Most Popular
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Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser
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Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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S. Korea not to attend Sado mine memorial: foreign ministry
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Toxins at 622 times legal limit found in kids' clothes from Chinese platforms
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SC First Bank faces mass strike
Bank offers ‘final proposal,’ but union sees no differenceAbout 3,000 unionized workers of Standard Chartered First Bank Korea are poised to go on an indefinite strike this week as they have failed to reach a compromise with management on salary.Despite continued efforts at persuasion and proposals by management, the union still opposes plans from the U.K.-based bank’s Korean unit to introduce a p
June 26, 2011
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Labor union of SC First Bank goes on indefinite strike
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of SC First Bank, the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc, launched an indefinite strike Monday in protest against the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system."The labor union has kicked off an indefinite labor strike, and we will not budge until the management withdraws its move and the two sides reach a collective bargaining agree
June 26, 2011
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Man makes $1 heist to get prison health care
A former Coca-Cola truck driver committed a $1 bank robbery to get free health care while in prison, The Telegraph reported. James Richard Vernone, who has never been in trouble with law, decided to rob a RBC bank in North Carolina.Mr. Vernone, 59, has been unemployed and suffering from several health problems. He walked into the bank with a note saying “This is a bank robbery. Please give me $1.”
June 26, 2011
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Minister vows to deregulate further to support companies
Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Friday that the private sector needs to take a bigger role in the economy, vowing to create a business-friendly environment. In his first meeting with heads of the nation’s five major business lobby groups, Bahk attributed the economy’s fast recovery from the financial crisis to “jobs created, overseas investments made and taxes paid” by the private sector busine
June 24, 2011
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Watchdog vows to curb household debt
Korea’s financial watchdog plans to curb excessive growth of household debt by tightening banks’ loan-to-deposit ratios and requiring non-bank institutions to raise loan-loss reserves, its head said Thursday.Korea is grappling with snowballing household debt as heavy indebtedness is feared to crimp economic growth by putting restraints consumer spending. The government plans to unveil a set of mea
June 23, 2011
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Eximbank should focus on overseas projects: minister
Korea Eximbank should focus on long-term projects of a global scale as the key export credit agency of the country, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Thursday. Speaking at a forum organized by the state-run bank, Bahk said, “The Bank should reduce short-term products such as trade financing, which can be mainly provided by the private sector, but increase mid- to long-term financing for large-sca
June 23, 2011
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Emergence of big investment bank not in sight
Failure of two brokerages’ merger dims prospectsThe nation is facing a stumbling block in establishing a large-scale investment bank although the chief financial regulator has unveiled a policy toward activation of IB businesses.The pessimistic view comes after KDB Financial Group failed to take over Woori Financial Group amid an uneasy sentiment between the two state-run financial companies.There
June 23, 2011
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Seoul to crack down on international cartels: FTC chief
Watchdog’s move comes as price-fixing, collusive wrongdoings on increaseThe Fair Trade Commission will step up efforts to crack down on international cartels, promising stern punishment for those engaged in unfair trade practices or abusing their market dominance, commission chief Kim Dong-soo said Wednesday. “A typical example of foul play in the market economy is cartels, the No. 1 enemy of the
June 22, 2011
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CJ CheilJedang fined W340m for probe interference
CJ CheilJedang, Korea’s largest food company, was slapped with 340 million won ($316,000) in fines for interrupting the corporate watchdog’s probe into alleged price-fixing activities, the Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday. The fine is the largest single penalty imposed for unlawful interference in an investigation by the watchdog. The FTC said it is seeking to punish five workers at the compan
June 22, 2011
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FSS seeks to curb power of financial chiefs
Regulator focuses on enhancing independence of groups’ unitsRegulators are moving to scale down the authority of major financial group chairmen, saying the current system provides them with “excessive” power to control all of their groups’ units.“The direction would be focused on enhancing the independence of financial groups’ subsidiaries by tackling chairmen’s authority,” said an official of the
June 22, 2011
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MSCI keeps Korea’s emerging market status
Global investment index provider MSCI Inc. retained Korea’s emerging market status on its global equities index, citing problems stemming from its market rigidity and lack of accessibility.The move represents another setback for Korea. MSCI left Korea’s status unchanged in 2009 and 2010 due to the “rigidity” of its investor identification system and lack of an active offshore market for the Korean
June 22, 2011
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Household debt burden grows
Ratio of household credit to GNDI rising: BOKHouseholds’ ability to pay their debts was critically weak during the first quarter as the pace of debt growth surpassed that of income growth.According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s household credit, including loans and credit purchasing, reached 801.4 trillion won ($750 billion) at the end of March, up 8.4 percent from a year earlier.Central bank
June 22, 2011
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Hyundai Motor’s sales soar in India
Hyundai Motor is enjoying rapid sales growth in India, capturing nearly 20 percent of the emerging market in May. The automaker sold 31,123 vehicles last month, up 14.6 percent from a year ago. Its market in India has reached 19.5 percent, raising the possibility of sales growth for 13 consecutive years.The figure is the highest monthly market share for this year, rising 0.2 percentage points from
June 21, 2011
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Korea, Japan bourses mull cross-trading
Korea and Japan’s bourse operators are considering cross-trading as part of efforts to strengthen their footing amid rising competition among global exchanges, an official said Tuesday.The Korea Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange held the first round of working-level talks on the issue late last month, according to a ranking official at the Korea Exchange.“No concrete plan has materialized yet,
June 21, 2011
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Fate of Hyundai Capital CEO depends on sanction level
The Financial Supervisory Service is poised to decide whether to order stern disciplinary measures against the CEO of Hyundai Capital for incurring cyber attacks due to allegedly negligent internal controls.As officials of the regulatory body move to fine-tune the sanction level on Hyundai Capital CEO Ted Chung, he could be banned from holding a job in the financial industry for the next few years
June 21, 2011
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Number of centenarians almost doubles in 6 years
The number of Koreans aged 100 or more has almost doubled since 2005 under the country’s improved medical services, Statistics Korea said Tuesday.The number of centenarians numbered 1,836 in November, posting a 9.1 percent increase from 961 in 2005, the state agency reported in its census report compiled every five years.The number of females in the group, 1,580, exceeded their male counterparts,
June 21, 2011
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Local firms’ profitability dips in Q1
Korea’s overall corporate profitability worsened in the first quarter from a year ago as oil costs rose and the local currency’s gain dented prices of export goods, the central bank said Tuesday.The average ratio of operating profit to sales, a key barometer of profitability, reached 6.3 percent in the January-March period, down from 7.2 percent from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a rep
June 21, 2011
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More tariffs cut in inflation fight
Charges on imports dropped on shortage items as prices soarThe government plans to extend tariff cuts for 35 out of 46 items due to expire this month and add 14 more items to the list to ease import cost burdens on local consumers, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.Under the plan, items such as pork, garlic, mackerel, wheat, soybean oil, sugar, and coffee will continue to enjoy lower tariffs. The
June 21, 2011
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Hyundai-Kia top Asian carmaker in Europe
Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors have secured the No. 1 position in sales among Asian carmakers in the European market, outstripping Toyota Motor.According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Hyundai-Kia sold 58,585 vehicles in 28 European countries in May, grabbing 4.7 percent of the market.Though the two affiliated companies saw their market share inch down 0.5 perce
June 20, 2011
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Economy to expand 4.5% in 2011: KIET
Korea’s economic growth is expected to expand 4.5 percent on-year in 2011 as the steady pace of the global economic recovery contributes to more exports, a state-run think tank said Monday.The forecast by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade is up from its earlier prediction of 4.3 percent.Last year, the Korean economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, expanded 6.2 percent. “The economy wi
June 20, 2011