Most Popular
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Yoon warns North Korea against nuclear attack attempt
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81-year-old model awarded ‘best dressed’ in Miss Universe Korea
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Seoul mayor suggests shift in immigration policy
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'Smart pill'? ADHD treatment prescriptions spike this year
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[KH Explains] Korea pursues ‘fire-free’ batteries amid EV fears
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AI textbook bubble could burst, expert warns
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Man calls 119, found dead 1 week later because officials went to wrong place
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[Herald Review] One of Netflix's most expensive Korean originals returns, but at what cost?
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Fights, complaints, stalker fans among reasons passengers exit planes before takeoff
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SF Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo back home after injury-shortened rookie season
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Luxury compact cars subject to tax next year
The government said Thursday that it would levy an acquisition tax on pricey compact cars starting next year, to strengthen tax balance.Buyers of compact cars have been exempted from paying the tax so far, while purchases of regular cars are subject to a 4 percent acquisition tax. The tax deduction rate of a compact car priced at over 50 million won will be reduced to 85 percent from the current 100 percent. Smart Fortwo, manufactured by German carmaker Daimler AG, is the only compact car model
Dec. 10, 2015
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Economist Jang tackles inequality in new ‘Capitalism in Korea’ series
Why We Should Be Angryby Jang Ha-sung(Heybooks) Jang Ha-sung, who is widely known in the fields of corporate governance and shareholder activism, tackles one of the most urgent problems rising in Korea – inequality.The Korean economy, which rose from rags to riches at a remarkable pace, now faces the fallout from the quick rise where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer as the country’s fully adopts capitalism.The root of the problem is the widening income gap between empl
BooksDec. 10, 2015
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Koreas to hold high-level talks this week
South Korea prepared Thursday for high-level talks with North Korea expected to cover various pending issues, including the reunions of families torn apart by the 1950-53 Korean War and the resumption of a suspended joint tour program.The vice-ministerial meeting will kick off at a joint industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong at 10:30 a.m. on Friday to follow up on a rare deal in August on defusing military tension, officials said.The agenda for the upcoming talks has not been con
North KoreaDec. 10, 2015
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Korea to allow brokerages, insurers to engage in FX trading
South Korea is seeking to allow local brokerages and insurers to engage in foreign exchange transactions starting in late February, the government said Thursday.The finance ministry said it will revise the country's Foreign Exchange Transaction Act to remove many restrictions, which will expand the scope of the financial market and create more business opportunities.In the past, only large commercial banks were allowed to engage in FX businesses, although non-financial companies were allowed res
Dec. 10, 2015
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Incheon airport named world's best for 10th consecutive year
Incheon International Airport, Seoul's main gateway, has been named the world's best airport for the 10th consecutive year, officials said Thursday.Global Traveler, a U.S. magazine for business travelers, announced that the airport grabbed the 2015 GT Tested Reader Survey Award as the best in the business, extending its own record winning streak to 10 years, the Incheon International Airport Corporation said. Singapore Changi International Airport and Munich Airport were ranked second and third,
IndustryDec. 10, 2015
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Samsung execs to discuss 'global biz strategy' for next year
Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's top tech firm, said Thursday that its senior executives and overseas operations chiefs will gather in Seoul later this month to discuss next year's business strategy amid a slump in its mainstay business -- handsets.The business strategy meeting will include about 500 executives, according to Samsung."Participants will discuss ways to tide over a low growth trend," said a Samsung official.The company has scheduled two rounds of two-day meetings on Dec. 16-1
CompaniesDec. 10, 2015
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Seoul mayor proposes discussing his welfare plan
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon proposed creating an organization involving rival parties and central and local governments Thursday that would discuss his controversial plan of providing direct cash benefits to young and unemployed people.In October, Park announced the plan to provide an average 500,000 won ($428) a month for up to six months to about 3,000 unemployed young adults each in the capital city, as part of the municipal government's five-year measures for supporting the employment of the y
PoliticsDec. 10, 2015
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Chinese ownership of Jeju land surges fivefold in 3 years
The amount of land owned by Chinese investors on the southern resort island of Jeju has surged nearly fivefold over three years, raising concerns that the rapid flow of Chinese money could further inflate real estate prices there.According to a report by the National Assembly based on recent data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Chinese investors owned 8.34 square kilometers of the island’s land last year, up from 1.42 square kilometers in 2011. The 2014 figure also showed
Dec. 10, 2015
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N.K. leader consolidates power, but poor at diplomacy
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has consolidated his power in a short period of time since he took office in late 2011, but the North's isolation has seriously deepened due to his obsession with nuclear weapons, analysts said.The North's young leader Kim inherited power four years ago when his father Kim Jong-il died of heart failure.In his late 20s, Kim became the North's leader just three years after he was anointed the heir-apparent, necessitating his drive to consolidate power in a short per
North KoreaDec. 10, 2015
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Park calls for drastic efforts to boost birthrate
President Park Geun-hye called on Thursday for drastic efforts to raise South Korea's low birthrate as she blamed delayed marriage and a lack of jobs for the situation.South Korea has tried to address the issue of its low birthrate by spending about 80 trillion won ($68 billion) since 2005, when its total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- stood at 1.08.The efforts paid off a bit as the total fertility rate edged up to 1.2 in 2014, one of the lowest
Social AffairsDec. 10, 2015
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N. Korea develops H-bomb, Kim Jong-un says
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stated that his country has developed not only nuclear weapons but also hydrogen bombs, according to Pyongyang's state media Thursday.He made the remark while inspecting a historic site for the communist nation's arms industry a day earlier, according to reports.The North has been turned into a "powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation" thanks to tireless effo
North KoreaDec. 10, 2015
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Korea's ICT exports fall for second month in Nov.
South Korea's exports of information communication technology products contracted for the second month in a row in November due to weak global demand, government data showed Thursday.Outbound shipments of ICT products hit $14.34 billion last month, down a sharp 7 percent from the $15.42 billion tallied the year before, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Last month's number is also down 10.5 percent from the $16.03 billion reached in October, when outbound s
TechnologyDec. 10, 2015
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N. Korea's all-female pop group arrives in Beijing
North Korea's all-female pop group Moranbong Band, hand-picked by the North's young leader Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a six-day "friendship" tour, in the latest sign of warmer ties between the allies. The North Korean band, led by Choe Hwi, first vice-department director of the North's ruling Workers' Party, arrived at the Beijing railway station earlier in the day. The band, known for wearing short skirts and playing electronic violins, was formed in 2012 following an order
North KoreaDec. 10, 2015
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HABSTORE, the fashion link between Korean designers and world
Online specialty retailer HABSTORE, which introduces new creative designers to the general public, opened its English site at www.habstore.com through cafe24’s Global E-Commerce platform (www.cafe24.com) last month.HABSTORE CEO Hong Seong-jo said they were concentrating on introducing more Korean designers to the world to better their business.“Although there is more worldwide interest in Korean fashion thanks due to the Korean wave, smaller Korean designers don’t have enough capital or infrastr
IndustryDec. 10, 2015
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Labor union chief leaves temple, arrested by police
Han Sang-kyun, the head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union, ended 24 days of hiding at Jogyesa Temple on Thursday and appeared before police to be arrested on charges of leading illegal rallies.At around 11:20 a.m., the chief of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions voluntarily walked out of the temple in central Seoul, where he had been taking sanctuary to avoid arrest.(Yonhap)The police officers immediately handcuffed him and took him by van to Namdaemun Police Station for q
Social AffairsDec. 10, 2015
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Carter: US willing to do more to help Iraqis retake Ramadi
In a steady escalation of the fight against Islamic State militants, the U.S. military stands ready to send more American personnel and attack helicopters to Iraq, especially to help retake a key city seized by the extremists, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday.In recent days, Iraqi forces advanced on Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, retaking a military operations center and a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city in western Iraq. (Yonhap)“The United States is prepa
World NewsDec. 10, 2015
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Foreigners dump Korean shares ahead of imminent Fed rate hike
Foreign investors have been in a selling binge of local stocks as they reduced risky bets ahead of a looming U.S. rate hike, market watchers said Thursday.Offshore investors offloaded 243 billion won ($207 million) worth of shares traded on the main KOSPI market on Wednesday, extending their selling spree to a sixth consecutive day, according to the Korea Exchange. Since the beginning of this month, they have sold a total of 1.38 trillion won of local stocks. Together with the shares listed on
Dec. 10, 2015
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Labor union chief to leave temple voluntarily
Han Sang-kyun, the chief of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union wanted by police, decided Thursday to voluntarily leave Jogyesa Temple, where he has been hiding for 24 days. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions chief will hold a press conference before leaving the temple, upon which he is to be immediately questioned by police. Police had set a noon deadline for him to surrender himself, warning they would raid the temple if he refuses to come out. (Yonhap)Han had been on the
Social AffairsDec. 10, 2015
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Bank of Korea holds key rate amid uncertainty
South Korea's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady Thursday for the sixth month in a row, extending its wait-and-see mode ahead of a looming U.S. rate hike.In a widely expected decision, the Bank of Korea froze its base rate at 1.5 percent after sending it to a record-low level through four rate cuts in less than a year since August 2014.The decision comes amid growing concerns over a possible U.S. rate hike, the first of its kind in nearly a decade, which could prompt a mass out
Dec. 10, 2015
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330,000 Hyundai cars remain on road fuming out excessive emissions
Some 330,000 vehicles produced and sold by South Korea's leading carmaker Hyundai Motor Group are still running on the road here years after it promised a voluntary recall of the cars that were found to emit excessively high levels of hazardous gases into the air, industry sources said Thursday.The number is around three times larger than 125,000 Volkswagen automobiles that the environment ministry recently ordered to be recalled in South Korea in connection with the fake emissions scandal invol
IndustryDec. 10, 2015