Most Popular
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Military aircraft evacuating S. Koreans in Lebanon returns home
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Yoon set for talks with Marcos in Philippines
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Seoul Fireworks Festival ends smoothly, but leaves piles of trash
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Korean bands get their day in the sun, finally
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Baseball star Hwang Jae-gyun, T-ara's Jiyeon file for divorce mediation
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2 US B-1B bombers conducted joint drill with S. Korean Air Force on Oct. 1 Armed Force Day
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] The price of numbers: How rankings shape lives in Korea
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[Exclusive] Korea’s defense acquisition agency fails to meet legal standard for women representation
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Firefighters’ 3,000 won meals spark nutrition concerns
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From thrillers to animation: Netflix's 2025 Korean originals promise universal fun, fresh stories
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Ikea refuses to recall dressers in Korea after selling 100,000 units
[THE INVESTOR] Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, has sold some 100,000 units of dressers that have been blamed for the deaths of at least six toddlers in falling accidents. While the company is extending its recent recall to China, it is still reluctant to do so in Korea, citing local regulations. Ikea’s recalled dressersRep. Kwack Dae-woon of the ruling Saenuri Party on July 13 urged the company to recall the Ikea dressers, saying all the products, about 36 million units, are recalled in the U
July 13, 2016
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Direct flight options to Iran widen
[THE INVESTOR] Direct airline services between Korea and Iran will expand from four flights a week to 11, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced on July 12. An agreement was reached recently between Korea’s Transport Ministry and Iran’s Office of Aviation as an update to the 1998 aviation agreement leading to the weekly operation of four passenger and cargo planes. Tehran, the capital of IranLast March, the South Korean government handed exclusive flight license to Korea’s
July 13, 2016
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K-beauty franchises expand presence in China, US
[THE INVESTOR] Innisfree, AmorePacific’s nature-oriented line, opened a store in Shanghai Disneyland, the company announced on July 13. This is the first cosmetics store in the Chinese Disney Town where more than 50 brands are vying for visitors’ attention. In line with the company’s spirit, Innisfree will offer a wide range of products based on Jejudo Island’s nature. Customers can take pictures in front of a huge installation piece made of recycled bottles or experience virtual flying over Jej
July 13, 2016
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Service industry not yet delivering expected gains for conglomerates
Service businesses and employment form a big part of South Korea's leading conglomerates, but they are not delivering the profit and sales on par to their scale, analysis results showed Wednesday.The analysis by corporate tracker CEO Score compared the business performances and new employment of service-related affiliates of the 30 top conglomerates from 2010 to 2015. Results showed that in 2015, 66 percent of the conglomerates' subsidiaries were engaged in service-related business with 43 perce
July 13, 2016
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Korea, Iran agree to expand direct flights to 11 times a week
South Korea and Iran have agreed to expand their direct flights between Seoul and Tehran to 11 times a week to help bolster bilateral economic cooperation following the lifting of international sanctions against the Middle East country, the government said Wednesday.South Korea and Iran reached an aviation agreement in 1998 to allow South Korean airliners to run four flights of passenger and cargo planes.Earlier this year, the Seoul government resumed the Seoul-Tehran air route and gave a flight
July 13, 2016
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Dayou Winia to supply rice cookers to Haier’s Casarte
[THE INVESTOR] Dayou Winia, Korean appliance maker best known for its kimchi refrigerators, said on July 13 that it will supply the first batch of 2,000 rice cookers to Casarte, a premium appliance brand owned by China’s Haier Group. The rice cookers, named the Dimchae Cook, will be sold through Haier’s some 33,600 sales outlets nationwide in China. The Korean firm plans to supply a total of 5,000 rice cookers to Casarte this year and to expand the number to more than 30,000 next year. On July 4
July 13, 2016
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Hanwha Techwin, GE team up to develop KF-X engine parts
[THE INVESTOR] Hanwha Techwin said on July 13 that the company has teamed up with GE Aviation to jointly develop engine parts for Korea’s flight-jet development project KF-X.The KF-X is aimed at locally developing the twin-engine combat jets equipped with advanced aviation electronics equipment by 2026. An artistic rendering of KF-X flight-jetHanwha Techwin, a defense unit of Hanwha Group, plans to lead the integration and installation of the engines into the KF-X jets, building the munition sup
July 13, 2016
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Asiana Airlines picks CFM International engines for A320neo fleet
[THE INVESTOR] Asiana Airlines has chosen CFM International as the supplier of engines for its new aircrafts, local media reported on July 13. CFM International is a joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma of France. According to reports, Asiana Airlines signed a US$ 950 million contract with CFM International to supply LEAP-1A engines for the Airbus A320neo aircrafts the Korean carrier is set to deploy starting in 2019.The contract reportedly includes the cost of parts and repairs for the
July 13, 2016
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Distribution industry becoming more dependent on Chinese customers
South Korea's distribution industry has become heavily dependent on China for its profits, statistics indicated Wednesday, making them vulnerable to even political and social issues that can turn away consumers from the Asian neighbor. For Lotte Duty Free stores in Seoul, Chinese tourists accounted for 78 percent of its total sales for the January-June period this year, setting a new record. For all stores, 70 percent of the sales during the period were owed to Chinese shoppers, up from 59 perce
July 13, 2016
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Pernod Ricard institute forms sisterhood with Korea Maritime and Ocean University
Paul Ricard Oceanography Institute, founded by international liquor group Pernod Ricard, signed a sisterhood agreement with Korea Maritime and Ocean University during a 50-year anniversary seminar in France last week, the company’s Korean unit said Tuesday. Kim Yun-hae (right), president of Korea Maritime and Ocean University in Busan, and Patricia Ricard (left), president of the Paul Ricard Oceanography Institute, attend a signing ceremony for sisterhood on Embiez Island in France on Saturday.
July 12, 2016
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[Graphic News] From iron ore to semiconductors - 70 years of Korean exports
In the early 1960s, Korea’s top export product was iron ore, but this eventually changed over the decades to apparel and then to semiconductors, data from the Korea International Trade Association showed Tuesday.Over the same period, Korea’s biggest export market also changed from Japan to the U.S. and then to China, which bought 26 percent of all Korean exports last year. When KITA was established in 1946, Korea had just four countries as trade partners, but this has since grown to 240, as of l
July 12, 2016
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Daewoo exec-turned-designer summoned for questioning on illegal profit allegations
[THE INVESTOR] The authorities summoned former celebrity designer Lee Chang-ha, 60, for a second straight day of questioning on July 12 for earning illegal profit based on his ties with Daewoo Marine Shipbuilding’s construction affiliate. During 2006 to 2009, Lee was head of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Construction. In 2007, Lee set up his own company -- DSON, an interior decorating business. He allegedly pocketed 4 billion won (US$3.47 million) of illegal funds from contracts he at
July 12, 2016
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Hanwha Galleria duty-free outlet refurbished for grand opening
[THE INVESTOR] Hanwha Galleria will hold a grand opening event on July 15 for its downtown duty-free store that had a limited opening in December inside the 63 Building in Yeouido, western Seoul. Located on a 10,072 square-meter site, the outlet of the duty-free store business unit of Hanwha Group has attracted some 530 international brands even though it failed to host the so-called “Big 3” fashion houses -- Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Hanwha Galleria started operations since it earned op
July 12, 2016
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[DECODED] Flip side to Suh Kyung-bae’s tight grip on AmorePacific
When it comes to share ownership,AmorePacific chairman Suh Kyung-bae keeps it simple. He holds a majority of stocks in AmorePacific Group, the cosmetics-focused group’s holding company. The firm then directly controls 10 subsidiaries with a vast majority of shares. The affiliate companies hold no equity stakes in each other. Suh Kyung-bae (AmorePacific)The only exception is AmorePacific, the group’s crown jewel that sells the premium brand Sulwhasoo and one of the group’s only two publicly trade
July 12, 2016
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[DECODED] China, double-edged sword for AmorePacific
Last Friday, when South Korea and the U.S. announced plans to deploy here an advanced U.S. missile defense system, shares of South Korea’s leading cosmetics maker AmorePacific tumbled. The stocks fell more than 4 percent, losing more than 1 trillion won in value just one day, as investors feared China, which had long been strongly opposing the system’s deployment in the Korean Peninsula, might pursue economic retaliation against South Korea. Cosmetics shops inside the main Shinsegae Department S
July 12, 2016
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SK Innovation’s creative ad grows popular online
SK Innovation’s new advertisement featuring a drawing show is going viral online for its creativity, the company’s officials said Tuesday.The energy solution unit of SK Group released the new advertisement on its official blog and Facebook page on July 1. The advertisement was made in a collaboration with Kim Jung-gi, an artist renowned for creating illustrations without prior sketching. Artist Kim Jung-gi finishes up a drawing on a massive canvas. SK InnovationIn the advertisement, Kim illustr
July 12, 2016
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Nexon’s entertainment expenses threefold that of rival NCsoft: Chaebul.com
[THE INVESTOR] Embattled game developer Nexon’s entertainment expenses from 2004 to 2015 were more than triple that of its main rival NCsoft, according to conglomerate tracker Chaebul.com on Tuesday. Between 2004 and 2015, financial documents from NXC -- the Jejudo Island-based holding company of Nexon Korea -- showed that the firm and its local subsidiaries spent 17.43 billion won ($15.13 million) on entertainement expenses. The figure compares dramatically with industry competition NCsoft, whi
July 12, 2016
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SK, CJ HelloVision likely in split process
SK Telecom andCJ HelloVision appear to be taking separate paths already to minimize damage in case they are not able to overcome the antitrust agency’s opposition to their merger.CJ HelloVision, a leading cable TV service provider, has hired local law firm Yoon & Yang LLC as its new legal representative, according to sources Tuesday. The CJ subsidiary and SK Telecom have shared two other local law firms, Lee & Ko and Shin & Kim, as legal advisers so far. CJ leaving the two joint legal firms and
July 12, 2016
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AmorePacific suffers in Europe
[THE INVESTOR] AmorePacific has been thriving in Korea and China, ranking as the 14th biggest cosmetics company in the world (WWD Beauty, 2015) by revenue. In Europe, however, the K-beauty giant has been barely making its mark.Its European operations posted 10.1 billion (US$8.77 million) net loss last year, according to its regulatory filing released on July 11, for two years in a row. Its revenue dropped 22.9 percent on-year to 49.2 billion won. AmorePacific has pulled the plug on its skincare
July 12, 2016
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Samsung C&T suffers AU$1b loss in Australia mining project
[THE INVESTOR] Samsung C&T, the construction and trading unit of Samsung Group, have lost AU$1 billion on a mine construction project in Australia, Financial Times reported on July 12. According to the report, the company recently completed work on the Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia. But it is still fighting court battles with contractors for AU$65 million in unpaid subcontracting work. “The Roy Hill Project was the company’s first mining construction project, and there are no other
July 12, 2016