Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Korea enters full election mode
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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[Herald Interview] Son Suk-ku chooses to be swayed by others in navigating life
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Tax chiefs of Korea, China discuss ways to bolster cooperation
South Korean and Chinese tax agencies agreed to strengthen two-way cooperation in taxation administration amid the diplomatic row caused by the deployment of US anti-missile system on the Korean Peninsula, the government said Tuesday.South Korea's National Tax Service Commissioner Han Seung-hee held an annual meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Jun in Beijing, according to his office.The two tax authorities have held regular talks every year since 1996, four years after the two neighbors n
Sept. 5, 2017
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Korea further strengthens housing market regulations
The government announced a fresh set of regulations Tuesday to cool down the overheated housing market, a month after adopting strong measures for Seoul and other cities. On Aug. 2, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designated 25 regions in Seoul and two other cities as "overheated speculative districts" to tighten mortgage rules and restrict transactions of new homes. This action is seen to have curbed price hikes over the past month.Under the follow-up measure, the m
Sept. 5, 2017
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Daily credit card spending in Korea hits record high in H1
Daily credit card spending in South Korea hit a record high in the first half of this year, data showed Tuesday, in the latest sign that plastic has become one of the most favored tools for payment.The amount of transactions processed through credit cards came to 1.76 trillion won ($1.5 billion) a day on average in the January-June period, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. Among them, average daily spending of mobile credit cards came t
Sept. 5, 2017
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Credit unions see combined profit slightly fall in H1
South Korea's credit unions, or member-owned financial cooperatives, saw their combined net profit fall 1.3 percent on year for the first half of this year, due to a rise in loan-loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of 2,258 credit unions, including Nonghyup and Suhyup banks, stood at 1.21 trillion won ($1.06 billion) for the January-June period, down 16.1 billion won from a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Their combined loan-los
Sept. 5, 2017
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Korea‘s current account surplus narrows to $7.26b in July
South Korea's current account surplus narrowed in July from a year earlier due to an increased deficit in the services balance, central bank data showed Tuesday.The country's current account surplus reached $7.26 billion in July, compared with a surplus of $8.41 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The figure represents the 65th straight month of the balance being in the black. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.The BOK at
Sept. 5, 2017
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Korea's growth ranking among OECD tumbles in Q2
South Korea's economic growth ranking among major advanced and emerging economies plunged 10 spots in the second quarter from three months earlier as its recovery lost ground, data showed Tuesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 0.6 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, compared with a 1.1 percent expansion for the first quarter, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.It was the 18th-highest on-quarter gain among 27 OECD member nations w
Sept. 5, 2017
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No new import restriction imposed on S. Korea for two months
South Korea has faced no new import restrictions or related investigations by foreign countries for the past two months in a positive sign for the export-driven economy, data showed Tuesday.No South Korean products were subjected to fresh import regulations in the form of anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties, safeguards or a combination of them during the July-August period, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association .Since reporting zero cases, the number of impo
Sept. 5, 2017
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Silver bar sales rise 10-fold as middle class join flight to safety
Following North Korea’s nuclear weapons test Sunday, sales of silver bars soared by 10 times on Monday, according to the Korea Gold Exchange.Silver bars are in high demand among middle-class investors seeking an affordable alternative to gold bars as a safety haven currency during times of geopolitical uncertainty.KGE said sales of 1-kilogram gold bars numbered 194 on Monday morning alone, rising sharply from daily sales of 20 on average.A 1-kilogram silver bar was trading at around 840,00
Sept. 4, 2017
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Trump’s KORUS FTA opt-out a ‘real possibility’: expert
Amid continued ambiguity regarding the fate of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement, some industry experts are predicting high odds that US President Donald Trump may actually terminate the trade deal, following North Korea’s escalating threats, which are adding tension to the political and economic climate between South Korea and the US. “While some people view Trump’s threats as being bluffs, in my expert opinion, Trump deciding to back out of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement
Sept. 4, 2017
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Korean firms’ woes over THAAD deepen
South Korean companies struggling with restraints on their businesses in China are likely to come under more pressure with the deployment of additional launchers of a US anti-missile battery here set to begin as early as this week.Beijing seems unlikely to ease its stance on the issue in the wake of North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sunday.China began to take retaliatory measures in July last year when Seoul agreed to deploy the US missile shield known as the Terminal High
Sept. 4, 2017
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Korea vows strong market-stabilizing actions over NK tension
South Korea’s economic and financial authorities vowed Monday to take stern measures to stabilize the market in response to uncertainties triggered by North Korea’s sixth nuclear test the previous day.“(The North Korean nuclear issue) may have not only a short-term influence on the financial and foreign exchange markets, but also a negatively impact upon the real economy,” Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting of t
Sept. 4, 2017
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[Monitor] Public split on suspension of nuclear reactors
A recent set of surveys by Gallup Korea showed the public remains largely split on the Moon Jae-in government’s drive to suspend construction of nuclear reactors as part of its new energy plan.The government-led committee has also set out to conduct its own survey through a consortium of research firms to collect a wide range of public opinion before reaching a final decision on Shin-Kori reactors 5 and 6.
Sept. 4, 2017
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Korea's mobile purchases hit record high in July
Purchases made through mobile devices in South Korea hit a fresh record high in July as smartphones are widening their presence in the world's most wired country, government data showed Monday.Mobile transactions through smartphones and tablets reached a record 4.01 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in July, up 35.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea.The total amount of mobile transactions accounted for an all-time high of 62 percent of all online purchases made in Ju
Sept. 4, 2017
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Regulator to cut interest on overdue debt, premiums of indemnity medical insurance
South Korea's top financial regulator said Monday it will cut the interest on overdue debt and the premiums of indemnity medical insurance in line with the government's policy of easing the financial burdens for low-income earners. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said the FSC will actively encourage insurance firms to return unclaimed insurance benefits worth 7.6 trillion won ($6.71 billion) to customers. Interest on overdue debt will be lowered by the end of th
Sept. 4, 2017
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Religious groups set to pay W64b in taxes next year: report
Taxing religious groups will add 64.7 billion won ($57 million) to state coffers annually starting next year, a report said Monday.The Moon Jae-in government has pledged to levy taxes on the clergy from 2018 onwards as part of its drive for equitable taxation, although people working for churches and temples have been exempted from paying income tax until now, as their work has been regarded as a spiritual service, not labor."We estimate the amount of taxes to be paid by employees of religi
Sept. 4, 2017
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Quarter of Korean salaried workers did not use vacation time: report
Nearly a quarter of salaried workers in South Korea did not use their vacation time from August 2015 through July of last year, a report by a local culture and tourism organization said Monday.The findings, based on a survey of 4,357 people nationwide by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, showed 23.9 percent of those checked said they did not use their vacation time. The lack of free time was reflected in South Koreans putting in some of the longest work hours in the world at the time the
Sept. 4, 2017
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Korea set to take immediate measures to stabilize financial markets
South Korea's finance minister pledged Monday to take immediate measures to stabilize the market, if the need arises, amid escalating tensions after North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test."The North Korean issue is spreading across the world," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting with Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku. "It may not only have a short-term impact on the financial and foreign exchange markets,
Sept. 4, 2017
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Number of temps at public agencies increase in Q2
The number of nonregular workers at South Korea's public institutions rose in the second quarter from three months ago despite the government's push to cut them, with over half of them posting gains, government data showed Monday. According to the government portal All Public Information in One, temporary employees at 355 public organizations stood at 39,681 as of the end of June, up 1,765 from the first quarter.Of the total, 180 institutions, or 50.7, hired more nonregulars during the three-mon
Sept. 4, 2017
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Financial regulator steps up monitoring of markets after N. Korea‘s 6th nuke test
South Korea's financial regulator said Monday it has begun monitoring markets around the clock and will swiftly act if necessary, after North Korea spiked tensions by conducting its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. Zhin Woong-seob, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, held a meeting earlier in the day to review contingency measures. "It is difficult to predict the situation on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test, despite intense sanctions by the
Sept. 4, 2017
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[News Focus] Economy beleaguered by nuke test, US trade tension
South Korea’s economy faced serious threats on two fronts Sunday, following North Korea’s strongest-ever nuclear test, as well as increased indications from the United States that their bilateral free trade deal was under threat.Such challenges, combined with the Korea-China tension over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and the prolonged slow growth trend, is likely to further weigh down on Asia’s fourth-largest economy.Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and Fina
Sept. 3, 2017