Most Popular
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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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Military aircraft evacuating S. Koreans in Lebanon returns home
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Concerns raised over chronic labor shortage at state-run center for digital sex crime victims
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BTS-themed moon jar to be unveiled on Hangeul Day
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Market uncertain on Korea's October rate cut despite slowed inflation
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Samsung unveils 'personalized AI' for all devices
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1,430 minors investigated for drug offenses from 2018 to 2023: police
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[Robert Fouser] Why the US election looks so close
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Special counsel bill to probe first lady scrapped
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Annual trade convention for SMEs, overseas business leaders closes
JEJU ISLAND -- An annual trade convention for Korean entrepreneurs based overseas and heads of small local firms ended its three-day run on Sunday, producing fresh deals between participants seeking to expand business opportunities, its organizing body said. The World Federation for Overseas Korean Traders Association kicked off its 20th session in Jeju Island on Friday. The event was co-hosted by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key newswire service. The aim of the conference was to boost loca
April 8, 2018
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[Monitor] LG Electronics‘ operating profit jumps 20 percent
LG Electronics posted an operating profit of 1.1 trillion won ($1.03 billion) in the first quarter, a 20 percent increase from last year, the company said Friday. Its sales also grew 3.2 percent to 15.1 trillion won, driven by solid performance in the television and home appliances businesses despite weak sales from the smartphone unit.
April 8, 2018
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[Herald Interview] ‘Despite challenges, steel key for sustainable future’
After years of prosperity, the steel industry is facing slower demand due to market saturation and the increasing reuse of steel amid rising concerns over its impact on the environment. Director general of World Steel Association Edwin Basson (World Steel Association)Steelmakers around the world, however, should face these challenges and join efforts to convince customers that the metal product still remains the foundation of a sustainable future, said the head of World Steel, an organization re
April 8, 2018
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[IP in Korea] ‘Granting weak protection to AI-created contents will protect humans from monopoly’
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on experts in the intellectual property sector. This is the tenth installment. -- Ed.Google’s artificial intelligence art program Vincent transforms a rough sketch into an impeccable Van Gogh painting. Composing module Iamus creates a full-scale symphony for the London Symphony Orchestra in just eight minutes. Who, then, is to hold the copyright for these AI-led creative works? Son Seung-woo, professor at Dankook University College of Law and
April 8, 2018
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Global chip industry boom to continue for another year: BOK
The global chip industry is anticipated to enjoy another year of strong demand, the central bank said Sunday, claiming local chipmakers should still focus on building capabilities for non-memory products to prepare for future developments."The industrywide boom, which started in the second half of 2016 for DRAM products will continue throughout the first half of 2019 and gradually fade out afterwards," the Bank of Korea said in a report. The bank, however, said the rising demand from the self-dr
April 8, 2018
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[Newsmaker] Samsung heir likely to officially return this week
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to return to the management of the world’s top provider of chips, smartphones and electronics this week, after coming back from a 16-day overseas business trip and after being released from jail in February. According to the industry on Sunday, the Samsung heir seems to be making a comeback for putting Samsung back on track for new growth after about a year0long absence due to his involvement in the former president’s bribery scandal. Le
April 8, 2018
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Korean firms behind foreign rivals in workplace flexibility
South Korean businesses trail rivals in other advanced countries in terms of utilizing workplace flexibility, a local think tank said Sunday, a development that can hurt their performance over the long haul.The adoption rate for flexible working hours for local small and medium-sized enterprises and large businesses stood at 21.9 percent, much lower than the 69 percent tallied for many European countries and 52.8 percent for Japanese firms, the IBK Economic Research Institute said.It said simila
April 8, 2018
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Apple likely to face sanctions over unfair practice in Korea
Apple is likely to face sanctions from the Korean antitrust watchdog over dumping its advertising and repair costs to local telecom operators, according to industry sources, Sunday. (Yonhap)The Fair Trade Commission’s secretariat recently agreed to impose penalties on Apple Korea over the unfair practice and sent an examination report to Apple Korea to seek an explanation, according to the sources. The FTC will confirm whether to impose sanctions and the range within a few days after hearing fro
April 8, 2018
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Air purifier sales forecast to reach 3 mil mark this year
Air purifiers are the most wanted home appliance electronics this year amid escalating concerns over bad levels of fine dust and indoor air pollution, industry watchers said, forecasting its sales to reach up to 3 million units by the end of this year.Sales of air purifiers have been increasing since 2014. A total of 1.4 million units of air purifiers were sold last year, up from 1 million in 2016, 870,000 units in 2015 and 500,000 in 2014. The sales rise is expected to continue as the South Kor
April 8, 2018
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Samsung head Lee Kun-hee down 7 notches in global wealth ranking
Lee Kun-hee, the head of South Korea's largest business group Samsung, saw his ranking in the global list of billionaires decrease seven notches over the past five months amid his prolonged hospitalization, an index by an international news agency showed Sunday.According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Lee was ranked at 44th place among the world's richest people, from 37th in November of last year. Bloomberg estimated Lee's assets at around $20 billion.The business tycoon was the only Sout
April 8, 2018
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Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong returns from first business trip since release
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong returned to Seoul from a 16-day business trip to Europe and North America early Saturday morning, as the industry remained abuzz over when the recently-released heir would officially return to work.At around 6 a.m. Lee was spotted arriving through Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 2, after the trip known to have been aimed at restoring relations with business partners and catching up on latest tech trends.Lee didn't make any answers to questi
April 7, 2018
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GS E&C’s operating profit surge six-fold in Q1
GS Engineering & Construction Co., a major South Korean builder, said Friday that its first-quarter operating profit jumped to more than six times its profit a year earlier.For the three months ending March 31, the company reported 380.4 billion won (US$356 million) in profits, up from 59 billion won the previous year, the company said in a statement. The sharp jump in operating profit was driven by steady and solid gains in housing projects and one-off gains worth 180 billion won from its over
April 6, 2018
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Celltrion remains hopeful for US approval of Herzuma, Truxima despite initial FDA turn-down
South Korean biopharma company Celltrion expects to obtain US approval for its two biosimilar drugs referencing Roche’s Herceptin and Rituxan by the year’s end, despite the US Food and Drug Administration’s initial turn-down of the two drugs this week. Celltrion said Thursday that the US FDA has issued Complete Response Letters for two of its proposed biosimilars -- Herzuma, referencing Herceptin and Truxima, referencing Rituxan -- and requested supplementary data on the products. A CRL indicate
April 6, 2018
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China screens first Korean films since ban on Korean content during THAAD feud
BEIJING -- Theaters in Beijing this week began to screen the first South Korean films since the two countries' diplomatic feud over Seoul's deployment of a missile defense system led to a Chinese ban on imports of Korean films in 2016, in a sign of a possible restoration of full-fledged exchanges. Seven Korean films have been invited to the upcoming Beijing International Film Festival slated for April 15-22, including Director Hong Sang-soo's 2017 releases -- "Claire's Camera" and "The Day After
April 6, 2018
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Chicken franchise Kyochon to charge separate delivery fee
Kyochon Chicken, the biggest fried chicken franchise in South Korea, will begin charging a fee of 2,000 won ($1.80) per delivery, starting May 1.Kyochon said it is currently in talks with all franchise members across the nation to put the plan into action. (Kyochon)The company decided to charge the fee, as higher delivery costs are hurting the profitability of its franchise restaurants. The Korean government’s decision to raise the minimum wage has imposed burdens on business owners here, leadi
April 6, 2018
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Hite Jinro's light soju to be sold in the Philippines in April
Hite Jinro Co., a major South Korean liquor maker, on Friday said that one of its soju products will hit store shelves in the Philippines in the coming days as it strives to expand into the vast Southeast Asian market.Jinro Light, which has an alcohol content of 17 percent, will be available in the Philippines starting early this month, company spokeswoman Nho Eun-jung said, without elaborating on a specific time frame. Soju is a traditional distilled liquor that has been gaining popularity in f
April 6, 2018
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Prosecutors raid Samsung firm over alleged attempt to sabotage unions
Prosecutors on Friday raided Samsung Electronics Service as they reopened an investigation into allegations that Samsung Group sabotaged the establishment of labor unions in its affiliated companies.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said investigators were sent to the headquarters of the after-sales service arm of Samsung Electronics in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.The prosecution in February secured thousands of pages of documents that contain details regarding the top conglomerate's a
April 6, 2018
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SK Lubricants plans to go public in May
SK Lubricants, a wholly-owned lubricant unit of SK Innovation, submitted a report to the government this week as its first step to go public in May, the company said Thursday.The company expects to secure between 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) and 1.5 trillion won through the initial public offering, which would be the biggest IPO size this year so far.Earlier this week, board members of SK Innovation agreed to offer 12,765,957 shares out of its 40 million outstanding shares. SK Lubricants also
April 5, 2018
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Shinsegae eats up Korea’s retail industry with aggressive expansion
Since 2016 when Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin separated and began to run the management of E-Mart, a retail unit of Shinsegae group, E-Mart and its private brand products have never been so ubiquitous in the everyday lives of South Koreans. Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin (Yonhap)While the number of E-Mart stores decreased by two to 145 in 2017 compared to the previous year, its product lineups became more diversified with launches of packaged ready-to-eat food brand Peacoc
April 5, 2018
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Korea to seek trade diversification from US, China
South Korea aims to become the world’s fourth-largest exporter by 2022 with a new trade strategy to diversify its export destinations beyond the US and China, join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and foster digital trade, according to the government on Thursday. Under the government’s new trade strategy, Korea aims to reach around $790 billion in export volume in four years to become the fourth-largest exporter following China, the US and Germany, and overtaking Japan. Last year, Korea ranked sixt
April 5, 2018