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Exports fall 14.6% from Feb. 1-10; chip sales jump over 40%
South Korea's exports fell nearly 15 percent on-year in the first 10 days of February due mainly to fewer working days, but sales of semiconductors soared more than 40 percent, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments reached $15.01 billion in the Feb. 1-10 period, compared with $17.57 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Per-day exports, however, increased 11.7 percent on-year to $2.31 billion. The number of working days came to 6.5 days duri
Economy Feb. 13, 2024
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Seoul shares open higher amid rate cut hopes
Seoul shares opened higher Tuesday as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to start easing this year due to continued disinflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 33.23 points, or 1.27 percent, to 2,653.55 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investors await January's US inflation data due later in the day. The US consumer price index is expected to support the view that decelerating inflation will allow the US central bank to start cutting rates this year. In Seoul,
Market Feb. 13, 2024
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State Dept. says NATO gives 'actual security' for US after Trump's controversial remarks
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization provides "actual security" for America, the State Department said Monday, amid a controversy over former President Donald Trump's recent suggestion that he would "encourage" Russia to attack NATO members if they fail to fulfill their spending obligations. Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, made the point as Trump's remarks raised concerns that the United States' security commitments to NATO and other allia
World News Feb. 13, 2024
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White House touts trilateral cooperation with S. Korea, Japan as key feat in Indo-Pacific Strategy
A White House official on Monday highlighted strengthened trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan among key achievements of the Joe Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy unveiled two years ago. During a press briefing, John Kirby, the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, catalogued key examples of progress in the strategy that Washington rolled out to deepen engagement with the region, which it has cast as the "epicenter" of geopolitics i
World News Feb. 13, 2024
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Ex-industry minister named vice chair of presidential committee on aging society, population policy
President Yoon Suk Yeol appointed former Industry Minister Joo Hyung-hwan as vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup said Monday. Joo is a policy expert known for his drive to get things done and is expected to lead the committee in a way that produces visible results in a swift manner, Lee said. Yoon is the ex-officio chairman of the committee. "With the recognition that society's survival is at stake
Politics Feb. 12, 2024
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Highway traffic levels ease on last day of Lunar New Year holiday
Traffic levels on major highways eased Monday as people who visited their families during the Lunar New Year holiday returned home on the final day of the four-day holiday. A drive from Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to the capital was expected to take about five hours as of 5 p.m., while driving from Gwangju, 267 km south of the capital, to Seoul was expected to take three hours and 30 minutes, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp. The drive in the opposite direction from
Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2024
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Doctors, govt. on collision course over medical school quota increase
Doctors and the government are on a collision course over the decision to significantly increase medical school seats, with doctors vowing to go on a strike and the government pledging a stern response, including even revoking doctors' licenses. Last week, the government announced its plan to add 2,000 seats to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, a sharp rise from the current 3,058 medical school seats that have been capped since 2006. The move came as the country
Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2024
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Yoon's approval rating inches up to 39.2 pct
President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating rose slightly to 39.2 percent from a week earlier, a survey showed Monday. According to the Realmeter survey, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance rose 1.9 percentage points from the week earlier, while the negative assessment fell 1.7 percentage points. The survey was conducted on 2,011 adults from Monday to Thursday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent. The r
Politics Feb. 12, 2024
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N. Korea says it newly developed shells for multiple rocket launcher
North Korea said Monday it has newly developed controllable shells for a multiple rocket launcher and its ballistic control system as part of its push to expand its weapons arsenal. The Academy of Defence Science conducted a test firing of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher shells on Sunday in a bid to evaluate their accuracy and prove their advantages, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "The development of 240 mm-caliber controllable multiple rocket launcher she
North Korea Feb. 12, 2024
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Doctors vow massive rallies this week against med school quota hikes
Doctors will hold massive rallies across the nation this week in protest of the government's planned hike in the enrollment quota for medical schools amid a looming strike feared to affect the health service, officials said Sunday. The Korean Medical Association (KMA), a major lobby group for doctors, said it will hold protests nationwide Thursday as a first collective action after the entity went into emergency mode in response to the government's decision to boost the number of medic
Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2024
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EVs take up 9.3 percent of newly purchased cars in 2023
Electric cars accounted for 9.3 percent of newly purchased cars in South Korea last year, data showed Monday, hovering above that of other major counterparts, including the United States and Japan. The electric vehicles (EVs) took up 162,507 of 1.74 million cars sold in South Korea in 2023, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The ratio marked a significant rise from just 1.9 percent tallied in 2019. The figure, however, fell slightly from 9.7 per
Mobility Feb. 12, 2024
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S. Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min captures world title in men's 400m freestyle
South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min has grabbed the gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle at the ongoing world championships in Qatar, becoming the country's world swimming champion in 13 years. Kim won his monumental gold medal with a personal-best time of 3:42.71 at Aspire Dome in Doha on Sunday (local time) at the World Aquatics Championships. Kim held off the 2022 world champion, Elijah Winnington of Australia, by 0.15 second. Lukas Martens of Germany, the bronze medalist at the
More Sports Feb. 12, 2024
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Social media use leaps, reading volume declines among 20-year-olds in past decade: report
Twenty-year-olds spend much more time on social media now than the same age group a decade ago, whereas their monthly reading time declined, a report showed Monday. The Korean Educational Development Institute surveyed 5,705 people who turned 20 in 2021, and about 23 percent of them said they use social media for an average of three to five hours a week, while about 17 percent said they use social media for about six to 10 hours. In a similar survey, only 6.7 percent of the 4,850 people who turn
Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2024
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Thingsflow's AI chatbot becomes global featured on Google Play
An artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Thingsflow, a South Korean startup, has been selected as Global Featured on Google Play for the first time as a Korean chatbot service, according to the company Sunday. Thingsflow's Hellobot is a first-generation AI chatbot platform where anyone can easily create and distribute chatbots with unique expertise, such as love tarot, personality and psychological analysis, fortune telling and others. With the selection as Global Featured on Google
Industry Feb. 11, 2024
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Foreign investors rack up S. Korean stocks on rally
Foreign investors have been active in the South Korean stock market over the past two weeks, contributing to the recent rally in the main KOSPI index, data showed Sunday. Offshore investors scooped up a net total of 5 trillion won ($3.75 billion) worth of local shares from Jan. 29 to Feb. 8, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. Over the same period, the KOSPI rose 5.71 percent to close at 2,620.32 points, while the financial authorities announced plans to boost undervalued stocks. Hyun
Economy Feb. 11, 2024
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