Most Popular
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Seoul Fireworks Festival ends smoothly, but leaves piles of trash
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] The price of numbers: How rankings shape lives in Korea
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Yoon set for talks with Marcos in Philippines
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Can Jennie break the K-pop solo artist slump?
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[Exclusive] Korea’s defense acquisition agency fails to meet legal standard for women representation
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First lady’s Dior bag scandal to be at center of Assembly audit
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Yoon honors veterans of Korean War in trip to Philippines
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Seoulites celebrate coexistence at Wellness Seoul 2024
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[KH Explains] Can G-Star level up?
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Tone-deaf first lady causes chaos
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Nuclear safety watchdog to enforce oversight to prevent radiation accidents
South Korea's nuclear safety watchdog said Friday that it will enforce more stringent personnel training and material handling rules to better guard against potential radiation accidents. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it has decided to revise the existing nuclear safety act in the wake of the accident that occurred at Seoul Semiconductor in July 2019. The accident at the light emitting diode (LED) manufacturing company involved inadequately trained subcontract workers who di
May 15, 2020
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Doosan Heavy shifts to loss in Q1 on one-off costs
Doosan Heavy Industries, South Korea's top power equipment maker, said Friday that it swung to a net loss in the first quarter from a year earlier due to increased one-off costs. For the January-March period, Doosan Heavy posted a net loss of 371.4 billion won (US$302 million), shifting from a net profit of 52.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The company said the net loss is mainly blamed on severance payments and losses from equity ties with Doosan Bobcat Co. D
May 15, 2020
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SsangYong Motor posts record Q1 loss amid virus woes
SsangYong Motor reported on Friday that its net loss sharply widened in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, marking the 13th consecutive quarter in the red, amid growing worries over the coronavirus outbreak. Net losses for the January-March quarter deepened to 193.54 billion won ($157 million) from 26.12 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. "Disrupted production by the coronavirus outbreak and weaker sales amid virus fears cut into the bottom
May 15, 2020
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Kepco swings to profit in three years in Q1 thanks to cheap oil
Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday that it recorded 430.6 billion won ($350.1 million) in operating profit in the first quarter this year, swinging back into the black in three years. The state-run utility witnessed 430.6 billion won in operating profit, a 1-trillion-won increase on-year from an operating loss of 629.9 billion won thanks due to a sharp fall in oil prices. “Thanks to the global fall in fuel prices, Kepco’s expenses spent for fuel and electricity purchases dec
May 15, 2020
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[Monitor] Mobile carriers fare relatively well in Q1 despite pandemic
South Korea’s three mobile carriers’ performance in the first quarter can be summarized as “comparatively good” despite the huge negative effects of the novel coronavirus. SK Telecom posted 4.45 trillion won ($3.62 billion) in sales with operating profit of 302 billion won. Sales rose 2.7 percent on-year, but operating profit fell 6.4 percent. KT’s sales rose 1 percent on-year to 5.83 trillion won, but its operating profit fell 4.7 percent to 383 billion won. LG
May 15, 2020
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Virus pandemic rekindles telemedicine controversy in S. Korea
The coronavirus pandemic triggered renewed controversy about whether to allow telemedicine services in South Korea, as a doctors' lobby group warned of "extreme" resistance against telemedicine. Telemedicine is illegal in South Korea, but the nation has allowed doctors to treat coronavirus patients who have mild symptoms via telephone since late February. Telemedicine has played a role in protecting medical staff from exposure to the virus, while helping virus patients recover. H
May 15, 2020
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Hyundai, Kia to resume operations at all overseas plants from Monday
Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday all of their overseas plants will be in operation next week amid signs of the coronavirus epidemic passing its peak. Currently, Kia's plant in Mexico is the only overseas manufacturing facility which is still suspended to manage inventories. South Korea's No.2 carmaker plans to restart production at its Mexican plant on Monday, a company spokesman said over the phone. "Most of their overseas plants have resumed producti
May 14, 2020
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Korean firms again in anti-virus mode over Itaewon cluster infections
South Korean firms are again beefing up their virus prevention measures after the country reported cluster infections linked to clubs and bars in a popular nightlife neighborhood in Seoul, industry insiders said Thursday. After the country shifted to an "everyday life quarantine" scheme to normalize social and economic activities last week, many companies decided to end remote working and allowed their workers to return to the office. However, with the recent surge in virus cases
May 14, 2020
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Kogas prepares global LNG transition with infrastructure upgrades
Korea Gas Corp. said Wednesday it is expanding its liquefied natural gas bunkering infrastructure to respond to the global shift to cleaner ship fuel. LNG bunkering is the process of transferring gas to a ship for use as fuel. The state-run natural gas company said it has recently built an LNG carrier SM JEJU LNG2 equipped with ship-to-ship bunkering capabilities. Also, as the ship sails between Jeju Island and Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, it has installed four loading arms -- a pi
May 14, 2020
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Kakao Pay now available at S-Oil gas stations
S-Oil said Thursday it has partnered with South Korea’s mobile payment platform Kakao Pay that has more than 30 million members, boosting customer experience by facilitating mobile payment at its service stations. The company said it has become the first Korean refiner to introduce Kakao Pay payment at service stations. Instead of carrying credit cards or cash, customers can make payments by scanning their barcodes on the Kakao Pay app. Over the past week, some 200 S-Oil service stat
May 14, 2020
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Hanmi may sue Sanofi for withdrawing from diabetes drug research
South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical may consider legal action against global biopharma Sanofi, as the French company abruptly decided to halt participation in further research on efpeglenatide, a potential treatment for Type 2 diabetes. The two have been jointly developing efpeglenatide, discovered by Hanmi. The Korean pharma issued a notice to shareholders Thursday, saying there were still 120 days to renegotiate and that it might take legal action against Sanofi if circumstances
May 14, 2020
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Seegene’s net profit jumps 600% in Q1
Real-time polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 detection test kit maker Seegene saw a whopping 600 percent jump in its consolidated operating profit and net profit in the first quarter of 2020, according to company filings Thursday. Seegene rose from being one of many molecular diagnosis companies to a globally acknowledged high-profile firm after it became one of the first to produce a real-time PCR COVID-19 test kit. The company said it posted a consolidated rev
May 14, 2020
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Bio Korea 2020 goes online amid pandemic
The annual Bio Korea International Convention will take place online for the first time this year, in an innovative approach that involves virtual reality exhibition pavilion and remote business meetings. “Instead of calling off the global gathering for the opportunity to share the latest medical and pharmaceutical endeavors, we have decided to jump over the spatial limitations by taking the event online,” said Kwon Deok-cheol, president of Korea Health Industry Development Institu
May 14, 2020
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[Monitor] Startups hopeful of new opportunities post-COVID-19
According to a survey conducted in April by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, four out of 10 startups in South Korea were hopeful of a positive impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as wider opportunities for new business models. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)
May 14, 2020
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Nexon, Netmarble post disappointing Q1 earnings
South Korean game giant Nexon announced Wednesday that it posted a decline in revenue, operating profit and net profit in the first quarter, drawing concerns over its performance in overseas markets. The company’s revenue dipped 11 percent on-year to 904.5 billion won ($738.6 million) while its operating profit and net profit dived 21 percent and 7 percent to 454 billion won and 545.5 billion won, respectively. Nexon’s performance in South Korea was stellar, posting the best qua
May 13, 2020
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LG Chem sends petrochem biz chief to India over gas leak crisis
LG Chem on Wednesday dispatched a special task force comprised of eight officials to India in the aftermath of a deadly styrene gas leak at a LG Poloymers plant, which left at least 12 local residents dead and more than 1,000 hospitalized. The South Korean chemical and battery firm said the special team includes production and environmental safety experts led by LG Chem Executive Vice President and President of Petrochemicals Business Noh Kug-lae, who will meet local residents and explain su
May 13, 2020
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Kepco clinches 60 MW solar power deal in Guam
The Korea Electric Power Corp. said Wednesday that it had won an international bid to build and operate a solar power generation facility in Guam. The state-run utility won an international bid from the Guam Power Authority and signed a long-term electricity supply contract that is expected to bring in $340 million for the company over 25 years. Samsung C&T is to build solar power generation facilities with a capacity of 60 megawatts and an energy storage systems power plant with a capa
May 13, 2020
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Tesla sales push EV battery supplier LG Chem to No. 1
LG Chem topped the global electric vehicle battery market in the first quarter thanks to client company Tesla’s strong sales, data showed Wednesday. According to market tracker EV Volumes, the company supplied 14 percent of the batteries for 88,461 Tesla EVs in the first quarter. Propelled by Tesla’s strong sales, LG Chem supplied EV batteries with a total storage capacity of 6.3 gigawatt hours. It took the lead over its Japanese competitor Panasonic for the first time in terms o
May 13, 2020
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S-Oil donates W280m to help coronavirus-hit local communities
S-Oil said Wednesday that its chief executive has donated 280 million won ($228,275) to a social welfare organization to help local communities hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Hussain Al-Qahtani, who was appointed as the company’s new CEO last June, made the donation to the Korea National Council on Social Welfare while also launching corporate social responsibility activities at some 250 service stations nationwide. In the campaign, S-Oil’s marketing staff and executives will c
May 13, 2020
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[News Focus] Korean pharmas push for human test for COVID-19 drugs
Optimistic timelines regarding the pharmaceutical race to produce a drug for COVID-19 have been met with skepticism, but even doubters do not deny that a vaccine or a treatment is desperately needed. “There can never be a complete (economic) recovery unless a working vaccine is developed and distributed,” said Chung Chul, senior vice president and acting president of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, in a press briefing Tuesday at the Sejong Government Complex
May 13, 2020