Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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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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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Samsung adopts new ERP system for efficient operation
Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday said the company adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to enhance efficiency and productivity in its global operations. The South Korean tech giant said the system, which the company developed over the last 30 months, has been first used by its offices in China and Southeast Asian countries. Samsung said the new ERP system, called N-ERP, will be used by all of its overseas branches by January 2022. The world's largest memory chip and smartpho
April 5, 2021
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FDI pledges to S. Korea up 44.6% in Q1 on post-COVID recovery hope
Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to South Korea shot up 44.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, data showed Monday, as investors gradually resumed their business activities amid signs of the recovery in the global economy. Asia's No. 4 economy received $4.74 billion worth of FDI commitments in the January-March period, compared with $3.28 billion logged a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount of investment that actually arrived
April 5, 2021
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LG bows out of handset business, bets on mobile solutions
After 26 years of ups and downs, LG Electronics is putting an end to its money-losing handset segment and shifting its focus to future mobile solutions for bigger industries, the company announced Monday. LG’s board of directors decided to officially terminate the handset business by July 31 after trying, and failing, to sell it off in the past two months. “LG has failed to respond well to the intensifying competition with the top two players in the mid-range smartphone ma
April 5, 2021
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Hankook Tire supplies tires for Chinese EV maker
Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, said Monday it has been supplying tires for Chinese EV company NIO's models since last year. Hankook Tire has provided the high-performance Ventus S1 evo 2 tires for NIO's ES6 and EC6 SUV models since 2020, the company said in a statement. The company didn't provide an exact time frame for the supply deal or the value of the deal. Hankook Tire has supplied original equipment (OE) tires to Audi models, such as
April 5, 2021
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Imported auto sales jump 34% in March despite pandemic
Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 34 percent in March from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,297 units last month from 20,304 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. The three bestselling models last month were the Mercedes-Benz E 250 sedan, Audi A6 45 TFSI sedan and Mercedes-B
April 5, 2021
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S. Korean casinos log big losses in 2020 on pandemic fallout
Casino operators in South Korea chalked up huge losses in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic sent the number of visitors plunging, data showed Monday. State-run casino operator Kangwon Land Inc. registered an operating loss of 431.6 billion won ($382 million) last year, a sharp turnaround from an operating profit of 501.2 billion won a year earlier. Kangwon Land, the country's only casino open to locals, is located in Jeongseon, some 200 kilometers east of Seoul. Another state-run casino operat
April 5, 2021
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Samsung to fund W46.4b for 27 research projects
Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it will provide support of more than 46.4 billion won ($41 million) for 27 research projects in the areas of basic science, materials engineering and ICT solutions. The South Korean tech giant confirmed the research projects chosen for funding in the first half of 2021, which include studies related to machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and DNA sequencing. Since 2013, Samsung has been helping to strengthen the development of basic science and f
April 5, 2021
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S. Korean units of 3 foreign automakers suffer slump in Q1 sales
South Korean units of three foreign carmakers posted a 24 percent on-year drop in their domestic sales in the first quarter of the year, suffering the worst performance since the 2009 financial crisis, industry data showed Monday. From January to March, GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- the Korean units of General Motors Co., Renault S.A. and Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. -- sold a combined 43,109 vehicles in the domestic market, down from 56,5
April 5, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on doubts over US infrastructure project
South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors speculate on a US congressional pushback over the massive size of the $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.71 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,108.09 points in the first 18 minutes of trading. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics edged up 0.24 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.71 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.21 percent, and i
April 5, 2021
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Quarter of firms fail to pay interest on debt in 2020
Nearly a quarter of companies in South Korea failed to pay the interest on their debts in 2020 despite an overall rise in corporate earnings, a report said Monday. A total of 255 listed firms in Asia's fourth-largest economy had an interest coverage ratio of less than 1 last year, up six from a year earlier and accounting for 25.1 percent of 1,017 businesses listed on the country's main and secondary bourses, according to the report from the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI). The intere
April 5, 2021
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S. Korea's household debt-to-GDP ratio nears 100%: report
South Korea's household debt has been rising faster than that in most major economies to reach nearly 100 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), a report showed Monday. The country's household debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 98.6 percent as of the end of June last year, according to the report from the Korea Institute of Public Finance. The figure is much higher than the global average of 63.7 percent and 75.3 percent for advanced economies. South Korea's growth pace of household debt has al
April 5, 2021
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S. Korea's FX reserves fall in March on stronger dollar
South Korea's foreign reserves declined in March as the US dollar's strength reduced the value of non-dollar assets, central bank data showed Monday. The nation's foreign reserves came to $446.1 billion as of end-March, down $1.43 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion. The FX reserves dec
April 5, 2021
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Bitcoin falls after hitting all-time high, widens gap with global exchanges
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell on Sunday after hitting a fresh record high over the weekend. The price difference between domestic and overseas exchanges, dubbed as the kimchi premium, widened as much as 10 percent, indicating a heated investors’ atmosphere. Bitcoin prices stood at around 73.50 million won ($65,056) in the early afternoon at local exchange Upbit and Bithumb, declining from the fresh record high of 75.30 million won on the previous day. This compares to other
April 4, 2021
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S. Korea and China to build smart agriculture complex in Pocheon
A massive agriculture complex will be developed in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province as part of a joint project between Korean and Chinese industry players, the Korea-China Private Economic Association announced Sunday. The agriculture complex, which would sit on a 250,000-square-meter parcel of land, has been designed as an eco-friendly town comprising smart farms, hydrogen fuel cell generators, logistics systems and housing with leisure facilities. The private companies from two countries would
April 4, 2021
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KAI sets sights on Asia No. 1 in ‘new space’ era
From flying cars to private satellites, the paradigm of global aerospace industry is shifting faster than ever. After SpaceX ushered in the dawn of the “new space” age, private players are now making an aggressive foray into the space industry, which had been dominated by governmental agencies. At this turbulent time, Korea Aerospace Industries, the nation’s sole aircraft manufacturer, aims to capture new opportunities in order to rise as Asia’s No. 1 aerospace comp
April 4, 2021
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[#WeFACE] ‘Gas stations will disappear, but not their social roles’
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with executives of South Korea’s leading corporations on their response to environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues, which have become central factors globally in measuring the sustainability of an investment or business decision. -- Ed. One electric vehicle charger installed at a service station in Seoul generates no more than 100,000 won ($88.1) in revenue per month. After electricity bills are paid and
April 4, 2021
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ManpowerGroup expands presence with RPO Solution in Korea
Since its launch last year, Manpower Korea’s recruitment process outsourcing -- or RPO -- service has garnered positive feedback from clients for completing recruitment at a reduced time and cost. According to the Korean unit of ManpowerGroup, a global workforce solutions provider headquartered in Wisconsin, two projects last year exemplified the strength of its Talent Solutions RPO service in the local market. In one of the cases, a US-based health care company was able to achieve its
April 4, 2021
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Krafton earnings soar ahead of IPO
South Korean game developer Krafton’s sales last year jumped 53 percent to around 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion), the company said in its annual report. The company behind the hit battle royal game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is expected to accelerate steps for an initial public offering, on the back of the strong performance. According to Krafton’s business report for 2020, the company’s revenue for the whole of last year amounted to 1.67 trillion won, up 53.6 per
April 4, 2021
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Hybe: Breaking down K-pop giant’s aggressive expansion
Hybe, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment and home to South Korean pop group BTS, made headlines over the weekend following the announcement that it has bought Ithaca Holdings, a US music firm behind the likes of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. The $1 billion deal has been described as “inevitable” by Hybe Chairman and CEO Bang Si-hyuk who said the two firms will work closely together to “transcend borders” and “break down cultural barriers.” Scooter Br
April 4, 2021
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Export-Import bank to offer Hyundai Motor W3tr for future mobility development
The Export-Import Bank of Korea has signed an agreement with Hyundai Motor to provide financial support to the automaker vying with global rivals to take the lead in future vehicle markets. Under the memorandum of understanding inked on Thursday, the state-run policy lender will offer the automaker some 3 trillion won ($2.65 billion) until 2023 for its projects involving its plan to make the transition to become a smart mobility solution provider that manufactures zero-emission and driverless
April 4, 2021