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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Special counsel bill to probe first lady scrapped
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[Robert Fouser] Why the US election looks so close
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Hyundai carries out delayed promotions amid uncertainty
Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s largest carmaker, on Monday promoted 348 executives in an apparent move to secure its future amid growing uncertainty in markets in and out of the country.The number of executives promoted slightly dropped from last year’s 368, but had a larger number of research and development experts included in the list to secure a competitive edge for the future, the company said in a statementThe group promoted Sung Sang-rok, vice president of Hyundai Engineering, to a pre
Feb. 6, 2017
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Brick-and-mortar stores fight back
It‘s a bad time to be in offline retail. Last year, department stores and discount retailers alike saw slow or negative growth as e-commerce operators grew, offering a wider range of products at lower prices with the convenience of online shopping. Consumers no longer saw merit in making their way to a retail outlet to purchase items that they could find online.Offline retailers, however, are changing their approach to attract customers back to their outlets, either by going big or going small.I
Feb. 6, 2017
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CEO engages in social campaign through sanitary napkins
Chang Young-min, CEO of G&E Biotech, has been selling sanitary pads for more than 10 years and hopes that what he makes will change people's perspective.In an interview with Yonhap on Friday, Chang said the rampant use of disposable pads ended up undervaluing the important role of women in giving birth. "I wish that people will do some rethinking." (Yonhap)Chang makes "hannahpads," which are cotton sanitary pads that can be used for two to three years. He came across the idea when he was a senio
Feb. 6, 2017
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Korea to attract 2m cruise tourists in 2017
South Korea will intensify overseas promotion marketing efforts and build more maritime facilities in an effort to lure 2 million cruise tourists from all over the world, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it will hold the so-called "Port Sales" event in cities of the United States, China and Japan starting from March, with major cruise liners and travel agencies attending. (Yonhap)It will also build five additional cruise docks in four seaports including Busan
Feb. 6, 2017
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KEPCO's operating profit rises 5.8% in 2016
Korea Electric Power Corp., a major public utility firm in South Korea, announced Monday that its operating profit increased 5.8 percent on-year in 2016.The company, widely known as KEPCO, posted 12 trillion won ($10.5 billion) in operating profit, with its full-year revenue growing 2.1 percent to 60.1 trillion won. (Yonhap)But its net profit plunged 45.5 percent to 7.3 trillion won in 2016 from a year earlier mainly on a base effect.The electricity supplier's net profits sharply widened to 13.4
Feb. 6, 2017
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Ssangyong Motor set to introduce world's first touch window system
Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., is set to introduce the world's first touch window system where drivers and passengers can open or close vehicle windows simply by touching the window, the company said Monday.The new technology, tentatively named the touch screen window system, is one of many new technologies pursued after being suggested by Ssangyong's own researchers and employees. Ssangyong Motor President Choi Jong-sik (2nd from R) exami
Feb. 6, 2017
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Samsung Electronics leaves top business lobby amid scandal
Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday announced its withdrawal of membership from the nation's top business lobby as the Federation of Korean Industries was blamed for its role in a snowballing corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Samsung Electronics formally submitted a document of withdrawal to the FKI earlier in the day, the company said. Other affiliates of Samsung Group are expected to follow suit. (Yonhap)The move has been widely expected as Samsung Group'
Feb. 6, 2017
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Hancom's 2016 sales top W100b for first time
Hancom Inc., a South Korean software maker, said Monday that its sales for 2016 breached the 100 billion won ($87.8 million) mark for the first time since the company's foundation in 1990.The homegrown software firm said its annual sales came to 101.2 billion won last year, a 19.2-percent jump from a year earlier. (Yonhap)Operating profit also increased 4 percent on-year to 29 billion won.Hancom, well-known among South Koreans with its mainstay word processing computer software based on the Kore
Feb. 6, 2017
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LG set to launch flagship smartphone ahead of Samsung for 1st time
LG Electronics Inc. is set to unveil its new flagship smartphone this month, about one month before the launch of a premium smartphone by Samsung Electronics Co. for the first time, according to industry sources on Monday. LG has said it will launch the G6 smartphone later this month at an annual technology fair in Spain, while Samsung, reeling from the global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 over safety concerns, is expected to release the Galaxy S8 in late March, according to the sources. (Yonhap)
Feb. 6, 2017
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Import car sales gain 2.7% on-year in Jan.
Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea grew slightly from a year earlier in January, market data showed Monday, signaling a possible recovery in the sector still struggling with an emissions scandal.The number of imported cars newly registered here in January came to 16,674, up 2.7 percent from 16,234 cars registered in the same month last year, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. (Yonhap)The on-year increase comes amid continued difficultie
Feb. 6, 2017
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Offshore fisheries output hits 44-year low in 2016
South Korea's offshore fisheries output sank to a 44-year low in 2016 due to tumbling fish stocks caused by a combination of Chinese illegal fishing, climate change and overfishing, a report showed Monday.The country's inshore and offshore fisheries production came to 923,000 tons last year, down 12.7 percent from the previous year and the lowest yearly catch since 1972, according to the report by the Korea Maritime Institute. This undated file photo shows a Chinese boat armed with iron spears i
Feb. 6, 2017
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Korean airlines lag behind int'l competitors in profitability
South Korea's major airlines continued to do well in terms of sales last year, but their profitability fell far short of those of other global airlines, market data showed Monday.In a 12-month period starting from September 2015, sales of South Korea's largest full service carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., came to $10.1 billion, according to the data compiled by US-based Airline Weekly. (Yonhap)The amount marks the 18th largest among 72 global airlines surveyed.Sales by Asiana Airlines Inc., South
Feb. 6, 2017
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Korean firms pay more taxes overseas
South Korean companies' tax payments overseas nearly tripled in 2015 from four years earlier in line with their increasing foreign income, government data showed Monday.In order to avoid double taxation, they also received a large amount of money in tax credits here, sparking concerns that such a practice could eat into the country's tax base amid unfavorable long-term conditions for taxation due to the economy's prolonged downturn. The headquarters of the National Tax Service in Sejong, south o
Feb. 6, 2017
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[NEWS FOCUS] Duty-free changing fast, and not for better
Korea‘s duty-free industry, once considered a bright spot in a sluggish consumer economy, is growing shaky due to continuous developments that could threaten the flow of inbound Chinese tourists and fickle government policies.Figures from Statistics Korea released Friday showed that direct online shopping by overseas shoppers for Korean products grew 82 percent on-year in 2016 to 2.28 trillion won ($1.98 billion), from 1.25 trillion won in 2015. Of that amount, nearly 1.8 trillion won, or 78 per
Feb. 5, 2017
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Biz moguls mourn death of Huh Wan-koo, son of LG co-founder
Korean business moguls came to pay their respects over the weekend to Huh Wan-koo, the son of LG Group’s co-founder, who died on Friday at the age of 81. The late Huh is the fifth son of LG Group co-founder Huh Man-jung and uncle of GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo. Huh, who graduated from Wingate University in North Carolina, founded the logistics and real estate company Seungsan in 1969 and acquired the US steel company Farwest in 1991 to expand his business. He donated 10 billion won ($8.7 mil
Feb. 5, 2017
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LG to see turnaround on strong sales of G6: analysts
Local analysts say LG Electronics will see a turnaround in the first quarter because of strong sales of its upcoming flagship smartphone G6 to be unveiled in February at the Mobile World Congress. The Korean tech firm posted an operating loss of 35.2 billion won ($30.6 million) in the fourth quarter last year. The first loss in six years was mainly due to its money-losing mobile communications unit, which had a record-breaking operating loss of 467 billion won in the quarter and a cumulative ope
Feb. 5, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Hyosung taking off under new leadership
Less than a month since Hyosung Group Chairman Cho hyun-joon officially took the baton from his father S.R. Cho to lead the Korea’s textile giant, the company said Friday its annual operating profit exceeded 1 trillion won ($870 million) for the first time.Improved earnings are expected to strengthen the hand of the junior Cho, who vowed to nurture Hyosung into a global power when taking office in early January. The nation’s largest synthetic fiber maker said its annual sales inched down 4.2 per
Feb. 5, 2017
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Korea stands as world's 7th biggest media content creator
South Korea’s media content production grew at a pace faster than the growth rate recorded in the global market in 2015, securing the country a status as the world‘s seventh largest content creator, a state agency said Sunday.South Korea’s media content market stood at $52 billion as of 2015, up 6.1 percent from the previous year, according to a recent report by the Korea Creative Content Agency. A global webtoon show in Busan in 2016. (Yonhap file photo)During the same period, the global conten
Feb. 5, 2017
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Duty-free shops face falling profitability amid steep competition
South Korea's duty-free outlets have sharply increased their sales but struggled to raise actual profits amid fierce competition, data indicated Saturday.The combined revenue of local duty-free stores hit a record high of 12.2 trillion won ($10.4 billion) last year, according to the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)It marks a 33.5-percent rise from a year earlier. Their sales jumped to 8.3 trillion won in 2014 from 6.8 trillion won in 2013.Having suffered a fall in 2015, hit by the impact of MERS,
Feb. 4, 2017
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Posco appoints new COO to lead steel segment
Oh In-hwan, Posco’s new COO (Posco)Posco named Oh In-hwan, a leading figure in the automotive steel sheet industry, as the chief operating officer of the world’s fourth-largest steel giant, the company said Friday. The decision was made to separately run the company’s steel business and non-steel segments, including developments of advanced materials such as lithium and magnesium, construction and energy.It is the first time for the steel giant to appoint a COO. Giving full responsibility to the
Feb. 3, 2017