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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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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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Seoul stocks open lower on extended tech losses
South Korean stocks opened lower Friday as giant chipmakers suffered an extended slump amid concerns of a price fall of DRAM. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 11.9 points, or 0.37 percent, to 3,196.48 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks declined below the 3,200-point mark, largely on chip heavyweights' weeklong losses Foreigners continued to sell shares of large chip companies, following brokerage reports tat said demand for chips may decrease after t
Aug. 13, 2021
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Volume of damaged banknotes dips in H1 amid pandemic
Both volume and face value of damaged banknotes found in South Korea dipped in the first half of this year as people used cash less amid a non-contact consumption trend due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank said Friday. In the January-June period, the face value of damaged banknotes discarded by the Bank of Korea came to 1.03 trillion won ($890 million), compared with 2.69 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the BOK. The volume of damaged banknotes also plunged 36
Aug. 13, 2021
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Finance minister, FSC head in self-quarantine after employees contract COVID-19
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Eun Sung-soo, head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), went into self-quarantine Thursday after having come into contact with government employees infected with COVID-19, officials said. Hong, who has come into contact with a ministry employee infected with the delta variant, will self-isolate until Thursday next week in line with health authorities' antivirus guidelines, although he has been fully vaccinated and tested negative recently. Due to his s
Aug. 12, 2021
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Despite major advances, Korea still behind Japan in basic sciences: report
South Korea surpassed Japan in major economic indicators over the past 30 years, but still lags behind in technological competitiveness, a report published by the Federation of Korean Industries said Thursday. The report, which compared the economic development of the two countries from the early 1990s onward, cited several international rankings to back up its claim for Korea’s advances. The 2020 IMD Competitiveness Ranking, for one, placed South Korea at 23rd place and Japan at 34th
Aug. 12, 2021
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[Anniversary Special] Pandemic fuels the rise of startups in South Korea
In early March, South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang made its landmark debut on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $4.6 billion in an initial public offering that shattered expectations. The successful debut of the South Korean flag-waving Softbank-backed startup in the US stock market soon became a major talking point in an economy heavily dominated by a handful of conglomerates, capturing the excitement surrounding the growing number of local startups. The move also followed a year marked
Aug. 12, 2021
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SK’s vaccine units, EcoPro BM join MSCI Korea index
Morgan Stanley Capital International announced Thursday that it has added three South Korean stocks -- SK ie technology, SK Bioscience and EcoPro BM -- to its global and regional equity index via August’s quarterly review. The US-based finance firm also removed KMW, the South Korean wireless communications devices producer, from the list. The changes will take effect after the market closes on Aug. 31, according to the company. The rebalancing result was based on the listed firms’
Aug. 12, 2021
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Fiscal chief says new COVID-19 wave will ‘inevitably’ dent economy
After showing modest signs of recovery, South Korea’s economy is going to face pressure from the ongoing fourth wave of COVID-19 starting from this month, the country’s top economic policymaker said Thursday. “As the ripple effect of the fourth wave of the pandemic seems to be inevitable to some extent from August, it is necessary to stay alert to minimize the shock and to maintain the recovery trend,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during an economic meeting at the
Aug. 12, 2021
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Celltrion’s COVID-19 treatment wins emergency use authorization in Brazil
South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion said Thursday that the company’s COVID-19 antibody treatment has won an emergency approval from the Brazilian government. According to Celltrion, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency gave emergency use authorization to the company’s COVID-19 treatment Regkirona, or CT-P59. The approval was based on results from all three phases of the clinical study of COVID-19 treatment Rekirona, as well as preclinical studies that suggest the effic
Aug. 12, 2021
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GC Pharma reports positive clinical trial results of immunoglobulin product
GC Pharma on Thursday reported positive top-line results from the phase 3 clinical trial of its immunoglobulin product GC5107. The clinical study results have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Immunology, the company said. The phase 3 study was conducted on 49 patients who were diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency. The patients aged between 3-70 received infusions of GC5107 doses every 21 or 28 days for 12 months at 17 medical institutions in the US and Canada. Th
Aug. 12, 2021
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[News Focus] Is the game industry’s pandemic boom over?
The gaming industry’s famous 3N -- Nexon, NCSoft and Netmarble -- have all suffered earnings shock in the second quarter of this year, due to the absence of new releases and increased labor costs from pay raises. The Tokyo-listed Nexon, the biggest of the three game developers, saw its revenue and operating profit plunge 13 percent and 42 percent to 56 billion yen ($507.3 million) and 15.7 billion yen due to lackluster results in Korean and Chinese markets. MapleStory, one of Nexon&r
Aug. 12, 2021
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NH NongHyup Bank sets up London branch
NH NongHyup Bank said Thursday it has launched a branch office in London to make inroads into the UK’s banking industry, as part of the lender’s overseas business strategies aimed at expanding its global presence. “It is meaningful that (NH NongHyup Bank) has entered the UK market, Europe‘s major global finance center and the birthplace of financial cooperatives, in 2021, which marks its 60th anniversary. We will speed up efforts to become a global cooperative b
Aug. 12, 2021
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Korea’s ESG bond issuance sets annual record
South Korea has floated more bonds associated with environmental, social and sustainability issues this year than in all of 2020, setting an annual record in the fast-growing market, data showed Thursday. Since January, 116 Korean entities issued green bonds, social bonds and sustainable development bonds worth a combined 60.6 trillion won ($52.3 billion), according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange. This beat the previous annual record of 58.9 trillion won floated by 23 entities in 2020
Aug. 12, 2021
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Mobile messenger Line’s crypto to be listed on Bithumb
Naver’s mobile messenger Line’s blockchain subsidiary said Thursday its crytocurrecy Link will be listed on the country’s exchange Bithumb and start trading in the market on Friday. Line Blockchain and Bithumb said that the deposit and withdrawal address of the cryptocurrency account will be released soon. Link is a cryptocurrency issued by its Sinpapore branch Line Tech Plus, using “Link chain,” a blockchain mainnet made by Line itself, where the actual transact
Aug. 12, 2021
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Fears over milk price hike as inflation pressure mounts
Upward pressure is growing on retail milk prices, following an increase in the price of raw milk this month, but the government seeks to delay the price hike until the end of this year amid rising inflation. In July last year, the Korea Dairy Committee decided to raise the price of raw milk by 21 won to 947 won per liter starting this month, according to industry sources. The retail price of milk has yet to increase, but consumers will not learn until later this month, which is when major dai
Aug. 12, 2021
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S. Korea to offer more shipping services amid freight price hike
South Korea's trade ministry said Thursday it plans to add more chartered shipping services for exporters as the global freight costs hit yet another record high level amid strong demand. Under the plan, the country will begin operating at least six new shipping services monthly in September, rising sharply from around two to three ships operated prior to June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. A record high number of 18 ships will be added in August as well. "It i
Aug. 12, 2021
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Delivery workers will take a break from Aug. 14-16.
Parcel deliveries will not be made from Saturday to next Monday to give delivery workers a break, following calls last year to improve the working conditions of delivery workers. According to industry officials Thursday, four major logistics companies – CJ Logistics, Lotte Logistics, Hanjin Transportation and Logen -- agreed to have Saturday, Aug. 14, as a “no parcel day,” allowing delivery workers a three-day holiday until next Monday. Monday has been designated as a subs
Aug. 12, 2021
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S. Korea, Turkey sign first currency swap
South Korea and Turkey have signed their first currency swap agreement, in a move to boost trade between the two nations, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. The three-year agreement, signed by the BOK and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, allows for the exchange of local currencies between the two countries of 2.3 trillion won ($2 billion), the BOK said in a statement. "This agreement is designed to promote bilateral trade through a swap-financed trade settlement facility an
Aug. 12, 2021
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GM, LG to win Van Fleet Award for battery partnership
General Motors Co. and South Korean company LG Corp. will receive the 2021 Van Fleet Award for their contribution to strengthening ties between South Korea and the United States, a non-profit business organization said Thursday. The Korea Society, a nonprofit organization established to promote Korea-US relations, has annually given the Van Fleet Award since 1992 to individuals and organizations that helped strengthen the bilateral ties. The organization said it will deliver the award to the c
Aug. 12, 2021
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S. Korea to speed up FTA talks with Mercosur
South Korea said Thursday it seeks to speed up its free trade negotiation with a group of South American countries, as the country aims to further expand its export portfolio. South Korea launched its negotiations with Mercosur -- Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- in 2018. The four countries make up around 70 percent of the population in South America and 68 percent of the region's economy. The seventh round of negotiations is slated to be held later this month. "The trade agree
Aug. 12, 2021
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ICT exports reach fresh high in July
South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a record high in July, data showed Wednesday, rising for the 14th consecutive month thanks to global demand for chips and displays. Outbound shipments of ICT products stood at $19.5 billion last month, up 30.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure marks a fresh high for July after reaching $18.5 billion in 2018. Imports reached $11.32 billion last mon
Aug. 12, 2021