LG AI Research, LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Uplus, LG CNS, Google, Woori Bank, Shut
Feb. 22, 2022
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Local streamer Watcha to launch new platform with music, webtoons
Watcha, a homegrown over-the-top service, said Tuesday it plans to kick off a new platform that provides music and webtoon contents in addition to its current video streaming service. The latest move comes amid growing competition in the local video streaming market led by global streaming giant Netflix, followed by homegrown players Wavve and Tving. "Watcha will evolve from our current video streaming service provider into an integrated entertainment subscription service ... this will allo
Feb. 22, 2022
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Solus Advanced Materials to build new factory in Quebec
Solus Advanced Materials, which supplies electric vehicle battery materials to Tesla, will break ground on a new factory in Quebec, Canada, in July, the company said Monday. Once completed, the Quebec facility will begin the mass production of copper foils of up to 17,000 tons starting the second half of 2024. The annual production capacity could potentially expand up to 60,000 tons. Formerly known as Doosan Solus, the South Korean company manufactures copper foils that go inside EV batter
Feb. 22, 2022
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[MWC 2022] Korean telcos set sight on groundbreaking 5G network tech
The chiefs of all three major telecommunication firms in South Korea -- KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus -- are poised to attend the forthcoming tech event Mobile World Congress 2022 onsite in Barcelona, Spain, where next-generation network technologies are set to take center stage. At the MWC 2022, which runs from Feb. 28 to March 3, Korean telcos will showcase how they have shifted gears in their radio access network technology. This shift has enabled mobile handsets to be connected with a core n
Feb. 22, 2022
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Celltrion's autoimmune disease biosimilar wins further approval in Europe
South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Tuesday that a high-concentration version of its autoimmune disease biosimilar Yuflyma has won approval from European drug authorities. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light to Celltrion's application to sell Yuflyma -- a biosimilar referencing blockbuster drug Humira by AbbVie Inc. The drug is used to treat patients with multiple chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, according to Celltr
Feb. 22, 2022
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Household debt hits fresh high in Q4, but growth slows
South Korea's household debt reached a fresh high in the fourth quarter of last year, but it grew at a slower pace from the three months earlier amid tightened lending rules, central bank data showed Tuesday. Household credit came to 1,862.1 trillion won ($1.56 trillion) as of end-December, up 1 percent, or 19.1 trillion won, from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The gain slowed from a 1.9 percent on-quarter increase in the third quarter. Household credit
Feb. 22, 2022
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Hugel's botulinum toxin wins approval in Austria
South Korea's leading botox maker Hugel Inc. said Tuesday its botulinum toxin product, Letybo, has won approval from Austrian drug authorities. The Austrian Federal Office for Safety in Health Care granted the use of Letybo for the treatment of frown lines in adult patients. It marks the first time for a homegrown botulinum toxin product to win marketing approval from European authorities. The approval comes after Letybo received a positive recommendation from the Heads of Medicines Agencies for
Feb. 22, 2022
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LG's OLED TV shipments double in 2021: report
LG Electronics Inc. shipped more than four million units of premium OLED TVs last year, double the volume from a year earlier, on steady demand for premium TVs, a report showed Tuesday. The South Korean consumer electronics giant shipped a total of 4.04 million OLED TVs last year, with record quarterly sales of more than 1.41 million units in the fourth quarter, market researcher Omdia said. Last year, the global OLED TV sector grew a whopping 80 percent on-year to hit sales of more than 6.5 mil
Feb. 22, 2022
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Instant noodles rank 1st in food output in 2020 amid pandemic
Instant noodles captured the top spot in production among food products in South Korea in 2020 on a surge in exports amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The output of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, stood at 1.93 million tons in 2020, up a whopping 231 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Ramyeon's ranking in terms of production was up 12 notches from the previous year. Strong exports were cited as the ma
Feb. 22, 2022
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Seoul stocks open sharply lower over escalating Ukraine tensions
South Korean stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday as Russia sent in forces to parts of Ukraine. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 42.05 points, or 1.53 percent, to 2,701.75 points as of 9:15 a.m. Investors dumped local stocks following reports that Russian dispatched what it called "peacekeeping forces" to eastern Ukraine. Most large caps slumped in Seoul, led by foreign sell-offs. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics decreased 1.89 percent, and No. 2 chipmak
Feb. 22, 2022
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Biz sentiment improves for March on eased anti-pandemic rules abroad: poll
South Korea's business sentiment improved for March to exceed the benchmark level for the first time in three months amid relaxed anti-coronavirus measures in major economies, a poll showed Tuesday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales stood at 102.1 for next month, up 2.4 points from February, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said. It represents the first time since December that the monthly yardstick of business sentiment has been above the bench
Feb. 22, 2022
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Market volatility intensifies over Ukraine crisis
Mounting concerns over Russia’s possible invasion of Ukraine are increasingly weighing on an already jumpy local stock market, as investors price in a full-blown geopolitical crisis that could send foreigners holding Korean shares fleeing back home. The benchmark Kospi tumbled to 2,743.80, down 0.03 percent or 0.72 points from Friday’s closing. Foreigners, whose holdings account for a little over 30 percent of all Korean stocks, and institutions were net sellers, offloading 64 billi
Feb. 21, 2022
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Budget airlines turn to cargo shipping, long-haul flights for breakthrough
The nation’s low-cost carriers facing financial difficulties caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic are bringing in cargo planes and planes for long-haul flights to diversify their source of revenue. T’way Air, for instance, will introduce on Thursday Airbus A330-300 planes that can cover long-haul distances for more than 300 passengers. The plane will begin to operate within the country in March and then be used for longer routes to Singapore, Australia, Croatia, and Kyrgyzstan
Feb. 21, 2022
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Average monthly wage climbs to W3.2m in 2020
SEJONG -- The average monthly salary for Korean employees climbed to 3.2 million won ($2,680) as of 2020 on the back of drastic hikes in the statutory minimum wage between 2018 and 2020, state data showed Monday. According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly wage for salaried workers rose by 430,000 won, or 15.5 percent, in just four years -- from 2.77 million won in 2016. During the period of 2016-2020, the minimum wage per hour surged by 42.4 percent from 6,030 won to 8,590 won, with th
Feb. 21, 2022