Most Popular
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S. Korea, Singapore seal supply chain agreement
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North Korean troops killed, wounded in Ukraine war: Seoul defense minister
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Korean language teaching expert says demand has outstripped supply
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[KH Explains] Samsung chief says he is still ‘hungry’ for foundry growth
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Conscripting women to lead to 'more babies,' claims military think tank
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Who is pollster roiling politics with claims of government string-pulling?
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Kim Jong-un vows to thwart S. Korea-US 'nuclear alliance'
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Taking away phones during school hours not a human rights violation: watchdog
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Korea launches antidumping probe into Chinese steel
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[Grace Kao] Why K-pop lip-syncing doesn’t bother me
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Growth slows in Korean smartphone market
The growth pace of the domestic smartphone market is slowing dramatically this year, an apparent blow to both telecommunication operators and handset makers. The average on-quarter increase of new smartphone subscriptions until August marked 13.5 million, down from 25.4 million last year, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and telecom industries.During July and August, the number of new smartphone subscribers stood at 760,000, and is expected to be around 1 million dur
Oct. 20, 2013
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Builders cornered by market slump, sanctions
Local constructors, which saw all-time low sales performances in the first quarter, pledged to make up for their losses by year-end. But industry watchers said even with countermeasures it would be implausible due to the continued market slump and government sanctions.The state-run Korea Water Resources Corp., or K-water, last week imposed a ban on 10 construction companies for rigging the bid on the four-river restoration project.As a result, the country’s top builders including Hyundai Enginee
Oct. 20, 2013
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Samsung SDS wins award for knowledge management
Samsung SDS was given a knowledge management award by a British research company at the 14th annual World Knowledge Forum held in Seoul on Friday. Teleos named the Samsung subsidiary as one of the 2013 Asian Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises. A panel of Asia-based Fortune 500 senior executives recognized the company for developing Arisam 3.0, a knowledge-based solution created in 1997 that enables employees to build and share databases and information within the company.“Arisam 3.0 is aimed at
Oct. 20, 2013
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[Photo News] New Samsung unit
Oct. 20, 2013
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Scandal-hit cable makers pay high dividends to shareholders
The cable manufacturers involved in a nuclear power industry corruption scandal were found to have paid a large sum of dividends to their shareholders over the past several years.According to Chaebul.com, an online research company monitoring the country’s top conglomerates, the eight cable suppliers in question paid 76.9 billion won ($72.5 million) in dividends to major shareholders in 2008-2012.Of this amount, almost 14 billion won was spent on entertainment expenses, while only 7 billion won
Oct. 20, 2013
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Korea’s corporate profitability hits record low in 2012
South Korean corporate profitability deteriorated to a record low in 2012 as the global economic slowdown sharply dented sales growth, the central bank said Sunday.The average ratio of pre-tax net profit to sales, a key barometer of profitability, came in at 3.4 percent in 2012, the lowest since the Bank of Korea began compiling related data in 2009.The central bank surveyed 464,000 companies.The comparable figure for 2009 was 3.9 percent but rose to 4.9 percent in 2010. But the ratio fell again
Oct. 20, 2013
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IMF team to visit Seoul for annual meeting
A team of officials from the International Monetary Fund will visit South Korea this week to assess its economic conditions and exchange opinions on economic, financial and fiscal policies, the Finance Ministry in Seoul said Sunday. The team will be led by Isabelle Mateos y Lago, the deputy chief of the IMF’s Asia-Pacific bureau. It will start its annual meeting with policymakers in South Korea on Monday, according to the ministry.During its stay, which will last until Nov. 1, the IMF team will
Oct. 20, 2013
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Koreans’ overseas travel surges this year
The number of South Korea’s overseas tourists topped 11 million in the first nine months of the year, data showed Sunday.Some 11.25 million South Korean residents traveled overseas in the January-September period, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.The think tank explained that a growing leisure boom among locals has contributed to the rapid increase in overseas departures.The number of South Koreans traveling overseas re
Oct. 20, 2013
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Samsung vice chairman joins leading U.S. biz group
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong has joined the Business Council, an organization of leading CEOs in the United States, the company said Saturday.Lee, who became a full member of the council earlier this year, left for California on Thursday to attend a council meeting, the company said.The Washington, D.C.-based council was founded in 1933 by then-Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper as the Business Advisory Council for the department. It has some 150 members, including the CEOs of
Oct. 20, 2013
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Korean firms expand presence in global secondary battery market
South Korean companies are increasingly expanding their presence in the global secondary battery market, data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by Japanese market researcher B3, Samsung SDI Co.'s share in the global secondary battery market was estimated at 28 percent as of end-June, up from last year's overall 26 percent.Secondary batteries are commonly used for portable consumer devices, and hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles.LG Chem Co., another South Korean firm, clinc
Oct. 20, 2013
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S. Korea's corporate profitability hits record low in 2012
South Korean corporate profitability deteriorated to a record low in 2012 as the global economic slowdown sharply dented sales growth, the central bank said Sunday.The average ratio of pre-tax net profit to sales, a key barometer of profitability, came in at 3.4 percent in 2012, the lowest since the Bank of Korea (BOK) began compiling related data in 2009.The central bank surveyed 464,000 companies.The comparable figure for 2009 was 3.9 percent but rose to 4.9 percent in 2010. But the ratio fell
Oct. 20, 2013
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Smartphone subscription growth sharply slows this year: data
The growth of smartphone subscription in South Korea sharply decelerated this year, raising concerns that the country's mobile phone sector is increasingly facing saturation, data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the country's mobile operator attracted an average 2.54 million smartphone subscribers in every quarter of last year.But the comparable figure for the first three quarters of this year was some 1.35 million, the data showe
Oct. 20, 2013
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GS Caltex completes plant in Czech Rep.
GS Caltex, the flagship unit of GS Group, said Friday it completed a new compounded resin production plant in the Czech Republic that is capable of producing an annual 30,000 tons of the material. The nation’s second-largest oil refiner entered the European compounded resin market in July 2011 ― a first for a Korean company ― and established its sales unit, GS Caltex Czech, in the same year. The new facility, located in a 40,000-square-meter site within an industrial complex in the northeastern
Oct. 18, 2013
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LG Chem's Q3 net down 23.3 pct on rubber sector
LG Chem Ltd., the world's largest lithium-ion battery maker, said Friday its net profit fell 23.3 percent in the third quarter of this year from a year ago on sluggish performance in the rubber sector. Net profit came to 352 billion won ($332 million) in the July-September period, compared with 459 billion won a year ago, LG Chem said in a regulatory filing. Sales rose a mere 0.5 percent to 5.87 trillion won in the same period, while operating profit fell 14 percent to 516 billion won.LG Chem sa
Oct. 18, 2013
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Hana Financial Q3 net rises 63 pct on lending, smaller reserves
South Korea's No. 3 banking group Hana Financial Group Inc. said Friday its third-quarter earnings jumped 63 percent from a year earlier on lending growth and smaller loan-loss reserves.Net profit amounted to 377.5 billion won (US$356 million) in the July-September period, compared with 231.6 billion won the previous year, the group, which bought Korea Exchange Bank early last year, said in a regulatory filing.Compared with three months earlier, net income jumped 62.9 percent in the third quarte
Oct. 18, 2013
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Samsung Engineering swings to loss in Q3
Samsung Engineering Co., one of South Korea's largest industrial plant builders, said Friday that it swung to a net loss in the third quarter due to massive losses in overseas projects.Net loss reached 525 billion won ($494 million) in the July-September period, compared with a net profit of 124 billion a year earlier, the Seoul-based company said in a regulatory filing.Sales dropped 32 percent on-year to reach 1.9 trillion won over the cited period. The builder also posted an operating loss of
Oct. 18, 2013
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Samsung offers not to launch patent lawsuits in Europe for five years
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of smartphones, has offered not to lodge patent lawsuits over wireless technology for five years, European regulators said Thursday.Samsung's concession came as the European Commission has focused its probe on suspicions that Samsung abused its right to the so-called standard essential patents (SEPs) in pushing for lawsuits against its competitors.Since late last year, European regulators have looked into whether Samsung may have violated EU ant
Oct. 18, 2013
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World energy leaders issue declaration on energy sustainability
Global energy leaders and experts urged countries to create an energy mix in their pursuit of environmentally sustainable economic growth in the Daegu Declaration signed at the end of the five-day 22nd World Energy Congress on Thursday.They also stressed the need for international efforts to ensure good governance and safety and to incorporate innovative energy technologies, including smart grids and energy storage systems.The 2013 WEC was held in Daegu under the theme of “Securing Tomorrow’s En
Oct. 17, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Daesung chief chairs global energy body
Daesung Group chairman Younghoon David Kim, 61, made an international debut as leader of the World Energy Council, the world’s largest independent network of global energy leaders and practitioners.Kim was chosen as a co-chair of the WEC last December and took office on the last day of the World Energy Congress in Daegu that closed Thursday.It is the first time for a Korean to take the top post of a global energy body. The London-based WEC, formed in 1923, is one of the most influential independ
Oct. 17, 2013
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Jeju airport ranked best, Gimpo worst in service
Jeju International Airport topped the rankings in customer service among the nation’s airports, a lawmaker said Thursday, citing a report by Korea Airports Corp.Meanwhile, Rep. Lee Noh-geun of the ruling Saenuri Party said, Gimpo International Airport came in the worst among the 14 local airports evaluated, which excluded Incheon International Airport.He said the service scores of the 14 airports averaged 90.2 points. The evaluation included parking services, security services, cleanliness, info
Oct. 17, 2013