Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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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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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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Poll shows little over third of conglomerates have hiring plans for H2
Little over one-third of South Korean conglomerates are planning to hire college graduates in the second half with the rest undecided or having no plans, a survey showed Tuesday.The findings by Job Korea, a portal for employers and jobseekers, showed that 155, or 37.4 percent, of the 414 firms that responded to the poll expressed plans to recruit new people in the coming months. The same survey, however, showed 125 (30.2 percent) have no plans to hire workers, with 134 (32.4 percent) undecided i
Aug. 22, 2017
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Beer tops list of alcohol imports
Beer was atop the list of South Korea's alcohol imports in the first seven months of this year, outpacing wine and hard liquor for the first time amid a change in the country's drinking culture, data showed Tuesday.Imports of beer in the January-July period came to $143.9 million, up 50.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association. By country of origin, Japanese beer took up the largest share at $39.7 million, followed by Chi
Aug. 22, 2017
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Lawmakers to discuss raising HNB tobacco consumption tax
Lawmakers are set to discuss increasing the individual consumption tax on heat-not-burn tobacco products Tuesday, raising questions about how changing taxes will affect consumer prices of heated tobacco sticks.“If the consumption tax on heated tobacco sticks rises, we have no choice but to strongly consider raising consumer prices,” said an official of a tobacco company. IQOS (PMI)Currently, heated tobacco products, including the IQOS system from Philip Morris International and Glo from British
Aug. 21, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Samsung Bioepis jumps into new drug development with Japan’s Takeda
Samsung Bioepis said Monday that it would jointly fund and co-develop multiple novel biologic therapies with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical, expanding its current business from making copies of existing biologic drugs to developing original drugs. Under the partnership, the two companies will begin developing new drug candidates in unmet disease areas, starting with a new treatment for severe acute pancreatitis labeled TAK-671. The deal marks a milestone for the biopharma development unit of Sa
Aug. 21, 2017
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Posco E&C clinches W950b deal in Bangladesh
Posco Engineering & Construction signed a contract worth 950 billion won ($834 million) to construct coal-fired power plants in Bangladesh, the company said Monday. The deal is a part of a consortium led by Japanese trading company Sumitomo which won a 5 trillion won order to build two coal-fired power plants on Matarbari Island in Bangladesh, capable of producing 600 megawatts of electricity, and a port construction nearby. During the project set to take around seven years, Posco E&C, the const
Aug. 21, 2017
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Listed firms' financial health improves in H1
South Korean companies listed on the country's main bourse saw their financial soundness improve in the first quarter of the year on stalled growth in debt, data showed Monday.The debt-to-equity ratio of 590 companies came to 111.6 percent at the end of June, down from 115.1 percent from the end of December, according to the data by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association.A key measure of financial health and stability, the ratio is calculated by dividing a company's total
Aug. 21, 2017
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Sanitary pads face safety checks after claims of health problems
A range of South Korean female sanitary pads is to undergo a government safety inspection as users raised claims Sunday of hormonal disruption after using the product.Users of Lilian pads have raised claims online that their periods were ending faster than before and with less amount of blood. An anonymous user who claimed to have used the Lilian pads for over a year said her vaginitis had worsened during the time. Promotional image for Lilian sanitary padsTaking note of the spread of negative f
Aug. 21, 2017
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K-Bank's loan delinquency ratio hits record low over credit
The loan delinquency ratio of K-Bank, South Korea's first Internet-only bank, has stayed at a record low due to its innovative method of credit assessment, the financial regulator said Monday. K-Bank, which was launched in April with paid-in capital of 250 billion won ($219.7 million), has attracted about 440,000 customers and made loans worth 635.4 billion won as of Aug. 14, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.People in their 30s and 40s accounted for 80.4 percent of customers who to
Aug. 21, 2017
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Korean mobile carriers mull legal action over pricing
South Korea’s mobile carriers are considering legal action in response to the government’s forceful measures to cut consumers’ mobile costs, according to the industry on Sunday. The country’s three major telecom companies -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- on Saturday received an official document from the Ministry of Science and ICT to implement the government-led 25 percent selective discount rate for new subscribers starting Sept. 15. Since announced in June as part of the Moon Jae-in administ
Aug. 20, 2017
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Posco Daewoo to open hotel in Myanmar
Front view of the hotel Posco Daewoo will open in Yangon, Myanmar on Sep. 1 (Posco Daewoo)Posco Daewoo, the trading arm of Korean steel giant Posco, will open a hotel in Yangon, Myanmar on Sept. 1, the company announced Sunday. The company has been operating in the region for years with positive performance and the hotel is one of its accomplishments, according to Posco Daewoo CEO Kim Young-sang.Located in the former capital of Myanmar, the five-star hotel covers 104,123 square meters of land an
Aug. 20, 2017
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Four killed in explosion at STX plant in Changwon
Four workers have been killed in an explosion at the STX Offshore & Shipbuilding plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, fire authorities said Sunday.The blast occurred at around 11:37 a.m. when workers were doing painting works inside of a 12-meter-deep tank of a 74,000-ton oil carrier.STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, a Korean shipyard company focusing on small- and mid-sized ship constructions, has been schedule to deliver the carrier to a Greek shipping company Andriaki Shipping by October.
Aug. 20, 2017
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Korean top business groups' investment jumps 28 pct in H1
South Korea's top 30 conglomerates increased their investment 28 percent on-year in the first half of this year on the back of strong performances by chip and display makers, a market tracker said Sunday.The total amount of investment came to 37.14 trillion won ($32.5 billion) in the January-June period, sharply increasing from 29 trillion won recorded for the same period a year earlier, according to CEO Score.The tally covers the groups' 271 subsidiaries that have unveiled their half-year busin
Aug. 20, 2017
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Lotte sells most debt among major biz groups
South Korean retail giant Lotte Group has sold the most debt so far this year with other major business groups also offering massive corporate debt amid low market rates, data showed on Saturday.According to the data compiled by Infomax, the financial news and information arm of Yonhap News Agency, Lotte affiliates have sold a combined 3.58 trillion won (US$3.13 billion) this year as of Friday, followed by energy and telecom conglomerate SK with 3.13 trillion won, tech giant LG Group with 2.72 t
Aug. 19, 2017
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Egg inspections complete, but safety concerns remain
Consumer concerns about eggs contaminated with insecticides persisted Friday, as the government announced the results of its inspections on all large-scale egg farms.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that it carried out inspections on 1,239 farms with layer hens and found that 1,190 of them complied with safety regulations, while 49 did not. The 1,190 qualified farms, which account for about 95.7 percent of all egg supply in Korea, will be permitted to immediately r
Aug. 18, 2017
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Builders‘ domestic orders gain 15% in H1
South Korean construction companies' domestic orders rose nearly 15 percent on-year in the first half of the year on a robust housing market and increased fiscal spending, a trade group said Friday.According to the Construction Association of Korea, local builders clinched orders worth a combined 79.3 trillion won ($69.5 billion) in the January-June period, up 14.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.The first-half figure accounted for 48 percent of the 164.8 trillion won in orders for a
Aug. 18, 2017
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Dongwon Group chairman receives honorary degree from GIST
Dongwon Group said Friday that its founding Chairman Kim Jae-chul has received an honorary doctorate degree from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology. GIST awarded Kim the honorary degree given his contributions to the academic institution as its former board chairman and his high level of entrepreneurship as the founder of Dongwon, the firm said. Dongwon Group chairman Kim Jae-chul (Dongwon Group)The Gwangju-based institute presented the degree at a ceremony held Friday at the school
Aug. 18, 2017
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Korean shipyards at top of order backlog ranking
South Korea's three major shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. -- maintained their top global ranking in terms of order backlog, industry data showed Friday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research, Daewoo Shipbuilding's Geoje shipyard stood at 82 ships representing 5.96 million compensated gross tons, as of end-July, followed by Hyundai Heavy's Ulsan shipyard with 69 vessels, or 3.33
Aug. 18, 2017
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China's Qingdao Doublestar demands creditors cut bid price of Kumho Tire
Chinese tire maker Qingdao Doublestar Co. has demanded creditors cut its bid price for a controlling stake in Kumho Tire Co., an official at one of the creditors said Thursday, adding a new twist to the Chinese firm's bid to acquire Kumho Tire.Qingdao Doublestar signed a deal with the creditors, led by state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), in March to buy a 42.01 percent stake in Kumho Tire for 955 billion won (US$838.5 million).(Yonhap)After months of a bitter dispute over the use of Kumho Ti
Aug. 17, 2017
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Lotte to raise dividend payouts to appease shareholders
South Korean retail giant Lotte said Thursday its four affiliates will more than double their dividend payout ratios as the group pushes for a governance shakeup in the face of a string of troubles.In their regulatory filings, the affiliates -- Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Lotte Confectionery Co., Lotte Food Co., and Lotte Shopping Co. -- said they will increase the dividend payout ratio, or the percentage of earnings paid to shareholders, to 30 percent from the current average of 12 to 13 perce
Aug. 17, 2017
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Eco-friendly farms found with excessive levels of insecticides
The contaminated egg crisis continued to spread in South Korea, with a total of 67 farms, mainly eco-friendly farms, found to have traces of banned or excessive levels of insecticides or pesticides as of Thursday morning.As of Thursday, 67 farms were tested positive for restricted chemicals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Since Tuesday, the Agriculture Ministry and the Food Safety Ministry have set out to survey 1,239 of the total 1,456 laying chicken farms nati
Aug. 17, 2017