Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Samsung's Q4 smartphone sales rise in US: report
Samsung Electronics Co.'s smartphone sales in the United States rose in the fourth quarter of 2020 on the back of its budget flagship model, a report showed Thursday, despite overall market decline. Samsung and Apple Inc. were the only smartphone makers to post sales growth in the United States in the last three months of 2020, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. The South Korean tech giant saw 5 percent on-year growth in its US smartphone sales in the fourth quarter, while A
Feb. 4, 2021
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Top court upholds guilty convictions of Samsung executives in union-busting case
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the guilty convictions of dozens of former and current Samsung executives accused of sabotaging labor union activities at a subsidiary company in 2013. The court confirmed a 16-month prison sentence for Kang Kyung-hoon, a vice president at Samsung Electronics Co., on charges of violating labor union laws. It also confirmed the acquittal of Lee Sang-hoon, former chairman of Samsung Electronics' board of directors, citing the illegal means by which evidence w
Feb. 4, 2021
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Amount of grain brought home by S. Korean agricultural firms doubles in 2020
The amount of wheat and other grains brought home by South Korean agricultural firms more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, in line with the country's efforts to revamp its national food security. The combined amount of grains excluding rice imported through South Korean agricultural developers reached 110,000 tons in 2020, soaring from just 44,000 tons posted the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Wheat accounted for
Feb. 4, 2021
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Samsung Heavy wins W230b order from Oceania
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday that it has won a 230 billion-won ($206 million) order from an Oceanian company. Under the deal, two 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers will be delivered from the first half of 2023, the company said. Samsung Heavy has bagged orders of five ships -- one liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier and four container carriers -- worth a combined $600 million so far this year. The amount of the orders accounted for 8 percent of its orde
Feb. 4, 2021
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Rising DRAM prices bode well for S. Korean chipmakers
Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a rising course, industry data showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the memory market. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached as high as $3.93 as of Wednesday, according to data from DRAMeXchange, a research division of market tracker TrendForce. Its spot price reached $2.54 on Aug. 20, 2020, but rebounded above the $3 mark in mid-December. A spot price is the price quoted in
Feb. 4, 2021
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GM Korea to cut production from next week
GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday it will cut vehicle production by half at one of its three plants from next week due to a lack of semiconductor chips. GM Korea's planned output reduction is in line with US parent GM's decision to cut production at its local and overseas plants. GM Korea said it will take down production at the No. 2 Bupyeong plant, just west of Seoul, to half capacity from Monday. "We are working closely with our supply base to fi
Feb. 4, 2021
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European sales of Samsung Bioepis' 3 biosimilars up 7.8% in 2020
South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co. said Thursday sales of its three biosimilar products in Europe climbed nearly 8 percent in 2020 from a year earlier. Combined sales of the three autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- stood at $795.8 million last year, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said. The company cited an earnings report of its US partner Biogen. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics -- a biopharmaceutical unit of South K
Feb. 4, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on tech, pharmaceutical losses
South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday largely on tech and pharmaceutical losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 18.48 points, or 0.59 percent, to 3,111.2 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks quickly fell to the negative terrain due to strong foreign and institutional selling, after the key index rallied 5.2 percent in the past three sessions. Top cap Samsung Electronics lost 1.42 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix shed 1.92 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Sam
Feb. 4, 2021
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S. Korea faces record import curbs in 2020 amid protectionism
South Korea faced a record number of import restrictions from trade partners in 2020 amid growing protectionism, a trade body said Thursday. The country was subject to 228 import regulations from 26 countries as of end-December, up 18 from a year earlier, according to a report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). It was also the largest-ever number of import restrictions targeting Asia's fourth-largest economy. Import restrictions cover anti-dumping duties, countervailing
Feb. 4, 2021
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Under pressure, FSC extends short selling ban by May
South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday that it has decided to extend a temporary ban on short selling until May 2, amid growing pressure from retail investors voicing concerns over possible damages in battles with sophisticated hedge funds. The ban was previously set to end March 15. The Financial Services Commission will then implement a partial reactivation of short selling from May 3, while establishing a stock loan system in the meantime, which enables ret
Feb. 3, 2021
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Coupang offers pre-order promotion on Xiaomi ‘Mi Watch’ series
Coupang said Wednesday it has launched an exclusive pre-order promotion event for its customers ahead of the launch of Xiaomi’s smart watches “Mi Watch” and “Mi Watch Lite” in South Korea. According to the e-commerce giant, the promotion is intended for consumers interested in health and exercise, as the hashtag #WOD, short for “workout of the day,” has been trending lately amid the pandemic. The event will give Coupang customers the chance to get
Feb. 3, 2021
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South Korea approves special import of Pfizer vaccine
South Korea on Wednesday gave special approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Comirnaty, specifically for the batch to be imported through the global COVAX facility. As per this decision, a total of 117,000 doses of Comirnaty will arrive in Korea after mid-February, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. As the vaccine needs to be administered twice, the COVAX batch can cover around 60,000 people. Authorities have made clear that the initial batch of vaccines are
Feb. 3, 2021
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Hanwha Investment to buy 6.15% stake in Dunamu
Hanwha Investment and Securities, the brokerage arm of Hanwha Group, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a 6.15 percent stake in Dunamu, an operator of global cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for nearly 58.3 billion won ($52.24 million). The announcement came via DART -- the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board -- that the acquisition of some 2.06 million shares is set to take effect on Feb. 22. The deal is a mid- to long-term investment for the brokerage house to c
Feb. 3, 2021
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[Herald Interview] ‘Pandemic shows bridging social inequities is public health issue’
This interview is the final installment in a three-part series of conversations with former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. The novel coronavirus crisis shows that social inequities are a public health matter, and that bridging the gaps should be among the country’s post-pandemic goals, says former director of the Korea Centers
Feb. 3, 2021
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Kumho Tire, union tentatively OK wage deal
Kumho Tire Co. and its labor union said Wednesday they have reached a tentative wage deal for the year of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The tentative wage agreement comes after the company's 2,700-strong union threatened to stage a general strike to demand a wage increase and restore the bonus system in a vote held Jan. 28. The company proposed a wage freeze and a cash bonus worth 1 million won ($900) per worker and signed a contract that guarantees job security for current workers. The uni
Feb. 3, 2021
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[Eye on Business] 10th anniversary of Styler: Electronic closet invented by LG creates new market
“Do you have a Styler at home?” Just like global brands such as Jeep, Post-it and Hotchkiss, the name “Styler” has blossomed into a proper noun for a clothing care system in modern society. Invented by South Korea’s LG Electronics, the LG Tromm Styler has innovated a new category in the home appliance market over the past decade and become one of the essential home appliances, along with TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. The development story of Styler
Feb. 3, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Ruling camp bigwigs clash over COVID-19 relief funds
Tensions flared between South Korea’s fiscal chief and the ruling party leader on Wednesday, as they publicly disagreed over the timing of an additional release of COVID-19 relief funds and who should benefit. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck a defiant tone against the idea pitched by the ruling Democratic Party Chairman and a leading potential contender for 2022 presidential race Lee Nak-yon to begin discussions on a fourth round of emergency handouts to all househo
Feb. 3, 2021
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S. Korea to extend ban on stock short selling until May 2
South Korea's financial regulator said Wednesday it will again extend a ban on stock short selling until May 2, amid growing calls from retail investors to prohibit the hedging practice. The extension of the ban, which had been set to be lifted on March 15, also came after politicians called for financial authorities to keep the ban. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo told reporters that the ban on large-cap 200 firms listed on the main KOSPI and 150 firms listed on the
Feb. 3, 2021
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With easy-to-use app, Toss aims to captivate young, new stock investors
Toss Securities, the brokerage arm of South Korea’s leading fintech startup Viva Republica, on Wednesday unveiled a mobile trading system with a goal to attract 1 million active users within the year. During the unveiling of the service which is expected to be launched later this month, Toss Securities said it plans to offer a simple and intuitive mobile trading system to grab investors who are having trouble using existing trading systems and young investors in their 20s and 30s. Toss
Feb. 3, 2021
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Watchdog approves Apple’s correction scheme for ‘unfair market practices’
Apple’s yearslong antitrust dispute in South Korea seemed to settle as the nation’s watchdog accepted the US tech giant’s redeeming plan to spend some 100 billion won ($89.73 million) in supporting consumers and small-sized businesses. The Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday that it has approved the financial package suggested by the local unit of Apple Inc. to wrap up its alleged unfair market practices in the past. “This is the first time that a correction scheme
Feb. 3, 2021