Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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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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South Korea to launch space security center under spy agency
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More med professors to take day off each week while govt. urges them to stay
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Hybe refutes Ador CEO Min's denial of breach of trust
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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Legoland Korea Resort to open until 9 p.m.
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Samsung unveils upgraded smart tracking tag with UWB tech
Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday unveiled its upgraded smart tracking tag leveraging advanced wireless communication technologies that can locate people's lost items with better accuracy. The Galaxy SmartTag+ uses both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) solutions, according to Samsung. The latest product will be available beginning next Friday though its launch schedule will vary by market. Its predecessor, Galaxy SmartTag, which was launched in January, only used BLE techn
April 9, 2021
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[Graphic News] Instant noodle makers see 2020 sales jump amid pandemic
Sales of South Korea‘s top instant noodle makers posted strong sales in 2020 thanks to brisk demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Nongshim said its sales of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, came to 2.09 trillion won ($1.85 billion) last year, up 16.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. It marks the first time for Nongshim’s ramyeon sales to top the 2 trillion-won mark and the amount acc
April 9, 2021
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S. Korea needs preemptive anti-inflation steps: senior official
South Korea needs to take preemptive measures to cope with escalating concerns over inflation, a senior government official said Friday. The remark by First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon comes as Asia's fourth-largest economy faces growing inflationary pressure amid signs of an economic recovery. "It is necessary to take preemptive steps to prevent inflationary pressure from constraining an economic rebound and inflicting burdens on ordinary people," Lee told a government policy
April 9, 2021
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Seoul stocks open tad higher on hopes for global economic recovery
South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains amid growing hopes for a global economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 3.25 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,146.51 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.42 percent to a new record closing, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite adding 1.03 percent. In Seoul, market kingpin Samsung Electronics retreated 0.35 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK
April 9, 2021
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GS to ramp up ESG efforts with green biotech startups
GS Group kicked off a mentoring camp with biotech startups on Thursday as part of environmental, social and governance efforts, with plans to pursue eco-friendly business projects together. A total of six startups have been chosen to be part of the camp dubbed the GS Challenge based on their business potential after 85 startups in the biotech field applied for the acceleration program. The South Korean conglomerate known for its energy and retail businesses said it will provide mentoring on tec
April 8, 2021
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S. Korean O2O services grow fast in COVID-19 pandemic
South Korea’s online-to-offline, or O2O, services marked rapid growth amid the booming stay-at-home economy last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Thursday. According to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the total trading volume created through local O2O services for the whole of last year reached 126 trillion won ($112.83 billion), up 29.6 percent from 97 trillion won a year earlier. The increase largely stemmed from expanded transactions in the
April 8, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Despite high hurdles, Korea bent on developing drugs
When it comes to new drug development, South Korea has built strength in cancer treatment fields, but it lacks attention to infectious disease treatments, said the country’s point man on new drug development support. “The local infectious diseases pipelines account for around 9 percent of the total, compared to around 18 percent of the global drug market. The area has been less developed largely as the country has been considered as being relatively safer from infectious diseases
April 8, 2021
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Renault Samsung brings back XM3, eyes growing SUV market
Renault Samsung, the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault, has successfully brought back its popular XM3 model to the market after dealing with technical issues, officials said Thursday. The subcompact SUV comeback follows after facing a string of challenges right from the beginning. Its launch in March last year came amid the country’s first mass outbreak of COVID-19 but the automaker managed to pull off the event by introducing contactless promotion and sale strategies. Anot
April 8, 2021
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Bitcoin on rollercoaster ride amid government warnings
Bitcoin prices remained unstable Thursday after falling more than 10 percent late Wednesday in a roller-coaster movement that coincided with the government’s warning and a widening price gap with overseas exchanges. The price for a bitcoin stood at about 71 million won ($63,600) as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, falling from 79 million won a day ago. The price of the largest cryptocurrency climbed sharply in recent days especially in domestic markets, showing a widening “Kimchi premium,&rd
April 8, 2021
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Seoul stocks up for 6th day on global recovery hope
South Korean stocks gained for a sixth consecutive session Thursday amid global economic recovery hope. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 5.85 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 3,143.26. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.8 trillion won ($15 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 487 to 352. Foreigners bought a net 107 billion won, while institutions sold 479 b
April 8, 2021
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New Seoul Mayor's deregulation pledge excites market, draws concerns
Expectations for Seoul’s grand-scale redevelopment grew Thursday after the opposition candidate won the Seoul mayoral race, partly on a pledge to lift regulations affecting high-rise apartments along the Han River and in other parts of the city. Oh Se-hoon’s election pledges, however, are expected to face headwinds as they contradict central government policies that favor community-based urban restoration projects and strictly limit large-scale redevelopment. Among the projects tha
April 8, 2021
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SKT to support vaccination monitoring with AI
SK Telecom, South Korea’s top telecom company, is utilizing its artificial intelligence technology to support the country’s health authority in monitoring recipients after COVID-19 vaccination, it said Thursday. Dubbed NUGU Vaccine Carecall, SKT’s NUGU AI platform will provide guidance to those subject to vaccination through calls, and monitor any abnormal signs after shots are administered. The telecom company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korea Disease C
April 8, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Innisfree forced to clarify ‘paper bottle’ packaging after customer discovers plastic bottle inside
Innisfree, a cosmetic brand under Amorepacific, has been forced to clarify its eco-friendly “paper bottle” packaging after a customer’s complaint about plastic usage and a “misleading” label went viral online. In a post on a Facebook group called “No Plastic Shopping,” a customer shared photos of what is inside the package for the brand’s face serum product after cutting the bottle in half. Despite the label reading “Hello, I‘m Paper
April 8, 2021
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S. Korean households’ stock investment hits record-high
South Korean households spent a record-high net 83.3 trillion (74.5 billion) won in stock investment last year, central bank data showed Thursday, but their borrowing also surged to an unprecedented level, indicating where their money for investment came from. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local households and nonprofit agencies serving households invested a total 63.2 trillion won in Korean stocks and 20.1 trillion won in overseas shares in 2020, according to the preliminary data by the Ba
April 8, 2021
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Oh’s election win likely to boost construction shares
Construction businesses in the South Korean stock market are likely to benefit from an election win by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon over his pledges focusing on housing redevelopment plans. “Based on plans such as expanding floor area ratio, supplying 360,000 housing units in five years and abolishing the restriction on building apartments with more than 35 floors near the Han River, reconstruction and redevelopment businesses are expected to be revived,” said Kim Dae-jun, an analyst at K
April 8, 2021
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Exports tipped to expand 18.1% in 2021: think tank
South Korea's exports are expected to expand 18.1 percent on-year in 2021 to set a fresh record high on the back of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a think tank said Thursday. Outbound shipments for the year are estimated at $605.3 billion, rising sharply from the previous estimate of a 10 percent gain in October last year, according to a report by Hyundai Research Institute released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount would beat the previous record o
April 8, 2021
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‘Korea’s private equity market hindered by chaebols’
Foreign investors have a hard time navigating South Korea’s “unique” private equity investment landscape, having to face obstacles such as family-run conglomerates’ dominance in the domestic industry, a private equity professional said in a virtual seminar on Thursday. “South Korea is very unique market,” Chue En Yaw, managing director and head of private equity funds at Temasek-owned Azalea Asset Management, told audience of the virtual seminar hosted by ca
April 8, 2021
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State pension operator cuts number of big-stake firms in Q1
South Korea's state pension operator reduced the number of listed firms in which it has a stake of 5 percent or more in the first quarter of the year, a financial information provider said Thursday. The National Pension Service (NPS) owned 5 percent or more of 261 listed companies as of Wednesday, down 12 firms from three months earlier, according to FnGuide. The combined market value of the NPS stakes in those corporations stood at 167.6 trillion won ($150 billion), up 4.4 percent from the en
April 8, 2021
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Samsung Asset, Manulife IM ink strategic alliance
Seoul-based Samsung Asset Management and Canadian counterpart Manulife Investment Management have signed a memorandum of understanding for the bilateral strategic alliance, Samsung Asset said Thursday. The largest asset management firm in South Korea, overseeing some 280 trillion won ($250 billion) assets in March, will team up with Manulife IM to explore opportunities in overseas alternative investing, private assets and specialized public market strategies. The partnership will also allow the
April 8, 2021
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Short-term bond sales dip 7.2% in Q1
Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea sank more than 7 percent in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. Local companies issued 257.2 trillion won ($230 billion) worth of bonds maturing within one year in the January-March period, down 7.2 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). Compared with a year earlier, the amount was also down 12.4 percent. Sales of general short-term bo
April 8, 2021