Most Popular
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Now is no time to add pressure on businesses: top executives
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CJ CheilJedang to spur overseas growth with new Hungary, US plants
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Seoul to host winter festival from Dec. 13
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Blackpink's solo journeys: Complementary paths, not competition
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Nationwide rail disruptions feared as union plans strike from Dec. 5
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Korean Air offers special flights for mileage users
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N. Korea, Russia court softer image: From animal diplomacy to tourism
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[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Jennie, Lisa invited to Coachella as solo acts
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Smugglers caught disguising 230 tons of Chinese black beans as diesel exhaust fluid
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Russia sent 'anti-air' missiles to Pyongyang, Yoon's aide says
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Samsung’s new gadgets to reuse discarded fishing nets
Samsung Electronics said Monday it plans to reuse discarded fishing nets as a new material for its handset devices as part of its sustainability strategy announced earlier this year. According to the South Korean tech giant, the repurposed ocean-bound plastics, also known as “ghost nets,” will be incorporated in Samsung’s new product lineup under its Mobile Experience division, starting with the new Galaxy devices to be unveiled in the Unpacked event on Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. US E
TechnologyFeb. 7, 2022
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Money raised through IPOs hits record high in 2021 amid ample liquidity, bullish sentiment
The amount of money South Korean firms raised through initial public offerings (IPOs) more than quadrupled to hit a record high last year thanks to ample liquidity and the overall bullish stock market sentiment, data showed Monday. A total of 89 companies went public in 2021 by listing stocks on the benchmark KOSPI and secondary tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets and raised a combined 19.7 trillion won ($16.4 billion), according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The money raised from
MarketFeb. 7, 2022
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S. Korean battery makers take up 30.4% of global market share in 2021
The combined global market share of three major South Korean battery makers declined last year from a year earlier, due largely to the growth of their Chinese rivals, data showed Monday. The cumulative market share of LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES), SK Innovation Co. and Samsung SDI Co. came to 30.4 percent in the January-December period, down 4.3 percentage points from the previous year, according to market tracker SNE Research. LGES, which supplies electric vehicle batteries to Ford, Tesla
TechnologyFeb. 7, 2022
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Imported car sales fall 22% in Jan. amid chip shortages
Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 22 percent in January from a year earlier as chip shortages continued to disrupt vehicle production, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 17,361 units last month from 22,321 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. "Sales declined last month as chip supply issues continued to weigh on vehicle production and there was low
EconomyFeb. 7, 2022
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S. Korean trade chief to visit Britain, Switzerland for trade meetings
South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo will visit London and Geneva this week to explore ways to enhance trade cooperation with Britain and various international organizations, his office said Monday. During his two-day visit to London beginning Monday, Yeo is scheduled to hold an initial meeting of the South Korea-Britain free trade agreement (FTA) committee with his British counterpart to check the implementation of the bilateral trade pact and plans for negotiations for its possible revisi
EconomyFeb. 7, 2022
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Lotte Chemical to invest W602b in advanced materials biz
Lotte Chemical Corp., the petrochemical unit of South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, said Monday it is spending 602 billion won ($502 million) to boost its advanced materials business, including building a new factory for electric vehicle battery materials. The company said it will spend about 233 billion won to build a new factory in its main domestic production complex in the southwestern city of Seosan to produce high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) used in ele
IndustryFeb. 7, 2022
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Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking
South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors attempted to take profits from recent stock rallies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 24 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,726.26 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Most large caps traded lower, led by institutional sell-offs. Top cap Samsung Electronics retreated 1.62 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 2.81 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem decreased 3.24 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Sa
MarketFeb. 7, 2022
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Online food market hits new high in 2021 amid pandemic
South Korea's online food market jumped more than 35 percent to touch an all-time high in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. The value of online food transactions in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 58.5 trillion won ($48.8 billion) last year, up 35.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and industry sources. The tally covers online transactions of food, groceries, farm produce, meat and fisheries goods, as well as food delivery se
EconomyFeb. 7, 2022
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S. Korea's foreign reserves decline for 3rd straight month in January
South Korea's foreign reserves shrank for the third straight month in January due to a decline in dollar-converted value of holdings in other currencies, central bank data showed Monday. The country's foreign reserves came to $461.5 billion as of end-January, down $1.6 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the third straight month that foreign reserves have contracted since October when the amount hit a record high of $469.2 bil
EconomyFeb. 7, 2022
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Mercedes-Benz fined W20.2b for emissions fiddling
Mercedes-Benz has been fined 20.2 billion won ($16.84 million) by the nation’s antitrust watchdog for fiddling with emissions readings in its diesel cars here. According to the Fair Trade Commission on Sunday, the German luxury carmaker falsely advertised some of its diesel vehicles as capable of reducing 90 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions, the main culprit of fine dust, and that it satisfies Euro 6 environmental standards. These claims were advertised extensively through the brand&
MobilityFeb. 6, 2022
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Samsung Display offers OLED testing platform for free
Samsung Display has launched a new platform where its vendors can test their raw materials for OLED panels free of charge, the company said Sunday. The “Sync-OLED” platform, co-developed with the supercomputing center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, allows suppliers to run simulations on their materials and predict how they will affect the performance of OLED panels. The new platform is expected to shave costs significantly for partners. When partn
IndustryFeb. 6, 2022
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Samsung SDI to recall modules for Ford, Stellantis EVs
Samsung SDI will voluntarily recall 1,163 battery modules inside some 100 Ford and Stellantis vehicles in the US due to welding issues, according to the governmental National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Sunday. While putting battery cells together into modules, components called bus bars were not welded properly, which could lead to a loss of propulsion of electric vehicles. The bus bars were manufactured by South Korean subsupplier Next+. As the recall is due to welding issues
IndustryFeb. 6, 2022
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Financial firms to pay out record bonuses on upbeat earnings
Employees at South Korean financial firms will receive up to four times their monthly salary as their bonuses for 2021, backed by booming business, sources said Sunday. Woori Bank, one of the major commercial lenders here, has recently agreed with its union to hand its employees performance bonuses worth 300 percent of their monthly salaries plus some 1 million won ($830), according to industry sources. The nation’s No.1 commercial bank by performance, KB Kookmin Bank and its long-time
MarketFeb. 6, 2022
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Apartment purchases by young people hit record high last year: data
The proportion of apartments bought by people in their 30s or younger reached an all-time high last year amid "panic buying" over soaring housing prices, data showed Sunday. The buyers of this age group accounted for 31 percent of the country's total apartment sales in 2021, up from 29.2 percent in 2020, according to the data compiled by the Korea Real Estate Board. The agency began compiling the related data in 2019, and the figure for the year came to 28.3 percent. In Seoul, 41.7
EconomyFeb. 6, 2022
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Game developers brace for new industry safety law
Korea’s major game developers are taking preemptive measures to cope with the new industrial safety law and prevent another “crunch mode” controversy. Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which took effect from Jan. 27, business owners can face a minimum prison term of one year or a fine of up to 1 billion won ($835,000) if a fatal accident at the workplace causes a death or more than one injured person. The punishment depends on whether the owners are found guilty of n
IndustryFeb. 6, 2022
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S. Korea's fishery output up 1.2% in 2021
South Korea's fisheries output rose 1.2 percent last year from a year earlier on the back of improved production from the aquaculture sector, data showed Sunday. The total fisheries output amounted to 3.76 million tons in 2021, compared with 3.71 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. In terms of value, the output came to 9.24 trillion won ($7.7 billion), up 5.6 percent on-year, the data showed. The aquaculture sector led t
IndustryFeb. 6, 2022
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Goldman Sachs expects two BOK rate hikes in H2
Goldman Sachs expects the Bank of Korea to raise its benchmark rate twice more in the second half of this year to 1.75 percent, and later continue hikes to 2.5 percent, according to a report published by the US bank Friday. “We continue to expect the rate curve to steepen along with gradual monetary policy normalization,” the report said. Korea continues to see elevated inflation but the risk is contained by moderating import prices, weakening housing prices, and measures to counte
EconomyFeb. 4, 2022
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The making of AI bankers at South Korean bank
Virtual staff members powered by artificial intelligence have increasingly become a fixture at South Korea’s retail banks. NH NongHyup Bank, one of Korea’s top five commercial banks, has added human elements to its so-called “AI bankers” to connect with Korean customers. According to NH NongHyup Bank, names of the two virtual staff members -- male staff Jeong Eden and female staff Lee RohWoon -- were given by staff and executives of the banks through open discussion.
MarketFeb. 4, 2022
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Kakao Mobility to launch Pet Taxi service in March
Traveling with a pet has never been easy for Kim Hye-in, a 30-year-old Pomeranian owner. “I hate to confine my dog in a stuffy cabin whenever I take public transport. It suffocates her,” Kim said. Sometimes bus drivers stop her from hopping on board with her fluffy companion. For pet owners like Kim, “pet taxis” are an appealing alternative. From vet pick-ups to pet ambulances, chauffeur service for pets have sprung across the country since 2017 when the service got th
IndustryFeb. 4, 2022
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Samsung, Hyundai hardly seen at 2022 Beijing Olympics
For major South Korean companies like Samsung and Hyundai, the Olympics have been, for many years, a golden opportunity to raise brand awareness and promote products. But in the 2022 Beijing Olympics that officially kicked off on Friday, they don’t seem to be taking the sports event as a major arena for their marketing blitzes any more. For this Winter Games, Samsung Electronics has not published any press releases promoting their sponsorships, a marked departure from when it launched pr
IndustryFeb. 4, 2022