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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Baseball star Hwang Jae-gyun, T-ara's Jiyeon file for divorce mediation
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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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2 US B-1B bombers conducted joint drill with S. Korean Air Force on Oct. 1 Armed Force Day
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Firefighters’ 3,000 won meals spark nutrition concerns
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Yoon honors veterans of Korean War in trip to Philippines
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Kia Motors mulling watchdog body for minor shareholders
Kia Motors, South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, Thursday said that it is considering establishing a committee dedicated to protecting minor shareholders‘ rights. The body will be comprised of outside directors to secure transparency and independence. It will reflect minor shareholders’ voices in the company‘s important decisions such as mergers and acquisitions and purchase of major assets among others. (Yonhap)Kia’s idea comes after Hyundai Motor Company, Kia’s sister under Hyundai Motor Gr
Feb. 11, 2016
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Alibaba buys 4% stake in SM Entertainment for W35.5b
SM Entertainment, South Korea’s leading entertainment agency, said Thursday it has formed a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to strengthen its music marketing in China.Under the deal, Alibaba will purchase 870,000 shares of SM’s newly issued stocks for 40,808 won per share to claim a 4 percent stake in the agency for 35.5 billion won ($29.7 million). SM Entertainment founder and chairman Lee Soo-man (SM Entertainment)The deal will also enable SM to expand its mus
Feb. 11, 2016
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Seoul starts withdrawing nationals from Gaeseong complex
South Korea on Thursday began pulling its nationals out of an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North as Seoul moves to close the factory zone over Pyongyang's provocations.South Korea on Wednesday shut down the Gaesong Industrial Complex in the North's border city of the same name, the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, in response to the North's latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.The government said its priority is on ensuring that its people can safely re
Feb. 11, 2016
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LG Display tops global UHD TV panel market in Q4
Korean panel maker LG Display Co. regained its status as the top seller of Ultra HD panels in the fourth quarter of 2015, industry data showed Thursday, amid the booming popularity of high-end TVs.LG Display shipped 3.98 million units of UHD TV panels in the October-December period, up 10.5 percent from the previous quarter and accounting for 35 percent of the global UHD panel market, according to the data compiled by industry tracker IHS. LG UHD TV (Yonhap)Another Korean panel maker, Samsung Di
Feb. 11, 2016
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NCsoft's 2015 net sinks 28%
NCsoft Corp., Korea's leading online game developer, said Thursday its net profit tumbled 28 percent in 2015 from a year earlier due mainly to increased spending on fresh titles.Net income amounted to 165 billion won ($138 million) last year, compared with a profit of 230 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. NCsoft CEO Kim Taek-jin (Yonhap)Operating profit came to 238 billion won last year, down 15 percent from a year ago, with sales almost unchanged at 838 bi
Feb. 11, 2016
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KT&G expands business in Iran
KT&G is expanding its business in Iran as the Islamic country is requesting more investment from Korea’s largest tobacco firm, company officials said Wednesday. The Iranian market is drawing attention from global companies as international sanctions against its nuclear programs were lifted last month. “Our Esse and Pine products are gaining a lot of popularity and our high pricing policy is boosting profitability,” said Bang Kyung-man, who heads global marketing in KT&G.A shop in Tehran sells KT
Feb. 10, 2016
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GS E&C seeks to retake lead in Iran’s construction market
As companies around the world rush to take on new business opportunities in post-sanctions Iran, South Korean builder GS E&C is out to regain its former presence in the country where it has built up a solid track record in the construction segment. The Iranian construction market has remained virtually untapped since international sanctions took effect in 2010. Having successfully carried out major projects in Iran before, GS Group’s construction unit expects to gain an upper hand in winning fr
Feb. 10, 2016
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LG’s diabetes drug on way to global expansion
LG Life Sciences, the biopharmaceuticals unit of LG Group, is out to swiftly commercialize its self-developed diabetes treatment Zemiglo in new markets around the world. In partnership with France-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and Mexico’s Stendhal, the Korean drugmaker is preparing to export its new drug to 104 countries where it has already received sales approval or is undertaking preceding processes.The LG Life Sciences headquarters in Seoul (LG Life Sciences) LG Life Sciences is sched
Feb. 10, 2016
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Korea’s car exports plunge in January
Korea’s outbound shipments of cars nosedived at the fastest clip in more than six years in January as fast-falling oil prices dragged down demand from emerging markets, including Middle East countries, the government said Wednesday.Exports of vehicles came to 201,967 units last month, down 18.8 percent from 248,613 units tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The January figure marked the sharpest year-on-year drop since October 2010, when it posted a 22.
Feb. 10, 2016
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Office lease market in Seoul to remain slow
Leasing activity for office buildings in Seoul is expected to remain conservative in 2016, according to the 2016 Asia Pacific outlook report by real estate market research company Cushman & Wakefield. The majority of tenant movements for large office buildings will emanate from companies’ restructuring, consolidating, or office mergers, rather than expansion. A case in point is Samsung Group, which has begun consolidating the offices of its affiliates in multiple locations. “Amid the sluggish ec
Feb. 10, 2016
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Lotte names 1st son as legitimate heir
Lotte Group founder’s first son Shin Dong-joo released a video earlier this week in which his father named him as the legitimate heir of the retail giant operating both in Korea and in Japan, industry sources said Wednesday. He made the move amid the prolonged dispute over which son will inherit the company. “Dong-joo is the heir in both Japan and Korea (as the first son). This is common sense (based on Confucianism). There will be no reliability if someone else takes the post,” the founder said
Feb. 10, 2016
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Hanwha chairman meets ex-Heritage Foundation chief
Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn discussed Korea-U.S. economic relations and the conglomerate’s core businesses with former Heritage Foundation chief Edwin J. Feulner, group officials said Friday.The meeting took place at Kim’s office in Seoul and topics also included the coming U.S. presidential election and security on the Korean Peninsula, according to the officials.They said Feulner, who currently heads a research center on Asia under the Heritage Foundation, expressed particular attenti
Feb. 5, 2016
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Korea's insect industry grows sharply over 4 years
(Yonhap)The South Korean market for insects has grown drastically over the past four years, indicating it could emerge as a promising future industry, a state think tank said Friday.In a report, the Korea Rural Economic Institute estimated the size of the market at 313.9 billion won ($268 million) last year, up 90 percent from 168 billion won in 2011.Last year insects were most used at local governments' events, valued at 181.6 billion won. Events using insects included a butterfly festival in H
Feb. 5, 2016
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Refiners' earnings unscathed by plunging oil prices
Despite global oil prices hitting a multi-year low due to a supply glut, local oil refiners pocketed decent earnings last year on the back of improved cracking margins, and their stellar performance may continue into this year, analysts say.Oil prices have been in the doldrums since early last year on continued concerns over an oversupply. More recently, international sanctions on Iran were lifted allowing the oil-rich country to add new barrels to an already glutted global market.This year, cru
Feb. 5, 2016
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Samsung's Tizen remains No. 4 smartphone OS
Samsung Electronics Co.'s Tizen operating system retained its status as the fourth most-used smartphone platform in the world in the fourth quarter of 2015, a global market tracker said Friday.According to Strategy Analytics, the number of Tizen-powered smartphones sold around the globe came to 900,000 units in the October-December period, rising sharply from 200,000 units posted in the first quarter. (Yonhap)Although the fourth-quarter figure marked a slight drop from 1 million units posted in
Feb. 5, 2016
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[Graphic News] Prices of baby products soar
The prices of products and services targeted toward infants increased 6.6 times higher than consumer prices last year, according to the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education on Thursday. The infant price index was 91.8 in September last year, a 3.61 percent increase from the previous year’s 88.6, the institute said. This increase rate was 6.6 times higher than the growth of the consumer price index of 109.4 in 2014 to 110 in 2015. Education-related services, such as child care and toys, in
Feb. 4, 2016
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Lotte to open duty-free store in Osaka in 2017
Lotte Duty Free announced plans Wednesday to open a new store in Osaka, Japan, early next year, in addition to the Ginza branch also scheduled to open this year. Lotte’s Osaka duty-free store is scheduled to span 4,400 square meters. It will be located on the sixth and seventh floors of the Bic Camera Namba store near Namba Station in Osaka. The store, to be operated jointly with New Kansai International Airport Company, will feature a range of popular foreign fashion brands, perfumes, and fashi
Feb. 4, 2016
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AmorePacific offers immediate tax refunds to foreigners
South Korean beauty giant AmorePacific began offering immediate tax refunds to foreign nationals at select Aritaum, Innisfree and Etude stores in Seoul starting Thursday. The service was launched in an aim to better serve Chinese consumers scheduled to visit Seoul during the Lunar New Year holidays, said AmorePacific. The service is available at five Aritaum and six Innisfree stores in Myeong-dong and Gangnam; the Laneige flagship store in Myeong-dong; and six Etude stores in Sinchon, Jamsil, Do
Feb. 4, 2016
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Bodyfriend upgrades premium massage chair
Bodyfriend, a South Korean health care company that specializes in making automated massage chairs, has launched an upgraded rendition of its premium massage chair Pharaoh. Dubbed the Pharaoh S, the massage chair is topped with Bodyfriend’s exclusive technologies and nine massage options tailored for different needs, including “sleep mode,” “student mode,” “hip-up mode” and “golf mode.” The massage chair also automatically adjusts to the user’s body shape while enabling users to adjust the locat
Feb. 4, 2016
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LG Household introduces automotive air refreshers
LG Household and Healthcare introduced six types of automotive air fresheners featuring characters from KakaoTalk and Marvel this week. The KakaoTalk stick-type air fresheners Neo, Frodo, Tube and Apeach, and are available in “orange blossom,” “cotton,” “blue sky” and “sweet berry” scents. A four-pack is priced at 12,900 won. The Marvel stick refreshers feature Marvel heroes including Spider Man, the Hulk, Thor and Iron Man. A pack of two scented sticks, “cotton” and “sweetie fruity,” are priced
Feb. 4, 2016