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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AI textbook bubble could burst, expert warns
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[KH Explains] Korea pursues ‘fire-free’ batteries amid EV fears
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[Herald Review] One of Netflix's most expensive Korean originals returns, but at what cost?
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Man calls 119, found dead 1 week later because officials went to wrong place
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Food tycoon Paik Jong-won's Theborn Korea pushes toward IPO
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Samsung tightens its belt amid crisis winds
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Brokerage houses post big drop in Q3 net profit
South Korean securities companies saw their third-quarter earnings tumble 38.7 percent from three months earlier due to huge losses from derivatives amid a bearish stock market, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The combined net profit of 56 brokerage houses came to 747.2 billion won (US$652.2 million) in the July-September period, compared with an eight-year high of 1.2 trillion won in the second quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The weak on-quarter bottom line ca
Nov. 25, 2015
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BOK, IMF to host int'l conference on global financial crisis
South Korea's central bank and the International Monetary Fund will jointly host an international conference on global financial crises, the bank said Wednesday. The conference, titled "Leverage in Asia: Lessons from the Past, What's New Now, and Where to Watch Out For," will be held in Seoul on Dec. 11, according to the Bank of Korea. "The conference takes stock of where Asia stands in the present credit cycle, explores new risks emerging from this leverage cycle, and considers potential poli
Nov. 25, 2015
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Terms of trade improve in Oct. on falling import prices
South Korea's terms of trade continued to improve last month despite a large cut in exports as import prices dropped at a faster rate than export prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's terms of trade index spiked 12.4 percent on-year to 101.72 in October, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The index gauges the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports, which shows how the country's exports are doing in comparison with those of other
Nov. 25, 2015
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Park's memoir tops best-seller chart in China's online bookstore
A Chinese-language memoir by President Park Geun-hye was at the top of the autobiography list compiled by China's largest online bookstore for September and October, according to the store on Wednesday. The autobiography, titled "Despair Trains Me and Hope Moves Me," was first published in 2007 and translated into Chinese in 2013. The data compiled by the Chinese online bookstore, dangdang.com, showed that Park's memoir topped the list of sales on the biographies chart for the past two month
Social AffairsNov. 25, 2015
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Korea-U.S. nuclear accord to go into effect Wednesday
A new nuclear treaty between South Korea and the United States will take effect later Wednesday, a government official said. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se plans to exchange a related memorandum of understanding with U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert in a ceremony slated for 6 p.m., he added. In April, the two sides struck the deal to allow Seoul to expand its peaceful nuclear activity. South Korea also left the door open for the possibility of enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclea
DefenseNov. 25, 2015
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LG Uplus joins hands with U.S. broadcaster ABC
South Korea's No. 3 mobile carrier LG Uplus Inc. said Wednesday it has clinched a deal with the American Broadcasting Company to distribute the U.S. broadcasters' programs through mobile platforms. Under the plan, LG Uplus will offer various ABC programs to its subscribers, including "Good Morning America," "World News Tonight" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" A total of 29 programs will be provided starting this week, the company said. LG Uplus also signed a similar deal with NBC Universal, another U
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Korea's childbirths fall for 2nd month in Sept.
The number of childbirths in South Korea fell for the second month in a row in September, a government report showed Wednesday, a worrisome development for a country struggling with an aging population. In September, some 36,500 babies were born here, down 3.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the report from Statistics Korea. The annual decrease comes after a 3.6 percent on-year drop in August that followed five straight months of gains. South Korea, whose population is ex
Social AffairsNov. 25, 2015
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Asia Culture Center opens in Gwangju
Asia's largest cultural center opened in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday to provide a window into pan-Asian culture. The Asia Culture Center held its opening ceremony with the participation of some 700 people, including Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok and Moon Jae-in, chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. "Gwangju has now become Asia's central city in cultural exchange," Hwang said in a congratulat
CultureNov. 25, 2015
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Korea's air passenger traffic jumps 11.9% in Oct.
South Korea's air passenger traffic rose sharply from a year earlier in October, fueled by the increased number of people taking both domestic and international flights, the government said Wednesday. In September, the country's overall air passenger traffic rose by 11.9 percent on-year to 8.35 million, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number of international air passengers to and from South Korea moved up 11 percent on-year to 5.61 million last month, an in
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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SK hynix to compensate employees with work-related diseases
South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it plans to compensate employees suffering from what they claim is an occupational disease, although clear links to the working environment have not been found. The announcement came around a year after the company launched a committee composed of seven non-corporate experts, who SK hynix said were selected without intervention on its part. "It was fundamentally difficult to find a relationship between the working environment at our ch
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Korea's seaport cargo dips in Oct.
Cargo processed at South Korean seaports dipped from a year earlier in October, mainly due to a drop in exports and imports, the government said Wednesday. The country's seaports handled a combined 121.687 million tons of cargo last month, down 0.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Export-import cargo, which accounted for 82.1 percent of the total, contracted by 1.6 percent on-year to 99.943 million tons, while domestic cargo rose 6.5 per
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Korea to invest 127 bln won in wearable industry
South Korea's science and industry ministries said Wednesday they will spend 127 billion won ($110.7 million) on boosting the wearable device industry through 2020 as part of efforts to secure new growth engines for the country. Under the plan, the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy will allocate a combined 111 billion won on development of related technologies, and 16 billion won on operating support centers for local companies. "While
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Former JCS chief denies corruption claims
An ex-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff denied bribery suspicions related to the country's procurement of military helicopters during overnight questioning, prosecution sources said Wednesday. Retired Adm. Choi Yoon-hee returned home early in the morning after undergoing 20 hours of interrogation at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul. He is suspected of receiving kickbacks from a defense firm in exchange for helping it win a contract for building military heli
Social AffairsNov. 25, 2015
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Korean banks' capital ratio inches down in Q3
South Korean banks saw their financial health worsen slightly in the third quarter of this year from three months earlier due to a rise in risky assets, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The average capital adequacy ratio of 18 commercial and state-run banks stood at 13.96 percent as of end-September, down 0.13 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The ratio, a key barometer of financial soundness, measures the proportion of a bank's
Nov. 25, 2015
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Budget handset sales sharply up amid regulations on discounts
Sales of budget handsets in South Korea are continuing to gain popularity, data showed Wednesday, as consumers seek cheaper options following the government's regulations on discounts for high-end models. Out of total smartphone sales, the portion of budget handsets, priced 500,000 won ($433.3) and below, came to 34 percent in the January-October period, up from the around 20 percent posted a year earlier, the data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning showed. Industry
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Loss-making shipyards struggling to sell assets, cut costs
South Korean shipbuilders are seeking to sell assets and cut costs, as they struggle with massive losses stemming from a protracted industry slump and rising costs, industry sources said Wednesday. The country's big-three shipyards -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. -- are rolling out a set of self-rescue measures that will save a combined 2.5 trillion won ($2.17 billion), they said. Daewoo Shipbuilding is seeking to c
IndustryNov. 25, 2015
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Korea's last-remaining MERS patient dies
South Korea's last-remaining Middle East Respiratory Syndrome patient died Wednesday, five and a half months after being diagnosed with the viral respiratory disease, health authorities said. The 35-year-old patient, who was confirmed to have been infected with the MERS virus on June 8, died around 3 a.m. at Seoul National University Hospital, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. It said the patient, who is the 38th person to die after contracting MERS, succumbed to complications brought o
Social AffairsNov. 25, 2015
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POSCO unit to ink Saudi auto biz deal early next year
Daewoo International, a trading unit of South Korea's steelmaking giant POSCO Co., will likely finalize a deal for its automotive business in Saudi Arabia early next year "at the latest," an industry source said Wednesday. It also plans to start building an assembly line for vehicles in the Middle East country within the next year as all necessary preparations have been made, according to the source close to the matter. "A deal for the automotive business in Saudi Arabia could be reached early
Nov. 25, 2015
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Seoul shares open flat amid lack of events
South Korean stocks opened nearly flat Wednesday as investors sat on the sidelines waiting for market-moving events. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 0.12 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,016.17 in the first 15 minutes of trading. No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor remained unchanged from the previous session, while Kia Motors shed 1.44 percent. Top auto-parts maker Hyundai Mobis added 0.4 percent. Top mobile carrier SK Telecom lost 0.21 percent, and KT moved down 0.5 percent. L
Nov. 25, 2015
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BOK chief says China poses risks for South Korea
The growing competitiveness of Chinese companies is posing great risks for South Korean firms, while China's slowing economic growth is creating short-term risks for Asia's fourth-largest economy, Seoul's top central banker said Wednesday. "Regarding China risks, many experts are focusing on China's slowing domestic demand, but what we must pay more attention to is progress in China's industrial competitiveness," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a monthly meeting with economic experts her
North KoreaNov. 25, 2015